An English translation of RollerCoaster's guide to BRINK (iD Tech4 engine) follows. RollerCoaster is also known as "Mitch Van Hayden"...the awesome talent who did the music for the BlackMonkeys' Galactic Warfare mod.

BRINK Config Guide

Your in-game menu system is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to configuring BRINK to your liking. Sooner or later, every player will find the need to make changes and adjustments to his game outside the menu system by editing their config file. In fact, it's traditional to modify the player's config on id Tech engined games.

In this guide I will show you how you can make you can create/modify your own config and optimize the game to your own liking.

1) Before starting up the game.

i) Make sure you have activated the viewing of file extensions in your Windows Explorer.
ii) Use an editor that doesn't insert control codes into your file. Though you might get away with ordinary Notepad in MS Windows, I'd recommend the open source editor Notepad++.

2) Locate your Brink config

The general Brink config can be found in your Steam folder. Open it and navigate to the following folder:

YOUR_STEAM_FOLDER\UserData\10065797\22350\local\base

There you will find a file called "brinkconfig.cfg".

This is your main config file. It contains graphics, sounds and gameplay settings (but it not include binds).

As in Enemy Territory and ET:QuakeWars, you should leave this file untouched. Instead of changing things in your main config you should create a new file, called "autoexec.cfg" in the same folder.

This file will contain all your custom settings. Every time you start the game the autoexec.cfg will be automatically reloaded.

3) How to create the autoexec.cfg?

The easiest way you create this file is to create a new text document (txt). Just rename the file to "autoexec.cfg". Now you can open your autoexec with your editor program.

4) Filling up the autoexec.cfg

Now, of course, you have to write instructions/settings in your autoexec. On the Internet you can find already some examples, from graphics- & performance-tweaks up to complete scripts. With "//" can you "comment out" a line, which is helpful in order to make some comments and notes to your autoexec to keep the file clear.

Here are some helpful entries:

// allow ingame console
seta com_allowConsole "1"

// skip intro movies
seta g_skipintro "1"

// Field of View | Default 70
seta ui_fov "90"

// FPS Toggle | binded on the F8 key | shows your frames per second
bind "F8" "toggle com_showFPS;"

// activate Lag-O-Meter
seta net_clientLagOMeter "1"

// if you have the "Brink sound bug" try this:
seta s_useOcclusion "0"

5) some explanations & tips

i) The autoexec allows you to set values for CVARs. It also allows you to bind commands and scripts to keys.

Example:

You would like to switch the display of your FPS on and off. Also you want the game to tell you what you 're doing. The CVAR for the FPS command is "com_showFPS". The CVAR for showing you a hint in chat is "addchatline". You can create a combination of this two actions and bind it on a custom key.

bind "F8" "toggle com_showFPS; addchatline 'show FPS on/off' " "" "default"

ii) If you type a command in the ingame console you do not need to type a leading slash "/" like in CoD games.

iii) You can get an overview of all CVARs with the "listCvars" command.
iv) You can get an overview of all ingame commands by using "listcmds".
v) You can save the content of your ingame console to a text file by using the "condump" command:
condump name_of_file.txt
vi) The "connect" command is also available at Brink. You can join a server by simply using "connect SERVERIP: PORT".
vii) Brink supports inserting data from the Windows clipboard. So you can insert (for example) a server IP into the console by using CTRL+V.

6) Example autoexec.cfg
Last but not least, here's an example autoexec:

    // **********************************************
    //     BRINK CONFIG v1.0
    //     autoexec.cfg by |FaL|*RollerCoaster
    // **********************************************
    // **********************************************
    // crouch Toggle
    seta ui_crouchToggle "1"      // 0 = key must be hold (like ET) | 1 = toggle (like CoD)
    // switch empty weapons
    seta ui_autoSwitchEmptyWeapons "1"
    // **********************************************
    // Chat-Bindings
    bind "KP_HOME" "say '^dGoodGame!';"                                 
    // Numblock 7
    bind "KP_UPARROW" "say '^sSorry';"
    // Numblock 8
    bind "KP_PGUP" "say '^mThanks!'"      
    // Numblock 9
    // **********************************************
    // reload AUTOEXEC with F10
    bind "F10" "exec autoexec.cfg"
    // Demo-Toggle (not working yet)
    bind "F9" "toggleNetDemo"
    // FPS Toggle
    bind "F8" "toggle com_showFPS; addchatline 'FPS-ANZEIGE EIN/AUS' " "" "default"
    // Bob skip toggle
    seta pm_bobskip "0"
    bind "F7" "toggle pm_bobskip 1 0; addchatline 'BOBSKIP EIN/AUS' " "" "default"
    // **********************************************
    // Lag-O-Meter
    seta net_clientLagOMeter "1"
    // allow Console
    seta com_allowConsole "1"
    // skip Intros
    seta g_skipintro "1"
    seta com_bootlogo "0" 
    // **********************************************
    // Multicore support
    seta r_useThreadedRenderer "2"
    // Enemy Outline Glow/Tint (0 = Off | 1= On)
    seta si_enemyTintEnabled "1"
    // **********************************************
    // Mouse sensitivity
    seta sensitivity 2.5
    // Field of View
    seta ui_fov "90"
    // **********************************************
    // "Ironsight"
    seta ui_ironSightToggle "1"      // 0 = key must be hold | 1 = toggle (like CoD)
    // "Ironsight" Settings
    seta g_ironSightSensitivityModifier   "1.5"
    seta g_ironSightAutoZoomAngle         "10.0"
    // **********************************************
    // Damage Indicator
    seta g_damageIndicatorSize            "150"      // Default: 350
    seta g_damageIndicatorFadeTime        "0.5"      // Default: 1
    seta g_damageIndicatorAlphaScale      "0.85"   // Default: 0.55
    // **********************************************
    addchatline '^3AUTOEXEC ^7succesful reloaded!'
 

German version of this guide can be found here: BlackMonkeys forum

Another option to making your own config is to let someone else do it. :)

Try using the BRINK Configurator by the folks at Rush-Zone. Download the executable and place it in the same directory as the brink.cfg file. Configurator creates an XML file which needs to be stored in there.

The rest is simple. Just launch the executable and follow instructions.

Link for the Configurator

Read more about config tweaks in BRINK here.