We're releasing a patch that addresses some of the problems that you reported to us since the last build. This is our first 'release candidate' for Monday, so all feedback is appreciated!
How to join the experimental branch:
create a backup copy of your save folder (Documents/The Riftbreaker)
disable Steam Cloud save backup
go to your Steam Library
right-click on The Riftbreaker
select 'Properties,’ then 'Betas,’ and use the following password: IknowWhatImDoing
After that, you will be able to choose 'experimental' from the drop-down menu. Download the update, play the game and let us know if you encounter any issues. We also have a channel on our Discord: #rb-experimental-feedback - we highly encourage you to join in and share your feedback.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Saves that you create on the Experimental Branch WILL NOT be compatible with older versions of the game like the current, default branch of the game. They will be compatible with future versions of the game. Please manually backup your save files if you plan on reverting to the default branch of the game.
The Riftbreaker Experimental Update, July 12th, 2022. Package #168, Binaries #549. Changelog:
Changes:
The influence area that spreads around Morphium Towers now has sounds attached to the 'spreading' and 'folding' actions.
Flurian Boss added. You can spawn them in by using the Sandbox Control Panel. Watch out, it's a bit clumsy.
Liquid Pumps now have a 'working' sound.
We changed the look of Morphium Pools in the game with the use of a brand new shader. The liquid now flows and shifts to reflect the unstable nature of the resource.
The Build Menu selector will now scroll to the appropriate tab and position when using a keyboard shortcut to access a building.
Chainsaws have been added to Bioanomaly drop pool.
Tweaked the drop rates for loot from Bioanomalies: you will now get more weapon mods and fewer Dash/Power Jump upgrades.
Sizes for all player drones have been tweaked.
Buildings built on sloped terrain (such as the ones close to liquid pools) will now have small foundations underneath to prevent them from hanging inexplicably in the air.
Fixes:
Fixed multiple crash bugs that were reported by the community. Thank you for all of the crash submissions!
Fixed a problem that allowed players to replicate drones an unlimited number of times.
Fixed the debug_recreate_buildings command - it will not steal all your AI cores anymore.
Fixed incorrect resource icons in the Bestiary.
Fixed the game save behavior after a forced mission exit.
Fixed building limits after a mission is removed from the Orbital Scanner screen.
Fixed a crash in ResourceSystem that occurred when resource storage was removed from a blueprint.
Fixed Geothermal Plant model - now includes a pipe output.
Fixed light color during wind events on the Metallic Biome.
Fixed z-fighting of the Grenade Launcher and Teleport markers on the influence area.
Fixed the effect color for geothermal vents.
Fixed orbital bombardment, orbital laser and heavy plasma crashes after loading the game.
The number of drones now displays correctly in the Upgrade Description Tab
EXOR Studios
Metal Terror releases July 18th!
Hello Riftbreakers!
Mr. Riggs has some news for you:
That’s right - the Metal Terror World Expansion for The Riftbreaker will finally launch on Monday, July 18th, 2022.
We are very grateful for your patience and the extra time you have given us since the original date we had planned earlier. We used this time to improve the Expansion with a lot of features that otherwise would have to get cut. Huge thanks to everyone who played the game on the experimental branch. Thanks to your feedback and bug reports we managed to fix a lot of potential issues.
The World Expansion Update has two components; a huge free content update and a story-driven paid DLC - The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror. Here is a short summary of what both of them include:
The World Expansion free content update:
An entirely new Biome to explore - the Metallic Valley.
A new Survival Mode scenario, taking place in the new biome.
Several new species of creatures, ranging from harmless herbivores to bloodthirsty predators, looking for territorial domination.
New technologies: harness the power of Morphium, a mysterious resource that seems to break the laws of physics.
New weapons: defend your base with new varieties of defensive towers. Take the fight to the aliens with Lightning Guns, Heavy Plasma Cannons, and even a Chainsaw.
Introducing the winners of our Community Design Contests: the Orbital Strike Cannon and Bioscanner Turret!
Rebalanced Survival Mode experience - unlock more technologies, explore different builds, and gain access to Alien Technology without even building a Lab!
A lot of quality of life improvements: mass repair and upgrade tools, more intelligent floor building utility.
…and many more! The full update details will be revealed in the Patch Notes, arriving on July 18th!
The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror paid DLC:
Discover the strange history of the Metallic Valley in an entirely new branch of the Story Campaign, spanning over several hours of gameplay.
Establish an Outpost in a brand-new area of the planet - if you dare.
Scan, analyze, and catalog the unique fauna and flora of the new biome.
Face several new enemy species, each posing a different kind of challenge.
Research new additions to the technology tree, utilizing the curiosities you discover in the new biome: buildings, weapons, and equipment.
Solve the mystery that remained hidden for millennia.
The Story portion of this Expansion is integrated with the Main Campaign from the base edition of The Riftbreaker. The new branch and the contents of the expansion will unlock as you progress through the game. If you have previously completed The Riftbreaker Story Campaign, you can continue your adventure where you left off. The additional part of the Story will unlock immediately, giving you the option to explore the new part of the world.
