With the holiday season finished we are officially back to work in (almost) full force. As we continue our work towards the next item on our roadmap - world expansion number one - we are going to present you with regular updates and ask for your feedback along the way!

We can’t overstate how big of a role you - our community - have played over the course of The Riftbreaker’s development. Thousands of hours put into the Prologue and Closed Beta, pages upon pages of Discord messages, and all the reports that you have sent our way through all the other channels have shaped the way the game is like today. We would love to continue that and is there a better time to do so than right now?!

Obviously not! The first Riftbreaker world expansion is going to bring a lot of new and exciting content for you, including new locations, enemies, weather events, and, naturally, weapons! We know you have lots of great ideas for new tools of destruction so let’s have a little competition. Here’s the contest question:




To take part in the competition visit our Discord server (www.discord.gg/exorstudios) and give us your answer in the #weapon-contest channel, following this example:

Name: The Megasizzler 5000
Damage Type: Energy
Attack: Shoots a continuous energy beam that spreads to other enemies and sets them on fire.
Fire Type: If your dream gun has two attack modes, describe both of them! Does it fire single shots? Can you charge it? Or does it fire a continuous beam as long as you have the ammo? Let us know!



You have the time to post your ideas until Friday. We are going to check them all out and shortlist 5 candidates. Then, we will hold a public vote on Discord, during which you are going to decide which gun makes it into the game. Naturally, we can’t promise that the winning idea will appear in The Riftbreaker in an unchanged form, but we will do our best.

Needless to say, that won’t be the only new toy added to Mr. Riggs’ arsenal. We have some crazy ideas brewing that might open even more design space later on, so who knows - we might even run another competition like this in the future.

Looking forward to reading all your ideas!
EXOR Studios

The Riftbreaker has passed 350 000 copies sold across all platforms and well beyond half a million Riftbreakers have visited Galatea 37 when adding Game Pass users. Thank you to everyone who supported us along the way! We're thrilled about what's coming in 2022 :)

We've delivered more than 15 updates in 2021 and we're not planning to slow down in 2022. We are already back at work and preparing the next set of updates. In the short term, we're working on balancing improvements for cultivators, improved mouse input latency (especially under low FPS), various quality of life improvements, performance optimizations, and fixes for the bugs that are being reported. We are also planning to work further on improving the modding tools that we've released recently. We are aiming to release the next update with these and other changes near the end of this month.

The next milestone update dubbed "World Expansion I" is going to arrive around the end of March or sometime later in April. We're still designing the new content and mechanics for this update, so there's no fixed release date for it yet. It's going to include a completely new biome, a lot of new content including new creature species, weapons, skills, upgrades, and more. The new biome, all of the new game mechanics, and items are going to be available for free to enjoy in Survival mode and for use in modding. The story-driven campaign expansion is going to be a paid DLC. We're going to share more information about it as we move forward with development.

The last but one of the most important new additions that we're working on is of course - online multiplayer. This is an ongoing task that is being worked on in parallel to all of the other updates. Behind the scenes, we are slowly reworking large parts of code to make surviving on Galatea 37 together with your friends possible. Some of these changes include large optimizations to how we handle data and game logic. This requires big parts of the game's code to be redesigned and rewritten. We don't have a precise estimate for when this task will be completed, but we're aiming for the end of 2022, with early beta tests coming sometime sooner.

Once again thank you for all your support and for sticking with us on this journey!

We've just published the last maintenance update for The Riftbreaker in 2021.

The Riftbreaker Maintenance Update, Package #96, Binaries #493, December 21st, 2021.
-Enabled HQ upgrades through the Upgrade Tool - this will now trigger a manual confirmation prompt. This change brings back the functionality, but should still prevent upgrading the HQ by mistake.
-Fixed crash in the AmmoSystem: projectile cluster
-Fixed ResourceSystem: breaking energy graph on destroying building while upgrading
-Fixed DamageSystem: familiarity lvl bonus should now be properly applied
-Fixed DisassemblyScreen: background
-Fixed CraftingScreen: sorting
-Fixed possible crash in the TimeOfDaySystem
-Fixed possible crash in the TerrainAffectorSystem

See you in 2022 :)

HO HO HO, Riftbreakers!

In the previous patch, we have added support for in-game seasonal events. These are purely cosmetic events that alter some of the models and biome settings in The Riftbreaker to put you in the holiday spirit. It is time for the first of them - the Winter Holidays event!

It turns out that the Tropical Zone on Galatea 37 isn’t exactly tropical. Temperatures have dropped quite significantly and everything is now covered in snow. This has made Ashley long for home and the holiday atmosphere, so she has made some adjustments to the Riftbreaker technology blueprints to make the place a bit cozier.



The basic floor tiles have been decorated with some festive symbols.



The basic lamps are much less basic now, with their shapes now similar to the traditional gas lights of the 19th-century gas lights for those Christmas Carol vibes. All colors are affected, so go crazy!



The Christmas atmosphere has made Ashley want to give away some gifts. Every landmine is now gift-wrapped and just waiting to be opened!



Instead of regular Sentinel Towers, you can now place an army of snowmen to keep you company. Naturally, they shoot energy bolts straight from the carrots. You’re welcome.



Mr. Riggs has requested a fresh coat of paint as his gift this year, so Ashley came up with two completely new designs for him - Mr. Santa and Ugly Christmas Sweater!


