The Riftbreaker News

We're super happy to present you with the first large update of The Riftbreaker in 2022! The Lunar New Year update brings, among many others, a new seasonal event, an all-new Statistics Screen, as well as many tweaks and optimizations to enhance your experience.

Let the festivities begin!

As soon as you launch the game after this update, you will be greeted with a message that will inform you about the Lunar New Year event. Similar to the Christmas celebration that we held just a month ago, this is a purely cosmetic event to spice up the Galatean atmosphere a little bit. Some of the basic structures in your base will be replaced with special, seasonal versions. Enjoy the premium wooden floors, designed by the best carpenters in the galaxy. Frighten your enemies with your new Sentinel Towers, which now have golden tiger heads instead of their regular turrets. Let the light of the paper lanterns warn up the night.



If this seasonal event is not your jam, you can turn it off in the options menu at any moment. You won't miss any content because of this.

Additionally, we have added two entirely new skins for Mr. Riggs! You can get them by redeeming the codes TIGER and SPRING in the options menu.

The code SPRING will unlock this skin for you. Gold and red really work well together for some reason.

The code TIGER will unlock this skin for you. Just look how happy Mr. Riggs appears with that... massive predator painted on his windscreen!

Another addition to this update is the Statistics Screen. You can access this screen at any point during gameplay and also after a finished Survival run. The stats will give you all the useful data we could think of about Mr. Riggs, your buildings, and the enemy creatures. This will allow you to analyze your tactics on a much more factual basis, showing you exactly what works and what doesn't. As always, if you have any requests or see any areas we could improve when it comes to this screen, please let us know.



The update also comes with numerous tweaks and fixes for many of the problems that you let us know about, including the ability to switch back from Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) to Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing (FXAA). Some players disliked the overly smoothed-out look of TAA and the ghosting that it could cause. If you experienced these problems, please try using FXAA and see if it works better for you.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Check out this great video to learn more about Anti-Aliasing techniques!

Changes in this build are not limited to technicalities only. After receiving tons of feedback regarding the energy system in The Riftbreaker, especially in case of a power shortage, we have done a lot of work on it. The energy priorities are much more logical and predictable now. For example, the energy network will prioritize AI hubs instead of defensive towers, as towers can't work at all if AI hubs are inactive. This should result in a much more natural experience and save you some trouble in those tight situations.

These are, of course, just a couple of changes that we made to the game over the past few weeks. You can check out the full changelog at the end of this news article. We are waiting for your feedback and reports.

Now, back to work on the World Expansion and online co-op...
EXOR Studios

[h2]The Riftbreaker, Lunar New Year Update, Package #106, Binaries #498 Changelog:[/h2]

[h3]FEATURES[/h3]

• The Spring Festival is here! A new seasonal event has arrived in Galatea 37. Celebrate with two new Mr. Riggs skins (unlock them with codes TIGER and SPRING), new lamp models, new floor patterns, new Sentinel Towers, and even a custom weather event! Just like the previous winter seasonal event, this is purely cosmetic and entirely optional.
  
• The mouse cursors implementation has been completely reworked. It is now much more responsive and faster, reducing lagging and any other potentially unwanted behavior.
  
• The Statistics Screen has been reworked and added to the in-game menu and the end game screen.
  
• The full version of the game and the Prologue now feature different main menu backgrounds to differentiate more easily between the two.
  

[h3]CHANGES[/h3]

• We re-enabled the option to change the anti-aliasing method from TAA to FXAA. Use it if you dislike the minor TAA ghosting artifacts. Enabling FXAA will prevent you from using FidelityFX Super Resolution as it requires TAA.
  
• The energy priority system has been dramatically improved. Previously, in the case of an energy shortage, the buildings would come on- and offline semi-randomly in case of an energy shortage. Now, it’s more granular and predictable, with AI hubs taking priority over defensive towers.
  
• Changed the radius of the objective marker in the Tanzanite Concentration mission from 100 to 10 meters.
  
• Adjusted the minimum number of spawned Cryogenic plants in the Magma Find Samples mission.
  
• Deployable Sentry Guns are more visible now, thanks to tweaked visual effects.
  
• Temporary (green) Rift Portals are now light emitters.
  
• Adjusted fade-in and fade-out timings for dynamic decals - blood splats, explosions, and similar.
  
• Reduced the amount of hitpoints for large Magnetic Rocks, making them easier to deal with.
  
• Menu screens have been adjusted to fill the screen space better on non- 16:9 aspect ratio displays.
  
• Ammo research requirements added to the Corrosive Gun, the Cryogenic Atomizer, the Nuclear Launcher, and Swarm Missiles. This is to prevent a rare scenario where you could develop a weapon but have no means of producing the ammunition required.
  
• Loot from Acidic Yeast should be more visible now.
  
