The Riftbreaker News

We recently told you about the improvements we plan to implement in the game in the upcoming Endgame Update. One of the aspects of the game we have been working on is screen legibility. There are a lot of things happening at any given moment during The Riftbreaker’s gameplay. Whether you are expanding your base, exploring the world, or slaying hordes of aliens, your screen is sure to be full of particle effects, flying wreckage, and lots of other effects. That is the EXOR style - we want you to feel like you’re a part of something epic. It works great most of the time - that is, until we introduce more players.

Large battles against powerful bosses have a tendency to cover the world under hundreds of effects.

The player’s mech is the most significant contributor to the number of special effects on the screen. You carry out all in-game actions through your avatar. Using weapons, building new structures, and even mining generates more and more on-screen objects. Once we add more mechs to the screen, the number of effects on the screen can skyrocket. It is usually not a problem during more peaceful moments. That’s when you are more likely to split up with your friends and do your own thing. One player can build up the power infrastructure, someone else can handle defenses, while another two might go exploring. Things get complicated when you bunch up.

The more players on one screen, the more difficult it is to see what is really going on.

Co-op partners are most likely to group up during an attack wave. That is when you have to focus your firepower and defend what you managed to build together. All hell breaks loose at that moment - your towers start firing, producing projectiles, explosions, and wreckage. You start using your skills, consumables, and the small arsenal of weapons attached to Mr. Riggs, plus your buddies start doing the same. Your enemies won’t stand idle either. They will attack you with all their might, summoning their own effects. At some point during the fight, it gets difficult to tell what is happening altogether. We had to fix that, so we sat down together and had a long discussion about how to tackle the problem.

We sat down and watched hours of playtest footage, analyzing what the problem really is.

Before solving a problem, you have to get down to its root. It was evident that the sheer number of effects was a part of it. However, it wasn’t the whole story. We analyzed a lot of still frames from the gameplay videos we took during playtesting. By doing so, we realized they all had something in common - they were all overexposed. There was too much light hitting the camera, causing the majority of the screen to turn into a bright blob with no detail or definition. That was one part of the issue. We also realized that some of our visual effects stayed on the screen too long and were too complex. That also added to the unnecessary chaos on screen. That is where our problem lies.

We quickly noticed that in many cases, overexposure was to blame for the lack of clarity.

Our analysis gave us a clear path forward. We decided to give our effects a makeover and simplify them just a little. This would make them more legible in busy scenarios and improve both single-player and network performance. We began the long process of analyzing each effect individually. Player weapons were the first item on our list, especially the rapid-fire ones. They can produce hundreds of tiny lights each second when fired simultaneously by four players. These numbers add up very quickly. Additionally, whenever a projectile hits an enemy or an obstacle, a couple of additional particles are spawned, further adding to the chaos. We decided to remove the light effects from most small weapon projectiles. To compensate for that, their particle effects have received a makeover to maintain visibility.

Each bullet fired from the old SMG had a small light. It usually blended with Mr. Riggs' spotlight and making it difficult to spot the bullet itself.

New and improved SMG projectiles. They are more visible, don't have any additional lights, and are less performance-hungry as a bonus.

Next, we investigated what we could do to improve our explosions. Cutting lights from those was out of the question, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find opportunities elsewhere. Our first experiment was to reduce the size of lights. The results were promising - most of the people we asked for feedback couldn’t tell whether they were looking at an explosion with a regular light or a smaller one. That’s one point for the home team! Next, we focused on the number of particles that make up explosion effects. For example, our atom bomb explosion effect comprised 1042 individual particles. We trimmed on those wherever we could. The last thing we changed was the length of the effects. We reduced the lifetime of most explosions and hits by about 25%. Hardly anyone can tell a difference, but those milliseconds do improve the situation quite a bit.

This explosion is made up of 1042 individual quads that spawn in and animate with very precise timing.

Many explosions and projectiles can clutter up the screen very quickly. However, there are also some massive effects that we have been planning to overhaul for quite some time. One such example is the tornado. It has been with us since the first public version of the game back in 2020. The tornado comprised a couple hundred smoke particles that revolved quickly around the axis. It looked okay for the most part, and since it rarely happened, we were not too desperate to change its looks. The situation changed slightly when we added the fire tornado as a usable player skill. We would see it all the time and, in the case of multiplayer, often in several instances on one screen. It was time to rework the effect.

