1. The Riftbreaker
  2. News

The Riftbreaker News

How To Publish Mods

Hello Riftbreaker Tinkerers!

The latest Riftbreaker update includes something we promised you quite some time ago - an integrated modding manager. Thanks to this new functionality, players will be able to browse your creations in-game and download them with just a couple of clicks. Here is a screenshot of what it looks like in the game:



But what good would it be if you didn’t have any way of getting your mods to show up in the manager? Well - you don’t have to worry about that at all. We have updated The Riftbreaker World Editor Suite with all the tools you need to share your mods with the world (plus a lot of new features and bug fixes)! This article will tell you how to prepare your mods to conquer the world step-by-step. Enjoy!



The first thing you need to get is the World Editor Suite. You can do so either by going to your Steam Library and downloading the package from there (you need to enable tools viewing first, see gif) or by going to our GitHub at https://github.com/exorstudios/riftbreaker-tools. If you are new to the Riftbreaker Modding scene, this article should cover the very basics: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/780310/view/3109170041988719336. If you’ve got that covered, let’s move on to the next part - getting your mod to show up in the Manager.



The first thing you need to do is open up the Workspace Editor and set up a new workspace.
You can name it anything you like - this name is only for your internal use. Immediately after setting up the workspace, a brand-new window will pop up - Update Manifest. This is where you can fill in all the information about your mod: your author name (visible to others), your website if you have one, your mod’s name, its description, and tags. The tags are pre-configured by us and will be consistent across all mod hosting websites we aim to support (Steam Workshop for now, Mod.io, and Curse Forge to be added later). You can also set up a thumbnail for your mod by clicking the image on the right of the window. The preview image is a PNG with the size of 512x288, a 16:9 aspect ratio, and up to 2MB.



If you’ve got an older mod you want to adapt to the new flow, you can also do so. Open your old Workspace and click Export - this option will display the Update Manifest window, where you can fill in all the info. You can also access the Update Manifest option at any time by choosing the option in the Workspace menu.



After that, it is business as usual. On the left side of the Workspace Editor window, you will see the internal file structure of The Riftbreaker. You can copy the files you want to edit to the right side (or just simple drag and drop a file from the left window to the right) - your little modding sandbox. Edit all the files you want, add new ones - go nuts! When you’re ready to release your mod to the public, it is time to make it public.



Click the green ‘Export Workspace’ button at the bottom of your workspace. The Editor will give you a chance to update your Manifest once more before you make the mod public. If you are happy with all the metadata, simply click ‘OK’. That will open a new window called ‘Export Workspace’. In that window, you can add more information about your mod. The first piece of info is the version number of your mod. The convention we’ve gone for is X.Y.Z, where X denotes the major release number, Y is the minor version, and Z is a patch. Try to stick to that, don’t go to version 6.6.6 on day one. The next important piece of info to fill out are the change notes.



After you’ve provided all the information, you’re good to go! Press publish, and your mod will make its way to the Steam Workshop! Whenever you would like to publish an update to your mod, simply click the Export Workspace button again, increment your version number, and fill in the patch notes.



In the coming weeks, we will also expand this option with the ability to publish mods to Mod.io and Curse Forge to enable non-Steam users to access mods as well. In the meantime, we are waiting for your feedback and suggestions on how we can improve the process for you. We’re waiting for you over at www.discord.gg/exorstudios.com and in the comment section below! We can't wait to hear from you!

EXOR Studios

Experimental Hotfix

[h3]The Riftbreaker Experimental Hotfix, November 16th, 2022, Binaries #605, Package #229:[/h3]
  • Fixed game initialization crash if a user had previous AMD FSR 1.0 settings that do not apply under AMD FSR 2.0.
  • Added quality presets to the Reflections feature - Low, Medium, High, None.
  • Fixed an issue in Campaign Mode that allowed players to leave the map without warning them that their buildings would be sold.
  • When Mods in the menu are sorted by size, an arrow will be displayed on the header bar.
  • The game should now properly display the version number.
  • Fixed the artillery ribbon particle effect - it was almost completely transparent.
  • Fixed the resource highlight effects during mining.
  • Fixed an issue with tags in the Mods screen.
  • Added one more tag and one more button label to the new modding UI.
  • Changed the 'No Tag' option in the Mods menu to 'All Tags'
  • Fixed the 'Beam Me Up' achievement.
  • Fixed the 'No Water? No Problem' achievement.
  • Fixed an issue that turned Mr. Riggs invisible after travelling to another biome if certain conditions were met.
  • Fixed multiple obscure crash bugs



Live on Twitch

www.twitch.tv/exorstudios

Experimental Update, November 4th, 2022.

Hello Riftbreakers!

Another week, another experimental patch! Thanks to your feedback, we have managed to investigate and fix a bunch of problems with the previous build. We have also moved on to our new, custom-made memory allocator, which hopefully will bring some performance gains, especially in large bases with a large number of entities. Please keep reporting the outstanding issues on our Discord: www.discord.gg/exorstudios.

This build of the game is highly experimental - even more than usual. We have already spent over a week testing the package, but literally anything might break. Please proceed with caution. Seriously. 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: https://www.discord.gg/exorstudios #rb-experimental-feedback - we highly encourage you to join in and share your feedback.

[h2]The Riftbreaker Experimental Update, November 4th, 2022. Package #279, Binaries #532. Changelog:[/h2]

[h3]CHANGES[/h3]
  • FramePrepareMeshRenderable contention decreased. It's quite a big optimization step, as on a 12-core CPU, the cost per frame decreases from 15% to 5% of the overall rendering time. Your mileage may vary depending on the number of CPU cores available to you, but it's a step in the right direction.
  • We made the switch to a new memory allocator. It might come across as a strange move since we only switched to mimalloc last week. However, mimalloc was not our target allocator, just a stepping stone to our own custom solution. Our proprietary memory allocator is more efficient and reduces the overall memory usage compared to both mimalloc and our old allocator.
  • In order to reduce the length of some localization strings, we replaced the words 'mech' and 'tower' with dedicated icons in ammunition-related information boxes. Thanks to that, the descriptions are much shorter, especially in languages known for long, compound words.
  • Portals and liquid pumps should now display their operating radiuses after selecting them in build mode.
  • Changed the radius decal for Magnetic Stabilizer.
  • Changed some old loading screen tips that were no longer relevant due to gameplay changes. We also added a couple of new ones - for now, they are displayed in English only.
  • The 'P' key can now be bound to any action in the Controls Customization screen. The only hardbound key that is left in our control scheme is 'Esc'.


[h3]FIXES[/h3]
  • Buildings rebuilt from ruins (optional feature for the time being) no longer double your resource storage.
  • Benchmark timings and behavior have been fixed to match the previous settings.
  • Pipes should no longer connect to buildings that do not use liquids.
  • Sentry turrets should now properly sink in quicksand.
  • Fixed the effects of the Offensive Drone for the mech to match the damage type.
  • Fixed issues with key binding options disappearing in certain conditions.
  • Sentry turrets and other consumable objects can no longer be selected using the picker tool.
  • Fixed errors resulting from pakbuilding mistakes.
  • Shield Generators now display their operating radiuses.
  • Fixed Morirot nest behavior.
  • Fixed potential Metal Terror DLC initialization problems.
  • Fixed multiple crash bugs.

Live on Twitch

www.twitch.tv/exorstudios