Hi there!

Last week we described the combat system in The Riftbreaker in its present form. It’s not overly complicated, but still gives the players a significant amount of options to adapt to the situation on the battlefield. Today, we are going to focus on our plans for the expansion of the system and the features that we are currently working on. There are lots of them, so let’s jump right in! The feature we expect to bring a lot of depth into gameplay are damage types. This is a complex topic and there will be a lot of new information here. We will do our best to tell you everything you need to know, but if you have any additional questions, feel free to ask us in the comment section and on our Discord server.

Please note that these are our current development plans which might change as we work through these features.

Melee weapons will deal damage according to their category. The Energy Sword that we used up to this point will deal slicing damage, that will be highly effective against non-armored creatures. Apart from that, you will be able to craft blunt weapons, such as power clubs and energy hammers. Slower and heavier, they will be a great choice against lower numbers of stronger enemies. We also plan to add pikes into the mix, that will be able to pierce through armor plates that some enemies will have.



At the moment you can wield only a single melee weapon. Actively using one also prevents you from utilizing the item in your other hand. We do not want it to be the case, so the melee system will receive a complete overhaul before launch. Currently we are planning to make double-wielding a thing, as well as adding the option to use melee weapons along with other items at the same time. We will provide more information about this once we introduce the changes. Pay attention to our streams - fresh features always appear there first.



Distance weapons will make use of different kinds of ammo. Flamethrowers will use fuel, rifles and machine guns - bullets, you know the drill. As a result, the use case for each weapon will be slightly different and encourage experimentation. Additionally, we want to give you the option to enhance your tools of destruction even further. You will be able to modify the effect of each weapon by changing the damage type, adding elemental effects, altering the fire pattern or simply increasing the firepower. This way you can either create highly specialized weapons designed to deal with a single type of creature, or make up for the disadvantages of your favourite gun.

To sum up, there is a lot of changes coming to the combat system in The Riftbreaker. We are going to periodically release information about them and push them to our closed test version. If you would like to apply for access to the test version of the game, you will find the link to our form on Discord. See you there!

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Hello everyone!

Combat is a major part of gameplay in The Riftbreaker. Galatea 37 is not safe for Ashley and Mr. Riggs. More often than not, your survival will depend on how well you can handle combat scenarios. Our main characters are not defenseless, as they have an ever-expanding arsenal of weapons at their disposal. We have told about (and shown) some of those tools of destruction already, but never really discussed the system that governs the use of weapons in the game. Let’s make up for it this week.



The enemies in The Riftbreaker come in many forms. Some smaller creatures stay in packs, while larger ones prefer a more solitary life. The dynamic pace of the game requires the player to constantly adapt to new scenarios and situations, and choosing the right weapon for the job is a part of that. We try to give each weapon its own set of characteristics and make it useful in its own way. However, when there are too many options, it can be difficult to choose right every time.



Luckily, the futuristic technology available to Riftbreakers solves some of the problems here. First of all, all the weapons you constructed are available to you all the time thanks to the Rift technology. If you decide you would like to equip something, the item is simply teleported right into your hands. Moreover, it is possible to wield two completely different items at the same time, making it possible to be prepared both for small and large-scale encounters. Last, but not the least important aspect is that there are three quick-access slots available for each of Mr. Riggs’ hands. Cycling between the items in these slots is instantaneous. If you run out of ammo or find yourself struggling against a strong enemy, simply change your weapon.



Some weapons will offer you even more flexibility by having an alternative firing mode. Holding the trigger for a bit longer will charge the weapon up. Shots fired this way will have different characteristics to their regular counterparts. For example, a sniper rifle is usually used to take down single targets, but the alt-fire releases an explosive bullet that can obliterate entire groups of enemies. This way you have access to essentially four weapons at the same time. You can even charge one of your weapons up while providing covering fire with the other, thanks to both hands being operated independently from each other. There is a lot of freedom and possibilities here.



Apart from distance weapons, there are also melee weapons available in the game, as well as items that offer protection and utility. However, we will tell you more about those in the next part of this article that will be published later this week. In part 2 we are also going to tell you a little bit about the features that have yet to be implemented, and those which would be nice to have further down the road.

Until the next time!

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Hello!

Earlier this week we discussed our logo and main art in detail. We explained all the little things and their importance in discovering the game from the perspective of a new user. However, that is not the only job of the logo and key art. In fact, these two assets set the tone for the visual style of the entire game. Today, we would like to tell you how they influence our creative process of creating models, textures and special effects.