Thank you for your patience again. You won’t have to wait long this time.
See you in the Metallic Valley soon! EXOR Studios
Experimental Update - New Building Menu
Hello Riftbreakers!
We have just published a new update for the experimental branch of The Riftbreaker. Apart from fixing many bugs, it also adds one much-requested feature - revamped building menu! This is most likely one of the last updates before the official launch of the Metal Terror World Expansion. If you want us to make some last-minute changes, now is the time!
This is a remastered package. All the data zip packs have been repackaged back to pack 0. This is important information for modders, and also saves you 800MB of disk space.
Looking forward to your feedback!
How to join the experimental branch:
create a backup copy of your save folder (Documents/The Riftbreaker)
disable Steam Cloud save backup
go to your Steam Library
right-click on The Riftbreaker
select 'Properties,’ then 'Betas,’ and use the following password: IknowWhatImDoing
After that, you will be able to choose 'experimental' from the drop-down menu. Download the update, play the game and let us know if you encounter any issues. We also have a channel on our Discord: #rb-experimental-feedback - we highly encourage you to join in and share your feedback.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Saves that you create on the Experimental Branch WILL NOT be compatible with older versions of the game like the current, default branch of the game. They will be compatible with future versions of the game. Please manually backup your save files if you plan on reverting to the default branch of the game.
The Riftbreaker Experimental Update, July 7th, 2022. Package #163, Binaries #544. Changelog:
FEATURES:
The new building menu is here! You are now able to select the building level for each structure individually by using the ALT-toggle. Simply highlight the building you want and press alt to switch to the desired level. Not only does this help with building max-level buildings, but also allows you to place 'intermediate' structures - for example, you can't always afford a level 5 Communications Hub, but you can switch to any lower level at any time. Thanks to this feature we also grouped decorative buildings, such as floors and lamps together, shortening the building menu by a lot. This was one of the most requested features from the community. We refactored the entire “build menu system” to make it happen. Feedback towards this feature is especially welcome!
Added cheat_unlock_award command that can help you test modding flow. Or fill your inventory. Your choice. Although I don't know how you will be able to carry on living like that.
CHANGES:
Player drones received new effects. They also spawn at a randomized position, so they spread out more when you equip several upgrades with drones simultaneously.
Attack Drones now only attack aggressive units.
The repair drone should now be able to heal Mr. Riggs if there are no other damaged structures in the vicinity.
The building menu sorting order for Liquid Compressors and Decompressors has been changed to be more logical.
Sword slash trails now change color according to the quality level of the item.
Loot collector drone no longer collects resources that go over storage capacity.
Arachnoids and Hedroners are no longer hostile to each other to prevent them from entering endless fights (they resist each other's damage).
Slightly tweaked the ruleset for enabling the 'battle' playlist.
Added stagger and stun cooldowns to Kermons to prevent them from getting stun locked in melee combat against the player.
Added Kermon Metallic and Hedroner Morphium specimens.
Updated new creatures and foliage loot drops. You can now get advanced and rare resources from them, which should help in Survival Mode significantly.
Added a new Metallic biome prefab with new fungus species.
Introduced many changes to Metallic biome tiles to prevent resources from spawning too close to rocks.
All Mini-miner levels now have an updated model.
Added 2 skins for crystals metal and fungus metallic.
Fixed awards for Metallic Biome Survival - now you should unlock a skin for completing a Survival Run.
Hedroner Morphium was added to the Sandbox Menu Panel.
A warning effect now spawns when you activate a Bioanomaly to let you know that you're in trouble.
Added a crosshair effect to the orbital laser and the orbital bombardment items.
FIXES:
Fixed a crash in objective_if_progress_status.lua script.
Fixed a crash related to extractor.lua script.
Added missing floor_metallic_2x2_01 textures.
Fixed missing and mixed up floor icons in the Decorations tab of the Building Menu.
Selector: fix for gamepad ghosts not working properly 100% of the time.
Attack drones will now choose a new target if the old one is lost.
Bradrons will no longer attack you when you become invisible
Orbital Bombardment should no longer be able to team-kill you or your buildings.
Chainsaw no longer one-shots the entire game. RIP.
Fixed a crash in base_drone.lua that occurred when a save game was patched to a newer version.
Fixed a crash in DroneStateMachineDef that occurred when trying to create a state machine for old modded drone blueprints.
Fixed creature navigation on liquid pools. They should get stuck a lot less often now.
EXOR Studios
The Riftbreaker Experimental Update - Metallic Valley, now with less bugs!
Hello Riftbreakers!
We have just published an update to the experimental branch of The Riftbreaker. Thanks to your feedback we have managed to fix a lot of issues with the new content. This update also features more fleshed-out iterations of the Chainsaw and the Laser Sword - we highly encourage you to take a look and see what the new versions are like!
