In game development, almost everything starts as a placeholder. When we look back at the early days of The Riftbreaker, many systems, mechanics, and assets barely resemble what you are playing today. Ideas were tested, broken, reworked, or scrapped entirely. That is normal. Game development is a dynamic process. Almost nothing is good enough on the first attempt, which is why openness to feedback and iteration are key to achieving good results. However, some things surprised us. Some ideas worked almost immediately. They survived prototypes, demos, public playtests, and years of post-launch development. They stood the test of time so well that we barely had to touch them. Today, we want to share a few examples of design decisions and systems that remained largely unchanged from the earliest versions of The Riftbreaker - and why.


There is something hilarious about seeing footage from the prototype, especially when it's proudly proclaiming it's "Riftbreaker Gameplay". It all has to start somewhere!


Let’s start with something deceptively simple: the early economy. When we began prototyping The Riftbreaker, we worked toward a milestone we called First Playable. It was never meant to be a full game - just a rough proof of concept. The goal was to test basic controls, combat, building, and resource gathering. At that stage, we needed only a handful of buildings:

• Headquarters
  
• Basic power generation (wind turbines and solar panels)
  
• A simple defensive tower
  
• Carbonium and Ironium factories

When creating the first gameplay prototypes, we usually mix old and new assets. It creates hilarious combinations, like Zombie Driver zombie dogs attacking the Riftbreaker Headquarters. Also: lol at 'Headquarters destroyed. You've lost :(". By the way - almost all of the buildings listed above are already present in this clip!

We had no long-term economy model - we knew that it would all change anyway as we added more elements to the game. So we did what many developers do at this stage: we picked numbers that felt right based on the following:

• We wanted the player to constantly see a stream of resource lumps while drilling. Spawning 5 pieces per second seemed to work just fine.
  
• On the basis of drilling 5 resources per second, we decided that the Carbonium Factory should cost 10 seconds of “manual labor”: 50 Carbonium.
  
• Ironium Factory cost was also set at 50 Carbonium.
  
• Headquarters cost: deliberately set slightly above what the mech starts with, so that you learn about digging resources with your mech. On a side note: it is also a clever way of giving you something to do while dialogues happen!

Sometimes, we don't even have placeholder assets that would fit, so we use colorful cubes to represent enemies. Here's the first-ever full-scale Tropical Zone attack, complete with zombie dogs standing in for Canoptrix, blue cubes as Arachnoids, and Orange cubes as Hammeroceroses. Less than perfect working conditions. This is exactly why we want to have some kind of placeholder assets, even if they are going to be decommissioned somewhere down the road.

As development continued - from First Playable, to internal builds, to the public demo shown at trade shows in 2019, these numbers remained the same. They became an anchor point for the game's entire economic structure. Other buildings changed in cost and function, as new systems were layered on top. But the core values for those first couple of buildings remained untouched. Even though it was largely a shot in the dark, deliberate design by numbers turned out to be good enough in the long run.


Early in development, we assume that most assets will eventually be replaced. This applies to visuals and audio alike. Every new project is an opportunity to expand and improve our engine. Early assets are created before we fully understand the potential of new rendering features, lighting systems, or audio pipelines. With experience, we can often achieve better results with less effort. Because of this, we are careful not to get too attached to early assets.


The effect for the nuke explosion is one of the assets that aged fairly well, even though it has come a long way. It was first created with the X-Morph: Defense Germany level boss fight in mind, but ended up never being used. It found its permanent home years later in The Riftbreaker..

Sound design is a great example. Sound is critical for player feedback. Playing without audio feels like losing a sense - because you do. But recording original sounds is expensive, time-consuming, and technically demanding. Equipment, space, experience, planning - it all adds up quickly. As an indie studio, we took a practical approach. We already had a large library of sounds from previous projects: D.I.P.R.I.P., Zombie Driver, and X-Morph: Defense. So we started by mixing and matching what we already had.


...and here's an example of an asset that wasn't made for The Riftbreaker, was used as a placeholder, and turned out to work just fine with minimum tweaking: the railgun shot effect. It traces back all the way to Zombie Driver!