We have discussed our building design a couple of times before. You could also see them in our gameplay videos and streams (every Tuesday and Thursday at 3 PM!). Here’s a recap of what we said up until now: our building design is quite futuristic, but also easily recognizable. By looking at the shape, effects, and animations you should be able to guess the purpose of the structure. We don’t want our design to lead players into making mistakes. Having this ruleset in mind we can get down to business - modeling the buildings themselves.


The first and second design phases for the Animal Biomass Power Plant.

Every asset in our game starts as a blockout. It is a simplified model of the building the artist is working on. We make these in order to make decisions about the general silhouette and the characteristic points of a building. After the discussion, the artist introduces adjustments according to feedback, bearing in mind the overall aesthetic of the game. The building must be based on metal and/or artificial materials. No wood or stone - the Riftbreaker technology is far too advanced for those. We also avoid 90-degree angles, as they leave very little room for our dynamic lighting to do some cool work.


The finished product.

The building has to signal that it’s powered up and working - all the effects and animations come into play here. Every building has a unique way of indicating that it is operational. Some - like the Armory, for example - do it by the means of moving parts. You can see that something is being produced and moved to the storage via conveyor belt. Structures that don’t produce such tangible goods signal the player with lights and particle effects - that is the case for the Communications Hub. Either way, they have to look high-tech and clearly make use of energy that the player is gathering.


Here's a blockout of a building that's not released yet. What do you think it is?

‘How does it all relate to the logo?’, you may ask. Well, if we take another look at it it will become clear. Metallic/energy materials? Check. Futuristic, but familiar design? Check. As few 90-degree angles as possible? We got that as well. The color scheme is also consistent with everything you will see in-game. By sticking to our rules we can make sure that nothing looks out of place, and if we want something to look alien and strange, we have an easy way to do so.


The logo, one more time, for reference purposes.

Here comes the classic question: what came first - the egg (the logo) or the hen (visual design). The answer, in our case, is the hen (fish, amphibians, and reptiles used eggs long before birds). We prototyped the first buildings and kept working on them until they felt right. It was a long process but resulted in an unwritten set of guidelines we tend to stick by to this day. After that, we were able to create the logo and the main art in such a way that it is representative of the overall style of The Riftbreaker.

TL;DR - pay attention to details, because we like to hide things in plain sight ;)

See you next time!

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The animated version of our official logo.

If you ask gamers about the most important thing for them when looking for a new game, you will get a variety of answers. Graphics, gameplay, similarity to previously played games, length of the game… All these things matter. However, before a player has the chance to determine whether any given title fits their criteria, they have to discover the game first. In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with information. Game developers have no guarantee that whatever information about their game will ever reach anyone.

Luckily, digital storefronts offer discovery queues, where potential users can find new games. In order to make the most of it, the developers have to make sure that their logo and main art are as eye-catching and convey as much information as possible. This week we are going to tell you about our approach to visual representation - creating logos, key art and making sure that they fall in line with the overall visual style of the game.



Let’s start with the logo. It is one of the most important assets for any product. Thanks to a good logo, users can identify the product at a glance. Apart from containing the name of the game, it should also contain something unique. A symbol, that you will be able to use to create recognizable icons. Our logo has gone through several iterations before we arrived at the final version. Let’s take a look at it and discuss its elements.


Look at the detail hidden within the Rift symbol.

First - the font. It is thick and outlined in order to improve visibility and readability when it’s displayed in small size or visible from a distance (this is relevant when you’re attending game shows). In the middle of the logo you can see our main symbol - the stylized letter A. It symbolizes the Rift portal, one of the main aspects of the gameplay and game lore. The rest of the letters are not filled with a solid color, but a metallic material instead to emphasize the building and tech aspects of the gameplay. The tear marks foreshadow that apart from building and exploration, there will also be a lot of fighting in the game. That’s a lot of information packed in the logo alone.


The full version of the art is much larger for the purposes of cropping the image for different uses.

Now it’s time to analyze the main art. Ashley and Mr. Riggs are the centerpieces of this one. They stand on top of the hill, planning their next move on their mission to prepare Galatea 37 for colonization. While Ashley is looking at her holographic HUD, Mr. Riggs stands right beside her, ready for action. It shows you the dynamic between the two characters. One is the brains of the operation, while the other is the protector. You can easily guess that you will be taking control of them while playing. The background elements also convey important information about the Riftbreaker. You can see two moons in the sky, making it certain that the planet you are looking at is not Earth. In the distance, hidden within the lush, exotic vegetation, you can spot the outpost that Ashley and Mr. Riggs set up before their excursion.