The Riftbreaker Experimental Update, June 30th, 2022. Package #219, Binaries #476 Changelog:
Features:
The first iteration of player drones has been added. After equipping certain upgrade modules, like Offensive Gear or Maintenance Tools, an accompanying drone will spawn and follow Mr. Riggs around. Drones can (based on their type) repair structures, collect loot, attack enemies, or destroy incoming projectiles. All upgrades come with only one drone, meaning you can have up to four robotic buddies following you at any given time.
GO! GO FORTH AND DO MY BIDDING, LITTLE ONES!
Added new Kermon species for the Metallic Valley biome.
Added new Hedroner species for the Metallic Valley biome.
Research tree changes - moved energy walls to alien tree, added dummy energy weapons ammo for heavy plasma to fix a bug with missing ammo.
Changes:
Changes were made to the Chainsaw to make it actually usable. Mr. Riggs now has a new animation state for when he is using the chainsaw. Chainsaw sounds play back correctly. Collision boxes have been fixed. Moddable parameters have been set up. Stat ranges were added for all quality levels.
Nobody will be able to stop your lawnmowing sessions.
Changes to the sword and laser sword collision mask and laser sword melee collision (now they will not hit the ground and the laser sword will not miss objects that easily)
Changes made to the Laser Sword: higher damage, smaller weapon scale for higher quality levels, moddable parameters set up.
Even the murder hornets melt because of the awesome power of the Laser Sword.
Orbital Bombardment and Orbital Laser tweaked. They are now more powerful but have a longer cooldown. Their visual effects have also been changed to make them seem more impactful. Further changes will be coming to these skills.
Weapon sounds added for: laser sword, orbital laser, orbital bombardment, heavy plasma fire and corrosive gun.
Changed the Standard Chainsaw model.
The last building rotation direction is now stored individually for each building in Build Mode.
Added more ground textures for the Metallic Valley.
Changed the footstep effect in liquids.
Added a shield hit effect to various projectiles.
Flurian Plasma Grenades now collide with the shield.
Removed energy damage resistance from Wingmites.
Changed minimap icon sizes for all enemies, projectiles and buildings.
Added effects for Liquid Compressors and Decompressors.
Bioscanner Sentry updated: new model, animations and effects.
Reduced the delay between Wingmite spawns in early Metallic Valley biome survival waves.
The light on the Standard quality Metallic Bioanomaly is now less bright.
Fixes:
Fixed Survival Mode Final Wave preparation time to be 300s instead of 0s :D
Fixed Survival Mode attack waves coming from all directions at once.
Fixed Survival Mode no victory screen bug.
Fixed removing units when no path can be found - prevents units from getting stuck.
Fixed a crash that occurred when rotating buildings in Build Mode after loading a saved game.
Arachnoid Boss will no longer spawn eggs when it's on the screen.
Fixed Mini Miner sound volume - it was too high.
Fixed light flickering on the Orbital Scanner screen.
It is no longer possible to select multiple buildings in the Build Menu.
Fixed error in a sound script causing asserts for a missing sample
Fixed max damage value in Magmoth projectiles.
Multiple misc bugfixes.
How We Gave Mr. Riggs His Voice
Hello Riftbreakers,
We have been spending our time lately putting the finishing touches on the first World Expansion for The Riftbreaker - Metal Terror. We are extremely grateful for your patience and feedback on the Experimental version of the update. This World Expansion is not just an additional Campaign branch. It is going to be the most extensive update the game has received thus far, addressing many issues that you have been reporting to us in addition to introducing new content.
Today, we would like to show you a little bit of what goes on behind the curtain while working on the new game content. We’re going to focus on something that doesn’t often receive a lot of attention (and it definitely should!) - the audio design. More specifically, we’ll take a look at voice acting and the process of creating voiceovers from scratch. You’re also going to learn how we gave Mr. Riggs his signature voice and how you can replicate that on your own. Read on, maybe you will get inspired and try audio design on your own?
What would Mr. Riggs say in this situation?
Everything starts with an empty spreadsheet. We come up with a rudimentary list of dialog lines that our heroes are going to deliver during a specific point during gameplay. The list is just a collection of writing prompts and is not that complex. It can really boil down to something like this:
[table equalcells="1"] [tr] [td]Ashley: we landed, wow, look at this place[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Mr. Riggs: roger[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Ashley: we should focus on our task[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Mr. Riggs: yes, here’s a breakdown of what we must do[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Ashley: let’s get to work, we can research the nature some more later[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Mr. Riggs: snarky remark that the nature will probably come to research us first[/td] [/tr] [/table]
To let the game understand which part of the dialog it should play, we assign a string name to each line. String names are important for two reasons: once the game gets the instruction to play one such line it will: 1) play the associated voiceover audio file, 2) show the text for that line on the screen, taking the language settings of the game into account.
