Brigador Killers News

[p]This is not the first time vehicles in Brigador Killers have been mentioned - a handful of these were seen in a previous entry and another one outlined what went into the production of one of the cop vehicles - but they've not really been placed side by side for scale. For the purpose of this post, the vehicles are grouped into roughly four categories. As in previous news posts, this is only what's currently in the game; many other vehicles have been designed and modelled, though they're more complex to render out as sprites and won't feature here this month.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Fifteen vehicles are visible here. At the back row from left to right we have a Chibimoto, a regular motorcycle, a Teddy Boy hover scooter, a Liliputter one-person car, the Rennpappe sedan and a mobility scooter. The portable motorcycle and the mobility scooter are recent additions and are fully textured.[/p][p]The middle row features a white panel van, a people carrier called the Sprat, the Ovo electric vehicle, the muscle car that's served as a test vehicle since the early days of wheeled vehicle implementation, and two vehicles that are untextured. For those who have read or listened to Brigador Killers: Pilgrim (you can listen to the first half for free here), the first vehicle is one of the armored sedans used by Mar Nosso security teams to escort Brigadors. It's named the Thekla. The second vehicle is the family hatchback that appears in the novel's highway escape scene, called the '42 Lark.[/p][p]The front row has three vehicles: an untextured Shortbus, a wheelchair and a gurney. While the wheelchair and gurney won't have engine noises, they can still be "driven" around by the player - and from a gameplay data standpoint they count as wheeled vehicles.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Twelve vehicles are present in this category. In the back row are the Tuk Tuk variations that were mentioned in a previous news post. Depending on what the goal of a mission is, you might opt for one variation over another such as trading carry capacity for speed or armor.[/p][p]In the front row first from the left is the Chobber Lowboy. Chobbers are a faction on Mar Nosso who are conscripted delivery personnel, and the Lowboy is a meal delivery vehicle with multiple food warmers mounted on the side.[/p][p]Accompanying the Lowboy are a regular forklift and an up-armored version, an extremely slow agrav hauler, an untextured but affectionately named Garbotruck, and the Killdozer.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Just five vehicles in this section. The police motorbike comes in two variations, a normal version and a "bubble" version. The cop sedan has also been in the game for some time. The version of the SWAT APC here that got its own post is the variant with all the armor plating on. The security truck is untextured for the time being.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Three vehicles appear here. The Arlo agrav, the Rounder tank and the new ball tread bike. The first two are uprezzed variants you might remember from Brigador, and Dave forgot to turn off the shield generators on both. The ball tread bike is a speedy new addition to Brigador Killers.[/p][p][/p][p]Different vehicles not only have different storage capacities - a tac-rig is not going to fit into the basket of a mobility scooter - but also behind the scenes they can be used as a way to gate off areas of a map. For instance, a cop car can get into the backlot of a police station. Alternatively, if the player intends to go about their mission another way, they might pick the heaviest thing they have available and instead slam through those barriers, though they should expect to be met with resistance.[/p][p][/p][p]Currently the Fork exists in-game, you should have already seen it at the start of this video, but other mechs or powersuits have not yet been put in. Part of the reason for this is we really want the player to feel the difference in power and scale when they finally get their hands on a Mongoose (never mind a Touro). The process to get there is one of iterating on the various data values and repeated playtesting. This is a lengthy procedure, not the most exciting thing to read about, and we're conscious of people's time and attention.[/p][p]Next month's post will revisit the narrative system of Brigador Killers, which has been updated significantly since the last time it was discussed.[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p]