The old tornado effect covered up half the screen, pretty much.

Fire tornado also covered up half the screen, but brighter!

To reduce the number of particles on the screen, we created a simple tornado model and gave it a fully custom treatment. We developed a shader that simulated the movement of the air currents and applied it to the model's surface. The shader’s color can be modified easily, allowing us to create regular, fire, and acid tornados. Of course, the shader itself won’t do much, but together with a small light and a couple of particle effects here and there, we ended up with a nice and clean tornado effect that we will be using from now on.

The new effect is much more subtle. Looks much better in-game - compression killed this one.

And here's the improved version of the fire tornado.

Naturally, the things we mentioned in this article are not the only changes we’re planning to implement. We consider increasing the visual clarity as one of the most important improvements to include in the co-op and endgame updates. If you’d like to learn more about what we’re doing and be the first to test these changes hands-on (eyes-on?), then join our Discord at https://www.discord.gg/exorstudios to always get the news first.

See you next time!
EXOR Studios

Every couple of months, we try to highlight the best mods published by The Riftbreaker community. Sometimes, these are highly complex mods that add tons of new technologies that require new resources. One such mod is WirawanMYT’s Expanded Arsenal, which allows you to create an incredibly complex factory full of interlocking elements you need to maintain. Other times, mods like Frognik’s MegaPack turn The Riftbreaker upside-down and only use the game as a basis to create something entirely new. Today’s mod firmly belongs to the first category. Let’s look at Killtech’s Rift Exploration Defense Industry mod, which is still in development but already bears a lot of promise.

The mod we're talking about today adds dozens of new buildings and technologies, increasing the complexity and challenge of playing the campaign mode by an order of magnitude.

Rift Exploration Defense Industry (REDI) is a massive mod that completely overhauls the game’s economy and warfare. It changes the existing resource economy and adds a whole to of new elements on top of it. The mod is intended to give you a more significant challenge, making energy, ammo, and resources more scarce - not an easy task by any stretch. Killtech enjoyed the vanilla Riftbreaker gameplay, but there were some aspects that they didn’t like that much. They compiled these into a ‘to-do’ list and aimed to fix these issues with the REDI mod. The REDI mod introduces changes in the following areas of the game:

1. The production chains of resources play a more significant role, especially in the later stages of the campaign. New resources and dedicated buildings have been added.
   
2. Higher-tier weapons are now less powerful and need ammunition that is more difficult to produce.
   
3. Building upgrades are no longer no-brainers. Sometimes, you need lower-level buildings to keep the higher-level ones operational. Other times, level 2 and 3 buildings come with their own drawbacks, like the requirement for additional piping.
   
4. Resource Outpost missions provide more challenges, and the resources from those are necessary to build and maintain the economy.
   

Let’s see what they did to improve on these aspects of the game. Remember that the mod is still being actively developed, so not all features are in their final form yet. Treat it as an appetizer for things to come! It is also meant to be played in Campaign mode - Survival playthroughs are not really possible without cheats due to limited time.

To be honest, even with cheats and unlimited time, building up a base utilizing all features of this mod could take DAYS.

The mod introduces several new resources into the game. Ammonium is a rare resource that is required to produce ammunition. It has its own production chain with custom-made buildings. You can find deposits of this resource scattered on the surface of Galatea 37. Petroleum is a liquid resource that can be converted into carbonium. It can be extracted from underground deposits using the Gas Extractor building introduced in World Expansion III. Since it is an underground liquid vein, it gives you potentially infinite carbonium in the game's later stages. There is also an additional plant-based reagent that is required to process the more advanced resources. It also comes in liquid form, introducing yet another piece to the puzzle of creating a sustainable economy.

Basic resource production is actually quite simplified - one factory can mine all variants of resources. There is also a separate building for drilling underground resources.

Killtech completely redesigned the way ammo is produced. Instead of manufacturing ammo packs that feature everything you would ever need, ammo is now made in specialized buildings, one for each type present in the game. In total, there are three tiers of 5 different types of ammo. Best of all - higher-tier ammo requires the lower-tier product as a resource. This means that upgrading buildings is no longer a no-brainer. Upgrade too many of your level one factories, and you’ll starve your level twos. This increases the complexity by orders of magnitude and brings the logistical challenge of The Riftbreaker to a whole new level, making ammunition a luxury.

Mr. Riggs can block tower projectiles. Towers can also block each other. Placement matters a lot!

