The Riftbreaker News

Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/pl/poshanguishedhoneybee

Hi!

There are a lot of things that go into creating a realistic environment. We always want our game worlds to feel as if they were real and there were actual physical forces affecting everything around the player. Today we are going to show you what it takes to achieve such a feeling by taking a look at our vegetation and the systems that affect it. This is a larger topic, so we will divide it into smaller pieces. We highly encourage you to check out all the high-resolution versions of the GIFs, as you'll be able to see all the details more clearly!


HI-res: https://gfycat.com/oldfashionedmildagouti

First of all - the grass. While it might not seem like much, walking around the world filled with tufts of grass certainly beats a simple texture that only tries to imitate it. Our level designers have various models to choose from, but in general, they are divided into categories based on their size. We distinguish between small, medium, large and very large models. The size obviously changes the look and feel of the area the grass is placed in, but the size is relevant also because of the forces that we apply to it - wind, bending, and shockwaves.

Let’s take a look at each of those forces one by one, starting with the wind. Our engine currently allows us to place two kinds of wind forces on the scene - local and global. Local wind only affects objects in a specific radius. An example of such a wind force is a tornado. Here’s an example, where you can clearly see the limit of the tornado’s effect on the grass:


Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/deadbrilliantibizanhound

Global wind, on the other hand, affects all the entities on the scene. It is responsible for all the swaying that occurs naturally, without any outside interference. Regardless of the wind type, it is regulated by a whole lot of parameters, which allow us to simulate the flow of air. Without going into much detail, using a whole set of functions we can get a slightly different wind direction and strength in various points of the map. You can see these represented by vectors on the gifs.


Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/threadbarebiodegradableeuropeanfiresalamander

Shockwaves come into the picture whenever something explodes (and you know how we feel about explosions). Shockwaves come in two flavors as well. The first one is instant. It applies the force to all objects within a radius of the explosion. The amount of force and the radius depend on the size of the explosion. The other type of shockwave is called physical shockwave. It is a separate effect, and occurs after the instant shockwave takes place. It takes the form of a ring that increases in diameter over time, affecting the grass tufts further away from the center of the explosion.


Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/activegregariousairedale

The bending force bends the vegetation away from the source, which can be any entity that has the BendingComponent in its properties. We apply this component to things like the mech, enemies, and bigger projectiles, such as rockets. The strength of the bending force gets progressively weaker with the distance from the source. The example below shows you the vectors of the bending force and the affected sphere.


Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/diligentimprobablebettong

Of course, if we applied wind, bending and, shockwaves together at once we would only get a glitchy mess as a result, as they would clash against each other. Instead of that, whenever game logic gets updated, we take a weighted average of all the forces, giving them a different factor of importance. The result of this operation is then applied to the vegetation. Based on this, plants in The Riftbreaker can exist in 3 states:

Idle - no forces other than the wind affect the entity,
Bending - when a bending force is currently being applied by another object
Recovering - the bending force is no longer being applied and the object is returning to the idle state.

Science time!. In order to achieve the effects of the grass swaying in the wind and its springiness, we need to apply some math. We approximate the restoring force by using this function:


Source: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/qkuac3balu

The bending effect is, in turn, a vertex shader. It manipulates the vertex of the object and bends it according to a parametric square function. The values of bending and restoring vary between the different models, which gives each of them a unique feel.

We wouldn’t be ourselves if we did not give you the opportunity to set something on fire. That is where the FlammableComponent comes into play. Every entity with that component can be set on fire. We can tweak the probability of the object catching fire if it’s currently being affected by a fire source, such as a flamethrower, as well as the time it will burn once it is set ablaze. Every time the game logic is updated, the information is gathered which objects are currently in the range of open fire. Then, we perform a roll for each of those and if the result is positive, the object will catch fire. Some things are almost impossible to set on fire, while others need just a spark to burst out in flames.


Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/viciousfeistyblackwidowspider

Once the entity is on fire, we give it another set of properties - BurningComponent. The affected piece of vegetation becomes the source of fire itself. With this component, we can control the range to which an object can spread the flames. The bigger the entity, the further it can spread the flames. We also control the burning rate, which determines how often an attempt to spread the fire is performed. Apart from the BurningComponent we also apply the proper particle effects and start dissolving the mesh. What is noteworthy - the spread of fire is affected by the wind!

Here's a link to the compilation of all the GIFs used in this article:
https://youtu.be/F4tbyhkHAOg

That’s all we have for you today! Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions, let us know in the comments or on our Discord! www.discord.gg/exorstudios!

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Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/similarwellmadearabianwildcat

Hello!

As many of you know, The Riftbreaker runs on the latest version of our game engine, The Schmetterling. The biggest difference between this version and the previous one is the implementation of physically based rendering, also known as PBR. It is a lighting model that tries to replicate the behavior between materials and light as it is in the real world. Making use of this technique opens up a lot of possibilities for us, one of which we are going to talk about today. Let’s take a look at the details behind the day and night cycle in The Riftbreaker.


Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/realisticcarefreeafricanaugurbuzzard

In order to achieve the feeling of the realistic passage of time, we have decided to specify four distinct parts of every day - dawn, day, dusk and night. They are defined by a couple of parameters, such as the color and intensity of light, environment skybox, shadow intensity, fog parameters, wind power, and other weather effects.

A look at our Scene Parameters control panel from the EXOR Level Editor.

Skybox is a set of textures in the form of a cube that tries to emulate your surroundings. What is important to note here is the fact that the skybox does not contain the light source but only the ambient part of the sky. It is a completely separate entity. To emulate sun behavior we use a directional light that is the main source of light for everything you see in The Riftbreaker. Its position and strength can be regulated independently of the skybox. What is important because we could not generate as many skyboxes which will represent every minute of the day. The two elements working together give us realistic lighting and almost infinite possibilities when it comes to setting up our time of day environment. By the way, checkmate, round-Earthers - the world is flat and the Sun goes around it! ;)

One of the skyboxes that was used for X-Morph: Defense.

Another aspect we can tinker with are the fog parameters. We can determine the exact distances at which the fog starts and stops being visible. Apart from that, we can also change the density of the fog. It is very useful for setting the mood of the scene. A delicate morning mist over grasslands feels a lot different than thick fog accompanied by heavy rain. With proper sound effects and wind strength, the feeling of immersion in the game world increases greatly.

Oh my, these mushrooms grow so fast!

On top of that, with time passing, each part of the day is blending with each other depending on what time it is. The sun direction reflects the position of the sun in the sky, and the length of the shadow is accurate. And at the end of that, we are not limited to only one set of parameters - we can create any number of presets and change between them on the fly - the engine blends them with each other to give us a smooth transition.

All weather effects can blend with any given time of day preset.

The fact that we can create multiple presets for each time of day means we can introduce variety into the cycle. Every night an algorithm randomly chooses the presets it is going to use for the following day, making it slightly different from the last one. This way some days are going to be sunnier than the other ones. We also control the weather effects, making the possibilities virtually infinite. Moreover, certain events in the game, such as tornadoes and acid rain, can trigger either local or global changes to the weather that additionally blend with the parameters of the lighting.

The Riftbreaker will feature multiple weather events, such as acid rain.

The last piece to this puzzle is making the night look interesting. It’s an alien planet, after all, and pitch-black won’t cut it. Therefore, we put our affector system to use here. We mentioned it briefly when we talked about bioluminance here. At night, our shaders change the way they behave and giving way for all the emissive lights on plants, stones, and wildlife to shine. Combined with the building lights, base lamps and spotlights mounted on Mr. Riggs and defensive towers, it creates a beautiful, rich atmosphere even in the dark of the night.

Other light sources take over when the Sun is not around.
Hi-res: https://gfycat.com/quarrelsomemelodicblackandtancoonhound

And that is all we have for you today. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to comment below or chat us up directly at www.discord.gg/exorstudios. Thanks for reading and see you next week!

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Hey there!

