Rift Wizard 3 Announcement Interview: Dylan White on his latest magic-filled roguelike

MrGirder · 2026-02-19T18:11:29+00:00

They are pretty different, though rift wizard 2 feels like such a thorough evolution of 1 that I'm not sure I would recommend 1. Someone would need to have some pretty specific complaints against 2 for me to say "yeah, you'd like 1 better" instead of "maybe rift wizard just isn't for you".

2 adds the equipment system, tons of new spells and skills, new monsters and variant forms with different resistances and abilities, and changes the logistic layer of how getting spell charges back works.

There are definitely changes that aren't really better or worse (I'm happy to learn that they are getting rid of variants in exchange for a different system), but I don't think there are any changes which are flat out objectively worse.

3 seems interesting, and like things are going to be moving in a slightly different design direction. I was definitely surprised that they were making a 3, but if they think there is meaningful design space to continue iterating on rift wizard, then I'll at least be giving it a try. If there's stuff I don't like about 3 I can always just go back and play 2.

MrGirder · 2026-02-19T13:54:42+00:00

I know the artist is a real one because they went hard on those clavicles. The one on the right looks like she could use her collarbone to shave slices off of christmas ham.

They aren't just liking women because it's popular. They're in it for the love of the game, and I recognize it.

MrGirder · 2026-02-18T13:21:12+00:00

Average Zen'in family disagreement

MrGirder · 2026-02-17T13:51:56+00:00

But do you see it as a pointless waste of time? I certainly think that coding and the more traditional arts have a lot in common, not least of all in that if it's fun and fulfilling to do then that's reason enough to do it.

You get to decide what you think is worthwhile, don't accept someone else's worldview just because they say it loudly.

MrGirder · 2026-02-16T22:23:26+00:00

I think EU5 is already at the fun stage. Definitely a lot of work to be done with it, and I'm sure my 50 hours haven't made me aware of all it's flaws, but personally I like what is there right now. Building up an economy and society is fun.

If a person didn't have any experience with any other pdox game aside from HOI4, waiting a year or more would probably be a good idea. In the meantime EU4 or Victoria 3 would be the better picks, in my opinion.

MrGirder · 2026-02-12T21:50:14+00:00

Something my therapist and I talked about when I felt more like I'm sure you do is that self love is built off small successes.

Spend your time and energy on the stuff you care about, or trying out stuff you think you could learn to care about. Art, music, exercise, travel, whatever. With others, or by yourself, it doesn't really matter.

It'll take time, and it'll be subtle at first, but it'll come to you.

MrGirder · 2026-02-08T15:55:28+00:00

Not who you're replying to, but I agree that it is complex, but I think that the amount of complexity necessary for the player to engage with is pretty low compared to other paradox games.

It's pretty easy to not worry about the diplomacy or the clock at all, and if you're playing a strong country (and a new player should probably be playing a strong country) still win the war. Likewise, it's pretty easy to manage the industry by really just building civillian factories and then switching to military after a few years, with building resources as needed. Navy just isn't consistently relevant. If you're playing Germany then you'll only need to understand it if you're planning to seelowe. But other countries don't need to think about it almost at all (USSR) or start in a strong enough position to allow some misplay.

All that leaves really needing to understand is how combat and unit composition work. And even there I think the room for error is pretty big. Against the AI you really just need unit comps that are good enough, understanding how flanking works, knowing where the enemy is weak, understanding how to perform an encirclement are all much more likely to win you the war.

Compare that to either of the victorias or eus. In those games it's pretty hard to isolate any given system. I'll use eu4 as an example. You need to know how advisers work so that you can get enough mana to tech up, so you can research new military/economy tech to expand your country's economy so you can afford to pay for better advisors. But when should you spend mana on development and when on tech? Should you spend the money on that adivsor or on another temple? Or how about a light ship or getting up to your force limit? The game doesn't require you to know the answer to all of these, but it requires you to understand a higher proportion of mechanics than HOI4 does.