Final version of the key art.

When we combine the logo and the key art, your subconscious gives you an idea what the game might be about, making it much more likely that you will check out more information about it. Did we succeed? Would you like to learn more about our creative process and art direction? Let us know in the comments and on our Discord server! - www.discord.gg/exorstudios

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Hi!

Over the past year, we showed you quite a lot of footage from our early builds of The Riftbreaker. We wrote dozens of articles describing the game mechanics and the creative process behind some of the game elements. Numerous streams took place, hosted by us and by our friendly streamers from all over the world, showing you the core gameplay loop of the Survival Mode. However, The Riftbreaker is not going to be limited to Survival only. Story Campaign will be a substantial part of the game. Today we would like to share a bit more information about The Riftbreaker's campaign. The main story revolves around Ashley and Mr. Riggs on Galatea 37. During their mission, they will have to establish a field base and open a two-way portal back to Earth for the purposes of colonizing the planet. Mind you, everything you read beyond this point is an initial vision and subject to change during development. You have been warned :)



In the Story Campaign players are going to establish a main base that they will have to maintain and keep expanding throughout the game. It will serve as the main hub for research and defense. The discoveries you make over the course of the campaign will enable you to build new structures and upgrade the existing ones to better withstand the hazards of Galatea 37. After some time, it will become possible for you to scan distant areas for objects of interest and travel there. You never know what you might find! Exploration of areas further from your main base will be encouraged by resource distribution. You will not be able to obtain all the necessary materials in the starting area alone, so ready your map and compass for a tour of Galatea 37! While exploring the various biomes you will find unique resources and minerals needed to get one step further towards establishing a permanent colony.



Galatea 37 is not the most welcoming place. The wildlife and environmental hazards won’t make the job of resource collection any easier for you. You can’t expect to simply mine the ingredients for your next big invention in peace. In order to succeed, you will have to build outposts. Similarly to your main base, outposts will require you to create and maintain energy infrastructure, build factories, refineries and storage buildings. The main purpose of establishing outposts is to protect your precious mining equipment while it’s working on gathering all the rare minerals you can find. Once you build enough defenses you can leave the outpost running on its own and simply come back to collect the cargo periodically. Ideally, towards the end of the campaign, you will have many bases in all corners of the planet working around the clock.



Many elements of the Story Campaign Mode will be randomized. The maps will be generated automatically and the mission objectives will change. You will never know for sure what happens next, which does not mean the gameplay will be unpredictable. It will be possible to complete the Story in a couple of different ways and you will be able to plan ahead for your endgame. That being said, we hope the randomization and the element of surprise will give the game a lot of replayability. We expect the pace of gameplay to be different as well. While in Survival Mode downloading new blueprints is a matter of minutes, it does not have to be the same way in Campaign. Researching new technologies might take longer, as well as require you to find some additional resources on (or beneath!) the surface of Galatea 37.

That’s it for now. We will reveal more details about the Campaign Mode as we design and develop it. As always we await your ideas and feedback on our Discord server - www.discord.gg/exorstudios. Visit us there and sign up for the closed alpha - the applications are still open.

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Hello!

We’re very happy to see you all again! After a much-needed break, we are back at the EXOR Studios office, full of strength, inspiration, and energy to continue working on The Riftbreaker. 2020 is going to be an exciting year, and even though there is still a lot to do on the horizon, we are optimistic about the challenges ahead.

The year 2019 set the bar very high for us - the reception of the early materials about The Riftbreaker was overwhelmingly positive. Many of you showed your appreciation for our transparent development approach and regular updates on the things happening in the studio. You can expect even more of that this year. Our development streams were popular as well, developing a tight-knit community (and giving birth to some 5/7 quality memes). We are really grateful for your presence there.



2019 also surprised us with another award to add to our resume! Thanks to the engagement from our fans we were voted into the Top 10 of Upcoming Indie Games on IndieDB! We reached the 7th place overall. Thank you for your votes and for placing your trust in us. We won't disappoint you!