The code for this one is: HOHOHO


And for this one: MERRYCHRISTMAS - don't judge us, we're tired, we want a holiday break, too...

If you are not into these kinds of events or if you don’t celebrate Christmas do not worry - this is all entirely optional. The first time you launch the game after the Christmas Update you will be greeted with a pop-up window, asking if you would like to enable these cosmetics. You can also change your settings later in-game, once you decide you’ve had enough of snow.

This is the first seasonal event we’re holding, so all feedback is appreciated. We would like to also hear your ideas for future events - let us know what you would like to see in the comments!

Lastly, we would like to thank you all for making 2021 extra special for us. We hope that 2022 will be even better for all of us and that you and your loved ones will be able to spend some amazing time together in the coming weeks, safe and sound.

Wishing you a wonderful end of the year,
EXOR Studios

Hello Riftbreakers!

It is time for another update for The Riftbreaker and it is by far the most significant one to this day. With this patch in place, you will be able to adjust the Custom Difficulty settings for The Riftbreaker Campaign Mode and play it exactly the way you want. The patch also introduces some Quality of Life fixes, balancing changes, and improvements that have been suggested by you either here on Steam or on our Discord - www.discord.gg/exorstudios.

Along with the update we are also releasing The Riftbreaker Editing Tools. We have used these tools to create The Riftbreaker and have been using them on a daily basis. As we've grown used to them and some of their shortcomings, we are aware that we may no longer see some of the issues that reside within, or we have learned to work around them without having to spend any time to fix them. Our initial goal was to put them into your hands as soon as possible, to start an open discussion about what works and what doesn't, and what the areas that you would like to see improved the most are. We've already received a lot of feedback for the tools during this update's experimental phase and we'll be addressing them gradually as we move forward with development.

Thus, we have completed the first item on our roadmap. Our focus will now shift towards developing the World Expansion Update 1, nonetheless we will continuously deliver additional stability and quality of life improvements before it is ready. Modding tools will be getting their updates on a separate schedule.

Here is the updated roadmap:

• The Campaign mode can now be played using the Custom Difficulty setting. You can adjust the parameters of your Campaign, such as resource density, creature damage, and the size of waves, similar to what you could do previously in the Survival Mode. You can modify the following parameters:
  
  • Enemy damage factor - (from 1% to 500%) - Determines how much damage a creature deals in combat (this only affects damage vs Mr. Riggs). For example: if a creature deals 100 damage per attack, and the multiplier is set to 50%, it will deal 50 damage instead.
    
  • Resource volume factor - (from 1% to 500%) - Determines how much resources the game will distribute in the resource deposits scattered across the map. 100% is the default value. Everything below 100% will mean that you will get less resources on your map. Everything above 100% will increase the size of the available deposits.
    
  • Research cost - (from 1% to 500%) - Determines the time necessary to carry out research. Values below 100% decrease the time, above 500% on the other hand increase it.
    
  • Building cost - (from 1% to 500%) - Affects the cost of most buildings in the game. At 1% they are almost free, while at 500% you will have to save up for every solar panel. The exceptions are the Headquarters and Solid Material Storage - their costs always remain the same.
    
  • Building time multiplier - (from 1% to 500%) - Affects the length of the building process. Values below 100% make it quicker than usual, while above 100% - longer than usual.
    
  • Items dropped after death - (from 0 to 6) - Determines the maximum number of weapons Mr. Riggs can drop after being destroyed.
    
  • Attacks per wave multiplier - (from 1 to 5) - Determines how many attack waves will attack you. The default is 1. When set to 2 or higher, the number of attacks will get multiplied. Warning - high numbers of creatures come at a performance cost!
    
  • Gravity scale - (from 1% to 500%) - This option affects how gravity works on physical objects. When set to lower than 100% all objects will appear lighter and fall down to the ground more slowly. It might make collecting some loot more difficult. Values higher than 100% make everything appear heavier.
    
  • Time to prepare for an attack - (from 50% to 500%) - This option affects how much time you will get to prepare once you receive the warning about an incoming attack. At the default value - 100% - it will be 2 minutes.
    
  • Time between attack waves - (from 50% to 300%) - This affects the hidden timer that counts down between unscripted attacks on your base. The default is 100%. If you wish to get attacked more often, select 50%. If you want longer periods of peace and tranquility, increase the value.
    
  • Enable negative events - (on/off) - This option enables or disables the negative weather events, such as acid rain, tornado or hailstorms.
    
  • Time of day mode - (continuous/only day/only night) - Allows you to enable or disable the day and night system and lock the game to perpetual night or day.
    
  • Sandbox control panel - (on/off) - Enables or disables the hidden sandbox control panel that you can access by pressing the F11 key. It contains lots of debug options that you can experiment with.
    
  • Enemy wave strength - (easy/normal/hard/brutal) - determines the strength of enemy waves that will attack your base.
• All buildings now work while they are being upgraded. You're welcome.
  
• All keys are now rebindable in the Customize Controls menu screen. We added the following actions to the bindings list:
  
  • [gamepad] select building
    
  • [gamepad] build mode switch category
    
  • [gamepad] build mode select]
    
  • build standard floor
    
  • build extra stable floor
    
  • build acid-resistant floor
    
  • build max level
    
  • build basic lamp
    
  • quick save
    
  • quick load
    
  • journal
• Players can now repair walls using the click-and-drag building system when the wall is selected from the building menu. This allows you to quickly rebuild the wall pieces that have been lost while also repairing the remaining ones at the same time.
  