• Planetary Screen is now hidden in Survival Mode and the Prologue.
  
• Bigger chance for "something useful" in Bioanomalies (skills, skins, etc.), instead of random resource caches.
  
• Additional Bioanomalies spawn in on bigger maps.
  
• Requirements are now visible for a couple more items in the Alien Technology research tree.
  
• The Acidic Yeast can now destroy any non-acid-resistant floor.
  
• When the player tried to upgrade the Headquarters building without the necessary resources to do so, they would get the warning pop-up, just as if they could afford the upgrade. This is no longer the case.
  

[h3]FIXES[/h3]

• Fixed an error that caused some meteors to spawn double decals.
  
• Fixed collision of multiple small vegetation pieces to improve scanning with the Bioscanner.
  
• Fixed AI core cost errors that happened while using cost-reducing gear, like Maintenance Tools.
  
• The Cryo Station no longer takes damage shortly after being built on the Magma floor.
  
• Fixed an error that happened when deleting saves through the main menu.
  
• Nurglax Drones are no longer selectable.
  
• Fixed the Uranium Ore icon in research.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused problems with the Build Menu focus after using a hotkey while building.
  
• Floors no longer cast shadows, which should result in performance improvements.
  
• Fixed multiple issues related to minimap zooming.
  
• The buttons on the Journal screen now correctly display their corresponding tooltips.
  
• 'Remove from the research queue' button has been fixed.
  
• Fixed a large number of minor errors and crash bugs.
  

[h3]SOUNDS[/h3]

• New sound added for gates opening and closing.
  
• The sound framework has been reworked entirely, eliminating many issues and crashes that happened before. Please let us know if you notice any strange behavior regarding sound.
  

Hey everyone,

We have just updated the experimental branch of The Riftbreaker with the latest build, which is also the release candidate for tomorrow's public patch. Here is the (very work-in-progress) list of changes.

Please restart Steam if you are on the Experimental branch and don't see the update.

- BuildModeScreen: fixed pointed button state on shortcut usage - a bug in build menu that occurred after using a hotkey
- Floors: fix flags to not cast shadows - save performance
- Make creeper remove basic floors
- Remove HealthComponent from basic floors
- fixed award popup in a special story side mission
- added sound of opening a portal in the orbital scanner screen
- Buildings: prevent lua removal on building in process of selling
- JournalScreen: Added tooltips and localizations
- Buildings: Refresh floors MeshFlags on load
- added Exor::String BuildingService:GetBuildingType( Exor::Entity ent );
- Headquarters: do not show upgrade popup if the player can't afford to upgrade
- GlobalAwardUnlockedEvent: added bool IsHidden as the second parameter
- CraftingScreen: hide uranium_ore and bars for resources without storage limit
- Minimap: Fix zooming
- Buildings: prevent lua removal on building in process of selling
- PlanetaryScanner: added sound effect to portal jump
- Prevent crash in InventorySystem
- JournalScreen: added tooltips to categories button
- BuildMode: Added g_building_upgrade_modifier_as_toggle with default false
- BuildMode: Bring back alt as hold not toggle (change in config)
- InitMainResourcesState: add support for `mods_disabled.txt`
- Popups: make popups block all unhandled inputs
- Added a few helper methods to StringUtils
- use static inline declaration for String::Empty ( simpler code, potential static order initialization fiasco fix )
- ResearchScreen: fix remove from research button

Let us know if you find any issues.

EXOR Studios

We would like to thank you all for the huge popularity of the weapons design contest that we held over the course of the previous two weeks. With over 200 awesome weapon ideas submitted on our Discord server and more than 2500 votes cast in the final vote, it has surpassed all our expectations. It seems like you enjoyed it too, so let’s try this again!

What kind of skills/consumables for Mr. Riggs would you like to see us implement in the next expansion for The Riftbreaker?

This time the contest is much more open-ended, as you can choose between three distinct item categories, all with different characteristics. Let’s take a look at them right now.



[h3]First of all - active skills.[/h3]

Active skills are expansion modules that you have to craft only once. After assigning them to a hotkey you can use them an unlimited number of times - they do not require any ammunition or charges and the only limiting factor for them is the cooldown, which will vary from skill to skill. An example of this is the Emergency Explosion skill. After crafting and equipping it, you can use it as much as you like, but not more often than once every 20 seconds.

[h3]Next up - movement skills.[/h3]

These are very similar to active skills, with the caveat being that you can equip only one of them at a time. They are also related at least a little bit to Mr. Riggs’ movement. Examples include the Dash (available from the beginning of the game), the Power Jump, and the Teleport and Alien Camouflage (which allows you to MOVE unseen. That’s movement-related and we won’t be convinced that it’s not). They also operate on a cooldown.

