Rivals of Aether with Dan Fornace – Summary

Podcast: Software Engineering Daily
Episode: Rivals of Aether with Dan Fornace
Date: December 16, 2025
Host: Joe Nash
Guest: Dan Fornace (Game Director and Designer, Aether Studios)

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the technical, design, and community aspects of the indie platform fighting game franchise Rivals of Aether, focusing on both the original game and the development of Rivals of Aether 2. Host Joe Nash speaks with studio lead Dan Fornace about genre-defining design decisions, technical challenges going from 2D to 3D, competitive balance philosophy, community tooling, and the evolution of both the games and the studio. The conversation blends nostalgia for Super Smash Bros with practical insight on building and maintaining a highly competitive, accessible fighting game as a small indie team.

Main Themes & Discussion Points

1. Dan Fornace’s Path into Game Development

• Early Fascination with Computers ([01:25])
  • Grew up in a household without consoles but with early DOS computers.
  • “Just that ability to want to jump through hoops just to play video games is kind of what led me down a path of being able to jump through hoops to customize my own video games.” – Dan Fornace [01:57]
• Journey with Game-Making Tools
  • Started with Game Maker and RPG Maker as a kid.
  • Eventually convinced parents to get a GameCube as he became interested in making games.

2. Defining and Positioning Platform Fighters

• Platform Fighting as a Genre ([02:33])

  • Originated with Super Smash Bros, diverging from traditional health-based fighting to “percent” based knockouts.
  • Smash ingeniously served as both party and competitive game; other platform fighters focus more on competition.

• Fornace’s Philosophy: Competitive Depth with Modern Usability ([04:57], [07:47])

  • Intended to retain Melee’s mechanical depth but add modern conveniences.
  • “I wanted to stay as deep as Melee, but the easier control is kind of that niche that we went into.” – Dan Fornace [06:56]
  • Mechanics, like wavedashing, are made accessible yet retain high-skill expression.

3. Technical & Design Accessibility ([09:12])

• Balancing for Both Casual and Hardcore Players
  • Use of “closed beta groups” comprised of top players for feedback.
  • Emphasis on creating a broad funnel to promote longevity and competitive viability.
  • Steam Workshop was key for casual engagement in Rivals of Aether 1.
  • Rivals 2’s biggest challenge: “What are our features that will help that base to then give us more people to get better?” [11:32]

4. Technology Stack & Studio Growth ([12:14])

• From GameMaker to Unreal Engine 5
  • Rivals 1: Gamemaker, solo/very small team development.
  • Rivals 2: Unreal Engine 5, significant team growth (up to 25 people), shift from 2D pixel art to 3D models.
  • “[Rivals 2] is built in Unreal Engine 5. We actually started Unreal Engine 4, did the upgrade mid development, which actually wasn't as bad as it could be.” – Dan Fornace [13:53]

5. Visual Identity and Readability ([15:33])

• Transitioning from Pixel Art to 3D
  • No formal art director; collaborative direction with an emphasis on competitive readability.
  • Prioritized clarity: attack visuals, contrasting outlines, and animation cues serve gameplay first.
  • “If you compare it to some of the other platform fighters from the last... years, readability is one of the areas that they can struggle with a lot.” – Dan Fornace [16:35]

6. Mechanics, Depth, and Technical Challenges

• Depth, Mechanics, and Constraints ([18:52])

  • Rivals 1: Many mechanics (like shields) omitted due to animation workload and technical constraints, replaced with parries, spot dodges, etc.
  • These constraints became identity; fans associate these mechanics with series uniqueness.
  • Rivals 2 brings back more traditional mechanics like shields and knockdowns, leading to new balance challenges.

• Engineering for Frame-Perfect Play ([22:21])

  • Custom collision systems, update logic, and rollback netcode in both games.
  • Use of SnapNet for server-based rollback in Rivals 2; deterministic design crucial for competitive integrity.
  • "It is really—you'd be surprised on what we use the engine for… like our update system is kind of built by ourselves because we need to be able to control the order of operations and how things execute.” [22:22]

• Custom Physics and Optimization ([24:58])

  • Physics are custom-built for feel and performance reasons.
  • Example: Orcane’s bubble attack required extensive optimization to maintain framerate.

7. Tooling & Community Features

• Replay Tooling ([27:21])

  • Powerful custom replay tool with camera paths and keying system; used internally and incrementally released to the community for content creation.
  • “My ask to [our editor] is: Okay, work with an engineer and see how we can put this in the game, in the Replay tool. And so people can do it as well.” – Dan Fornace [28:10]

• Internal Tools

  • Level editors for story mode with procedural collision/rock placement.
  • Custom “photo booth” tool for rendering skins/backgrounds in-engine.