The scarcity of ammunition is not the only aspect of the changing combat system. Superior and Extreme weapons have been nerfed quite significantly. Killtech doesn’t want you to become a one-robot army. You will have to utilize defensive towers of many types to beat the hordes of creatures attacking your bases. Towers have received some changes as well. Not only are there more variants available in the game, but they also often require pipe connections. On top of that, towers can block each other from shooting at the target, making placement critical.

Glorious pipe spaghetti, and this is just one side of a very small base. Imagine this in late-game.

That’s a ton of pretty fundamental changes. The mod alters even more aspects of the game (for example, a rare, one-in-a-hundred weather event that causes all the natural disasters to happen all at once); however, we won’t list them all now. Killtech has compiled their own list on the mod’s mod.io page. Go visit it at this link: https://mod.io/g/riftbreaker/m/rift-exploration-defense-industry.

What made this mod catch our attention is not only the sheer complexity it introduces. It is also the creative use of the assets that were already in the game. Adding so many new production tiers required Killtech to create new buildings. Instead of creating new models from scratch, they utilized the elements of already existing models and stacked them on top of each other to create completely new constructions. For example, the top part of the Liquid Material Storage stacked on top of the Gas Filtering plant makes for a great Bio-Cobalt Refinery. And we do not even want to guess what the Nitrification Plant is constructed from. The creativity just oozes from these contraptions.

The number of buildings Killtech could create by mixing the in-game assets is mind-boggling.

REDI mod also adds entirely new features. The best example of this is the Fire Control Station. It is a building that acts as a supplement for your existing defensive towers. The station disables all towers within its radius of operation if there are no enemies present in its radar range. Once an enemy unit comes close to the base, the Fire Control Station will automatically enable the towers. It is a brilliant way to save energy without the need to micromanage each building individually.

The research tree is expanded with all sorts of new tech, and your Communication Hubs will now require water for cooling. It's not going to be easy to discover it all!

The mod is still in a very early version, but it already bears a lot of promise. We highly recommend checking it out, especially if you are looking for an increased challenge that doesn’t necessarily involve chucking five times more creatures at your base. If you are a fan of pipe spaghetti, fragile production chains, and having to plan your base in a spreadsheet before actually committing to anything, then you will feel right at home. Again, you can find the mod by following this mod.io link:
https://mod.io/g/riftbreaker/m/rift-exploration-defense-industry


Killtech is an active user on our Discord (https://www.discord.gg/exorstudios), so if you have any questions or suggestions or would like to say ‘thank you’ - drop in and give them a shout!

See you next time!
EXOR Studios

After quite a lengthy break caused by technical issues, we are back with another update for The Riftbreaker Closed Co-Op Beta test. The list of changes in this build is quite extensive. We tried to improve on many issues reported by our community. You can find the full changelog below.

[h2]The Riftbreaker Closed Co-Op Beta, November 6th, EXE: 9710 DATA:74 Changelog:[/h2]
[h2]Changes[/h2]
[h3]Minimap[/h3]

• Added a symbols legend to the map screen.
  
• Added a player list to the full map screen. You can click on a name to teleport to the chosen player.
  
• Added new Minimap icons for significant buildings (Armory, Comms Hub), resource deposits and creatures.
  
• Removed most of the decorations (buildings) from the minimap to reduce clutter and improve performance.
  
• Changed the minimap icon for Mech wreckage.
  

[h3]Visibility[/h3]

• Elemental Trail effects for Omega creatures density has been reduced to improve visual clarity during battles.
  
• Effects for Mech shield destruction and teleporting now have a weaker light effect to improve visual clarity.
  
• Reduced the light size in Fire Trail items.
  
• Removed shadow-casting lights in Volcanic Rock Rain event projectiles.
  
• Removed big fire trail effects from all meteors and comets.
  
• The visual effects for Immolator have been reduced in size.
  
• Changed the tornado effects from particle-based to a new mesh with a shader.
  
• Decreased the number of drones spawned by Omega creatures and increased their damage output to compensate. This was done to reduce the onscreen chaos, but maintain similar DPS.
  
• Removed lights from projectiles fired by high rate-of-fire weapons, such as the SMG or minigun. Their particles have also been reworked. As a result the effects these weapons generate are more visible, don't contribute to overexposure, and consume less system resources.
  
