Brigand: Oaxaca News

Fixed a recent crash that started happening in the Main Menu after 5 minutes, caused by changing font size every frame. Main menu buttons are now images, which also allows for more customization for modders and translators.

Also decided to pretty up the main menu while I was at it. There are now random screenshots that show on the left side. A couple other minor fixes.





Reminder: 2 more weeks until the deadline for the Flooded City Mod Contest. Remember, if you are the only one to submit and it's just some buildings in the water (with some underwater objective), you get $60.

Mod Contest: https://steamcommunity.com/games/652410/announcements/detail/551228377603769136


Complete list of changes:

SOURCE:

-Main menu buttons are now images, random screenshot displays on the left.
-Fixed recent problem in Windows where main menu would crash to desktop after about 5 minutes.
-Character info screen now has a close button in top right corner, player no longer rotates while viewing.
-Removed Steam Proton version message from launcher (newest Proton works fine).

SCRIPTS:

-Windmills now play animation automatically after intro script on Ricardo's Plantation.
-(NIGHTMARE) Fixed poisoning weapons in Spanish translation of NIGHTMARE.

RESOURCES:

-New separate images for each main menu button (to fix new Windows crash and let modders customize).
-New menu pics for main story and PANAMA.

New script command, "timePass" to... pass the time. Also a new system script called "travel.bsl" that is called every time you travel at the edge of a map, so that time will pass 1 hour (2 in Panama).

Added a button to drop items from the character info screen because somebody asked for something similar on the Warlordocracy Steam page and I forgot what page I was looking at, but it's a good idea for Brigand also.

Had to update the story files, which I hate doing. There were 3 baddies that were the wrong faction, probably because I set them to player while tweaking the maps at some point and forgot that that permanently changes their faction to player. There was a Cyber Knight in Beneath the Ruins map, a Mambo on the Oil Platform in NIGHTMARE, and an Auto-Gun in Arraijan Forest in PANAMA. These were all set to player faction, making the game easier and bringing great shame upon myself.

For difficulty compensation, you are now allowed to train with Carmen and LC in Chapter 2, even though they won't join you in that chapter.

There should be one more patch coming soon, and don't forget the Flooded City modding contest with a $60 prize:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/652410/announcements/detail/551228377603769136


Complete list of changes:

SOURCE:
-New command: "timePass" to pass given number of ticks (1 tick is 3 seconds).
-New default travel scripts that run whenever player travels at edge of map (travel.bsl).
-Story list no longer reads backup files (.BAK), save list check for .GAM files no longer case sensitive.
-Added a drop item button in character info screen.

SCRIPTS:
-New travel script that passes 1 hour when you travel at map edge (2 hours in PANAMA).
-Carmen and Laughing Coyote will now train you in Chapter 2 (even though they refuse to join party).
-(NIGHTMARE) Queen and Neuro Demons now spawn after talking to Anomaly in Shrouded Cove in NIGHTMARE.
-(NIGHTMARE) Merc, thug, and worker AI scripts can now throw plates in NIGHTMARE.

RESOURCES:
-Updated both manuals.

STORY FILES: (requires starting a new game)
-Fixed Cyber Knight faction in Beneath the Ruins map.
-Fixed Kalfu Mambo and Pirate factions on Oil Platform map.
-Disabled Androids are now usable, informing player to use Terminal.
-Changed single "Eleggua Pirate" in Lonely Coast to "Kalfu Pirate" (like the rest).
-(PANAMA) Fixed neutral Auto-Gun C in Arraijan Forest in PANAMA, setting faction to Ronin.

Been busy with Warlordocracy, but just fixed a handful of Brigand bugs thanks to zf13448 and Taberone (and also Tomato's stream on Twitch). The AI in NIGHTMARE no longer picks up books, fixed Arsenal's quest to kill Lonely Coast pirates, fixed dice game position on hi res, plus more.

Gonna do another patch in a couple days that fixes more bugs, but I gotta update the story files for a couple of them, which requires extensive testing of file integrity afterwards due to OCD and paranoia that Windows will fuck something up.