After adding the string names to the table, it looks like this:
[table equalcells="1"] [tr] [td]ashley_test_mission_start_01[/td] [td]Ashley: we landed, wow, look at this place[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]mech_test_mission_start_01[/td] [td]Mr. Riggs: roger[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]ashley_test_mission_start_02[/td] [td]Ashley: we should focus on our task[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]mech_test_mission_start_02[/td] [td]Mr. Riggs: yes, here’s a breakdown of what we must do[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]ashley_test_mission_start_03[/td] [td]Ashley: let’s get to work, we can research the nature some more later[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]mech_test_mission_start_03[/td] [td]Mr. Riggs: snarky remark that the nature will probably come to research us first[/td] [/tr] [/table]
From this point onwards we will refer to the voiceover lines by their string names, as it makes it easier for us to locate the corresponding files and texts.
We have reached arguably the toughest point in the voiceover creation process. It is now time to write the actual voice lines. In true indie fashion, we do this ourselves, influenced by all the science fiction we have consumed in our lifetimes. The process involves copious amounts of tea, several sleepless nights, and a healthy dose of self-doubt sprinkled with bouts of anxiety. Sometime later, the first iteration of the script is born.
We will have you visit some weird sceneries in the Metal Terror World Expansion. Be ready!
It is one thing to read the text from a spreadsheet. Hearing it in the game is a different kettle of fish. It might turn out that some lines come out completely wrong within the context of the gameplay. This is why we record prototype versions of dialogs ourselves. Well, ‘we’ is a slight exaggeration. One person does all the voices, which is not ideal. Listening to monologues imitating a real conversation is not the best way to test things. That’s where the magic of Digital Audio Workstation comes in.
Obviously, it would be easier to record Mr. Riggs himself, but he gets a bit shy in front of the mic. Also the mic is unplugged, which makes recording difficult.
To make it easier to differentiate between the ‘actors’ we apply some effects to the lines spoken by Mr. Riggs. We do that in Cockos Reaper. Their built-in library of VST effects is just enough to get the job done.
To achieve the robotic sound of Mr. Riggs, we copy the original track two more times and play them all at the same time. Without any effects, this would just result in the sound being louder. We apply different effects to each track.
Much better than listening to one guy having a conversation with himself, isn’t it? We play through the entire game with the placeholder voiceovers and make necessary changes. After the script is finalized, we send it to voice actors playing the roles of our characters:
As you can see, it’s not really that difficult to play around with sound. There are plenty of free tools to get you started - Audacity, for example. It has all the basic effects you would need to make your first steps into the world of sound design. Who knows - maybe this is the thing that you will do for a living one day?
We’re going back to work on the World Expansion and Co-Op (we’ve had some sneak peeks during our streams this week). We hope you enjoyed this article. If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out either here or through our Discord at www.discord.gg/exorstudios.
See you next time! EXOR Studios
Community-designed items coming to The Riftbreaker
Hello Riftbreakers!
We know that you’re waiting for news regarding the Metal Terror World Expansion. It’s coming next month. We are going to reveal the date once we are 100% sure that we are ready with everything to give you the best possible experience. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the new tech that you helped us design during two competitions that we held a couple of months ago.
You know we love explosions and destruction on a massive scale. When the Orbital Bombardment won the first design competition, we were very happy, because it meant that we could create another devastating weapon that you can use to smash your enemies to pieces. In fact, we even made two variants for you to choose from - an Orbital Laser, as well as an actual, explosive bombardment. Let’s start with the former.
It's quite rare to find a stationary target in The Riftbreaker, but when you do, this item will slay.
The principle behind the Orbital Laser is very simple. You point at a location of your choice, press the button, and a powerful laser beam will strike that spot with surgical accuracy. However, in the dynamic world of Galatea 37, there are hardly any immobile targets. Usually, it is either Mr. Riggs chasing the enemies or the other way around. That is why we decided to make the Laser move in a very predictable way - once the Laser strikes, it will move away from Mr. Riggs, opposite the direction he was facing while ordering the strike. This way, you can easily take down enemy artillery, or pave your way through the middle of an alien horde.
This is what the old Orbital Bombardment looked like. Luckily, you prompted us to make changes to it.
The Orbital Bombardment is quite different. You still only have to choose a single spot as a target, but instead of focusing on that point, the Bombardment obliterates everything in a large radius. The affected area, the strength of the projectiles, as well as the number of shells fired go up with each level.
The new and improved bombardment will get rid of most of your problems. And if it doesn't the Laser will.
The Orbital Bombardment benefitted a lot from being accessible to testers on our optional Experimental branch. When we initially shipped the update, the two skills did not differ much from each other - they were essentially the same weapon, just with a different damage type. After a lot of discussions with the community, we came to the conclusion that this skill should be something more powerful. Something that you could compare to an ultimate skill in MOBA games. That is why we increased the damage, explosion radius, number of shells, and the affected area. All of that is offset by a long cooldown, but it will destroy anything in its path.
The Bioscanner Turret does its job quickly and efficiently, leaving you to reap the rewards.