• Reduced the amount, size, and intensity of lights in many effects. This includes the Mech's skills, consumables, weapons, as well as enemy projectiles. Some particles also fade away more quickly. This has been done to increase visual clarity.
  

[h3]Survival rules[/h3]

• Added minimum spawn radiuses to enemy attack waves in the Tropical Zone and Volcanic Area biomes on all difficulty levels. This will limit the possibility of attack waves starting too close to the HQ, allowing you more time to mount a defense.
  
• Added temporary placeholder voiceover lines to Kermon, Phirian and Shegret attacks. We also added more voice lines to some other side objectives, like Investigate the Unusually Large Creature and Acidic Yeast Invasion.
  
• Added an on-screen objective for Phirian attack side objective.
  
• Omega creature comet event now spawns a REAL Omega creature. With skills and increased HP.
  
• Added new abilities to Omega creatures - Lightning and Bomb Cascades.
  
• Removed old boss creatures from the final waves on all survival difficulties and replaced them with Omega creatures. Added one more Omega on hard difficulty and two more on brutal.
  
• Modified survival jungle final wave to always wait until all Omega creatures are killed before it can be finished.
  
• Added a new difficulty mode - Co-Op - Easy. We intend this setting to be viable for all players, so please let us know if you encounter any significant obstacles.
  
• Creature Nests have been given additional offensive skills and an HP boost, similar to Omega creatures. The rewards for defeating the Nests have been increased.
  
• Omega creatures should adhere to spawn distance rules, which should prevent them from spawning from a completely different direction than the rest of the wave.
  

[h3]Balance[/h3]

• Reduced the range for Power Rod Tower and HCM Launcher. It now falls between the ranges of Heavy Artillery and regular Artillery Towers.
  
• Projectiles in the Volcanic Rock Rain event now have a smaller damage radius.
  
• Magmoth Omega will no longer receive the Canceroth Swarm skill.
  
• The Hammer hit will no longer bounce off Stregaros shield.
  
• Our trio of Superweapon Towers - HCM, Power Rod and Floating Piercer Tower - now have increased building costs.
  
• Small inaccuracy factor has been added to all artillery towers and sentries, which will prevent many projectiles from always hitting the exact same spot.
  

[h3]General[/h3]

• Short Range Radar has been moved to the first page of the defensive buildings build menu.
  
• Flammable Gas Vents now have a smaller fire spread radius.
  
• Helping a downed co-op partner reconstruct their mech now has a more prominent effect.
  
• Loading screens have been updated to use the new artwork.
  
• Visual effects for Bio-Containers (small bioanomalies) are now more visible.
  
• Added new mesh-based effects - ice shard and fireball. They are used by Omega creatures.
  
• Camera Culler component has been moved from the mech to a separate blueprint. It should now work in multiplayer.
  
• The server will now wait for all players to finish loading the game before starting the mission. You will see a message on the loading screen during that time.
  
• Added a scroll bar to research descriptions on the Research screen.
  
• Magnetic Rocks now generate a gravity grenade effect upon destruction. This is still work in progress - they will implode in the final version.
  

[h2]Fixes[/h2]
[h3]Transfer[/h3]

• Reduced the amount of data needed to be replicated by objectives.
  
• Reduced the amount of data needed to be replicated by the loot system.
  
• Reduced the amount of data needed to be replicated by BuildingStatusComponent.
  
• Reduced the amount of data needed to be replicated by the TimeOfDaySystem.
  
• Reduced the amount of data needed to be replicated by the energy system.
  

[h3]Performance[/h3]

• General improvements to the entity delta generation sent to players.
  
• General performance improvements for component changes detection.
  
• General performance improvements for the pipes system.
  
• General game performance improvements when doing spatial queries.
  

[h3]Other[/h3]

• Fixed quadrupled light and sound effects in Dash and Power Jump skills.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from reconfiguring their left and right analog sticks when using a gamepad.
  
• Fixed some issues with closing the pause menu with the ESC key.
  
• Only one server can now be selected at the same time on the server browser list.
  
• Fix some issues with the network replication of resource economy.
  
• Fixed the light flickering chaos caused by multiple comets with TimeOfDayEmitterComponent.
  
• Fixed missing game screenshots when the game host saves the game.
  
• Clients should now hear sounds from sources that are not yet visible for them.
  
• Prevent the player from teleporting when the player is in the 'downed' state.
  
• The game will now fetch Steam avatars from all players connected to the game.
  