We also opened sign-up for the Closed Alpha of The Riftbreaker. The application form received hundreds of entries (and it’s still available through our Discord server - https://www.discord.gg/exorstudios). The beginning of the test is going to be a huge step for us, as we have never done that before. We are currently working on robust solutions to make reporting bugs and giving feedback as effortless as possible for you.

The test version is going to be equipped with an automated crashdump sender. During a large-scale test, it is inevitable that some users will encounter scenarios that will cause the game to crash. The tool we are working on will automatically send us all the necessary information to identify the cause of the issue. This way we can immediately start working on the solutions to the problems you might encounter in the game. There will also be a form for you to give us feedback and report smaller issues.



Developing these tools will take us some time, so we need to ask you for patience. To make the wait a little easier on you we’re going to release an all-new gameplay trailer soon. It will feature some never-seen-before gameplay footage. Moreover, later this week, we are going to share our vision for the Campaign Mode in The Riftbreaker. This mode is our next milestone for the game and it will be our focus for the foreseeable future.

All the best in 2020!

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Hello!

The Christmas season is drawing near. It is one of the very few moments in a year when we stop development and have a break from working on our games. It has been a wonderful year for us at EXOR Studios, so let’s recap what we managed to accomplish during the past 12 months.

• We released two titles on the Nintendo Switch - X-Morph: Defense and Zombie Driver: Immortal Edition. Working on a completely new platform was an interesting experience with its own set of challenges we had to overcome and we believe it has made us into better developers overall.
  
• We announced The Riftbreaker!
  
• We visited multiple trade shows over the world. In chronological order: GDC 19 in San Francisco, PAX East in Boston, E3 in Los Angeles, Gamescom 19 in Cologne, PAX West in Seattle and finally PGA 19 in Poznań.
  
• We won prizes for the Best Indie Game of PGA 2019 and the Best Indie Booth of PGA 2019.
  
• We celebrated 10 years of Zombie Driver, giving away over 850.000 copies of the game on Steam.
  
• We started distributing The Riftbreaker preview build to people outside the studio.
  
• We met a lot of amazing people, both IRL and online, including our lovely Discord community!

None of those things would have been possible without your help, so thank you for being there for us and supporting us every day. We are going to take a break now. Development updates and streams will continue in early January, but you can reach us almost all the time through Discord and social media. We will keep on checking those, just not as often as usual. Remember to sign up for the closed test through our Discord server - www.discord.gg/exorstudios

In the meantime, we wish you Merry Christmas and an amazing holiday season!

EXOR Studios

Hi everyone!

We have one final announcement to make this year and it’s a big one.

The Riftbreaker Closed Alpha/Beta Test Applications are now open! You can find the registration form on our Discord server:

https://discord.gg/exorstudios

As we promised, we are going to give you a chance to get your hands on the game early and help us with your feedback and ideas. You are going to get access to the stable build of the game through Steam. It will contain all the elements you’ve seen on our streams so far - the introductory mission and the survival mode. Your task? Play the game, have fun, break everything! We want you to help us find bugs and give feedback on the gameplay itself. The build you get is going to be periodically updated as we add new elements into the game.

Occasionally, we might send you emails or contact you on Discord with a couple of questions to answer about the game. Although providing answers to those questions won’t be obligatory, if you do not wish to be messaged by us in any form, we would advise you not to sign up.

There are a couple of things you need to know before we hand the game off to you. In order to participate in testing, you must be a member of our Discord server. Additionally, the most active Discord users will have priority when it comes to key distribution. The keys are going to be sent out in waves, but there are no numbers available on that yet. We will inform you when & how many keys went out to the public. We can’t guarantee that everyone will be chosen, but we will do our best to include as many of you as we can.

If you are interested in joining us on this adventure then head on over to our Discord to sign up:
https://discord.gg/exorstudios

See you soon!
EXOR Studios

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Hi there!

Last time we explained what the interactive voting system in The Riftbreaker does. If you missed the article, you can check it out here. It has the potential to make streamers' life a bit easier, but it can also give them a headache. Today we’re going to tell you what kinds of events you can encounter and what are the plans that we have for the future of this feature.


Your viewers can help you build a beautiful base like this!

The simplest form of stream events is the add/take away events. The way they work is quite straightforward - when chosen, they will either add or take away some amount of resources from the player’s pool (carbonium, steel or ammunition), according to what the viewers voted for. These events are particularly useful (or harmful) in the early game when resources are limited.


Large attack waves can be turned into HUGE attack waves!