The last community-designed item that made its way into the game with the World Expansion update is the Bioscanner Sentry. This consumable takes care of scanning the world for you. Some players do not enjoy manually scanning all the Galatean species in search of samples for the database. With the Sentry, you can just set it up and forget it ever existed, while more knowledge drips into your database. It is well worth it, as gaining familiarity levels gives Mr. Riggs permanent bonuses!
This is not the final form of all these items. They are likely to undergo further changes as more feedback rolls in. If you’d like to check these items out, along with other changes, then join our experimental branch. You can find the instructions in the previous article.
We also would like to know what kind of other things you would like us to introduce. We have already held a vote on a 'random encounter'. What else would you like to have an immediate influence on? More weapons? More items? New creatures? Side missions? Or something else entirely? Let us know! Slowly, but surely we will introduce your ideas into the game.
EXOR Studios
Experimental branch Hotfix - June 8th
The Riftbreaker World Expansion I Experimental Update, June 8th, 2022, Binaries #468, Package #205 Changelog:
- Fixed false-positive error that blocked loading Save Game files from the previous experimental branch update. Save game data was unaffected by this error. We apologize for the resulting problems and frustration!
Experimental Update - World Expansion I
Hello Riftbreakers!
We have just released a major experimental update for The Riftbreaker. It contains the entire free portion of the World Expansion that we originally planned to release on this day. It is the largest update since the launch of the game both in terms of new content and gameplay changes. Some of these new features have been in development for months and we can't wait to hear your feedback about them. Due to the size and complexity of the update, we decided that we have to run it through an "experimental" phase before rolling it out to everyone. Our recent decision to delay the open release of the expansion allowed us to keep all of the features that we originally planned to include, however, some of them are still in an unfinished state in this early experimental release.
We would also like to warn you that the new Metallic Valley biome content that is contained within this update contains some spoilers for the story that will be included in the Metal Terror DLC. This is especially true if you're a modder and want to browse through all of the content files that are included within.
After joining the experimental branch and updating the game, you will be able to play Survival Mode on the new biome - the Metallic Valley. It is an entirely new area of the planet that features new enemies, new plant species, and even a new resource type. You will also gain access to new weapons, technologies, and buildings to use in all your survival runs.
Additionally, this update introduces loads of changes when it comes to the Survival Mode itself. The starting load-outs for each biome are now better suited for the kinds of enemies that you will be facing. We also grant you more basic technologies at the beginning of the game to allow you to be more flexible with the technologies you choose for your Survival run, as you are going to have more time to do the research you actually want to use in the late game. Moreover, the research items from the Alien Research tab of the tech tree no longer require the Laboratory in Survival Mode. You can start downloading them as soon as you get your first Communications Hub.
The experimental branch might contain severe errors and bugs. It's possible that the game will crash and you will lose your progress. 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.
How to join the experimental branch:
create a backup copy of your save folder (Documents/The Riftbreaker)
disable Steam Cloud save backup
go to your Steam Library
right-click on The Riftbreaker
select 'Properties,’ then 'Betas,’ and use the following password: IknowWhatImDoing
After that, you will be able to choose 'experimental' from the drop-down menu. Download the update, play the game and let us know if you encounter any issues. We also have a channel on our Discord: #rb-experimental-feedback - we highly encourage you to join in and share your feedback.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Saves that you create on the Experimental Branch WILL NOT be compatible with older versions of the game like the current, default branch of the game. They will be compatible with future versions of the game. Please manually backup your save files if you plan on reverting to the default branch of the game.
The Riftbreaker Experimental Update, May 30th, 2022 - Package #191, Binaries #457
FEATURES:
Welcome to the Metallic Valley! Enjoy playing Survival Mode in this new biome - learn all the new tricks, discover the new creatures, and harness the power of Morphium.
Speaking of Morphium - it is a brand-new liquid resource. It is found only in the Metallic Valley and can serve as a power source and a building block (of sorts).
Several new species of creatures have been added:
Wingmite - a deadly, lightning-quick flying creature that swarms the player and uses melee attacks.
Bradron - a slower flying unit, capable of attacking from a distance with a powerful laser beam. It can also disable some of Mr. Riggs' equipment with an EMP blast.
Octabit - battering ram in the form of a weird, creepy, self-replicating cube. Will explode on contact. It can split into smaller versions of itself if destroyed.
Flurian - an enormous creature with a plasma grenade launcher fused within its body. Will try to rip you apart in close quarters using its giant, metallic claws.
Idapian, Brabit, and Stonger - new neutral, ambient creatures. Real cuties.
Quality of Life update: we have added Mass Upgrade, Repair, and Deconstruction tools. We have devoted an entire article to them, so click the link to learn more.
A new tool has been added to the building menu: the Power Switch. It allows you to quickly power buildings on or off, a handy feature when dealing with a power grid that is under heavy load. As with the other tools, you can increase the size of the brush.
New buildings: Liquid Compressor and Liquid Decompressor. You can provide the Compressor with any liquid resource to, well, compress it. That will allow you to transport that liquid over a large distance without using any pipelines. All you need to do is to build a Decompressor wherever you want to use the liquid you provided to the Compressor. Best of all - this works between maps as well! Magma Power Plants in the Jungle? You bet!
