Experimental Update: Mod.io support and gameplay tweaks

We have just released a new experimental build of the game, featuring many changes that we would like to try out before they go out to the public.

This update is very important for modders, as it adds support for Mod.io - a 3rd party mod hosting service. Mod.io is integrated in the same way as Steam Workshop - you can access it in-game through the Mods menu. Once Mod.io is populated with user-generated content you will start seeing mods from that site on the available mods list. The Riftbreaker World Editor Suite is getting an update that will allow mod creators to upload their mods to both Steam and Mod.io.

Adding mod.io support is an important step, as it will allow non-Steam users to participate in the modding scene. We strongly encourage you to experiment with this platform and upload your mods there. All feedback when it comes to this integration is crucial to us.

The changes that are likely to have the most significant impact on your gameplay experience are the additional hard and brutal difficulty waves that were added to the Desert, Acid, and Magma biomes in Survival Mode. The two higher difficulty modes for these biomes were not quite on par with Jungle and Metallic Valley regarding the power level. With the addition of the new waves, all biomes should now be challenging on the hard difficulty and really demanding on brutal.

This patch also fixes several crash bugs and other errors that you pointed us toward in your reports. Thank you for that. To test these changes thoroughly, we have included some additional debugging logs and tools in this build. It means that the experimental build is very likely to run slower than the default version of the game. Once we gather enough information and deem these changes to be safe, we will remove the extra logs, and the performance is going to go back to normal.

Since we haven’t fully finished testing this update yet. We strongly recommend you to back up your save files before moving onto the experimental branch.

How to join the experimental branch:

1. create a backup copy of your save folder (Documents/The Riftbreaker)
   
2. disable Steam Cloud save backup
   
3. go to your Steam Library
   
4. right-click on The Riftbreaker
   
5. select 'Properties,’ then 'Betas,’ and use the following password: IknowWhatImDoing
   

After that, you will be able to choose 'experimental' from the drop-down menu. Download the update, play the game and let us know if you encounter any issues. We also have a channel on our Discord: #rb-experimental-feedback - we highly encourage you to join in and share your feedback.

[h2]The Riftbreaker Experimental Update: Mod.io support and gameplay tweaks. December 7th, 2022. EXE: 584 DATA: 331 Changelog:[/h2]
[h3]Changes[/h3]

• Mod.io modding integration added. This service allows you to upload and install mods using the mod.io website and through the in-game interface in the Mods menu. This service is implemented in a similar way as Steam Workshop. This will enable users from platforms other than Steam to access mods.
  
• HBAO improvements incoming! Our old SSAO was running at 720p res, which didn't yield great results. The new HBAO utilizes adaptive resolution (and a few tweaks), resulting in a much greater quality-to-performance ratio. If you don't use raytracing, you should see a noticeable difference in the ambient occlusion quality after this patch.
  
• New Hard and Brutal difficulty balancing in Survival Mode on the Acidic Plains, Radioactive Desert, and Volcanic Area biomes. They are much more difficult now. You have been warned! (Feedback will be much appreciated)
  
• Added Acidic Plains biome alpha and ultra attack waves for survival mode.
  
• Added Radioactive Desert biome alpha and ultra attack waves for survival mode.
  
• Added Volcanic Area survival mode alpha and ultra waves.
  
• Enabled difficulty-specific final attack waves in the survival game mode in the Acid, Magma, and Desert biomes.
  
• Enabled difficulty-specific regular attack waves in the survival game mode in the Acid, Magma, and Desert biomes.
  
• Added wave spawn markers in multiple desert biome attack waves, which were previously missing.
  
• Added some acid biome attack wave spawn markers, which were previously missing.
  
• Added additional safe mode localization strings.
  
• Reduced sound volume for some buildings in 'working' state.
  
• Added a popup that informs players about the Terms of Service of the modding feature.
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed a crash that occurred when performing a Power Jump skill.
  
• Removed unnecessary button from the Tower Ammo Factory action menu.
  
• Fixed a crash that occurred when building the Planetary Scanner before researching it (through cheats).
  
• Mini Miners no longer keep working indefinitely after leaving them behind on an Outpost.
  
• Fixed a missing header on the Sentry Turret entity.
  
• Prevent building overlap by making sure that the grid culler nodes are populated after building spawn.
  
• Research Screen: fixed a research tooltip when the subspecies field is empty.
  
• Buildings should now connect to pipes in a proper way.
  
• Safe Mode now ignores any startup commands and launches the game in an intended way, with the safest values possible.
  
• Fixed random crashes that occurred during loading.
  
• Increased the limit of world entities from 300.000 to 1.000.000.
  
• Fixed a crash in the inventory system.
  
• Fixed Day Only/Night Only time of day modes in Custom Difficulties.
  
• Fixed the appearance of the seasonal event popup.
  
• Fixed a crash that occurred when stereo files were used for spacial sound on multichannel (e.g., 5.1/7.1) systems.
  
• Fixed FSR 2.1 ghosting effect on DirectX 11.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused players not to get AI cores back after selling a damaged defensive tower.
  

EXOR Studios