Later, when we contracted composer Marcin Pukaluk to create the soundtrack for The Riftbreaker, we also asked him if he would like to also help us out with some sound design. He agreed to work with us, and together, we began looking for new samples to replace the ones we had scraped together earlier. However, even during this process, not all samples ended up being replaced. Among others, the sounds for explosions, artillery fire, and a couple of weapons remained unchanged. However, the oldest survivor is the repair sound. Every time Mr. Riggs repairs himself or a building, you hear a distinct mechanical buzzing. That sound comes from D.I.P.R.I.P., and it is nearly 20 years old. We never planned for it to last this long, but it simply fit better than anything else. No reason to change it if it works!


You already know we don’t get attached to assets early on. The same is true for entire game systems. Designing them in a vacuum can be very hit-or-miss. A system that works well on paper might be impossible to implement, or simply not fun. Still - some of them are hits! One of the most important systems in The Riftbreaker is the Dynamic Objective Manager, or DOM. This system runs constantly in the background, dynamically generating side missions and events. Its purpose is simple: make each playthrough feel different.


Even though there is still a lot of old stuff in this scene, there are plenty of elements that remained intact over the years! We're glad the 2x2 walls with a raised floor did not make the cut.

We did not want to plan every minute of gameplay. Random attack waves, creature nests appearing on the map, environmental disasters like hailstorms - all of these are triggered by the DOM. It continuously evaluates a mission’s state:

• Are there any major events triggered at the moment?
  
• Are there any side objectives active at the moment?
  
• Which difficulty state is the current mission running at?
  
• How much time has passed since the last event?

Based on this information, the system adjusts its behavior. If you are idle at your base with no active objectives, the DOM may push a side objective - investigating an unusual creature or an anomaly. If enough time has passed since the last attack, it may warn you about an incoming enemy horde. The key is uncertainty. You cannot fully predict what will happen next. The world feels reactive, alive, and slightly hostile - exactly what we wanted. The surprising part is that the core logic behind the DOM has remained largely unchanged since its initial implementation. When an idea is solid, polishing it is often enough.

Click to zoom in. The schematic we used as a blueprint for creating the flow of the entire Story Campaign. It remains largely unchanged until today - if you don't count all the expansions, of course!

The overall structure of The Riftbreaker’s story campaign is another example. Once we understood which biomes, resources, and buildings would be available to players, we created a schematic of all major objectives required to finish the game. This included mission dependencies and progression milestones leading to the finale. While some individual missions changed, and a few ideas didn’t work out as planned, the foundation remained stable. That same foundation allowed us to expand the game through DLCs and endgame updates. With better tools and a deeper understanding of our own systems, we later designed more complex campaign structures.


Looking back, these examples all point to the same conclusion. Not every part of game development needs endless iteration. Sometimes, a good idea just needs room to grow. Economy values chosen on instinct, sounds borrowed from decades-old projects, systems designed early and refined instead of replaced - They all became permanent parts of The Riftbreaker.

A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same. Which elements do you recognize?

Thank you for joining us for this short retrospective. Next time, we will begin previewing World Expansion IV, which is getting closer every day. Keep an eye out for upcoming updates, patch notes, and announcements.If you want to stay up to date with everything related to The Riftbreaker, consider joining our Discord server or subscribing to our newsletter.
We hope to see you next time.

EXOR Studios

We have just released a massive update for the experimental branch of The Riftbreaker! It features the highly anticipated World Expansion IV, including the brand-new Cryo Fields biome, as well as an entirely new way to play the game - the Open Campaign mode. This update brings many changes and improvements to the game, all of which will be released for free to all of you in just a couple of weeks. It is now the time for testing and finishing touches, and we would really appreciate your help with this. This article will tell you how to access the experimental branch, what feedback we are looking for, and, of course, a brief overview of the most important features of World Expansion IV.

One of the several art pieces we have prepared for you for the experimental release!

This Experimental Release is available to everyone on an opt-in basis. Please be aware that things might not work as intended, and you may encounter problems. If you don’t want to take any risks, please wait for the public release of this update. If you would like to help us test the new update ahead of the official release, follow these instructions.