  
  
  
• Added an up/down gamepad D-pad shortcut for the Research Screen that allows you to move research items within the research queue.
  
• All Headquarters building levels now have their own custom models. Level indicators were removed from the Headquarters building.
  
  
  
  
• Mr. Riggs will no longer take damage during the sunburn event when the mech is hidden in shadows.
  
  
  
  
• Rare Element Mine now has different models for all building levels.
  
  
  
  
• A blinking 'Storage Full' icon appears in the top-right corner of the screen when you run out of storage capacity. The icon will blink only ten times and then disappear.
  
  
  
  
• Implemented seasonal events. During holiday seasons you will get the option to use modified models for some objects in the game. It is a purely cosmetic change. You will be asked whether you want to enable this setting the first time you launch the game during a holiday season. It can be changed at any time in the options menu. We'll share more details and secret codes for two new Mr Riggs skins in the next news update!
  
• Ghost 2x2 buildings will now snap to the middle of the grid instead of the bottom left grid. This should improve your feel for their placement and make it less probable to misplace a building
  
• Added formatting for displaying values equal to or larger than one billion.
  
• Added 'Restore to Default' button to the Custom Difficulty settings screen.
  
• Added key 190 - "." - to use in the Customize Controls screen.
  
• [Modding] Commands.lua: Added cheat_destroy_entities_by_type type, for dealing a lot of damage to entities
  
• [Modding] Added EnvironmentService:RemoveResistance( Exor::Entity id, Exor::String type, Exor::String name );

• Changed the building floor mechanic to be more immediate and easier to read.
  
  
  
  
• Changed the dissolve pattern on floors while selling them.
  
• Building time in floor increased to match the new building mechanic.
  
• Optimized resource consumption in powerplants by adding high priority to resource converters. - Power plants utilizing liquids will no longer turn off before power plants that burn off fuel such as carbonium, plant or animal biomass, or uranium.
  
• All Stregaros strains will now count towards the 'Find the unusual creature' objective.
  
• Reduced damage values for Spears of all quality levels - their damage output proved to be problematic in conjunction with high range and the slowing effect.
  
• Changed ammunition display - the game will now show you the number of shots left instead of ammo units. For example: if your weapon consumes 10 ammo per shot and your maximum capacity for that ammo is 100, the game will display 10/10 and go down by one after you shoot.
  
• Ammo display changed for continuous weapons (ex. the flamer) - the ammo display updates more frequently now.
  
• Resource-depleted announcements will be less frequent now.
  
• Save file opening method has been changed to a more stubborn one - the game will now try to open a file several times before declaring surrender.
  
• Resource display on HUD is smoother now. We refresh the display every second but gather values over 5 seconds to take an average. This will prevent your balance display from blinking between positive and negative values.
  
• Information about saving the game is now displayed 3 seconds ahead of time to prepare the player for it.
  
• Changed the default autosave interval to 10 minutes from 5 minutes
  
• Enabled the Carnicynth species in the discoverable system to prevent warning messages when playing with cheat_full_bestiary enabled.
  
• Added a small delay for 'working' state effects in power plants. This allows us to prevent the annoying 'blinking' effect when your power capacity is near maximum or if the plant has insufficient fuel.
  
• The 'Send Feedback' option in the menu now has a bigger text box, supporting longer messages. Please keep that feedback coming - we really do read all your comments!
  
• 'Storage Full' icon was replaced with the 'Research' icon on the Alien Research Laboratory building. The icon appears when the Laboratory is idle.
  
• Less building cube effects will now spawn when building long walls to improve performance.
  
• Added the upgrade popup warning to all HQ upgrade levels instead of only the first one.
  
• Disabled HQ upgrading using the upgrade tool to prevent upgrading it by mistake.
  
• The 'sell outpost' popup will no longer incorrectly display information about AI cores to be transferred to the HQ.
  
• Mr. Riggs' model will no longer blink when it resists damage.
  
• Building Time Multiplier option in the Custom Difficulty menu does not affect the HQ building time.
  
• Added a new explosion effect for the Cryogenic Mine.
  
• Randomized loot removed from buildings - changed to an automatic system that drops 10% of the building's cost upon destruction.
  
• Range circle added to Short Range Radar ghost while building.
  
• Less expensive and less intrusive time damage effects on enemies.
  
• Smaller debris explosion force for magmoth - less clutter on screen.
  
• Rotated the model and increased the polycount on arachnoid_boss_projectile.
  
• Added proper magmoth boss projectile textures.
  
• Updated magmoth projectile materials to use unique textures.
  
• Changed hedroner alpha projectile to fit the creature model.
  
• The player now starts survival mode with full SMG ammunition 320/320 (courtesy of SenorRagequit)

• Fixed game flow being stuck in the desert_scout mission if the base Stregaros species would not spawn and only alpha or ultra variants were present.
  
• Fixed Tower Ammo Factories turning on after the player uses a consumable. This bug could potentially result in huge resource drainage if the player had plenty of Tower Ammo Factories built.
  
• Upgrading the Headquarters no longer blocks you from building other structures.
  
• Fixed an error that prevented some players from activating the Rift Station in the final sequence. The game logic doesn't check the timer now, but the state of the station, making the flow more robust.
  
• Building limit for Headquarters is now separate from Outposts. This fixes the issue where a player could not rebuild their Headquarters if they already had 7 Outposts built elsewhere.
  
