BURNED HORIZONS

It’s Monday. The to-do list is long. The coffee’s almost gone.

New devlog coming later today. // Burnedhorizons.com/d-log
#indiegamedev #gamedev #BurnedHorizons #tacticalgames #pcgaming

Carrying the weight of developer, art director, and every hat in between — a reminder of what independent devs push through to keep a project alive. //
#indiegamedev #tacticalgames #pcgames #gameart #tacticalsandbox #ue5 #turnbasedgames #gamedev #indiegames #milsimgames #worldbuilding #gamedesign

TACTICAL SYSTEMS // Switch between top-down, isometric, and third-person views. AP-based tactics with interrupts, suppression, overwatch, and reaction fire. Operator mental state and trauma affect behavior under fire.
// #indiegamedev #tacticalgames #pcgames #indiegames #ue5 #turnbasedgames #gamedev

3/3
From EA to Final release = original, licensed, or in-house assets.
Development phase = flexible tools and placeholders.
If that offends you more than unfinished UI, untextured maps, or greybox levels, this might not be your scene. Appreciate the people who get it.

2/3
This is not final art. This is iteration.

Even if we had an endless supply of cash, we wouldn’t spend big on final art this early. That comes after gameplay systems, tone, & UI are locked in. Commissioning polished art before the foundation is stable is a fast way to waste resources.

1/3
🧾 ARTPLACEHOLDER POLICY // Burned Horizons

We’re using a combination of original art, early renders, photobash, & AI-assisted art as visual scaffolding—then compositing, editing, filtering, & refining those assets by hand to match the tone & vision of the game.

OPERATOR SERVICE JACKETS -
Want to know how they'll perform out there? Start here.

/ burnedhorizons.com
#indiegamedev #tacticalgames #pcgames #gameart #tacticalsandbox #indiegames #ue5 #turnbasedgames #burnedhorizons #gamedev #gaming #conceptart #milsim
#operators #ukraine #characterdevelopment

In a world of acronyms, slang, code & other shorthand - the GreenBook is your way through it all.
// burnedhorizons.com
#indiegamedev #tacticalgames #pcgames #gameart #tacticalsandbox #indiegames #ue5 #turnbasedgames #burnedhorizons #gamedev #gaming #conceptart #milsim

‘BLACK BETTY’
M4 CARBINE (SOPMOD BLOCK 2) | AR
// burnedhorizons.com
#indiegamedev #tacticalgames #pcgames #gameart #tacticalsandbox #indiegames #ue5 #turnbasedgames #burnedhorizons #gamedev #gaming #conceptart #milsim

Progress from initial concept to alpha Interface: Q-Crate // Gear & Weapon System screens.
Stats are placeholders to reflect concept.
//burnedhorizons.com #indiegamedev #tacticalgames #pcgames #gameart #tacticalsandbox #indiegames #ue5 #kickstarter #burnedhorizons #gamedev #gaming #conceptart

INITIAL EARLY RE-WORK OF SPARTA//TAC-OPS//KIT SCREEN

Stats are placeholders to reflect concept.
//burnedhorizons.com #indiegamedev #tacticalgames #pcgames #gameart #tacticalsandbox #indiegames #ue5 #kickstarter #burnedhorizons #gamedev #gaming #conceptart

[Dissem] // Greenlist // Nataliya Arkhipenko
#gameart #indiedev
Burnedhorizons.com #pcgame #ue5 #tacticalgame #indiegame

[CLARIFICATION] // No skill trees. No perks.
Operators evolve through scars, survival, and what they’ve done. Pathways open through experience — not points.
Ironman Mode is optional — but if it’s on, every choice sticks. No rewinds.

Burned Horizons.
No perks. No saves. No resets.
Operators evolve through scars, not skill trees.
1,000,000+ km² warzones.
Cities fall. Lines shift. Every shot counts.

