The Riftbreaker News

First of all, apologies for being so quiet lately. Unfortunately, the flu season has sidelined some of our developers for quite some time. However, we are back in full force now, and we have something special coming your way!

This update introduces hot new tech in the form of Intel Xe Super Sampling - Intel XeSS for short. This technique allows you to get a massive performance boost while maintaining high visual fidelity. Thanks to XeSS, the game can run at a lower internal resolution and then reconstruct the image in full with the use of an AI-based upscaling algorithm. What does this mean in human-readable form? Well, the game can run and look better, especially if your GPU couldn't quite get to those sweet 60FPS beforehand.



Intel XeSS technique is very similar to the AMD FSR that has been available in the game for quite some time. It’s based on the same premise - render a cheaper, lower resolution image and use a bunch of clever tricks to achieve a high-quality upscaled image. Now you can compare the results of the two and choose the one that looks better for you or gives you more performance. Please note that XeSS and FSR are mutually exclusive - you can’t run both at once! The world would implode if you did.

Additionally, we have introduced a bunch of fixes and changes to existing features based on your suggestions and recommendations. We highly encourage you to leave suggestions at https://riftbreaker.featureupvote.com - we check all suggestions daily and monitor their progress all the time. We’re also going to publish an article with our first insights very soon!

Have fun with the update. If you need any help, we’re available at www.discord.gg/exorstudios

[h2]The Riftbreaker XeSS Implementation Update, October 5th, 2022. Package #220, Binaries #598. Changelog:[/h2]

[h3]FEATURES[/h3]

• Added support for Intel XeSS. XeSS (Xe Super Sampling) enables you to enjoy gaming with great visuals thanks to AI-enhanced upscaling, enabling more performance with high image fidelity. Powered by hardware acceleration and an AI-based algorithm, Intel XeSS delivers high image quality and more FPS even in the most demanding conditions. XeSS is optimized for Intel graphics hardware, but it is designed with all gamers in mind, unlocked to work on widely available hardware from all GPU vendors.
  

[h3]CHANGES[/h3]

• We have implemented a new, intuitive navigation system for the building menu. You can now use keyboard shortcuts to turn pages within building categories - Q and E by default. When there is no page to turn, the system switches to the next category.
  
• Added a new cheat command: cheat_unlimited_ammo. Use it instead of cheat_unlimited_money if you want to keep your economy intact, but have the urge to shoot stuff. Infinitely.
  
• Speaking of cheats - cheat_unlimited_money now works in the Crafting Screen.
  
• Bioanomaly drop names are now color-coded to reflect the rarity of the item that you found.
  
• Regular walls can now be replaced with Energy Walls and vice versa. Thanks to this, you no longer need to sell your old walls to upgrade.
  
• Buildings that do not consume resources (Solid Material Storage, for example) can no longer be switched off.
  
• Support for AMD FidelityFX Variable Rate Shading and Contrast-Adaptive Sharpening has been dropped. With the introduction of new rendering technologies, such as AMD FSR and Intel XeSS, the performance gain provided by these two options was marginal. Moreover, enabling those options could cause potential problems with FSR and XeSS.
  

[h3]FIXES[/h3]

• Fixed an error that caused the mod list in the inventory to appear empty.
  
• The minimap will no longer break after changing the graphics settings.
  
• All buildings should now properly display the 'disabled' icon after manually turning them off.
  
• Minor fixes for rendering the terrain around liquid pools.
  
• Fixed a visual glitch that caused pipelines to connect to buildings on all sides instead of just the input/output port.
  
• All resource icons should now be displayed properly on the Rift Station building.
  
• A lot of small optimizations and additional fixes for obscure crashes.
  

www.twitch.tv/exorstudios

Hello Riftbreakers!

Today we would like to introduce you to a new tool that should make the communications between EXOR Studios and the community much faster and clearer. It’s called Feature Upvote. It’s a very simple suggestion board that you can use without creating any accounts or other artificial barriers. We believe that thanks to this website, we can simplify the process of giving feedback on the current state of The Riftbreaker and make tracking outstanding issues much easier.

It's a bit empty here, add your own ideas and suggestions!

Visit and bookmark https://riftbreaker.featureupvote.com. The idea behind this service is really simple - the first thing you will see is a board with outstanding suggestions from the community. If you read something that you like a lot and you think it would improve the game, simply click ‘upvote’! This way, the best ideas and the most pressing matters will naturally ‘float’ to the top and let us know that we should pay attention to them. The board also has a built-in comment section where you can discuss the ideas in much more detail with the rest of the community.

First, click the idea that you like...

...then, click 'upvote!' Simple as that - no login, no hassle.