This update is (most likely) incompatible with any current mods. Please remove all mods before playing. MAKE SURE TO MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR SAVE FILES! Make a copy of 'The Riftbreaker' folder from your documents and keep it safe.

1. Create a backup copy of your save folder (Documents/The Riftbreaker)
   
2. Disable Steam Cloud save backup for The Riftbreaker
   
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 Discord: #rb-experimental-feedback. We encourage you to join and share your feedback.

All the features of the World Expansion IV Update are available both in solo and co-op play. If you want to test the co-op mode, please make sure that all players are on the same version of the game. You can check the build number at the bottom of any menu screen in the game. This is also important if you want to play using the dedicated server. You must update the server separately from your main copy of the game and switch to the experimental branch for the dedicated server as well.

With these technicalities out of the way, let’s take a look at the contents of World Expansion IV.


The Open Campaign Mode is an entirely new game mode intended for experienced Riftbreakers and those who prefer jumping into the game blind and figuring things out on their own. There are several key differences between the regular Campaign Mode and the Open Campaign:
In Open Campaign, you can choose your starting biome.

The regular Story Campaign is a guided experience, with narrative elements easing you into the world of Galatea 37. It always begins in the most welcoming biome - the Tropical Zone. The Open Campaign throws all safety nets out of the window. You are free to choose the starting biome from among all the Galatean zones available in the game. Each will come with its unique set of benefits and challenges. Will you trade the safety of the Tropical Zone for an abundance of Sludge and Flammable Gas in the Acidic Plains? Are you ready to handle the Volcanic Area without any heat resistance technology? Your early game experience will vary wildly, depending on the biome you pick, leading to entirely new possibilities in each playthrough.

If you are into building crazy large structures for artistic purposes, the Open Campaign will be the perfect playground for you. You can build an economy that will sustain your most wacky projects. Still - beware! Galatean creatures are as dangerous here as in the regular campaign!

Just as you are free to choose where you start, you are also free to decide where to go next. The order in which you visit biomes will be determined by your economic and technological needs (and/or abilities). Ashley and Mr. Riggs will not comment on your progress or give any hints about what to do next. It is entirely up to you to figure out where to take them next. You can visit all biomes and establish massive outposts all around the planet, securing the economy you need to sustain your colony. Alternatively, you can stick to your Headquarters, scraping just the bare minimum of resources from other places, and leave the planet as soon as possible. The choice is yours.

Will you rush to complete all the Megastructures in record-time, or will you take the scenic route and explore the entire planet before coming back to Earth?

All the technologies in the research tree are available for you to research. There will be no special mission requirements known from the Story Campaign. If you need a specific tech blueprint to move forward, there will be only two things that can stop you - research cost, or (in select cases) familiarity of certain flora and fauna species. This means that you can plan your optimal path to the end goal of the Open Campaign mode - construct a functional Prime Rift Station and sustain its operations for long enough to establish a two-way connection back to Earth.

In Open Campaign, you can establish outposts in all biomes, regardless of whether you've got access to the DLC content. This potentially means infinite gas, which means infinite HCMs, which is infinite explosions. We like explosions.

Since there are no story missions in the Open Campaign, you are free to visit all biomes, including the Metallic Valley, the Crystal Caverns, and the Fungal Swamp - even if you do not own their corresponding DLCs. Establishing outposts in those biomes will give your economy a big boost and provide you with access to the unique resources offered by those biomes, including Morphium and Fungal Resin.

To try out the Open Campaign mode, you will need to create a new Campaign save. Why not create it in Co-Op mode as well? Then, your friends can join you at any time!

Just like any other game mode in The Riftbreaker, you can either try beating the Open Campaign solo or with a group of up to four players. You might need an extra pair of hands - Open Campaign is not any easier than the regular Story Campaign. Enemy hordes will attack you often, making sure that your conquest of Galatea is never a walk in the park.


Another piece of brand-new artwork for the update - this one will show up after you've established your outpost in the new biome.

With the new update, you will also gain access to an all-new biome: Cryo Fields. This biome is located in a low-temperature area and is permanently covered with ice and frost. The layout of the biome is quite open, with not many terrain obstacles - quite similar to the Radioactive Desert in that regard. Resource deposits in this biome are larger in size and volume than in other biomes, but they are further away from each other. It’s a good idea to set up small, separate extraction outposts rather than a large, centralized base.