• Fixed an error that prevented players from respawning on a side mission after their outpost got destroyed, potentially blocking progress.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused players to get stuck in permanent invisibility while using Alien Camouflage and building shortcuts.
  
• The Maintenance Tools upgrade will no longer decrease AI core resource requirements for AI-powered buildings.
  
• Fixed an error that prevented users from building the maximum level building due to running against the building cap.
  
• Fixed a crash that happened when a building was trying to display a missing icon.
  
• Fixed the Arachnoid Boss ranged attack. Visually, it looked as if the creature shot five projectiles, but in reality, it was twice as many. Now, there are five physical projectiles.
  
• Fixed muzzle attachment position in Laser.
  
• Slightly reduced the effectiveness of Reflective Armor.
  
• Fixed textures for one of the tree types that prevented them from swaying in the wind.
  
• All ground types that deal damage to the player should now do so correctly.
  
• Fixed an error that caused the timer to display an incorrect value while harvesting the Bioanomalies.
  
• 'Not enough ammunition for defensive towers' announcement will no longer play when buildings are missing energy or AI cores.
  
• Fixes for inaccurate hitboxes on the Customize Controls menu screen.
  
• Fixed constructor in logic_set_global_variable.lua to prevent memory corruption issues.
  
• Fixed errors in journal paging with filters enabled. Previously it was possible to skip some entries while changing the page due to an error. All information will be displayed correctly now.
  
• Moved graphics synchronize update after end frame sync point in GameplayExecutor to avoid memory corruption issues.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented dialogues related to underground mushrooms from triggering.
  
• Fixed the disassembly popup when selling buildings from an outpost - it will now correctly stretch according to the number of buildings being sold.
  
• Fixed elemental dash effects blocking damage from other sources.
  
• Fixed research information disappearing while upgrading your Communications Hub.
  
• 'No research selected' announcement will no longer play immediately after completing the construction of the Communications Hub.
  
• Fixed the 'sell outpost' popup background scaling.
  
• Fixed the Headquarters upgrade display error that caused the building limit to blink red while upgrading.
  
• Fixed a problem with the auto aim feature on the Floating Mines that caused the mines to spawn sideways.
  
• Fix categories sorting in the inventory screen - categories are always in the same order
  
• Additional fixes for problems that prevented users from activating the portal in the endgame sequence.
  
• Fixed a problem that prevented the Fusion Power Plant from producing plasma when the energy storage was full.
  
• Fixed incorrect radius display in Attack Drone Tower.
  
• Fixed range display in Cultivator and Collector (ghost level 2 and 3).
  
• Fixed bioscanner collision problems that sometimes prevented users from scanning objects.
  
• Fixed death_att orientation and position in all enemies.
  
• Fixed time damage effect scale in enemies - some are bigger, some are smaller.
  
• Effect inheritance added to the Phirian species.
  
• Fixed multiple smaller bugs and problems.

• Added a special shader for animated quicksand, as well as liquid resources - mud, water, and sludge.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Added new models for projectiles shot by Hedroner, Arachnoid Boss, Magmoth, and Corrosive Gun. New particle effects have been added to their attacks to properly align with physical projectiles.
  
• The dash attack effects for Phirian have been improved.
  
• Improved weather effects for the Super Moon event. The lights, fog, and particles should be more visible now.
  
• Gravity Grenade icon updated to resemble the in-game model.
  
• Proximity Mine icon simplified.
  
• Desert levels loading screens have been altered - the crystals on the artwork now match the color of the crystals found in-game.
  
• Added a highlight for the crafting button when selected.

The Editing Tools are separated from The Riftbreaker main release version. In order to download them, go to your Steam library, check the 'Tools' checkbox in the list on top, then find and install The Riftbreaker Tools. If you are not a Steam user, the tools are also available on our official GitHub page, right here: https://github.com/exorstudios/riftbreaker-tools/releases/tag/0.0.4884



We have also created a series of videos that will teach you the basic aspects of working with our editors. You can find it right here:



WorkSpace Editor - This is a new tool that we've created specifically for modding. We recommend that you launch it first. It will allow you to create a new workspace for your Mod. All of the other tools will use this workspace and save all of the files that you create within that directory tree. This will additionally allow you to simply zip that single folder and distribute the zip as your mod.



Level Editor - This tool is used to create new entirely custom maps as well as tiles and prefabs for randomly generated levels.



Mission Editor - This tool is used to create and edit custom mission logic. It's a bit complicated, so until we create some instructions, we encourage you to first browse the .logic files that already govern the game.



Riftbreaker Data Editor - This is our swiss army knife for editing various game data - Weapons, Mods, Loot, Crafting, and Research.



You will probably soon be asking - when is Steam Workshop coming? - we are already evaluating the best way to distribute mods and we'll let you know as soon as we have some details to share.

Thank you,
EXOR Studios

Hello everyone,

Today we're soft-launching our Christmas Update on the experimental branch. The patch contains a couple of fixes for the issues you reported - thank you very much for that!

We have changed the method of downloading tools - they are now available through the Steam library, tools section. You will need to check a box in order to see them - see gif. The location after installation has not changed at all.

The patch also enables our redesigned, revamped and remastered Christmas seasonal event. It turns out that the tropical zone on Galatea 37 is not that tropical at all and it's been snowing a lot, which made Ashley feel the holiday spirit.

• The player now starts survival mode with full SMG ammunition 320/320 (courtesy of SenorRagequit)
  
• Added key 190 - "." - to use in the Customize Controls screen.
  
