DevLog #2 - Disassembly with Purpose

Posted on July 7, 2025 by Brinn - Edited August 22, 2025

"You can’t have real sync in a black box. Every system must earn its place - and prove its truth."

RiftForged is evolving. Not just in features, but in structure. Early builds pushed for progress: networking, encryption, physics, combat, persistence; all stitched together fast, tightly coupled, a proof of will. It worked. But speed was a trap. Now the focus has shifted - toward modularity, testability, and integrity. Each subsystem is being pulled out, rebuilt, and verified independently. No more assumptions. No more magic glue.

Current Disassembled Systems

• RiftNet: Handles async UDP networking with custom reliability, handshake auth, and encrypted packets. Now a fully isolated module with test harnesses.
• RiftEncrypt: Libsodium-based encryption system (ChaCha20Poly1305, AES256GCM) disassembled and validated outside of the network layer.
• RiftCompressor: LZ4 and Zstd compression, bench-tested and swappable on demand.
• RiftSerializer: Replaced FlatBuffers with more pure C++ Structs with zero-copy; built for control, and convenience specifically for RiftForged.
• RiftEventBus: Global pub/sub event layer to link systems without tight coupling. This is finished and tested, it just needs refining.
• RiftFSX (Physics): Bullet Physics has been added as the back end physics core to get systems functioning. It will be replaced with a proprietary engine.
• RiftHandler: Finished, working on game logic, zero-copy serialization and finalizing the pipeline.

By proceeding in this manner, everything is testable in truth, and every client-side update, every render, has purpose and exists in truth. With a simulation based in truth, we unlock all sorts of potential that will be shown in due time. Thanks for staying tuned.

This is what RiftForged stands for: no smoke, no mirrors, and no illusions. Just real sync - and the soul of gaming restored.