[h3]The last category - consumables.[/h3]

These are single-use items that Mr. Riggs can carry a certain amount of. They are produced in the Armory. Consumables typically have a short cooldown and can be used one after another as long as you have some left in your inventory. If you run out, you have to wait for the Armory to produce more. Prime examples of consumables are landmines and grenades.



Bearing these in mind, tell us your ideas for skills and consumables. Here’s the answer format:

Name:
Type: consumable (short cooldown, limited amount)/active skill (long cooldown, unlimited uses)/movement skill (movement-related, only one equipped at a time)
Effect:

Example:
Name: Mini-miner
Type: Consumable
Effect: Mr. Riggs deploys a mini-mining drill exactly at the spot where he’s standing. If there is a minable resource underneath, the miner will produce that resource for a limited time.

Another thing that’s different from the last competition is where you can post your answers. We heard that some of you do not want to create a Discord account just to take part in our little contest. That’s alright, as we don’t want to force you to do things you dislike. We will still take answers on Discord (www.discord.gg/exorstudios) in the #rb-skill-contest channel, but this time we will also collect the answers from the Steam News comments, Facebook comments and Twitter replies.

We’re waiting for you to submit your ideas until Monday, 11 AM CET.

Cheers,
EXOR Studios

We have just updated the Experimental Branch of The Riftbreaker. The update features a couple of new elements, such as the Statistics Screen and a new Seasonal Event for the Spring Festival. Other than that, the update also brings some fixes and optimizations, including a rework of our audio system.

We plan to make this patch public by the end of the week. If you would like to help us test it beforehand, you can download it now from the Experimental Branch.

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.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Saves that you create on the Experimental Branch WILL NOT be compatible with older versions of the game like the current, default branch of the game. They will be compatible with future versions of the game. Please manually backup your save files if you plan on reverting to the default branch of the game.

The experimental branch might contain severe errors and bugs. If you are not sure if you want to accept that risk, we recommend waiting until the patch is confirmed to be stable and until it arrives on the main branch.

[h2]The Riftbreaker, Spring Festival Experimental Update, Package #27072, Binaries #116 Changelog:[/h2]

[h3]FEATURES[/h3]

• The Spring Festival is here! A new seasonal event has arrived in Galatea 37. Celebrate with two new Mr. Riggs skins (unlock them with codes TIGER and SPRING), new lamp models, new floor patterns, new Sentinel Towers, and even a custom weather event! Just like the previous winter seasonal event, this is purely cosmetic and entirely optional.
  
• The mouse cursors implementation has been completely reworked. It is now much more responsive and faster, reducing lagging and any other potentially unwanted behavior.
  
• The Statistics Screen has been reworked and added to the in-game menu and the end game screen.
  
• The full version of the game and the Prologue now feature different main menu backgrounds to differentiate more easily between the two.
  

[h3]CHANGES[/h3]

• Changed the radius of the objective marker in the Tanzanite Concentration mission from 100 to 10 meters.
  
• Adjusted the minimum number of spawned Cryogenic plants in the Magma Find Samples mission.
  
• Deployable Sentry Guns are more visible now, thanks to tweaked visual effects.
  
• Temporary (green) Rift Portals are now light emitters.
  
• Adjusted fade-in and fade-out timings for dynamic decals - blood splats, explosions, and similar.
  
• Reduced the amount of hitpoints for large Magnetic Rocks, making them easier to deal with.
  
• The energy priority system has been dramatically improved. Previously, in the case of an energy shortage, the buildings would come on- and offline semi-randomly in case of an energy shortage. Now, it’s more granular and predictable, with AI hubs taking priority over defensive towers.
  
• Menu screens have been adjusted to fill the screen space better on non- 16:9 aspect ratio displays.
  
• Ammo research requirements added to the Corrosive Gun, the Cryogenic Atomizer, the Nuclear Launcher, and Swarm Missiles. This is to prevent a rare scenario where you could develop a weapon but have no means of producing the ammunition required.
  
• Loot from Acidic Yeast should be more visible now.
  
• We re-enabled the option to change the anti-aliasing method from TAA to FXAA. Use it if you dislike the minor TAA ghosting artifacts. Enabling FXAA will prevent you from using FidelityFX Super Resolution as it requires TAA.
  
• Build Max Level' button - left alt key by default - is now a toggle.
  
• Planetary Screen is now hidden in Survival Mode and the Prologue.
  
• Bigger chance for "something useful" in Bioanomalies (skills, skins, etc.), instead of random resource caches.
  
• Additional Bioanomalies spawn in on bigger maps.
  
• Requirements are now visible for a couple more items in the Alien Technology research tree.
  

[h3]FIXES[/h3]

• Fixed an error that caused some meteors to spawn double decals.
  
• Fixed collision of multiple small vegetation pieces to improve scanning with the Bioscanner.
  