• DamageSystem: fixed a crash when health component was missing in shields
  
• Shield Generators should now work properly.
  
• Winter seasonal event activated. It incorporates: new basic floor tiles, new lamp models, landmine model changed to a box gift, sentinel tower changed to snowman, two new skins for Mr. Riggs, unlocked with codes: HOHOHO and MERRYCHRISTMAS. The event is entirely optional and you can opt out at any time through the settings menu.

If all goes well we will be launching the patch on the default branch before Christmas.

Have fun!
EXOR Studios

Hello Riftbreakers,

Thank you for all the bug reports regarding the last experimental update. We have managed to fix a lot of issues and add a little bit more polish to some elements of the game - the effects department in particular. We have also introduced some changes to the way ammunition is displayed in hope to make it a bit more transparent for you.

This patch also adds support for seasonal events. A couple of times a year, during various holiday seasons around the world we are going to give you the option to replace some of the original in-game models with holiday versions. This is purely cosmetic and optional - you can opt-in or out of these events at any time.

To join the experimental branch:

1. create a backup copy of your save folder (Documents/The Riftbreaker)
   
2. disable Steam Cloud save backup
   
3. go to your Steam Library
   
4. right-click on The Riftbreaker
   
5. select 'Properties,’ then 'Betas,’ and use the following password: IknowWhatImDoing

After that, you will be able to choose 'experimental' from the drop-down menu. Download the update, play the game and let us know if you encounter any issues. We also have a channel on our Discord: #rb-experimental-feedback - we highly encourage you to join in and share your feedback.

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

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

• Implemented seasonal events. During holiday seasons you will get the option to use modified models for some objects in the game. It is a purely cosmetic change. You will be asked whether you want to enable this setting the first time you launch the game during a holiday season. It can be changed any time in the options menu. We’d like to test this mechanism on the Experimental branch first, but the final content and the final date when this will be enabled is subject to change.
  
• All Headquarter building levels now have their own custom models. Level indicators removed from the Headquarters building.
  
• Mr. Riggs will no longer take damage during the sunburn event when the mech is hidden in shadows.
  
• Added 'Restore to Default' button to the Custom Difficulty settings screen.
  
• Added a new error message for the Xbox Save Game API - exceeding 16MB game save size limit. This will work until a proper solution is implemented ( we’re working on it, but it’s complicated and requires extreme amounts of testing to prevent save error problems ).
  
• [Modding] Added EnvironmentService:RemoveResistance( Exor::Entity id, Exor::String type, Exor::String name );

• Changed the cooldown effect on HUD from black to orange to make it more visible.
  
• Added upgrade popup to all HQ upgrade levels instead of only the first one.
  
• Disabled HQ upgrading using the upgrade tool to prevent upgrading it by mistake.
  
• Changed ammunition display - the game will now show you the number of shots left instead of ammo units. For example: if your weapon consumes 10 ammo per shot and your maximum capacity for that ammo is 100, the game will display 10/10 and go down by one after you shoot.
  
• Ammo display changed for continuous weapons (ex. the flamer) - the ammo display updates more frequently now.
  
• The 'sell outpost' popup will no longer incorrectly display information about AI cores to be transferred to the HQ.
  
• Mr. Riggs' model will no longer blink when it resists damage.
  
• Building Time Multiplier option in the Custom Difficulty menu does not affect the HQ building time.
  
• Changed the display of 'Attacks per wave multiplier', 'Prepare attack time multiplier', and 'Idle time multiplier' options from the Custom Difficulty menu from float to percentage.
  
• Improved custom campaign difficulty setting names. 'Prepare attack time multiplier' -> 'Time to prepare for an attack, 'Idle time multiplier' -> ‘Time between enemy attacks’.
  
• Changed the default autosave interval to 10 minutes from 5 minutes
  
• Added a new explosion effect for the Cryogenic Mine.
  
• Randomized loot removed from buildings - changed to an automatic system that drops 10% of the building's cost upon destruction.
  
• Range circle added to Short Range Radar ghost while building.
  
• Less expensive and less intrusive time damage effects on enemies.
  
• Smaller debris explosion force for magmoth - less clutter on screen.
  
• Fixed death_att orientation and position in all enemies.
  
• Fixed time damage effect scale in enemies - some are bigger, some are smaller.
  
• Effect inheritance added to phirian.
  
• Building time in floor increased to match the new building mechanic.
  
• Rotated the model and increased the polycount on arachnoid_boss_projectile.
  
• Added proper magmoth boss projectile textures.
  
• Updated magmoth projectile materials to use unique textures.
  
• Changed hedroner alpha projectile to fit the creature model.

• Fixed the 'sell outpost' popup background scaling.
  
• Fixed the Headquarters upgrade display error that caused the building limit to blink red while upgrading.
  
• Fixed a problem with the auto aim feature on the Floating Mines that caused the mines to spawn sideways.
  
• Fix categories sorting in the inventory screen - categories are always in the same order
  
• Additional fixes for problems that prevented users from activating the portal in the endgame sequence.
  
• Fixed a problem that prevented the Fusion Power Plant from producing plasma when the energy storage was full.
  
• Fixed incorrect radius display in Attack Drone Tower.
  
• Fixed range display in Cultivator and Collector (ghost level 2 and 3).
  
• Fixed bioscanner collision problems that sometimes prevented users from scanning objects.