📍 Specs + Details: burnedhorizons.com/spec
#indiegamedev #tacticalgames #UnrealEngine #wargames #gamedev #gameart #kickstarter

First theater of operations: RDC-Trident. Set in Eastern Europe.
Burnedhorizons.com
#burnedhorizons #indiegamedev #tacticalgames #turnbasedgames #indiegame

[ XIN // FSR-02-18037-LGV // GHOSTRIDE ]
Abandoned BTR-80 found idling near the K-40 rail junction. Engine warm, radios active, hatch ajar. No crew in sight, no blood, no signs of struggle. No known friendly ops in the area. Vehicle impounded for sweep and trace.
#burnedhorizons #wargame #indiedev

Day 2 in #UnrealEngine character creation. Modular characters and (modular) tactical gear. Rucksacks and storage slots that operate like they do in the real. No giant bags of holding.
#burnedhorizons #indiegamedev #tacticalwargame #realismingames

Truth is malleable. And war? War isn’t failure—it’s doctrine. “He doesn’t blink unless someone dies for it.”

Believed to have authorized the assassination of Russian dissidents worldwide, including those condemned in show trials at home, and quietly erased in prison. He doesn’t just tolerate brutality—he systematized it. Civilians are currency.

VYACHESLAV KATIN // RUS
[1/3]

Former KGB opportunist turned head-of-state tyrant. Built a regime on blood, proxies, corruption, and silence. Master of deniable operations—separatists, mercs, wet work, cyberwarfare.

#realismingames #indiegamedev #unrealengine #tacticalgames #nafo #turnbased

⬤ DEVLOG ENTRY [0003] [RE: PROGRESSION]

You don’t “level up” in a real unit.
You survive. You adapt. You get fractured.
You get better — or you don’t.
And what changes you isn’t a point bar.
It’s what you’ve lived through.

Full Devlog: Burnedhorizons.com/d-log #indiegamedev #wargame

[DISSEM // VISUAL ALIGNMENT PASS 01]
Initial photo tests for greenlist, graylist, redlist entries.
Aiming for aged analog texture — like pinups on a field board.
Not final. Just calibrating tone.

#GameDev #IndieGame #TacticsGame #VisualDirection #BurntHorizons

//OPERATOR PROFILE//
[WIDOW // LR-42]
Long arm of death at 1500 meters.
Never blinks. Never forgives.

WIA ’99 — still pulling triggers.

“За тих, хто не стріляв.”

#BurnedHorizons #NAFO #GameArt #TacticalRPG #IndieDev #SlavaUkraini

[DISSEM] burnedhorizons.com/dissem

Concept drops, visual fragments, and WIP intelligence pulled straight from the design wire. This is where early signals surface—before they’re cleaned, cleared, or classified.
#GameArt #IndieGameDev #BurnedHorizons #WarSim

// OPERATOR PROFILE //
[ RECOIL // OC-39 ]
Force Recon didn’t break him. Black ops didn’t lose him. Kosovo taught him when to vanish. Kalinikova taught him when not to. Some men survive the war. Recoil survives the aftermath.
#BURNEDHORIZONS #TACTICALWORLDBUILDING #INDIEGAMEDEV #INDIEGAME #GAMEART

Early Concept Art.

[2/2]

so unless a team member can translate it, you can convince a local to help, or it’s processed back at base through SINT uplink… you're going to get left in the dark. Language isn’t just flavor — it’s leverage. //

// FIELD DOC // [ NRC-05.12.99.7 ]
[1/2]

// Not every scrap of intel will speak your language. Field documents, intercepted chatter, and AO signage will often appear in their native tongue —

#IndieGames #RealismInGames #TacticalGame

[DEVLOG 0001] constantum developorum...
Full DEVLOG: burnedhorizons.com/d-log/
#TacticalGame #RealismInGames #BurnedHorizons

UCD/S + Scars

Realism isn’t aesthetic. It’s how the system works.
No do-overs. No safety nets. Every decision has a cost — even the quiet ones.
#gamedev #indiegame #indiegamedev