New building: Morphium Power Plant. This building requires only morphium to operate. In return for supplying it with enough of that resource, it will reward you with a nice and steady stream of power. Great for setting up resource outposts.
New building: Energy Walls. These are slightly more expensive than the regular walls. However, they are pretty great against melee attackers, as they deal damage in retaliation to being hit.
New Defenisve Tower: Morphium Tower. Boost your defenses with alien technology from beyond time! The tower commands the influence area around itself to form massive spikes that shred the enemies to pieces. Additionally, it does not require any power or AI hubs to operate - you only need to supply it with Morphium. Oh, and it can be placed on liquids and it generates shields for buildings around itself, too.
New Defensive Tower: Lightning Tower. This energy-based weapon will be a shockingly good addition to your arsenal. Yeah, I know, I'll see myself out.
New weapon: Lightning Gun. You can now cosplay as Emperor Palpatine. Unlimited power.
New weapon: Heavy Plasma Cannon. Shoots powerful plasma projectiles with high splash damage potential. The alternative fire mode changes the weapon into a portable shield, protecting you from projectiles.
New melee weapon: Laser Sword. It deals a bit less damage than its regular counterpart but can attack at a much faster rate.
New melee weapon: Chainsaw. Rip and Tear until it is done.
New skills: Orbital Bombardment and Orbital Laser added. These are the winning design of one of our previous competitions.
New consumable: Bioscanner Turret - another winner of our design competition. This consumable item can be deployed anywhere you find something interesting. It will scan all objects of interest within its range for as long as its battery lasts.
New consumable: Mini Miner. This consumable item can be placed on any ore deposit. It will mine resources for a short amount of time and automatically transport them to your storage.
Flying units can now navigate across bodies of water, as well as canyons and small rock formations. You thought you were safe setting up that base between a lake and a canyon? Think again!
Added liquid splash effects. When a physical object drops into a liquid pool it will now result in a splash. Purely visual.
Introducing 'Alien Influence System' - Whenever you place any of the alien-tech-based buildings in your base, it is going to surround the ground around itself with metallic, self-replicating plates. This is only a visual effect.
For all you crazy modders out there: we have added support for the creation of non-square maps. This can help make your missions more special, giving them a completely different feel than a standard survival or campaign mission.
We have added several new options to the gameplay settings menu: you can now adjust the amount of debris, parts, decals, and other effects. Turning these down will reduce the overall 'chaos' on the screen during battles. It can also positively affect your performance.
Added a set of new, hi-tech decorative structures to give your bases a nice, futuristic look.
CHANGES:
Major Survival Mode rebalance/rework:
In order to give ourselves the flexibility necessary to introduce meaningful changes, the research trees for Survival and Campaign are now completely separate.
The player is now awarded more completed research items at the beginning of a Survival run: Liquid Resources Handling Level 1, Tower Ammunition Handling Level 1, Alien Research, all resource handling tech, and the entire tier one of Mech Upgrade Tree. Previously, after getting access to Communication Hubs, you would have to churn through some basic research options that you had no real use for (looking at you, cobalt handling) in order to gain access to technologies further down the line.
Each Survival Mode Biome now has a slightly different starting loadout for the Mech. We wanted to give you early access to weapons and tech that will give you a fighting chance against those biomes' enemies.
The Alien Research tech tree no longer requires a Laboratory to be built in Survival Mode. This means that you can start researching those technologies right away, giving you access to more tech to fit your strategy and playstyle. Yay nukes!
Volcanic Biome Survival maps have been tweaked to feature a little bit more of open spaces to reduce the 'tightness' of the map.
Volcanic Biome: big Magnetic Boulders now have a reduced amount of hitpoints for easier removal. Cryo Stations building time decreased.
Geoscanner and Bioscanner are now available in Survival from the start.
Changed most of the map tiles - increased the number of resource spawn points, player spawn points, and objective spawn points, plus some tweaks to prefabs and unit spawn points.
We introduced some changes to how building repairs work. Instead of being instant, a repair job will now take up to 10 seconds, depending on the amount of missing hit points. You pay the cost of the repair upfront, all at once. If a building takes damage while it is being repaired, the process is stopped. These changes were introduced to offset the ability to mass repair buildings in combat situations. It also opens up the road to adding a “repair all” button in the future.
We have introduced several significant balance changes based on the data available to us:
Plasma Towers damage has been reduced across all levels. Its splash damage has also been reduced.
Railgun Tower now has less damage per shot on higher levels but also a slightly higher fire rate to maintain the DPS level.
Minigun Tower damage has been reduced across all levels.
In order to eliminate energy spikes during combat situations, we have eliminated the energy cost per shot in energy-based towers. Instead, they consume a constant amount of power each second. Make sure to revise your existing power grids.
We rebalanced the ammo production rate of Armory and Tower Ammo Factories to be more reasonable. The previous increase rate was a tad too low.