You can also add your own suggestions. Please make sure to use English! We want this board to be accessible to the broadest spectrum of users possible while maintaining relative order and quality, and this is the only way it can happen. Also, make sure that your idea is not a duplicate of another post - use the ‘search’ function. If you’ve met both of these conditions, just click the ‘Add Suggestion’ button. Give your thread a title, create a short description, and you’re good to go! As soon as we go through your post, we will assign it proper tags, and other users will be able to upvote your idea.

You only need to provide your email if you post a new suggestion or add a comment to an existing one. This way, you can get notified about replies.

You can filter the messages on the board by date, the number of upvotes, and a couple of tags that we will manually assign to each suggestion. As the number of topics on the forum grows, we will add new tags to make searching easier for you. You can also create topics with suggestions on how to improve the Feature Upvote board itself! We are doing this to minimize the communication boundaries between you and us. Let us help each other!

We have pre-populated the board with items from our roadmap. Feel free to upvote and comment on those - we would like to know which of our milestones and ideas are the most important to you. You can think of the Feature Upvote board as an interactive roadmap that you and other users can shape. Give it a try at https://riftbreaker.featureupvote.com.

If you prefer a more direct communications approach, you can also always catch us on www.discord.gg/exorstudios - all feedback is welcome!

Have a great weekend!
EXOR Studios

Hello Riftbreakers!

In the roadmap that we published last week, we highlighted extended modding support as one of the major milestones that we want to achieve with The Riftbreaker in the nearest future. Today we are taking the first step towards reaching that goal. This article will teach you how to prepare 3D models to be imported into the game. We’ll show you the basic requirements a model needs to comply with and how to use our tailor-made EXOR Mesh Exporter plugin for Blender.

Please bear in mind that this article is not a modeling tutorial. You won’t learn how to create, sculpt and texture 3D models today. If you want to learn how to do those things, we encourage you to try out some free tutorials on YouTube or other video-sharing sites. It’s not as difficult as it might first seem, and it can be a great pastime activity. Plus, there is no entry barrier - Blender is free for home and commercial use. There are also plenty of ready-made models on the web that you can try importing into The Riftbreaker using this tutorial if you’re not into preparing models yourselves.

Another thing worth mentioning is that despite its name, the EXOR Mesh Exporter is not a tool used to extract 3D models from within the game. It is used to export models from blender in a format that contains only the information required by the game. Thanks to this software, we can reduce the disk space necessary for the game and the amount of data the engine has to read.

With this short introduction out of the way, let’s dive into it!

One of the tools that we use for creating 3D models for The Riftbreaker is Blender. It’s a great, open-source, and highly expandable tool. Almost all hard-surface models for the game (buildings and weapons, for example) are made using this software. As mighty as the program is, its functionality can be further expanded, making it an excellent platform for developers. Blender can export models to many different formats, but none are quite right for our game. That’s where the program’s open nature truly shines. We have created a custom plugin to export the models in a format optimal for the Schmetterling engine.

You can find the tool right here, on our GitHub.

We can confirm that the plugin works in Blender versions 2.93 and 3.1.2. It might also work with newer versions of the program, but it is not guaranteed. Follow the instructions in the included readme file to install and enable the plugin in Blender. Then, use the instructions in this article as a reference to avoid some of the most common problems.

Let’s kick things off with the simplest model you can encounter in the game - a static, indestructible prop, a rock, for example. You can download a blender file with one of our boulders to follow along right here.

1. Create or open your ready-made 3D model.
2. Set the scale of your model. By default, the size of the Blender grid is 1x1 meter. However, one building grid in The Riftbreaker has a size of 2x2 meters. This means that if you want your prop to fit within one in-game grid, it needs to be the size of 2x2 meters in Blender.
   
   The bases of these towers are 1x1 grids, which equals to 2x2 meters.
   A 2x2 model in Blender is a perfect match for our 1x1 grid.
   
   
3. Triangulate your meshes. Follow these steps:
   
   
   
4. Normalize all transforms. The scale needs to be set to 1 : 1 : 1, and the rotation to 0 : 0 : 0. The model also needs to be centered on the scene. Set the pivot point to 0.0.0. Then select your mesh, press ctrl + a, and click ‘All Transforms’.
   
5. Prepare collisions for your model. Collision models in the Schmetterling Engine are usually convex shapes to simplify physics and make collision calculations easier.
   
   This video explains the difference between the two https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlHqdwTtcCY
   
   Collision models are prepared in Blender, just like visual models. To create a convex hull in Blender, select your mesh, go to edit mode (tab), select all your faces, and then open your search bar (F3 or space, depending on your settings), then use the search option to find Convex Hull and click it. It doesn’t have to be very precise - some clipping is perfectly fine, and the simpler the shape of your collision, the better.
   