Hello Riftbreakers!

Last week we released a massive update for the experimental branch introducing many fixes for the most prevalent issues. The update was also accompanied by the first public release of our modding tools suite for The Riftbreaker.

The editors that we gave you are the same ones that we used to create the entirety of the game’s content. With the help of these tools, you can make your own maps, missions, and even entire campaigns! They will also allow you to easily tweak all the in-game data - health and damage parameters, research speed, loot drops, and many more.

However, what is the most interesting is that the members of our community have been creating mods for the game long before the release - in the closed beta days - and haven’t stopped ever since. There are dozens of mods available for the game already on NexusMods. Today we would like to spotlight a few of the most exciting projects from the pioneers of The Riftbreaker modding scene.

First up, let’s take a look at the Extended Basic Defenses mod by MrSerji. https://www.nexusmods.com/theriftbreaker/mods/93?tab=description



This mod does exactly what it says on the tin - it adds another level of possible upgrades for the basic defensive structures, allowing you to bring your Walls, Gates, AI Hubs, and Sentinel Towers up to level four. What is interesting, though, is that it’s not a purely mechanical mod. MrSerji went deep enough into the game’s files to alter the textures for those structures, even changing the color of the AI Hub lights! If you ever feel that your walls and towers need that little extra oomph - this is the mod for you.

Next - Ambient Attacks mod by LikewiseHH, available here: https://www.nexusmods.com/theriftbreaker/mods/45?tab=description



Have you ever felt that Galatea 37 is too serene? That the attacks from the native creatures are too light and completely unthreatening? Would you like to demonstrate your superior strategic and combat skills to those puny aliens? Look no further. This mod adds randomized attack waves based on the difficulty level you chose to ensure that you have no free time on your hands. You will have to defend yourself from the very beginning of the game - and it only gets harder!

No such list would feel complete if we failed to mention the true grandfather of all Riftbreaker mods - frognik. The man, the myth, the legend. The only guy crazy enough to start making his own maps long before any kind of editor was available. You can find his mod collection right here: https://www.nexusmods.com/theriftbreaker/mods/35?tab=description



Frognik’s mods affect almost every aspect of The Riftbreaker and range from small tweaks, like increased pickup radius to entirely new game modes on custom maps. This is a collection of mods that will completely change the way you play the game - which is not surprising at all, given the fact that at this point, we’re convinced frognik knows the game better than we do. Just go get his mods!

We are very excited about all your creations so far. We highly encourage you to try your hand at creating your own mods - the tools are still a little rough around the edges, but you can always ask for help on our Discord at www.discord.gg/exorstudios. We will also release a tutorial video series on using the Level Editor that will show you the basics of creating new tiles for the game. We are also still evaluating all the options available to us for an in-game mod distribution system to make your experience easier. We will keep you updated on that front when we reach some conclusions. Stay tuned!

Thank you for your enthusiasm!
EXOR Studios

Hello Riftbreakers!

This week we are beginning open tests of one of the most extensive updates for The Riftbreaker to date. It is the Modding & Campaign Update that was detailed as the first of the major updates that we're working on post-release.

This major update introduces the much-requested Custom Campaign Difficulty Settings, extended modding support, modding tools and addresses some of the most prevalent bugs that have been impacting your experience playing The Riftbreaker. The patch also introduces some Quality of Life fixes, balancing changes, and improvements that have been suggested by you either here on Steam or on our Discord - www.discord.gg/exorstudios.

Due to the significant amount and severity of changes, this patch will first become available on the Steam experimental branch. Here are the instructions on how to access it:

To join the experimental branch:

1. create a backup copy of your save folder (Documents/The Riftbreaker)
   
2. disable Steam Cloud save backup
   
3. go to your Steam Library
   
4. right-click on The Riftbreaker
   
5. select 'Properties,’ then 'Betas,’ and use the following password: IknowWhatImDoing

After that, you will be able to choose 'experimental' from the drop-down menu. Download the update, play the game and let us know if you encounter any issues. We also have a channel on our Discord: #rb-experimental-feedback - we highly encourage you to join in and share your feedback.

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

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

• The Campaign mode can now be played using the Custom Difficulty setting. You can adjust the parameters of your Campaign, such as resource density, creature damage, and the size of waves, similar to what you could do previously in the Survival Mode. You can modify the following parameters:
  
  • Enemy damage factor - (from 1% to 500%) - Determines how much damage a creature deals in combat (both to buildings and Mr. Riggs). For example: if a creature deals 100 damage per attack, and the multiplier is set to 50%, it will deal 50 damage instead.
    
  • Resource volume factor - (from 1% to 500%) - Determines how much resources the game will distribute in the resource deposits scattered across the map. 100% is the default value. Everything below 100% will mean that you will get less resources on your map. Everything above 100% will increase the size of the available deposits.
    
  • Research cost - (from 1% to 500%) - Determines the time necessary to carry out research. Values below 100% decrease the time, above 500% on the other hand increase it.
    
  • Building cost - (from 1% to 500%) - Affects the cost of most buildings in the game. At 1% they are almost free, while at 500% you will have to save up for every solar panel. The exceptions are the Headquarters and Solid Material Storage - their costs always remain the same.
    
  • Building time multiplier - (from 1% to 500%) - Affects the length of the building process. Values below 100% make it quicker than usual, while above 100% - longer than usual.
    
  • Items dropped after death - (from 0 to 6) - Determines the maximum number of weapons Mr. Riggs can drop after being destroyed.
    