Melee weapons have been rebalanced slightly. The spear’s effectiveness has been reduced by making the hitbox a bit more narrow (but just a little), and higher levels of melee weapons increase in scale much more than they used to.
Plasma Gun damage, fire rate, and splash damage have all been reduced.
Grenade Launcher ammo cost has been increased to avoid the 'infinite ammo' scenario that would happen at lower levels if a player built six Ammo Storage buildings. Shooting only one Grenade Launcher would consume less ammo than the Armory would produce.
Pipelines’ hitpoints increased.
The maximum number of Outposts you can control during one Campaign Mode run has been increased to 10.
Added the Super Moon event to both Campaign and Survival modes. It can allow your solar panels to work at night.
Various Campaign Mode difficulty tweaks.
The lights on all plasma projectiles have been slightly increased.
Localized events, such as tornadoes, can now affect only part of the map when it comes to wind speed. That means only the wind turbines within a certain radius from a localized event will be affected by it.
Lesigian is now able to travel across liquid pools and rock formations.
Aiming priorities changed for Sentry Guns. They will no longer try to shoot down air units.
We added a little effect that spawns at the end of the laser beam to mark its maximum range. Previously, beams would just end abruptly. Now they’ve got a nice little flare at the end.
Bioanomalies now have a bigger chance of containing something useful. Skins appear more often, too.
Changed the attack wave spawned when Bioanomalies are opened. It's a big one. Really. You have been warned. We want to make opening a Bioanomaly a conscious decision you have to prepare for. This change is currently implemented only in the Metallic Valley biome.
The Power Jump flight pattern has been changed to make it feel a lot more powerful.
Additional tweaks to underground mushroom detection. It should now feel more reliable and less based on luck.
The Geoscanner now reveals underground mushrooms more effectively.
Drilling animation begins faster and is quicker itself, resulting in a shorter time needed to defuse an underground fungal death trap.
We have completely reworked our audio system. Previously, it had the tendency to get a bit overwhelmed when there were a lot of things happening at once. Some sounds would get cut in half, and others wouldn't start playing back at all. All sounds should playback properly and stick to their limits with the new system.
FIXES
The amount of fixes and smaller changes within this build is too long to list. We have fixed a number of obscure crash bugs, power grid problems, gameplay glitches, and UI bugs. However, this update is sure to introduce new problems in its experimental form. We encourage you to report everything that you notice and we’ll work hard to ensure a polished final release for this update.
KNOWN ISSUES & WORK IN PROGRESS
Morphium Shader - the current look of the Morphium liquid is temporary, we are working on a nicer visual effect, but it wasn’t ready to be included in this build yet
Morphium Tower - the current visual effects for this tower are unfinished. Attack animation is disabled and the spikes themselves are a placeholder model.
Compressor/Decompressor - the visual effects for these buildings are unfinished. We’d also love to hear your feedback in regards to the economy balance of this building in Campaign Mode. It is one of the most significant new gameplay mechanics and we’re sure it will need additional polish and bug hunting in complex scenarios.
Chainsaw - this weapon is currently not functional and can only be unlocked using cheats. It is work in progress both in terms of visuals and functioning.
Laser sword - the visual effects and balancing for this weapon is still work in progress
Lightning Tower and Lightning Gun - the balancing for this weapon is not finished, however, feedback is welcome at this point.
Metallic Valley Bioanomalies - some of the destruction models are missing and their animation isn’t final. Their attack wave strength is also not fully balanced yet.
Metallic Valley Biofactories - their destruction levels aren’t finalized yet.
Morphium Power Plant - visual effects for this building are still work in progress
Liquid splash effects - there is still a number of bugs in regards to this feature. We’re working on it.
Weather event lighting - some of the weather events may temporarily change the biome lighting
Flying unit navigation - this is a huge new feature and may still contain some bugs. This should be very rare but if you encounter some units stuck on the map - it would be great if you could send us a screenshot of that exact spot.
Survival Mode balancing - the changes that we’ve introduced have changed this mode dramatically. We’d love to hear your feedback about the game’s pacing and difficulty in this mode.
Online Multiplayer mode refactoring - while it is not possible to play the game in multiplayer yet, we’ve already refactored large portions of the game code to enable this in the future. We may have introduced unknown and obscure bugs in the process. This also highlights the need to test this update on the experimental branch before an “official” release.
All of the new in-game text hasn’t been translated into languages other than English.
Only Standard sized maps currently work in Survival in Custom Game - choosing a different size will cause the game to crash.
We hope that you will check out this Experimental Update, as we would like to hear your feedback on the changes we made. We plan to make this update public along with the release of the Metal Terror Expansion, so there is plenty of time to fix all the issues you find. We also expect to publish some additional updates in the meantime, containing some of the most requested QoL features.
Visit us on Discord at www.discord.gg/exorstudios and share your thoughts!
EXOR Studios
Metal Terror delayed to July
Hello Riftbreakers!