   The model in our example blend file has a concave shape, so it has to be split into two convex collision shapes. Try to limit the number of collisions and their poly counts - the more convex hulls you include, the more performance-heavy your model will be.
   
   
   The exporter will use the names you applied to your models in Blender. Set a name for your model, for example - test_rock_01. The collisions for that model need to be named in a specific manner so that the game knows which collision belongs to any given model. You do that by adding a _cX suffix to the name like this: test_rock_01_cX, where X is the number of the collision convex. The first collision for that object gets the _c1 suffix, the second - _c2, and so on. What is essential - collision naming for each model starts from c1 and goes up!
   
   
6. Prepare a UV map for your model. Here’s an excellent tutorial to get you started on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeBUfMKKZDo
7. Texture your model in any texturing software. We mainly use Substance Painter. We have a custom texture exporter plugin for this software as well - you can download it here. This plugin is confirmed to work with Substance Painter version 2019.3.3.
   
   Here are the Substance Painter export settings.
   
   If you would like to use any other program, here’s how to manually prepare textures to work in The Riftbreaker:
   • You can download the example set we prepared for you - the steps will be easier to follow.
     
   • Prepare a set of these textures: albedo, DirectX normal map, roughness, ambient occlusion, metallic, and - optionally - emissive and opacity. (folder 1_SeparateTextures in our example).
     
   • Combine the textures in graphics editing software that supports channel use, for example, Photoshop, Krita, or Gimp. Here’s the naming convention and the required channels:
     
     
     • texturename_albedo : Albedo on RGB channels, Opacity on the alpha channel
       
     • texturename_packed : AmbientOcclusion on R, Roughness on G, and Metallic on B.
       
     • You do not need to combine other textures.
       
   • At this point we should have 3 or 4 texture files for our model:: texturename_albedo, texturename_packed, texturename_normal, texturename_emissive (optional). You can find the example in the 2_ReadyForDDS folder in our example.
     
   • Open the combined textures using the NVIDIA Texture Tools Exporter.
     
   • Change the texture formats using the list at the top of the left panel. Follow these instructions for each texture type (screenshot FormatDDS.png).
     
     
     • albedo - BC3
       
     • normal - BC5u
       
     • packed - BC1
       
     • emissive - BC1
       
   • Click Save As. Choose the directory and the name for your texture. Remember the naming convention. Click save. Repeat for each of your textures.
     
8. The finished product should look like our example in the 3_FinishedDDS folder.
9. Export the model using the File > Export > EXOR Mesh Exporter option in Blender.
   Create the corresponding .ent file to see your model in the game. It’s best to use an existing .ent file from the game to make sure you have all the necessary components in there. If you want to add a new rock - just copy an existing one and change the parameters.

Naturally, this checklist only covers the necessary steps for static and indestructible props, but those are not the only models used in the game. We have uploaded examples of several other types to our Dropbox - destructible crystals, trees, cacti, a fully animated creature, as well as a tower set. We will cover how to prepare those models for export in due time. However, if you want to do some tinkering and reverse engineering - feel free to use those files as examples of adapting your models for use in The Riftbreaker mods.

If you have any additional questions or suggestions, feel free to let us know here in the comments or on our Discord - www.discord.gg/exorstudios. You can also create requests on our GitHub page. The Riftbreaker World Editor suite and the accompanying tools are going to be expanded over time, which is why your feedback is really valuable to us!

EXOR Studios

We hope that you’ve enjoyed what the Metal Terror World Expansion has brought to The Riftbreaker so far. This release doesn’t mean we’re going to slow down, though. Far from it! Here’s an update to our development roadmap and a short presentation of our plans for the future.

A lot has happened already since the launch of The Riftbreaker. We have released a total of 18 updates, both big and small, leading us to where we are today. With the first two major items on our old list checked off, we can talk about the next one - which is online co-op. This is THE hot topic regarding The Riftbreaker. We have already published a detailed article about it, but we can reiterate some basics for a quick tl;dr. The multiplayer mode has been in development since the beginning of this year. While a part of our programming team has been helping with developing the first World Expansion, others started reworking underlying game systems to accommodate multiple players. As of right now, we can tell you the following:

• We have the game running on multiple PCs connected over a network. There are still a lot of systems we have to port and lots of optimizations to be done.
  
• The project is far from over, but the most important things are already in place.
  
• The current implementation of co-op is really bare-bones and not ready for public scrutiny.
  
• We have shifted more programmers to the multiplayer project.
  
• We still don’t have any dates that we could announce in terms of when it’s going to be available for testing.
  

You can find the in-depth article about the development progress of the co-op mode right here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/780310/view/3381659291157676103

…but hey, that only takes up the work time of the programmers, so what are the rest of you going to do?