  • Attacks per wave multiplier - (from 1 to 5) - Determines how many attack waves will attack you. The default is 1. When set to 2 or higher, the number of attacks will get multiplied. Warning - high numbers of creatures come at a performance cost!
    
  • Gravity scale - (from 1% to 500%) - This option affects how gravity works on physical objects. When set to lower than 100% all objects will appear lighter and fall down to the ground more slowly. It might make collecting some loot more difficult. Values higher than 100% make everything appear heavier.
    
  • Prepare attack time multiplier - (from 0.5 to 5) - This option affects how much time you will get to prepare once you receive the warning about an incoming attack. At the default value - 1.0 - it will be 2 minutes.
    
  • Idle time multiplier - (from 0.5 to 3) - This affects the hidden timer that counts down between unscripted attacks on your base. The default is 1.0. If you wish to get attacked more often, select 0.5. If you want longer periods of peace and tranquility, increase the value.
    
  • Enable negative events - (on/off) - This option enables or disables the negative weather events, such as acid rain, tornado or hailstorms.
    
  • Time of day mode - (continuous/only day/only night) - Allows you to enable or disable the day and night system and lock the game to perpetual night or day.
    
  • Sandbox control panel - (on/off) - Enables or disables the hidden sandbox control panel that you can access by pressing the F11 key. It contains lots of debug options that you can experiment with.
    
  • Enemy wave strength - (easy/normal/hard/brutal) - determines the strength of enemy waves that will attack your base.
• All buildings now work while they are being upgraded. You're welcome.
  
• All keys are now rebindable in the Customize Controls menu screen. We added the following actions to the bindings list:
  
  • [gamepad] select building
    
  • [gamepad] build mode switch category
    
  • [gamepad] build mode select]
    
  • build standard floor
    
  • build extra stable floor
    
  • build acid-resistant floor
    
  • build max level
    
  • build basic lamp
    
  • quick save
    
  • quick load
    
  • journal
• Players can now repair walls using the click-and-drag building system when the wall is selected from the building menu. This allows you to quickly rebuild the wall pieces that have been lost while also repairing the remaining ones at the same time.
  
  
  
  
• Added an up/down gamepad D-pad shortcut for the Research Screen that allows you to move research items within the research queue.
  
• Ghost 2x2 buildings will now snap to the middle of the grid instead of the bottom left grid. This should improve your feel for their placement and make it less probable to misplace a building
  
• Added formatting for displaying values equal to or larger than one billion.
  
• Rare Element Mine now has different models for all building levels.
  
  
  
  
• A blinking 'Storage Full' icon appears in the top-right corner of the screen when you run out of storage capacity. The icon will blink only ten times and then disappear.
  
  
  
  
• Commands.lua: Added cheat_destroy_entities_by_type type, for dealing a lot of damage to entities
  
• The game will now show a consent popup if the Game Pass sign-in requires it. This will prevent users from seeing an error message saying they are trying to log into another user's account.

• Optimized resource consumption in powerplants by adding high priority to resource converters. - Power plants utilizing liquids will no longer turn off before power plants that burn off fuel such as carbonium, plant or animal biomass, or uranium.
  
• All Stregaros strains will now count towards the 'Find the unusual creature' objective.
  
• Reduced damage values for Spears of all quality levels - their damage output proved to be problematic in conjunction with high range and the slowing effect.
  
• Resource-depleted announcements will be less frequent now.
  
• Save file opening method has been changed to a more stubborn one - the game will now try to open a file several times before declaring surrender.
  
• Resource display on HUD is smoother now. We refresh the display every second but gather values over 5 seconds to take an average. This will prevent your balance display from blinking between positive and negative values.
  
• Information about saving the game is now displayed 3 seconds ahead of time to prepare the player for it.
  
• Enabled the carnicynth species in the discoverable system to prevent warning messages when playing with cheat_full_bestiary enabled.
  
• Added a small delay for 'working' state effects in power plants. This allows us to prevent the annoying 'blinking' effect when your power capacity is near maximum or if the plant has insufficient fuel.
  
• The 'Send Feedback' option in the menu now has a bigger text box, supporting longer messages. Please keep that feedback coming - we really do read all your comments!
  
• 'Storage Full' icon was replaced with the 'Research' icon on the Alien Research Laboratory building. The icon appears when the Laboratory is idle.
  
• Correct number of building cube effects will now spawn when building long walls to improve performance.

• Fixed game flow being stuck in the desert_scout mission if the base Stregaros species would not spawn and only alpha or ultra variants were present.
  
• Fixed Tower Ammo Factories turning on after the player uses a consumable. This bug could potentially result in huge resource drainage if the player had plenty of Tower Ammo Factories built.
  
• Upgrading the Headquarters no longer blocks you from building other structures.
  
• Fixed an error that prevented some players from activating the Rift Station in the final sequence. The game logic doesn't check the timer now, but the variable, making the flow more robust.
  
• Building limit for Headquarters is now separate from Outposts. This fixes the issue where a player could not rebuild their Headquarters if they already had 7 Outposts built elsewhere.
  
• Fixed an error that prevented players from respawning on a side mission after their outpost got destroyed, potentially blocking progress.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused players to get stuck in permanent invisibility while using Alien Camouflage and building shortcuts.
  
• The Maintenance Tools upgrade will no longer decrease AI core resource requirements for AI-powered buildings.
  
