Brigand: Oaxaca News

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.

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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).

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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.

Fixed some minor bugs thanks to Wick, iakampa, and zf13448. The biggest annoyance was the dialogue window not aligning properly on high resolutions with large font (now fixed). Also, restless loa are now automatically concealed when they spawn.

If you haven't already, please help get Brigand to 500 Steam reviews so it will get more visibility, unlike the restless loa. Thank you.


Complete list of changes:


SOURCE:

-Fixed bug on high resolutions with large font where text wasn't properly aligned with window.


SCRIPTS:

-Restless Loa are now automatically concealed as soon as they are spawned (INIT script).
-(PANAMA) Clams only give pearls in PANAMA story now, to prevent variable bugs in other stories.
-(PANAMA) Osito now tells you about the waterfall being haunted at "midnight" (instead of just "night").
-(PANAMA) Added window that says main objective failed if Bella or Cherub are killed before Ch.2 in PANAMA story.
-(NIGHTMARE) Invisible boxes now spawn in NIGHTMARE to block off shortcuts on Freeway 175 and South of Pochutla maps.
-Fixed final typo of all time (thanks to iakampa on Discord).

Added new font options to the settings menu, under "Visuals". You can change font type, size, and also text plugin options. You can use the fast text plugin for all text, no text, or just the HUD (default). Translators were saying the default text used in dialogue windows was slowing things down with Chinese characters, so the new "all" setting makes it faster.




Also added invisible boxes outside the Toxic Caves on Freeway 175, thanks to Percy Superstar on Discord for finding yet another cheese-run shortcut so I could block it off. I didn't block off NIGHTMARE shortcuts yet, waiting to see if people can still cheese up there. Let me know if you find any other shortcuts that let you skip chapters by climbing up boulders, etc.


Complete list of changes:

SOURCE CODE:
-Added new font options in main menu, under a new "Visuals" settings page.
-Larger font sizes now display larger dialogue windows.
-Launcher app and main app now save all font options.

SCRIPTS:
-Ticker script now spawns invisible boxes near Toxic Caves entrance on Freeway 175 to prevent Cheese Runners.
-(PANAMA) Murdering crew in SQUIRREL challenge map before leaving the ship now congratulates you and rolls credits.

RESOURCES:
-New larger dialogue windows for large font settings: windowBig.bmp, windowBBig.bmp.