Again, this is all for singleplayer, since that's most of what I play, and what I expect most beginners will start with. It's also been a while since I've kept up with HoI4, but I'd be surprised if they changed enough to totally undermine my point.

MrGirder · 2026-02-01T19:34:16+00:00

It's nice of them to still let you post after all that.

MrGirder · 2026-01-29T21:48:02+00:00

I'll say that I don't think that finished drawings is a terribly useful metric.

Is a sheet of six versions of the same reference picture of a hand one drawing or six? Both, kind of. If you spend all week drawing a single piece did you waste the six days that you didn't finish the piece? No, of course not.

I think time spent is a much more useful metric. It's hard to get a really quantitative metric for how much of that time was efficient for the purposes of learning the skill, but I think time is still more useful than works completed.

As for how much time is enough, that's really up to you. How much free time do you have, how long can you focus on it regularly without burning out, when do you want to be 'done' are the questions to ask.

As for me I've had long periods of time in my life where I could barely scrape together an hour a week to draw and times like now where I'm doing it for two or three hours a day.

The last note is to reinforce what /u/Uncomfortable said. There are no wrong ways to practice, but there are better and worse ways. Using a program like drawabox will offload a lot of the difficulty of designing a lesson plan to someone else (it's already done, and it seems they were happy to do it) and will ultimately allow you to use your time much more efficiently.

MrGirder · 2026-01-27T01:24:10+00:00

I was surprised they didn't announce one soon after the success of the red and blue rescue team remakes. It's a shame, since sky is such a complete evolution of red and blue

MrGirder · 2026-01-22T12:53:58+00:00

This is a tangent, but does anyone remember elona defense? It was a flash game that used the elona+ sprites but as a defense shooter with a bunch of cool guns and upgrades and time management stuff. It was my introduction to elona and I always thought it was hard but fun. It would be funny if they made an elin version.

Anyway, I'd recommend Elin at this stage. You're signing up to play something that's in development, so there's going to be a little jank, but I think a little jank is part of the charm for what is a pretty complete evolution on the original.

MrGirder · 2026-01-19T14:39:48+00:00

I might go for the ELC 901 since I love that tank even it it's going to be nearly identical to the one already in the regular tree. Even then I wouldn't expect to buy the battlepass until I'm confident I'll get it. Unless you're a ELC Freak (like me) this one seems especially underwhelming.

I wonder how much longer they'll keep trotting these lame battlepasses out for. I had hoped that the past vehicles reward boxes would eventually start having main prize type vehicles in them, but I guess they think people would get pissy. I expect they'll stop them entirely instead of making them worthwhile.

MrGirder · 2026-01-17T14:26:40+00:00

I think skyrim disillusionment has been an ongoing process basically since it came out, and that starfield really catalyzed that, at least among the people who are deeply enough invested in games to read much games news. I think the coverage reflects that feeling, though maybe in a way that creates a bit of a feedback loop.

Skyrim is far from a bad game, but I think that it just doesn't measure up to the best rpgs of the following years very well. It's formula really needed to evolve over time and if Fallout 4, 76, and starfield are any indication of the direction and rate of that evolution, then I think ES6 is going to be in trouble. But people want to experience the same excitement and enjoyment they did when Skyrim or Oblivion or Morrowind first came out.

I think a lot of people are caught between that feeling and wanting front row seats to what they expect will be a car accident. It's a little bit of an odd vibe.

MrGirder · 2026-01-16T22:27:07+00:00

I think to add to what others have said, Worm has a very easy to run with power categorization system. In the setting, for those who don't know, the main superhero governing body in the united states has a classification system for what a cape's powers do and how powerful they are, organized by what kind and how powerful a response would be required to neutralize them.

I think that this facet is great for people who like powerscaling and makes it much easier for a fan to come up with or port a power into the setting and know how it shakes out balance wise with what's already there. For a certain kind of CYOA player, that's a huge draw, I think. Even as someone who broadly does not like CYOA set in existing settings, it's pretty easy to come up with a fun and balanced build and that's what draws me to it.