• Fixed AI core cost errors that happened while using cost-reducing gear, like Maintenance Tools.
  
• The Cryo Station no longer takes damage shortly after being built on the Magma floor.
  
• Fixed an error that happened when deleting saves through the main menu.
  
• Nurglax Drones are no longer selectable.
  
• Fixed the Uranium Ore icon in research.
  
• Fixed a large number of minor errors and crash bugs.
  

[h3]SOUNDS[/h3]

• New sound added for gates opening and closing.
  
• The sound framework has been reworked entirely, eliminating many issues and crashes that happened before. Please let us know if you notice any strange behavior regarding sound.
  

EXOR Studios

Hello Riftbreakers!

It’s time to check in on our wonderful modding community once more. Ever since we released our Riftbreaker Editing Tools we have seen a healthy increase in your interest in creating custom content for the game, which is awesome and we absolutely love it. Whether you’re a veteran of the modding scene, or you’re just taking your first steps in developing mods, you are welcome on our Discord - www.discord.gg/exorstudios.



Today we would like to showcase one of the most impressive mods we have seen so far. It is called Expanded Arsenal Mod and it’s being developed by our long-time community member WirawanMYT. The mod adds ELEVEN new tower types to the game with some amazing results. You can download the mod here: https://www.nexusmods.com/theriftbreaker/mods/122?tab=description. And what is even crazier - he didn’t even need our editors to do that. ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY NOTEPAD!

WirawanMYT felt that Ashley and Mr. Riggs deserve an upgrade when it comes to their defensive tower range. By mixing and matching existing weapon and ammo types he created a truly impressive arsenal of towers. What is more, he did not stop at simply making them functional - WirawanMYT actually edited the textures and effects as well, in order to give them a distinct feel. Let’s check them all out now! (for bandwidth saving purposes I've only included a couple of GIFs, but WirawanMYT has made a video with all of the towers).

Think of the destruction. Think of the carnage. Think of the good men left behind! Bonus points if you get that reference.

EMP Artillery - This tower uses EMP grenades that deal energy damage to the enemies and have the potential to stun them, delaying the creatures’ arrival to your perimeter.



Plasma Mortar - An Artillery Tower variant that shoots a barrage of Plasma at enemies - which eliminates the need for any ammunition!

Burst Minigun - It is a twist on the Minigun Tower that is currently present in the game. Instead of firing all the time, it shoots short bursts of much more powerful bullets.

Shotgun Tower - One of the most pleasing towers to use in this mod. It does exactly what it says on the tin - it’s a shotgun mounted on top of a defensive tower. It obliterates groups of small enemies, spraying lead everywhere. On top of that, it actually uses the High-Caliber Tower ammo, something that was missing from the game to this point.

Sniper Tower - another tower utilizing High-Caliber Tower Ammo. Fires single, high-velocity bullets that pierce through targets.

Gravity Accelerator - This one has the potential to wreak havoc on the battlefield (and make your FPS tank). Shoots shells that work just like gravity grenades, dealing area damage, damage over time AND making everything fly!



Heavy Gravity Accelerator - If the Gravity Accelerator Tower spent too much time at the gym, this would be the result. Bigger, stronger, more destructive.

Acid Artillery - this variant of the Artillery Tower spits out acidic shells that do not deal high damage at first, but cover a large area and deal damage over time.



Ice Laser - this is a modified Laser Tower. It is characterized by lower damage output, but the cryo damage it deals slows enemies down. Plus, the visual is super-sweet!

MHD Laser - Look, I don’t know what MHD stands for, but I have a couple of guesses. Mega-Hyper-Damage? Metal-Heavy-Doom? My-Heart-Dropped? Dunno. Still - it needs Ironium to operate cause it melts metal and spits it at enemies, which is both cruel and beautiful.



Lightning Spike - Our absolute favorite of them all. This is a modified Shockwave Tower blessed by Thor, Zeus, and a plethora of other Thunder Gods. This tower has the ability to call in directed lightning strikes at the enemies. I don’t think we can beat this one, honestly.

WirawanMYT has also told us that he is working on updates for this mod, including better visuals and other tweaks, so let’s show him some love and give him motivation to keep going! Download the mod here https://www.nexusmods.com/theriftbreaker/mods/122?tab=description and leave a like and a comment!

We greatly appreciate your effort in making The Riftbreaker content. We are extremely happy that the game inspires you to bring your own ideas to life. We plan to showcase the best mods from our community on a regular basis. If you are an author of a cool mod or if you found something crazy on the web, let me know on Discord - my nickname there is voidreaver and my DMs are open!

If this post inspired you to get started then visit our #rb-modding channel, where you can get tips from other modders and our team. We also plan to make more videos on how to use our editors, so stay tuned for that.

Enjoy your weekend!
EXOR Studios