Currently keeping the game in Main Menu will crash the game to desktop after about 5 minutes of inactivity thanks to a recent Windows patch. The good news is that it only happens in the main menu, so I might be able to pinpoint why and prevent it from happening in next patch. It doesn't crash on Linux or Steam Deck. Fuck Microsoft.


Complete list of changes:

SOURCE:
-If no room in inventory, "giveToPlayer" command now automatically sets faction to 0.
-Boolean "If_itemNear" now ignores objects of "text" tag (so NIGHTMARE AI doesn't pick up books).
-Fixed dice positioned on screen in dice minigame on high resolution.

SCRIPTS:
-Fixed Arsenal's quest to kill Lonely Coast pirates in Ch.6.
-Fixed chapter check in Garcia's dialogue that led to confusing advice.
-Objective to sell food to Slender now displays before his dialogue, so player response doesn't fuck up.

RESOURCES:
-Fixed transparency of dots on dice images.
-Updated Player's Manual (bed description).

New Mod Contest (Deadline 1 March 2025):

Make a map set in a flooded city, with an objective that is underwater.

First place gets $60, second place gets $30, and third place gets some Steam keys. Deadline is 1 March 2025. You can email your mod to me, or upload it to itch.io. Check out the MOD TUTOR story in the free EXTRAS DLC, the tutorial videos on Youtube, and the Brigand Builder's Manual.

A map set in Shanghai in the Brigand universe would be ideal, as the city is mentioned in the game as being underwater, and a Chinese translation is underway. Shanghai means "up/above the sea", so you can call the map Xiahai, or "down/below the sea". Shanghai is just a suggestion. You can set the map in any flooded city with an objective that is underwater.

Also, there's a relatively new command that nobody has used yet that makes the water level transparent from the surface, called "waterGhost=1". Should be called in the map script because it doesn't save. You can try it out for this mod if you want.





Also, time to celebrate the bubbles animation getting fixed.

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Meanwhile, there's been a minor Brigand patch to fix a rare bug with doors starting out open, and more. It also seems like the latest version of Steam Proton works with Brigand on Linux Mint and Steam Deck, so no need to use v8.0-5 anymore. Lemme know if you can confirm that.

Complete list of Changes:

-Fixed rare game-breaking bug where doors would sometimes start in open position (including important locked ones).
-Fixed object angle pivot when importing a player, from new feature in previous patch.
-Added notice to Launcher to use min HUD mode on Steam Deck.

* * *

Future Plans for Brigand:

-Chinese Translation.
-More mod contests (once every 3 months or so).
-More script commands and editor features for modders (open to suggestions).

* * *

Blog Article:

Also wrote a new blog article about Linux and why everyone at Microsoft should be fired:

https://blancaster45.blogspot.com/2025/01/for-profit-office-software-must-die_18.html

There are now New Game+ options at the end of PANAMA and NIGHTMARE, allowing you to restart the story with your end-game character and inventory.

Also, there are new script commands to import/export the player character into different stories. Modders can now make stories with multiple parts and allow players to import their characters, along with select variables for story purposes.





Also fixed some bugs reported by iakampa and Wick on Discord and zf13448 on Steam (see below).


Complete list of changes:


SOURCE:

-New functions in code to import/export player character and inventory, as well as a New Game+ option.
-New script commands: "savePlayer", "loadPlayer", and "loadStory" (optional parameter to import player and variables).
-New script Booleans for importing characters: "if_storyExists", "if_importPlayer", and "if_playerLvl".
-Script command "resetVars" now has optional parameters to reset only a range of variables.
-Character info screen now shows overall level (for importing player in mod scripts).


SCRIPTS:

-(PANAMA+NIGHTMARE) Added New Game+ option after beating NIGHTMARE and PANAMA stories.
-Thug/merc dialogue about final faction side quests in Ch.8 now says to wait until flooding is over.
-Security Worm Implant can no longer unseal the Pump Door on Oil Platform map in final chapter.
-Fixed Master Techie having Voodoo icon in abilities menu (set to "none" in globals.bsl).
-Fixed "pierce" damage in Android's INIT script to "melee" (obsolete damage type).
-Fixed some other dialogue and typos, thanks to Wick and Chinese translators.


RESOURCES:

-Updated Builder's Manual.