We are continuously working on improving the overall game experience and expanding the world of The Riftbreaker. You can still expect regular updates and patches from us. When it comes to the bigger picture, we have mapped out a few of the most important developmental milestones that we are working on in the general order that we expect them to be finished.



[h2]EXTENDED MODDING SUPPORT[/h2]

Allowing our players to freely mod The Riftbreaker has always been very important for us. Many of you have already tried the possibilities that the Schmetterling Engine and our World Editor Suite give you with amazing results. However, we agree that mod distribution through Discord and multiple external websites is not the optimal solution. Not only does it limit mod discoverability, but also leads to a multitude of problems after a game update makes a mod incompatible with the game.

We are working on integrating an in-game mod browser that will benefit both mod users and mod creators. Users will be able to discover the latest mods and download them with just a couple of clicks. The built-in mod manager will let them choose which mods they want to run and inform them about any incompatibilities or potential issues. Creators, on the other hand, will no longer have to wonder where to upload their mods. They will also be able to easily update their mods as the development of the game progresses.

We are also planning to make modding even easier for you. The Riftbreaker World Editor Suite is a set of tools that we used to create the game. It is already available for download either through the Steam Tools section or directly through our GitHub - https://github.com/exorstudios/riftbreaker-tools. Thanks to all the feedback we’ve got from you on these tools, we have been able to make major improvements to our editors, introducing a multitude of new functions, as well as stability and performance improvements. The Editor Suite will keep receiving updates, extending its capabilities even further. We are also planning to release our Blender plugins for exporting/importing custom 3D meshes into the game. And for those of you in need of some guidance - more tutorial videos are coming to our YouTube channel. Subscribe not to miss them!



[h2]EXTENDED STORY CAMPAIGN[/h2]

The Riftbreaker is the kind of game where you can spend hundreds of hours optimizing your bases, fighting alien hordes, and searching for the last possible resource deposit to mine out. Some players are happy to do just that, but there are also those who have signaled to us that there is not much to do after the main storyline is finished. We agree - there is a lot of room for improvement and expansion when it comes to the Story Campaign mode.

We are planning to introduce new, far-reaching campaign goals and a new system for generating additional randomized missions through the Orbital Scanner interface. We have received a lot of feedback stating that the Metal Terror campaign branch is much more varied and interesting than the base campaign. We’d love to bring the campaign missions to this level of quality or beyond.

Naturally, such missions would not be much fun if they didn’t pose any kind of challenge, and, let’s be honest, in the endgame, not many things could stand in the way of a fully powered Mr. Riggs. We are planning to continue rebalancing Campaign Mode difficulty, including a major difficulty management system rework. This does not mean we are going to make the game harder for everyone - you will still be able to enjoy the relaxed pace of the Campaign on lower difficulty levels, while long-time veterans should be able to enjoy a real challenge on the higher settings.

Such major changes to the Campaign structure are also a great opportunity to add more world-building elements to the storyline. We heard your feedback - we know it’s been lacking at some points. We would like to tell you more about the world of Galatea 37 as well as Ashley’s motivations for going there. What are the strange bioanomalies that are encountered around the planet? Why are there so many moons around the planet? What’s causing the strange magnetic field anomalies?...



[h2]WORLD EXPANSION II[/h2]

Finally, we are also working on a new World Expansion update. This time we will take you on a trip underneath Galatea’s surface in search of the source of an anomalous crystalline growth that keeps infecting the Galatean wildlife and posing a threat to your presence on the planet. The mission will be long and dangerous, but the plentiful rewards will more than make up for your efforts.

The World Expansion II will be released in the same formula as Metal Terror. Once the expansion is launched, all users will receive a free update, adding all the new technologies, weapons, buildings, and creatures into the game. You will be free to use them in Survival Mode, as well as in your own mods. The story part of the World Expansion will be available as an optional paid DLC.

This time we would like to take a less secretive approach to the development of the next World Expansion. We are working on new gameplay mechanics that we’d like to expand with our community through early playtesting on the experimental branch. We don’t have a release date for the new World Expansion at this time, but since the first one took about 6 months to develop, we expect this one to take a similar amount of time to finish. At this point, we can only share some early concept screenshots of the underground biome to give you a general feel of where we’re going:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2108630/The_Riftbreaker__World_Expansion_II/

You can expect regular updates on our progress and all the new features that we’re planning to add. Be on the lookout for those in the future!




That wraps it up for today. Thank you for the continued support of The Riftbreaker! None of these things would be possible without your input and willingness to work with us to make the game better. We are very grateful for all your suggestions and feedback. Join us at www.discord.gg/exorstudios to always be on top of all things Riftbreaker.

Cheers,
EXOR Studios