• Fixed the minimap jittering when playing as a client.
  
• Disconnected players will now respawn in their last known position after reconnecting to the server.
  
• Fixed issues with interact actions fighting for the player's input. We have set a new priority list for all interact options to accommodate the new entries.
  
• Fixed double-player pawn spawn where the player could control more than one mech at the same time.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused players not to receive items that have been researched already when joining a session mid-game.
  
• Fixed problems with the shield after the mech is reactivated by other players.
  
• A whole lot of stability fixes - too many to list.
  

After the release of World Expansion III for The Riftbreaker and the Heart of the Swamp DLC, we got to work on the Endgame update. It is going to be extensive - so extensive, in fact, that we have started referring to it as The Riftbreaker 2.0. This update allows us to implement what we learned over the years to improve the game. A lot of these changes are going to be functional, but there are still other areas where we can improve. One such area is the design of boss creatures, which did not stand out from the crowd. We have already talked about the functional changes and the new features we intend to give our boss creatures. Today, however, we will focus on the visual aspect. Our artists have been working on making these creatures extra special. Let’s see how they’re doing.

We have been using regular creature models as a base for our boss system prototypes. They work fine for our use case, but they can always be better. This is why we decided to give our bosses a rework.

Up to this point, the boss creatures in The Riftbreaker appeared sporadically during randomized side objectives. They could also be met as Bioanomaly “guardians,” spawning around the battlefield in certain biomes after activating a Bioanomaly. Additionally, Survival players could meet them on the highest difficulty levels during the final attack waves. Initially, we planned to have way more variety among our bosses, but due to time constraints, we couldn’t see all our plans to completion. This also means that in most cases, our “boss” variants are simply scaled-up ultra strains of Galatean creatures with a special texture, which is also one of the reasons why we didn’t show them off more often.

Adding special abilities like the Necrodon's resurrection and creature spawning worked well gameplay-wise, but we wanted more.

On top of all that, we didn’t have a real name for them. Sometimes, we referred to them as elites; other times, they were bosses or guardians. This changes today. Our most powerful creatures are the Omega strain. As we described in one of our previous articles, the Omega strain will receive a functional overhaul, receiving a set of abilities that will make them stand out against the crowd. The frequency of their attacks will also increase, both in Campaign and Survival modes, giving you an opportunity to test your skills, equipment, and the defensive setup of your base. Get ready for a new level of challenge!

The Arachnoid Boss was larger and looked more menacing than its regular counterpart. We wanted to emulate that for other creatures as well.

Previously, only the Arachnoid Boss got a different model for its boss variant. If you compare the Ultra strain to the boss creature, you can see distinctive differences in the body shape. The boss’ head is adorned with large horns, making you feel that it is the leader of the swarm. The creature’s body is also protected by layers of thick carapace, which breaks off piece by piece as you fight the boss. We decided to give similar treatment to the new Omegas we are working on, following a couple of rules. Each Omega will have unique features that set them apart from regular creatures, making them instantly recognizable.

• The creature's anatomy must remain relatively the same—no extra limbs or chainsaws sticking out of the forehead. This allows us to use the same skeleton for animation purposes and saves us days of additional work.
  
• No simple re-coloring. The Omega must be recognizable next to a regular creature, even if it were the same size. Adding features like spikes, horns, or protruding flesh is the way to go.
  
• Since we wanted to create an Omega variant for every major damage type in the game, the designers were also requested to prepare elemental versions for each creature. There are a couple of individual exceptions.
  
• Optional—if possible, don’t work on models you originally created. Switching models between artists provides a fresh look and innovative ideas.

This set of preliminary constraints ensured that the end result would align with the game designers’ vision for the intended use of these creatures.

The first step in our workflow is sculpting a draft version of the model. We call it a blockout. It is not made literally from blocks but uses simple shapes to convey the general direction the artist wants to follow. Artists don’t spend any time adding details since blockouts are meant to be discarded or used as a base for the final model at best. This time, however, our artists didn’t have to start from scratch and used the existing models as their canvas. This allowed them to save a lot of time and start with the improvements right away.

This is the proposed idea for the Krocoon Omega strain. Its armor features much more aggressive styling. Additionally, you can see strange, flesh-like corruption taking hold of its body.

Krocoon Omega on the right, compared to the regular version on the left. We were happy with the differences between them, so we moved on to texturing.