We have some unfortunate news to share with you today. Despite our best efforts, The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror World Expansion will not be ready for release on May 30th. With a heavy heart, we have made the decision to postpone the launch until July. Let us explain why.
The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror is a very large expansion, introducing several new creature species, an entirely new resource type, dozens of research items, and weapons. Adding such an amount of new features and making sure they all interact with each other in an intended way is a complex and lengthy process. While testing the new campaign portion, we discovered several major issues. Among many others: saves would get corrupted, the game is not fully stable yet, and the game flow is not properly balanced, resulting in a bad experience on difficulties other than normal. Given the fact that we need to be absolutely sure that the Expansion is accessible from any point in the Main Campaign (as long as the conditions are met), and on any difficulty level, the amount of work required increases tenfold. While it seemed likely that we could fix most of those issues on time, we couldn’t guarantee that the game would be in the shape that it should be.
One of the new weapons that are joining the game with this update: Lightning Gun. Pictured in both Standard and Extreme versions. You figure out which is which.
We have put a lot of effort into making sure that The Riftbreaker is as enjoyable as possible. That requires a lot of testing and bug fixing, but the end result is well worth it. We do not want to rush and abandon this principle. We do not want to risk releasing an unfinished product purely on the feeling that ‘we might be able to make it’. That is not good enough. That is no way to treat the community, who have trusted and supported us since day one.
Lightning Gun's more stationary counterpart: Lightning Tower. Combine them with Energy Walls and you're good to go.
We are going to use this additional time to make sure that your adventure in the Metallic Valley is going to be as smooth as possible. The extra weeks are also going to allow us to fix some other, smaller issues that you’ve been reporting to us.
We are aware that it’s been quite a long time since the last major update for The Riftbreaker was released. We do not want to keep you waiting much longer, so on May 30th, the original release date that we have announced, we are going to publish the World Expansion Update to the experimental branch of the game. The update will contain most of the new features and will allow you to try out the Metallic Valley Survival map. More information, including a detailed changelog, will be made available on the 30th of May as well.
Please accept our most sincere apologies for the delay.
EXOR Studios
The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror arrives May 30th!
Hello Riftbreakers!
We are incredibly excited to announce that The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror, the first World Expansion for our game, is going to release on May 30th, 2022!
The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror allows you to explore an entirely new area of Galatea 37 - the Metallic Valley. This previously unexplored biome holds many secrets. You will encounter creature species, unlike anything you’ve seen before. You will gather information about the strange ways that the local flora has adapted to the conditions of this biome. You will conduct research on anomalous objects that might open the door to unlocking powerful technological advancements. However, some of the things that you find there might send a shiver down your spine.
The World Expansion Update has two components; a huge free content update and a story driven paid DLC - The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror. Here is a short summary of what both of them include:
The World Expansion free content update:
An entirely new Biome to explore - the Metallic Valley.
A new Survival Mode scenario, taking place in the new biome.
Several new species of creatures, ranging from harmless herbivores to bloodthirsty predators, looking for territorial domination.
New technologies: harness the power of Morphium, a mysterious resource that seems to break the laws of physics.
New weapons: defend your base with new varieties of defensive towers. Take the fight to the aliens with Lightning Guns, Heavy Plasma Cannons, and even a Chainsaw.
Introducing the winners of our Community Design Contests: the Orbital Strike Cannon and Bioscanner Turret!
Rebalanced Survival Mode experience - unlock more technologies, explore different builds, and gain access to Alien Technology without even building a Lab!
A lot of quality of life improvements: mass repair and upgrade tools, more intelligent floor building utility.
…and many more! The full update details will be revealed in the Patch Notes, arriving on May 30th!
The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror paid DLC:
Discover the strange history of the Metallic Valley in an entirely new branch of the Story Campaign, spanning over several hours of gameplay.
Establish an Outpost in a brand-new area of the planet - if you dare.
Scan, analyze, and catalog the unique fauna and flora of the new biome.
Face several new enemy species, each posing a different kind of challenge.
Research new additions to the technology tree, utilizing the curiosities you discover in the new biome: buildings, weapons, and equipment.
Solve the mystery that remained hidden for millennia.
The Story portion of this Expansion is integrated with the Main Campaign from the base edition of The Riftbreaker. The new branch and the contents of the expansion will unlock as you progress through the game. If you have previously completed The Riftbreaker Story Campaign, you can continue your adventure where you left off. The additional part of the Story will unlock immediately, giving you the option to explore the new part of the world.
We want to give everyone something new with this update. All players will gain access to the new content in Survival Mode and the Sandbox Mode. Everyone will also be able to utilize the new assets in the Riftbreaker Editor Suite to create custom maps and campaigns. Purchasing the Expansion will in turn allow you to play through the new portion of the Story Campaign and make use of the new technologies in the Campaign Mode.
The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror will release on Monday, May 30th, 2022 at $9.99. More news, including sneak peeks at some of the new features, coming in the next weeks!