[p]In the previous two posts you saw beauty renders of some ammo boxes in the inventory screen and got a look at a few of the firearms you can use. Now it's time to see how those things will appear on the ground. Here's Dave strutting past some sprite renders of various weapons and ammo boxes in a GIF.[/p][p][/p][p]Mousing over any gun or ammo drop on the ground will highlight the item and display an information box. Please note that this UI is still a work in progress.[/p][p][/p][p]Reading the box from top to bottom you first see the item type, which is "GUN". Next to that is the number 5 in blue, which will be explained in a moment. After that is the silhouette of the weapon to make it easily identifiable at a glance, followed by the gun class (SMG), name (Heino9!) and what ammo type it uses (9mm). Below that you can see how much ammo is in the weapon, which in this case is "0/34 9mm FMJ", and lastly the prompt to pick up the weapon.[/p][p]
Remember the blue number? That value is the "capacity" the gun will take up in the player's inventory. "Capacity" in this context is an abstracted combination of both the weight and its overall size. Compare it for example with the Kriel rifle, which has a capacity of 12.[/p][p][/p][p]If this number is blue and the pickup prompt is visible, it means there is enough space in the player's inventory to carry the weapon. If the number is red, however…[/p][p][/p][p]…Then this means the player's inventory is full and does not have the capacity to pick this item up. The player can access the inventory by pressing Tab, and on the left hand side of the screen they will see what gun weapon slots are occupied and what capacity space is available.[/p][p]In Dave's case you can see that his Battledress Backpack has a capacity of 25, and his Chest Rig has an additional capacity of 5. Notice also how the gun slots Main-1, Main-2 and Sidearm have capacity values of 15, 15 and 5 respectively. This means Dave can, in addition to whatever is stored in his backpack or rig, wield weapons up to these capacity values in those gun slots. Weapons that exceed these capacity values cannot be wielded by Dave in his current state, meaning Dave will need to upgrade to something like a carmine suit.[/p][p]After suiting Dave up in a carmine, his chest rig capacity has doubled to 50, and the gun slot values have also increased. This allows Dave to wield the Cut Fifty heavy machine gun, which has a capacity of 30.[/p][p][/p][p]Ammo boxes have a similar mouseover information box to weapons with some slight differences.[/p][p]The blue capacity number on the 9mm ammo box is 0 but this is because the mouseover does not display decimal values. Much like with the weapons, items like this ammo box have different capacity values. Refer to the image below to see different capacity values for the RPG rounds, the jerry can and so on.[/p][p]In addition, the 9mm FMJ box has a COUNT of 40, which means the box contains 40 rounds. This number can be changed via the map making tool Stellar Jockeys uses to make levels, which is called Tiled. [/p][p]In Tiled it's possible to set custom properties for placed objects like ammo pickups. The quantity (highlighted with a red box) of a specific pickup can be changed to whatever is required, so for instance a separate box with twice as much ammo can be placed.[/p][p][/p][p]This is useful for the level designers who may want to put specific amounts of ammunition within a level depending on the design goal.[/p][p][/p][p]One big difference in the appearance of weapon and ammo pickups is the sprites for ammo pickups are only rendered from one angle. In other words, the ammo boxes will always face the front so that they are clearly identifiable.[/p][p]Since firearms are wielded by the player, they are rendered out at the full 128 sprite rotations, meaning they can appear on the ground pointing any available direction.[/p][p][/p][p]This also means that when a group of enemies are eliminated and drop their firearms, those weapons won't all drop in the same direction and look a bit odd as a result.[/p][p]
This concludes the trio of posts looking at Brigador Killers' inventory. In next month's news post we will take a look at some of the vehicles available to the player.[/p][p][/p][p]Back in April we wrote that we were planning to be in October's Steam Next Fest. Unfortunately, Brigador Killers will not appear in that Next Fest. Our priority is updating the build on Itch first and, if we are satisfied with it, then a demo will appear on Steam sometime after. We very much appreciate your enthusiasm and your patience for Brigador Killers.[/p][p][/p][p]If you want to be among the first to know when a BK demo is coming then please sign up for our newsletter.[/p][p]Sign up to newsletter[/p][p]The archive of previous newsletters stretches back all the way to 2019, long before news updates for Brigador Killers were posted here.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Beauty renders of weapons in were teased in a previous post. In addition to these inventory screen renders, Brigador Killers will continue the tradition of Brigador's lore entries. That means the return of at least one character from Brigador's intel section: Marvin Beck. MB has been gracious enough to give us his writeup on a few of the firearms from the recent Combat Build, while we have added a note on the inspiration behind each gun's design.[/p][p][/p][h2]Wildcat Obrez[/h2][p][/p][p]
The design of the Wildcat Obrez is based on a sawn-off Karabiner 98k and is one of the first weapons you unlock in the Combat Build. Those of you who have already listened to the Brigador Killers audiobook may recall it as one of the first weapons Team Pilgrim gets their hands on from a dealer in Sady.[/p][p][/p][h2]Catfish[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]The design of the Catfish is based on a Smith & Wesson Medusa M47 six-shot revolver and in-game can fire either 9mm or .22lr rounds. Zoom in a little and you may notice a few of the stickers on the gun refer to "CHOB". Chobbers are one of the factions you will encounter in Brigador Killers.[/p][p][/p][h2]Drobac[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Drobac is based off the Colt M1911 and fires .45 ACP. If you've ever played another video game with guns in it, chances are extremely high one of the pistols in it was an M1911. In-game it is the standard issue firearm for the Mar Nosso Police, aka NOSPOL.[/p][p][/p][h2]Kriel Tet[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Remington Model 870 is the basis of this shotgun and in BK is often found in the hands of both NOSPOL cops and their SWAT division, so watch out.[/p][p][/p][h2]Heino9![/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]Ignore the flashlight and you may spot a resemblance to the MAC-11 machine pistol, while the gun itself is a nod towards the famous chase scene in Ghost In The Shell.[/p][p][/p][h2]Nobrelite A18[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]This rifle is based on the ArmaLite AR-18, not to be confused with its Colt AR-15 cousin (AKA the M16). It is unlocked in the player's hideout in the Combat Build after the player exfiltrates with the required weapon box.[/p][p][/p][h2]Aleph[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Aleph is found on the ground in one of the levels in the Combat Build as a small tease, since no ammo for it is currently available to the player. Its appearance is based on the real world FN FAL.[/p][p][/p][h2]Thumper[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Thumper is our spin on the M79 grenade launcher. If the grenade doesn't take out a pack of enemies, switch to an offhand weapon to deal with any stragglers.[/p][p][/p][h2]Mercy[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Mercy is an over-and-under double-barreled shotgun that shoots 4ga shells. This weapon will occupy a main slot when playing as regular infantry, but when wearing the Carmine suit, the Mercy can be equipped as a sidearm in the third slot.[/p][p][/p][h2]Cut Fifty[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Cut Fifty will be making it into the build soon. Like the description says - it's a Browning M2 with the barrel cut short, but the weight of it means you will need to be wearing the Carmine suit to handle it effectively.[/p][p]Players will be able to read these text descriptions and more when the game's UI gets updated.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]P.S. We recently launched our 2025 lineup of miniatures - there's lore on each store page too.[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]We've been looking forward to giving the player something pleasant to look at while they use the inventory system in Brigador Killers.[/p][p][/p][p]Since a lot of the art assets in this game start off as 3D objects before being turned into sprites, we can use these objects to both make static beauty renders (so you get a good look at the thing you are picking up) and silhouettes for the chosen weapon slots (so you can recognize things at a glance rather than reading a text description). As you might be able to see from the GIF above, each weapon lists what type of weapon it is (e.g. Pistol), the name of the weapon, and then the ammo type that weapon accepts. [/p][p][/p][p]So far the small arms ammo boxes have been rendered out, so here's a better look at each one, showing off their in-universe brand name and graphic design. Enjoy.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We are excited to add these renders and several more things to the Itch build soon.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

