More character poses! This time for the good old Brigand - the very first character Szonja designed for the game!

The first image (top) is for Hamstring, an ability which immobilizes the target. The second (bottom left) is for Fend Off, an overwatch-type combat skill where the Brigand targets an empty space on the battlefield. It's bad news for an enemy if they move onto it. The third one (bottom right) is the Brigand's block/defense pose. The brigand is a very versatile support/defensive character for the outlaw roster, able to block spaces and defend other combatants, making him quite a pesky enemy.

We're back again with another Map Movement video!

The most important changes from last time:

• Movement Points (MPs) are displayed on the top left UI (March movement points, available as bonus and calculated from normal Movement Points) are displayed in red behind normal MPs. Running out means you have to camp, and thereby end your turn, advancing a day in-game.

• Movement Point costs are displayed either in blue (normal movement MP cost), red (the additional cost of Marching), and grey (which only serves to help you calculate longer journeys, as these nodes are not reachable this turn, not even by Marching).

• Currently, when you move the comitatus, you can first only move to deplete your MPs, then - and only then - you can opt to March further, using the March MPs, but of course risking brutal fatigue and Morale losses.

As you can see, though the base system of movement is pretty much set, we'll continue to tweak how details work.

As a strategy-RPG hybrid, Vagrus is pretty heavy on UI, so a lot of our effort goes into designing a functional and appealing UI for various elements of the game. Today, we'll take a look at our progress with the 'main UI', which is on the campaign map. This is what the player will see the most of and it's UI has to be a gateway to several key game elements.

A lot has happened since our last project update, so let's dig in without delay!

Expanding team

Beside Marci who has recently joined our ranks as an intern and is already working on implementing new features for the game in Unity + C#, we have also got two new writers checking out our self-developed event editor tool to ready themselves for mass content production once we plunge into that phase (right after publishing our playable demo). Rest assured that we will post details about them and their work when we get there. 

This week we have another character art for you: the Executor. These unholy men are enemies in the main game, but the Prologue does give players the opportunity to have them on their team, albeit briefly.

But who are these grim individuals?

Executors are the armed enforcers of the Church of Sergorod. As one of the three new gods of the Triumvirate - the patron gods of the Empire -, Sergorod is known as the god of vengeance, anger, curses, grudges, and malevolence.

This video is showcasing the UI in combat in its current state.

What's new, you ask? Several things:

- Target's Stats and Expected Outcome

While the active character (whose turn it is) is displayed on the left part of the UI, the current target can be seen on the right side. When you select a skill on the active character, you can see its expected outcome (damage, etc.) as well on the target panel.

We are happy to report that last month we made a lot of progress on the combat of Vagrus. Thus, we thought to give you a sneak peek.

In the short video, where Crifta and her goons take on the player characters, you can see a new combat background and several characters that are now fully operational in combat. Projectile mechanics also work now in combat, for the most part (as you can see when Crifta fires her deadly bow). The UI has been improved a lot as well, including the addition of the UI segment of the vagrus itself (top left corner). Here, players will be able to boost their characters in a number of ways spending Resourcefulness. Often, spending it is the only way to prevail in tough situations.

The next artwork and creature description is of the Jhakra, a pestilence of the desert:

Jhakras are four-legged reptilians covered in hardened, yellow-brown, grown-together scales. Adult specimens are 1 meter tall and grow to 1.5-2 meters long. Their legs can propel them forward quite fast, but it is difficult for the creatures to maneuver. Males sport forward-protruding and side horns they use to mauling and tackling. Jhakra have well-hidden, tiny eyes to protect them when they melee or charge. Because of this they don’t see too well. However, their sense of smell is extraordinary, making them able to follow prey for miles.

Some time ago we promised to invite you all to a virtual tour of our office, so without further ado, here goes:

First stop - Budapest, 13th district

Our office is located in an edifice built in the socialist era but kept in fairly good condition compared to how others fared. Back in the day when programming meant punched cards, the whole building housed a prominent company developing 'software' on those.

Avernum is the most important city in the Northern Searing Plains. The reborn Empire moved back to the scorched and abandoned region soon after the Calamity and found it ideal to settle because of the new resources that can be found in the vicinity: salt, rare minerals, and even obsidian. Thus, Avernum was built at the center of the Smolderbone Flats. The city mostly lacks the religious apparatus of large provincial settlements, but has a fairly large military presence there under the direct control of the Prefectus, its governor. Rumor is that due to its backwater status, the city of Avernum follows Imperial regulations more loosely, and it has become essentially the private kingdom of the reigning Prefectus.