We already know Supercoolant as a product of the Supercoolant Refineries. With access to the Cryo Fields biome, Ashley and Mr. Riggs have discovered vast natural reserves of this liquid. This opens a ton of possibilities - including turning your base into a massive extraction facility, with hundreds of compressors shipping the product to the most remote parts of the planet.

The Cryo Fields biome is full of life despite its harsh conditions. Galatean creatures have adapted to the cold climate in surprising ways, presenting you with a new set of challenges as you try to figure out how to fight against them effectively. You will also be able to catalog new plant species for potential cultivation purposes. Despite the sub-optimal conditions, the Cryo Fields biome is not completely barren, and cultivating local plants might yield good results.

If you want to continue playing your old save file after the World Expansion IV update, you are free to do so. You will receive access to the Cryo Fields biome via the Mission Generator in the Orbital Scanner interface screen right after you complete the “Palladium Handling” research. In the Open Campaign mode, you can even start your journey in this biome - we don’t know whether it’s a good idea, but good stories often begin with bad ideas!

If you prefer more action-packed, bite-sized game sessions, try out the Cryo Fields biome in Survival Mode. This well-known formula packs the entire Cryo Fields experience into intense, 90-minute matches where your goal is to withstand attacks from enemy hordes that come around every couple of minutes.

Apart from these two major additions, the World Expansion IV Update will also feature new buildings and defensive towers to expand the existing Riftbreaker arsenal.

These versions of the storage buildings are much larger and cost significantly more to build, but their holding capacity is far greater than that of their regular counterparts. This will allow you to stock more resources in a much more compact space. Just don’t let the Energy Storage explode. It is pretty volatile.


This building can hold up to 20k of each solid resource.


The new Energy Storage can hold up to 400k Energy at Level 3.

A 2x2 cryo damage tower. It works similarly to a Rocket Tower: it launches a projectile that travels at moderate speed and explodes on impact. The difference here is that it deals not area, but cryo damage. Also, the projectile shatters into a cloud of miniature ice spikes that slow down enemies in its area of effect.

Another 2x2 tower of a higher range - something in between a mortar and regular artillery - that shoots cluster fire grenades. Think of this as a miniature version of the HCM. The projectiles shot from this tower split mid-air into several smaller bombs that release a fiery inferno on impact.

A 1x1 tower that is a crossover between the handheld Shard Gun and the Minigun Tower. This structure will fire many small projectiles at a high rate of fire, with a wide horizontal spread to cover a larger area. It will not excel at dealing a lot of direct damage, but it will be great as a damage-over-time support tower. On top of that, it will deal acid damage - one of the types that is the most underrepresented in The Riftbreaker.

• The Cryo Fields biome is not in its final form yet. We're still missing some props and map tiles. It will change significantly over the course of the next few weeks.
  
• The models for Bioanomalies aren't there yet - they are also work in progress.
  
• There are new voicelines, but they haven't been recorded by our actors yet. We're making do with placeholders recorded by yours truly. If you can't stand my voice there are two options: mod the files or turn down dialogue volume. No hard feelings!
  
• Let us know what you think about the balance. This biome is not a walk in the park.

A note on the Dedicated Server status: we have done some upgrades when it comes to running the server in headless mode, entirely disabling the UI. This can be done by adding this parameter to the starting options:
Additionally, you can specify the campaign type, starting mission, and difficulty levels via commands. For example:
This line will start a new game in the Open Campaign mode, starting in the Volcanic Zone biome on Brutal difficulty. Changing the parameters will allow you to tune this to your preferences.
The update also includes many smaller improvements and optimizations introduced thanks to your feedback.

We are eager to hear what you think about the World Expansion IV. Please let us know if you encounter any issues or errors that we can fix. The best place to leave your feedback is either our Discord at https://www.discord.gg/exorstudios or the Steam discussions board. We will be monitoring your feedback closely and releasing fixes as soon as possible over the Experimental testing period.

We hope you will have a lot of fun with the new update!
EXOR Studios