The following article is an accompaniment to this recent video of Brigador Killers to explain in plain text what is happening on screen, as well as add a few other minor details that couldn't be squeezed into the footage. Please note that everything you see in this video, particularly the UI elements, are still subject to change and should not be considered final.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][All footage was captured in-engine via OBS and edited via DaVinci Resolve.]

[h2]00:00-00:19 Introduction[/h2]

The video starts with a brief clip of a Fork mech stomping about an industrial area shooting at some NosPol cops. As the cops are shot at you may notice that they hit the ground due to the game's "suppression" system, which is where enemy NPCs can do certain behaviors like this because of their proximity to incoming gunfire.

What's also briefly visible, but not covered explicitly in this video, are the suite of new death animations for all the enemy NPCs. When the infantry-scale NPCs die in this video, you may notice that they do so in slightly different ways.

Lastly, a blue timer is visible at the top of the screen. Currently, this is just counting up how much time has elapsed since the level loaded. It is intended to have a utility later down the line, but for now it's of no importance.

[h2]00:20-02:32 Inventory and containers[/h2]

Every unit in Brigador Killers can have its own inventory. This goes for both the player and the NPCs. These inventories have a specific amount of storage space on them. When the player opens up their inventory, it can be seen that there is a value of 0/100 on the backpack, while the chest rig has a value of 0/20. This means in total, the player has 120 available points of space on them for firearms and ammunition.

The player then makes their way over to two nearby containers - one containing ammo, the other containing firearms. Since the player is in proximity to both containers, the player is able to tab between the two chests (1/3 and 2/3 respectively, with 3/3 being the ground around the player) and tabs over to take out a "Catfish" pistol via the left mouse button.

This pistol is brought over to the backpack, which changes from 0/100 to 15/100, meaning the gun is now in the player's possession. However, this is only the storage space on the player character. To equip the weapon, it needs to be placed in one of the first two slots next to the backpack (the third slot is for weapons like grenades, which are not shown in this video). When a gun is equipped in slot 1 or 2, the respective number illuminates in the top left corner to indicate this. In addition, each weapon has its own silhouette for that slot.