• Fixed an error that prevented users from building the maximum level building due to running against the building cap.
  
• Fixed a crash that happened when a building was trying to display a missing icon.
  
• Fixed the Arachnoid Boss ranged attack. Visually, it looked as if the creature shot five projectiles, but in reality, it was twice as many. Now, there are five physical projectiles.
  
• Fixed muzzle attachment position in Laser.
  
• Slightly reduced the effectiveness of Reflective Armor.
  
• Fixed textures for one of the tree types that prevented them from swaying in the wind.
  
• All ground types that deal damage to the player should now do so correctly.
  
• Fixed an error that caused the timer to display an incorrect value while harvesting the Bioanomalies.
  
• 'Not enough ammunition for defensive towers' announcement will no longer play when buildings are missing energy or AI cores.
  
• Fixes for inaccurate hitboxes on the Customize Controls menu screen.
  
• Changed the dissolve pattern on floors while selling them.
  
• Fixed constructor in logic_set_global_variable.lua to prevent memory corruption issues.
  
• Fixed errors in journal paging with filters enabled. Previously it was possible to skip some entries while changing the page due to an error. All information will be displayed correctly now.
  
• Moved graphics synchronize update after end frame sync point in GameplayExecutor to avoid memory corruption issues.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented dialogues related to underground mushrooms from triggering.
  
• Fixed the disassembly popup when selling buildings from an outpost - it will now correctly stretch according to the number of buildings being sold.
  
• Fixed elemental dash effects blocking damage from other sources.
  
• Fixed research information disappearing while upgrading your Communications Hub.
  
• 'No research selected' announcement will no longer play immediately after completing the construction of the Communications Hub.

• Added a special shader for animated quicksand, as well as liquid resources - mud, water, and sludge.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Added new models for projectiles shot by Hedroner, Arachnoid Boss, Magmoth, and Corrosive Gun. New particle effects have been added to their attacks to properly align with physical projectiles.
  
• The dash attack effects for Phirian have been improved.
  
• Improved weather effects for the Super Moon event. The lights, fog, and particles should be more visible now.
  
• Gravity Grenade icon updated to resemble the in-game model.
  
• Proximity Mine icon simplified.
  
• Desert levels loading screens have been altered - the crystals on the artwork now match the color of the crystals found in-game.
  
• Added a highlight for the crafting button when selected.

We aim to release the patch to the public branch before the Holiday season begins. Please let us know about any issues and bugs you come across.


This is the first public release of our internal game editing tools. We have used these tools to create The Riftbreaker and have been using them on a daily basis. As we've grown used to them and some of their shortcomings, we are aware that we may no longer see some of the issues that reside within, or we have learned to work around them without having to spend any time to fix them. Our initial goal was to put them into your hands as soon as possible, to start an open discussion about what works and what doesn't, and what the areas that you would like to see improved the most are.

Please be aware that these tools are not very user-friendly and are very rough around the edges. We didn't have enough time to create any in-depth instructions for this experimental release, but we're already working on tutorial videos that will walk you through the basic concepts of using them.

All of the modding tools are currently distributed inside the game's main folder structure under Steam and don't have a dedicated launcher. We are thinking about the optimal way of hooking them into the game's easily accessible launch options. The end goal for the default branch release is to have them available as a free DLC so that they don't bloat the game's package size for the users that are not interested in them. We will also be distributing these tools on GitHub - you can already find them here.

Ok, enough of the rambling. Here are some basic instructions on how to find the tools and how to launch them.

The modding tools are located under Steam in this folder:

WorkSpace Editor - This is a new tool that we've created specifically for modding. We recommend that you launch it first. It will allow you to create a new workspace for your Mod. All of the other tools will use this workspace and save all of the files that you create within that directory tree. This will additionally allow you to simply zip that single folder and distribute the zip as your mod.



Level Editor - This tool is used to create new entirely custom maps as well as tiles and prefabs for randomly generated levels.



Mission Editor - This tool is used to create and edit custom mission logic. It's a bit complicated, so until we create some instructions, we encourage you to first browse the .logic files that already govern the game.



Riftbreaker Data Editor - This is our swiss army knife for editing various game data - Weapons, Mods, Loot, Crafting, and Research.



There aren't any instructions available for these tools yet, but we are already working on a set of videos that will introduce the basic concepts of editing the game. You will probably soon be asking - when is Steam Workshop coming? - we are already evaluating the best way to distribute mods and we'll let you know as soon as we have some details to share.

Thank you,
EXOR Studios

Hello Riftbreakers!

It's this time of the year again - the annual Steam Awards are live!

We are extremely grateful for your support during 2021 and the entire development cycle of The Riftbreaker. Your positive reception of the game has exceeded all our expectations and will keep us motivated to deliver content updates, game expansions, and quality of life improvements for years to come. Thank you for that.

The Riftbreaker has been an ambitious project since the very beginning. We wanted to blend a lot of elements from our favorite games and at the same time to give our game a unique, distinct gameplay feel. If you think that we've succeeded at that goal then we would be humbled if you could vote for The Riftbreaker in the 'Most Innovative Gameplay' award in this year's contest.

If you think another category suits The Riftbreaker better, feel free to choose a different one, but please remember that you can nominate a game for a single category only.

There have been a ton of amazing games released in 2021 and we can't wait to place our votes as well. We know the competition is going to be tough. However, you showed us that everything is possible, so let's try to get this one together!

Thank You,
EXOR Studios