Hytale mod / Game mode
Unstable Rifts
Top-5 Hytale x CurseForge mod jam roguelike shooter experience with custom enemies, weapons, armor, party systems, and balancing.
- Role
- Gameplay programmer / team coordinator
- Team
- 7-9 people
- When
- Mar 2026 - May 2026
- Status
- released
- $1,000
- Prize
- close to 400
- Approved contest entries
- ~200
- Experience entries
- 1.0K+
- CurseForge downloads
Unstable Rifts was built for the Hytale x CurseForge New Worlds Modding Contest. The mod creates a full gameplay experience inside Hytale: top-down camera combat, generated dungeon runs, custom enemies, ranged/melee weapons, armor sets, bosses, party mechanics, shops, crates, missions, Rift Coins, and longer-term progression.
See it in motion
The bosses - actual in-game models
These are the real Blockbench models that ship with the mod, rendered from GLB exports and animated in your browser. Drag to rotate.
The Excavator
Smashes, spins and throws dirt.
Forkcliff
A forklift with a grudge.
CEO Tank
Final-floor artillery nightmare.
The bestiary
I implemented every enemy in the mod - meet a few of them.
Industrial Drone
Hazmat Trooper
DeadWood Kweebec
Radioactive Wolf
The armory
Custom guns and melee weapons loaded from embedded GLB exports - pick a 3D weapon to preview below.
Acid blunderbuss
Armor builds
Into the rift
Art credits
The 3D models and animations shown on this page are the work of the Unstable Rifts art team.
- NPC designThat_Worm & TheCommando315
- NPC animationsTheCommando315 & danilerts
- Custom weaponskill_dill
- Props & itemsSylano
Features
- Top-down roguelike shooter gameplay
- Custom enemies
- Custom weapons
- Armor system
- Party creation
- Co-op-oriented combat
- Contest-ready release
What I did
- Implemented all enemies and core combat behaviors.
- Implemented custom weapons, armor systems, party creation, and gameplay systems.
- Handled balance adjustments across enemies, weapons, progression, and encounter pacing.
- Recruited and coordinated a team of roughly 7–9 people including builders, artists, and developers.
- Helped ship the mod under contest deadlines and release constraints.
Project timeline
Contest project timeline: ideation and recruitment, core gameplay systems, first playable version, weekly level updates, and final Top-5 placement.
Mar 2026Planning / Research
Mod jam started
Started Unstable Rifts at the launch of the Hytale x CurseForge New Worlds Modding Contest.
Mar 2026 → Mar 2026Planning / Research
Ideation and recruitment week
Spent the first week defining the concept, recruiting artists/builders/developers, organizing the team, and assigning production directions.
Mar 2026Development
Core systems development
Started implementing core gameplay systems and distributing tasks to the team for enemies, weapons, armor, level design, and art assets.
Apr 2026Release / Delivery
First version released
Released the first playable version about one month after the beginning of the jam.
Apr 2026Release / Delivery
Weekly update: second level
Updated the mod with a new level as part of the weekly release rhythm.
Apr 2026Development
Balancing and polish
Iterated on enemy behavior, custom weapons, armor systems, party creation, and balance adjustments before the contest result.
Apr 2026Release / Delivery
Weekly update: third level
Updated the mod with the third level, bringing the experience to three levels in total.
May 2026Impact / Result
Top-5 contest placement
Placed 5th in the Experience category of the Hytale x CurseForge New Worlds contest and won a $1,000 prize.
- Weekly content updates during the contest · weekly, sinceApr 2026
After the first release, the mod was updated every week until the end with additional levels and balancing improvements.
Built with
- Java
- Hytale modding
- Gameplay programming
- Combat systems
- Game balancing
- Team management