The first textured version of the Omega. Our artist suggested giving the entire body a red tint, but we felt that it sugggested that the creature's body is made of flesh. It is not. The flesh growing on the Krocoon is an intruder, and we wanted that to be clearly visible. We made the decision to stick with the original color.

The final version of the Krocoon Omega. Clearly distinct from the original, but at the same time it is unmistakably still a Krocoon. This is precisely what we were aiming for.

Our graphics designers decided to try to focus on one aspect of the creature’s physique they would change. This way, they could make the new models instantly recognizable and resist the urge to let the creativity flow and remodel the creature entirely. Pictured below are a couple of blockouts from this process. We use these pictures for the initial round of feedback within our team. When everyone is happy with the general idea, the artist can move on and breathe life into the creature by creating a detailed, high-poly model.

Now let's compare the regular Phirian and its Omega counterpart. In this comparison the scale of the models is the same, which is not accurate, but enough for preview purposes. The changes in the body and armor are highlighted with a different color material.

The first version of the texture. Taking inspiration from the color palette of the Fungal Swamp biome, the Phirian Omega is rocking a neon-pink mohawk. Since the creature also appears in other biomes, we decided it was not the best choice and asked for a less flashy version.

This is the version we landed on for the baseline Phirian Omega. The yellow tint still screams 'danger,' but the creature can now blend with the environment of other biomes much easier.

The full family of Phirian Omegas. Please take note that these are just the creature models with their textures. The elemental versions will have some additional particle effects attached.

After the initial blockouts had been approved and turned into detailed sculpts, it was time to create the new textures. As mentioned previously, we wanted each Omega to appear in several flavors. The first would be the baseline variant. These creatures do not get any additional damage resistances that need to be highlighted, which leaves room to showcase their individual quirks and features. Stregaros became a brain-crab-demon that would fit without any issues on the Doom Slayer’s victim list. Krocoon started showing some fleshy parasitic growth on top of its metallic body. Phirian leveled up and got an epic hand blade and armor.

A personal favorite of mine - a very smart Stregaros Omega. Because more brain = more smart, obviously!

The last step was creating additional texture variants for the elemental version of these creatures. Some of our Omegas gain protection from one of the damage types present in The Riftbreaker. We wanted you to be able to tell which resistance type the creature got in an instant. For that reason, the elemental variants feature significant amounts of emissive textures, which are really easy to spot. Apart from that, we made sure to add details that align with the creature’s “home” element. The ones with protection from fire damage are singed and covered with ash. Cryo-resistant creatures look as if their body parts were made out of ice. Acid Omegas seem to be dripping poison everywhere they go. This attention to detail is what makes the difference between a reskin and a rework.

Nerilian Omegas of various flavors at the bottom, with the regular, Alpha and Ultra variants at the top for comparison. We're very happy with how this creature turned out!

Improved Omega-class creatures will make their way into the base game, along with our endgame expansion, where they will play a significant role in the combat challenge. Get ready - they won’t be easy to defeat!

Some new Omega variants are already in the game. Others will join them very soon.

Join our Discord at www.discord.gg/exorstudios and our streams at www.twitch.tv/exorstudios for exclusive sneak peeks at new features.

See you there!
EXOR Studios

As much as we would love to continue discussing the exciting process of the Co-Op mode development, it is not the only thing on our plates now. We are introducing many changes to the game, most of which will benefit both the single-player and multiplayer game modes. These changes include improvements in the mission design, various objectives, balancing changes, and quality-of-life tweaks. Today, we want to show off some elements we are reworking and expanding alongside the co-op mode development. Many of these features have been planned for quite a while - and it is finally time to make them a reality.

Not a day goes by without at least one playtesting session. We're making sure that we test all scenarios - 2, 3 or 4 players. It's tempting to always go max on the player count, but in reality, we know that this is going to be the rarest case.

Our multiplayer testing has revealed areas where the game could use a bit more functionality. Take the minimap, for instance. Currently, it's only useful for spotting enemies and unexcavated resources. But we believe it can do so much more. During our co-op runs, we often find ourselves asking, ‘Have you built X already?’ This is something we can easily convey through the minimap. We're planning to assign icons to critical buildings and resources, so you can keep track of your base's status with just a glance at the minimap. If you prefer a simpler map, we'll also provide filtering options to filter the displayed items. And this is just one of the many upgrades we have in store for you.