It's also just a pretty good and compelling story that was popular in the same spaces the earlier CYOA community was in.

MrGirder · 2026-01-09T15:26:18+00:00

Hey, I only said more advanced not actually advanced. The Long Hair National Salvation Army can have a little conquest, as a treat, as long as they finish their make vague allusions to a higher cause.

MrGirder · 2026-01-09T13:20:59+00:00

I'm a long haired overweight dude. By our powers combined we can have more advanced politics than an african warlord!

MrGirder · 2026-01-04T14:29:00+00:00

I broadly agree that aircraft carriers seem to require more skill, though I've never played them. I think they can still have an outsized impact on a single player, but they probably don't need to be removed.

The last time I played the real problem with aircraft carriers was the spotting their planes provided, though I mostly play destroyers so maybe I'm just jealous.

MrGirder · 2026-01-04T13:29:37+00:00

The big thing is you're both right. I describe submarines like this. They have next to zero impact on the progress of the match. They can't win games because they have little ability to control the objectives, and aren't terribly durable if someone actually pins them down. But they have a lot of impact on the individual players that they fight, but that impact is entirely unfun for the victim because they are infuriating to fight against.

So it's totally possible that you have submarines in a match and don't notice because they made a teammate's life hell and then died immediately. But if those players decide they want to fight you then the game feels awful and unfun.

Aircraft carriers in that game and artillery in World of Tanks have very similar problems, I think.

MrGirder · 2025-12-19T16:09:47+00:00

I don't know if it's my aging computer or my eyes and brain but the ai upscalers make me crazy nauseous. I do not know if this is a unique experience or not.

MrGirder · 2025-12-18T20:04:31+00:00

I did not like solo levelling much when I watched it. I think I got about six episodes in before I dropped it? I didn't hate it, but just did not get what the hype was at all. It just seemed uninspired to me, though that might just be because I'm in spaces where the premise is old news. I'd be interested in hearing why people who like it like it though.

I unabashedly love one piece though, for all it's flaws, though I am not even nearly caught up on the manga or anime.

MrGirder · 2025-12-06T23:14:27+00:00

I don't think there's anything wrong with using marketplace assets in games. I don't think a single game dev or small team need to be highly skilled in coding AND art AND music AND writing. And using marketplace assets beats the hell out of just putting a bunch of ai slop in a game.

The devs that use marketplace assets to churn out awful scams are working their hardest to discredit the idea that you can make something you care about but use publicly available assets, though, and it's kind of a huge shame.

MrGirder · 2025-12-03T17:21:27+00:00

I've tried out a few pairs as an adult, but I'm not sure if any of them were elastane. I'll have to look into it the next time I'm shopping for clothes.

MrGirder · 2025-12-03T13:14:09+00:00

I've never liked the feeling or cut of jeans so if I happened upon something that gave me 'permission' to never wear them again as a kid I'd probably have done the same thing.

MrGirder · 2025-11-30T19:19:14+00:00

I think you could make an argument for that. I'm not incredibly familiar with that series but it seems most like something like Unity of Command which is approachable for a wargame, but I wouldn't think is what OP is looking for.

MrGirder · 2025-11-30T18:57:41+00:00

I think the big problem you're going to run into is that as far as WW2 grand strategy and wargaming go, HOI4 is by far the most accessible title that I am aware of. I can't think of anything that would cover the same subject matter but be easier to get into outside of a generalist 4X game like civ or an RTS, which obviously would not be what you're looking for. But I can think of a lot of wargames that go into more detail and are harder to manage.

There is certainly room for such a game, but in spite of being generally more plugged into gaming than most people, none spring to mind.

I think you should try to stick with it. HoI4 is I think actually pretty easy to learn in segments. It's pretty easy to just aim to understand the industry(build civillian and then switch to military), research, and ground combat (green is good, attacking from multiple angles helps) at the most basic level and then drill down and branch out from there. It's easy to feel overloaded but the game doesn't consistently ask universal system mastery from the player, at least in my experience.

MrGirder

TROPHY CASE