Exactly one week ago we asked you to participate in the first of many voting events that will shape the future of The Riftbreaker. We presented a couple of Ashley’s outfits and the summaries of the stories they are connected with. Here is the picture again:



The option D won the contest by a wide margin. It is a light recon armor, a very advanced protective suit that grants the user protection and support during dangerous Riftbreaking missions. It looks sick as well, and you seem to appreciate both the style and function! :)

As we promised, we are going to describe the armor in greater detail through a story that will reveal a little more about Ashley’s past. It should appear by the end of the month, but take that with a grain of salt - we’ve got a lot going on right now. ;)

Everyone who voted also automatically entered a giveaway. One of our Discord users - Skylord - won an EXOR swag bag, filled to the brim with our gadgets and a signed copy of X-Morph: Defense Limited Edition for the PS4. Do not worry if you missed it, though! There’s going to be a lot more in the future!



This event is the first that we will carry out as a part of our ‘Community-Driven Design’ philosophy. We want you to feel that you have a real impact on how the game turns out. We are making it for you, after all! You can expect to have many chances to decide the future of The Riftbreaker.

Our Discord server is the best place to leave all the feedback and suggestions for us. Reading messages from the community and discussing ideas is a great source of inspiration and knowledge. We would love to have you there! Visit www.discord.gg/exorstudios

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We said many times that we want the development of The Riftbreaker to be community-driven. We want to make choices together with you, let you shape the game and make this project something unique and engaging. Today, we ask for your help with making one of the choices.

Ashley Nowak is the main character of The Riftbreaker. Although we don't see her in-game outside her Mecha-Suit, she still is the most important character and will appear on most of the artwork we make. We decided to have a little bit of fun and design a couple of clothing styles for her to wear as a default. Each of those tells a little story of its own. Your votes will determine which story you'd like us to describe in greater detail, revealing more about Ashley's past.



A - an infiltration suit, designed to make moving as effortless as possible. She used this one while doing recon on illegal mining operations during her years in the Academy.
B - a casual outfit, a little adventurous, inspired by pilots and thrillseekers of the 80s cinema. The jacket used to belong to her grandmother and reminds her of home.
C - a scientist suit, a callback to Ashley's scientific training and background. This outfit survived its fair share of accidents and explosions, yet still holds together.
D - light recon armor, providing protection and life support on dangerous missions but without overburdening the user.
E - full heavy assault armor, for the times when Mr. Riggs' protection was not enough. Every Riftbreaker cadet has to complete a 10 mile run in one of these.

If you would like to take part in the voting, join our Discord at www.discord.gg/exorstudios. You will find the vote in the #vote channel of The Riftbreaker section once you've joined. Everyone who participates will get the chance to win a bag of EXOR Studios goodies. We ship worldwide, so everyone can join.

If you take part in the vote you get the chance to win an EXOR Studios swag bag including A SIGNED COPY OF X-MORPH: DEFENSE COLLECTOR'S EDITION for the PS4, and other cool gadgets! We ship worldwide, so everybody can join. The voting starts today, July 10th, and ends in exactly one week.



We will pick the winner among all the participants. If the option of your choice does not win the vote, you can still get lucky and win the prize.

Good luck!

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Hello!

Just a quick update this Saturday, as we’re really busy with preparing the Zombie Driver launch on the Nintendo Switch and some other things for the upcoming trade shows. Hope you can forgive us :)

As you know, we want the world of The Riftbreaker to be as varied as possible. It is quite a difficult task, because each biome will need its own set of props, fauna, flora, unique weather conditions and other elements that fall under the ‘look and feel’ category.

Last time we showed you the general process of creating props. They all start as simple, hand-drawn illustrations. Some of them never make it into the game, others do, but in a completely different form than originally anticipated. Today we would like to present to you some more pieces of concept art. Some are already in the game, others wait for their turn.



This is of course just a small fraction of the things our graphics designers are working on. We can’t wait for the results. Would you like to see them too? Join our Discord - www.discord.gg/exorstudios

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