Hello Riftbreakers!
The Closed Beta test of The Riftbreaker Co-Op mode has been running for about a month. Throughout this time, our playtesters devoted hundreds of hours to trying out the brand-new multiplayer mode. It is fair to say that the test is going much better than expected. We were concerned about the game's performance and potential connection issues when tested in real-world conditions. People have access to PCs of varying configurations, and not all internet connections are created equal. These things can lead to a lot of issues. However, most of the feedback we received was about the gameplay itself, which leads us to believe there are fewer tech problems than we expected. This does not mean that everything is working perfectly - of course, it’s not. There is still a lot of work to do. In today’s article, we will summarize the conclusions from the first month of MP testing and the steps we will take in the immediate future.
We're happy with how the beta test has been going - which means we can let more of you play really soon!
Let’s start by talking about the performance of the game. Our playtesters have two options when hosting a new gameplay session:
- Personal (Listen) Server: In this case, one of the player’s PCs serves as the client and the server at the same time. This means all the game calculations are conducted on that player’s PC and then sent to all session participants. This is the most typical usage scenario.
- Dedicated Server: A dedicated server must run on a separate PC. The game is not playable on that PC, but all the calculations are carried out in the background. Players connect to the server as usual. The advantage is that no one has to take the cost of running the server AND the game simultaneously. A dedicated server could also have a preferable geographic location, e.g., a server in France could sit halfway between a player in Germany and a player in Spain, cutting the distance that data has to travel in half. The disadvantage is that an additional PC has to be involved.
Because not everyone has access to two powerful PCs, most multiplayer sessions have been run in the Personal (Listen) Server mode. We were worried that the player hosting the session would have a significant disadvantage because the server calculations generate major overhead, but that is not the case. In typical scenarios, when 3 or 4 players play simultaneously, the performance is well within the acceptable limits. The dedicated server is always a better choice, but the difference is not as big as expected. We have successfully played the game even with five players and did not encounter much bigger issues than when playing with two players. However, when this number increases further, more problems become apparent.
We're glad we don't do friendly fire, because walking across another player's line of fire is a common thing!
During one of our developer streams (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3 PM on our Twitch channel), we encouraged people to join the session we hosted in our office. Feeling adventurous, we set the player limit to nine people and made the server public, allowing anyone with Beta access to join. What resulted was complete madness. At one point, we had nine players from around the world connect to our server in the office, playing a game of survival together. Fifteen minutes in, we had our first fusion power plant running. Half an hour later, the entirety of the map was cleared and built over, which absolutely killed the game's performance. That was a great sign. Even though we don’t officially plan to support play sessions with more than four people, we won’t block that option. If your PC is powerful enough to handle more than four players simultaneously - go for it!
The boss creatures receive a huge HP boost, elemental resistances, and additional abilities. However, some turned out to be a bit more OP than others...
Apart from the ‘officially hosted’ sessions, our beta testers have been playing their game on their own a whole lot. They have given us a ton of helpful feedback regarding gameplay. One of the most significant changes we introduced at the start of the Multiplayer Beta was the addition of boss creatures with each wave. The bosses are based on the largest creatures in the game and their strength depends on the number of players present on the server at the time of their spawn. They receive additional abilities that make them more dangerous and challenging. For example, you can encounter a Hammeroceros with Acid Damage resistance and a Fire Aura that damages everything in a large radius.
...but players found a way to defeat those OP creatures anyway. Still, not what we intended, we will do better!
The addition of bosses completely changes the dynamics of the battles in the game. Thanks to the feedback from our playtesters, we quickly learned that some creature/ability combos are a bit too difficult to deal with, especially in the game's early stages. When players have nothing but an SMG, a blaster, a sword, and a couple of grenades, perhaps sending in a creature that is resistant to most types of damage is not the best idea. This led to the introduction of what we call the 'kamikaze meta, a play pattern where players willingly run into the creature’s grasp and deal damage with the mech’s explosion. This is not a play pattern we want to cultivate. Additionally, dealing with bosses often becomes trivial in the game's later stages. We don’t want it to be a chore, so we will take steps to improve on this aspect of the game.
A Baxmoth can be terrifying on its own. An empowered baxmoth with an acid damage aura AND a Necrodon 'raise dead' ability is nightmare fuel.
We also received a lot of feedback when it comes to economy management. In single-player mode, you have all the knowledge about the factories you’ve built, the number of armories, ammo storages, and the power plants that sustain all those buildings. However, with four players running around the map, it is not the case. Without clear communication, knowing what your base actually needs is difficult. There should be a way of getting all that information with just a glance. This is why we have decided to upgrade the minimap. We will move away from representing the important buildings with colors and grant them icons instead. The common stuff, like energy or material storages, will still be marked with colored squares, but Armories, Comm Hubs, and similar buildings will be marked with individual icons. This way, you can get all that critical information by just looking at the minimap. This feature is crucial for effective team coordination and resource management. We also know that some of you will want the ability to personalize what is displayed on that map - we will give you filtering options to help with that.
Sometimes an attack comes at you from the worst possible side, leaving your base in shambles. It's important to have a team that will allow you to bounce back after that!
While watching others play, we also realized that the game needed features to encourage players to group up and work together. It is excellent that some players can take on the building duties while others go exploring, allowing you to play into your individual strengths. Still, it felt like players only joined in together when fighting an attack wave. We want to encourage you to play together, so we are experimenting with bonuses that activate when mechs are close to each other. At present, the bonus is straightforward - if two mechs stay within a 10-meter radius from one another for a few seconds, they get a temporary +100 bonus to shields and a +10% bonus to movement speed. It naturally boosts players during battles without a lot of thinking about it. We will experiment with this idea and perhaps introduce other buffs to encourage teaming up for other activities.
Here's what the 'Team Boost' proximity bonus looks like. Barebones for now, but we want it to be really meaningful, encouraging players to work together.
We could go on and on about the improvements we plan to make. However, they will take time, and in that time, we will invite more and more of you to test the game with us. In the coming days, we will move away from how we conducted the Beta tests up to this point - a separate, hidden Steam app - to the Steam Playtest feature. It will allow us to stay in touch with you better and open up some exciting growth avenues down the line. Until then - we want to reassure you that everyone who signed up for the test will get the chance to play the Beta before the official release of the Co-Op mode.
You will need to team up with the biggest and baddest creatures we're cooking for you!
To sign up for The Riftbreaker Multiplayer Beta please fill in the following form:
We reserve the right to contact only select participants.
SIGN UP USING THIS GOOGLE FORM
Looking forward to meeting you on Galatea 37!
EXOR Studios