CLICK TO ENLARGE! This is the work-in-progress mockup of the minimap we came up with. It features toggleable filtering options on the left, more icons for the most important game elements on the map itself, as well as a symbols legend on the right. This is going to evolve and change over time, but we want you to have a rough idea of what wer'e working with.

Our game already features a lot of content. If you’re not speedrunning, completing the Campaign Mode with all the expansions will take a few days to finish. To fill such a lengthy campaign with content, we added many ‘dynamic events’ that can occur between the regular mission objectives. These range from sudden weather condition changes to native creatures’ incursions. For instance, a sudden sandstorm might reduce visibility, or a swarm of creatures might attack your base. We’ve been systematically adding these events with the release of each World Expansion. Each biome in our game comes with a range of side objectives that give you chances for additional rewards or temporary bonuses.

Some random events are more... volatile than others. But there is always a bright side - more wind power during the tornado, for example.

Unfortunately, as we were focused on fleshing out the central points of the campaign storyline, we did not have as much time to focus on the side missions as much as we would have liked to, and there were simply not enough of them implemented fully in the game. This led to side missions repeating often, especially in the Survival Mode. How often can you study the unusually large creature in the lab after it turns out to be unexplainably aggressive? Initially, we wanted to have way more variety in these objectives. Luckily, we now have time to improve on that.

Bosses that spawn as a result of a random encounter will also be picked from the new boss creature pool. They will get the new skills and HP bonuses. It also means more loot. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

We are working on an overhaul of the side objectives and randomized events. The existing ones will receive new dialogue lines and other improvements. For example, our favorite “unusually large creature” will no longer be destined always to be the same species. Instead, we will use our new Boss Creature system, a feature that introduces powerful and unique creatures as challenges, to keep you on your toes and give you a real challenge according to the difficulty level. We are also adding entirely new objectives - for example, you will have to face attacks from swarms of Kermons and Phirians. Formations of resource-rich minerals will pop up in the Crystal Caverns biome. Acidic Yeast will be more aggressive and actually pose a threat. We have lots of improvements to make. We will share more information on these as we progress with their development.

A creature that is able to resurrect other enemies on the battlefied is always the number one priority.

While adding more events and side objectives is fun, we haven't forgotten about the existing missions. We've learned a lot about what’s possible within The Riftbreaker’s gameplay rules, and we've gained access to many new tools and technologies as our engine evolves. We're actively working through the entire campaign flow, introducing improvements wherever possible. These include failsafe mechanisms, more precise progress indicators, new markers, and logic fixes. After we're done with this round of improvements, the game’s missions should feel much more robust and stable. We're dedicated to making The Riftbreaker the best it can be, and we're excited to share these improvements with you.

Baxmoth drones have always been deadly. Baxmoth drones on a boss creature - even more so.

Updates will also improve the balance of the game. The past couple of months have been filled with playtesting, both for us internally and for our closed beta playtesters. Playing the game for hours on end with the years of experience we now have under our belts was an exciting experience. It allowed us to reach some conclusions that eluded us beforehand. We realized that some of us have been engaging in play patterns that are not very fun but painfully effective - self-sacrifice bombing formidable enemies in multiplayer, for example, or using Cryo Stations instead of walls in the Volcanic Area biome because of their higher HP/cost ratio. We want to give you an incentive to avoid these techniques but leave them intact in case you really want to stick to them.

Our resurrection mechanics have proven quite effective and encourage players to keep each other alive instead of simply blowing up in the face of enemies. Sometimes others even want to help a bit too much and get destroyed in the process. You live and you learn.

Apart from conclusions related to gameplay mechanics, we also had some thoughts about the stats on some of our buildings, weapons, and resource costs - both when it comes to construction and upkeep. We want to make sure that if we decide to make any changes here, they are thoroughly tested. Our closed beta is the perfect playground for us. Thanks to the expertise of the beta testers, we will be able to test the changes we want to make and see their implications in practice. These things are often very hard to predict, so real-life testing is the best way forward.

Wherever we end up going with these changes, we want to make sure the game stays fun. This is why testing is a priority for us.

We hope you’re excited about all the new content and improvements we’re preparing for you. We would like to remind you to sign up for our Co-Op closed beta test, a crucial step in ensuring the quality and balance of the game before its full release, right here:



Also, remember to join our Discord at www.discord.gg/exorstudios and visit our streams on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3 PM CEST at https://www.twitch.tv/exorstudios.

All the best!
EXOR Studios