A second pistol called a DROBAC is equipped in slot 2, and ammo is taken out for both weapons so they can be fired. In this case a stack of 9mm FMJ is brought over for the Catfish, and .45 ACP for the DROBAC. The player quickly switches to slot 2 by pressing 2 on the keyboard, raises the weapon and shoots off seven rounds to show off the ammo counter and the subsequent reload animation.

After this segment, the player demonstrates that they can drop anything from their backpack or equipped weapon slots right onto the ground from the inventory. While we can see the dropped items in the "ground" inventory on the right hand side of the screen, we can also see the items themselves fall away from the player in the footage.

This doesn't mean that the player needs to always be opening and closing an inventory screen to pick up weapons and ammo. As shown in the footage, when the inventory screen is closed and the player mouses over items on the ground, a pickup prompt appears.

If the pickup keybind is tapped, the item will quickly go into whatever space is available on the player. However, if the player holds down the pickup prompt, the gun will be equipped immediately after a brief period of time.

Moving on from the player-specific inventory, the footage returns to the original point that every unit in the game can have its own inventory. To prove this, the player shoots an inert cop NPC and walks up to inspect the corpse to see that it is carrying some .45 ACP. If the player happens to use something powerful (e.g. an explosive, or a very heavy vehicle at speed) and destroys an NPC leaving nothing to inspect, then the contents of that NPC's inventory are instead dumped onto the ground as shown in this section.

[h2]02:33-04:11 Free aiming, lock-on and focus[/h2]

When the player has a weapon equipped in slot 1 or 2, they can press the right mouse button to bring the weapon up into the aim, which causes a dotted blue aiming line and a white reticle with a green dot to appear where the player's mouse cursor is on screen.

The aiming lines for weapons in Brigador Killers have been altered to be a series of dots that stretch and contract to give an indication of how far away the cursor is from the player. Not all weapons are perfectly accurate, and accuracy decreases over greater distances.

In addition, when free aiming like this, the game's camera switches its focus from being centered on the player to extending away from the player.

The green dot that appears while free aiming indicates where bullets are expected to land. If this dot turns red, then someone or something is between the player and the mouse cursor location, and the dotted blue aiming line also grays out. Where the bullets will then expect to land is wherever the white reticle is along the dotted aiming line. This is demonstrated in the footage by the aim of the pistol being swung back and forth around a shipping container in the street.

The video then explains the lock-on aiming feature. By mousing over a hostile NPC and pressing a keybind (in this case, lock-on has been bound to C on the keyboard but it can be bound to whatever the player prefers), the player locks on and the NPC gets a red overlay similar in style to the old Fallout games.

Once locked on, the player can freely move around while keeping the sights trained on the locked-on enemy, and the lock-on is only broken by either pressing the keybind again, breaking into a sprint, or killing the NPC. This lock-on feature was covered in a previous post.

Focus, however, is new. When the player crouches down as an infantry unit, the camera zooms out and they get to see even more of the area around them than they would from just using the free aim. By combining focus, free aim and lock on, the player can better scout out hostile enemies from afar.

[h2]04:12-05:56 Vehicle engine noises[/h2]

Since the player can get into and out of vehicles, these vehicles engines now have ignition, idling and shut off noises. In order of presentation in the video we hear:

• Motorcycle
  
• Varlet (aka Tuk Tuk)
  
• Rennpappe sedan
  
• White panel van
  
• Ovo electric car
  
• Swat APC
  
• Betushka tank (aka Betka)
  
• Forverkhuhn mech (aka Fork)
  
• Dozer
  
• Rounder tank
  

What's not being shown explicitly are the individual tyre and track noises of each vehicle on different surfaces, but doing so would cause the length of this video to balloon. Instead this section of the video closes on the Rennpappe crashing into a building and making an all-new impact noise.

[h2]05:57-06:11 Updated infantry renders[/h2]

For quite some time the game has contained a few placeholder units which were pallete swaps of the same NPC recolored in photoshop. These pallete swaps have finally been replaced with renders of their intended forms which the player walks past. You may recognize some of them already, like the yellow raincoat civilians in the first game, but a few of them are entirely new to Brigador Killers, such as the Nossian Corvids and the Chobbers. We'll leave it to you to guess which is which.

[h2]06:12-07:37 One more thing…[/h2]

As a small bonus for sticking it to the end of the video, the player walks across a map and hits an invisible map connection trigger volume that transports the player to the inside of an underground bar. Upon loading the bar - which is its own separate level - the game is instructed to trigger a playlist which contains a short new track composed by Makeup And Vanity Set called "DustBoy".

We hope you have enjoyed this quick look at the state of Brigador Killers. Stellar Jockeys expects to update the build in the next couple of weeks, and owners of the Itch build should get a notification via email whenever a new download becomes available.



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