Another simple community event comes in the form of enemy wave manipulation. The viewers can make the next attack wave stronger or cancel it altogether. While sending a huge amount of creatures at the streamer’s base sounds sinister, it can actually help them progress through the game more quickly. The fallen creatures drop significant amounts of resources which can be used to expand the base and craft new items. There is a risk of being overwhelmed, of course, so it doesn’t come without a cost. After a tough battle, the viewers can always give the streamer a break by canceling the next attack.


Galatea 37's weather is unpredictable.

The next group of community events is connected to weather and natural disasters. These events pose a direct threat to the player and the base, making the gameplay a lot more challenging and more entertaining to watch. The pre-alpha version of The Riftbreaker features Acid Rain and Tornadoes. Both these phenomena are a threat to the base and the player, but they differ when it comes to damage distribution. While Acid Rain slowly deals damage to all the man-made structures on the map, the Tornado’s area of effect is much more centralized and will likely destroy all the buildings in its path.


Canoptrix swarm + acid rain = happy streamer

The last group of events requires additional audience participation after they are voted in. We call these ‘tap-tap events’. Once the event starts, a progress bar appears on the screen which can be filled by the audience using the Tap button in the MixPlay interface (these kinds of events are Mixer exclusive since they do not use the chat. Flooding Twitch Chat with multiple messages would result in automatic timeouts and bans). When the progress bar reaches 100%, the event goal takes place in-game. The preview build features two events of this kind - Help From Above and Ammunition Support. The first one sends a meteor strike at nearby enemies, while the second one grants additional ammo.


We plan to add more variety to these events. We are thinking about giving the viewers the ability to vote on the next thing to research, for example.

As you can see there is quite a bit of variety when it comes to interactive streaming events. Our Discord users have already suggested adding more weather effects and some new tap-tap events. We also have a collection of ideas we would like to try out. You can expect us to periodically add new variations into the mix. We are also planning to increase the frequency with which the community can interact with the streamer. In the current version of the game, votes are tied to the beginning of a new attack wave, which is not frequent enough, especially at lower difficulty levels. Separating the two will result in increased audience participation and even more fun for both the streamers and the viewers. All the parameters of this feature will be configurable. We understand that not everyone likes seeing their base crumble to dust too often. You will get to choose which events you want to be available and which ones are not for you.

Do you have any other suggestions for the future of this feature? Would you like us to change anything? Or would you like to try these events out yourselves? Join us on Discord and let us know.

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For quite some time now you’ve had the chance to take part in the regular development streams from The Riftbreaker. Thanks to the integration with Twitch and Mixer you can directly influence what happens in the game. Interactive streaming events happen every couple of minutes. The viewers are given a list of options to choose from and some time to cast their votes. Once the voting time is up, the option with the highest number of votes wins. It’s a simple system, but it adds a lot of additional depth to the streaming session.


Acid rain, everyone's favourite.

When using Mixer the viewers use the MixPlay interface in order to vote. If an interactive event is active, buttons appear directly below the stream window. Voting for an option is as simple as clicking the corresponding button, you don’t even have to be logged in. On Twitch it is slightly different - a chatbot informs the users that they can vote and lists the commands the users have to type into the chat. The bot looks for the relevant commands and relays the info to the game itself.


You can connect to the streaming platform of your choice without leaving the game. We will also add more configuration options in the future.

No matter which platform you use, the feature is quite straightforward and creates interesting dynamics between the streamer and their audience. You can either ask for help when you need it most or ask for even more pressure if you feel the game is going too easy on you. However, you do not have complete control over the voting outcome, so this additional unpredictability makes each session a lot different from the previous one.


Stronger attacks are REALLY strong sometimes.

The interactive streaming options will be available to everyone playing The Riftbreaker, but they are designed to only be an additional functionality. They are not the core of the gameplay and you don’t have to worry that you will miss out on a part of the game if you don’t stream. While they definitely increase the interactivity, we think it is important for the game to hold its own without the need to broadcast it to the whole world. Moreover, we are planning to incorporate the random effects into single-player sessions as well, just without the voting component.

You can see the interactive streaming events in action every Tuesday and Thursday on our development streams (today happens to be Tuesday, by the way, so join us at 3 PM CET on Mixer!). Next time we will go over the pool of available options and our plans for the future of this feature.

See you next time!

Other social media:
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www.mixer.com/exor_studios
www.twitch.tv/exorstudios
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