8. Competitive Balance & Character Creation

• Balance Philosophy ([32:24])

  • Aim for every character to be “solo viable” at tournament level, unlike Smash where tier disparity is accepted.
  • Responsive balancing focuses first on toning down dominant moves, then re-buffing as the meta evolves.
  • “If you're the best… you should be able to win a major tournament if you're the best player, right?” [32:32]

• Character Pipeline ([34:54])

  • Character prototyping and balancing cycles led primarily by lead engineer Trevor Youngblood.
  • Feedback-driven, iterative development within real-world resource constraints.

9. Leadership & Studio Evolution ([37:13])

• Dan’s Evolving Leadership Style
  • From solo developer to managing a 25+ person team: embraces leveraging people’s strengths, tempers his “product-first” focus by delegating people management.
  • “That ability to be able to be like, ‘okay, well, we would love to have this, but this is what we're actually going to get because this is the time we have and the engineers we have and the budget we have.’ I've kind of always been able to work with that because I've had to do it just for my own skills.” – Dan Fornace [39:32]

10. Community, Content, and Competitive Play ([40:14])

• Recommendations for Newcomers

  • Top-level play: Mango’s Rivals 2 streams, especially his initial review.
  • Fun and creativity: Alpharad’s Rivals 1 Workshop videos.

• Dream Player Crossover ([42:01])

  • Many top Smash pros–Mango, Plup, Zain, Hungrybox–have already tried or competed in Rivals 2.
  • Would love to see legendary traditional FGC pros like Daigo play, especially as new characters (e.g., Olympia) are designed to appeal to “Street Fighter” sensibilities.
  • “It'd be really fun to see if like some top FGC players could compete against some of the platform fighter players in Rivals 2.” – Dan Fornace [44:18]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Embracing and Evolving Genre Mechanics:

  • “We took the idea [of wavedashing] and we just made it a lot more intentional. And it's just easy...In Rivals, you can literally hit jump and dodge at the same time, and you will wave dash across the stage. For a lot of people, it's funny, they learned melee tech for the first time in Rivals of Aether 1 because it was easier.” – Dan Fornace [08:30]

• On Community’s Outsize Role:

  • “The big one for us in Rivals one was Steam Workshop. That really opened the door and allowed us to have a much healthier casual base.” – Dan Fornace [11:13]

• On Indie Constraints Driving Design:

  • “I was eliminating mechanics based on just the time it would take to create the animations...after I eliminated those mechanics, I had to rebalance the gameplay around lacking it.” – Dan Fornace [19:32]

• On Replay and Content Tools for Players:

  • “…democratizing this ability to like make content…Just like allowing users to create content and do stuff without our direct hand, right, is what's going to increase the popularity online especially.” – Dan Fornace [28:22]

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------------------------|------------| | Dan's Early Game Development & Motivation | 01:25–02:15| | Defining Platform Fighters & Genre Origins | 02:33–04:04| | Rivals’ Design Philosophy: Accessibility & Depth | 04:57–07:03| | Wavedashing: Implementing Complex Mechanics Intentionally| 07:03–09:12| | Approach to Accessibility, Funnels, and Steam Workshop | 09:12–11:58| | Transition to Unreal Engine 5 & Team Growth | 12:14–14:59| | Visual Identity: Pixel Art vs 3D, Readability | 15:33–17:31| | Depth, Mechanical Constraints, and Iterative Design | 18:44–22:21| | Technical Challenges: Determinism & Rollback | 22:21–24:58| | Custom Physics, Optimization, and Performance | 24:58–26:54| | Community Tools (Replay, Level Editing, Photo Booth) | 27:21–29:10| | Balance Philosophy, Character Creation Process | 32:24–37:13| | Leadership and Studio Management Transition | 37:13–40:14| | Recommendations: Streamers, Content, Pro Players | 40:14–44:31|

Further Listening / Viewing

• For Competitive Play:

  • Mango's Rivals 2 streams and thoughts (search for his review around Rivals 2’s launch).
  • Plup's tournament runs (including his win at Genesis).

• For Creative/Fun Play:

  • Alpharad’s Rivals 1 Workshop videos on YouTube.

The Takeaway

Rivals of Aether stands as a remarkable example of how indie games can carve out unique yet competitive spaces in established genres. The journey from a solo GameMaker project to a robust 3D fighter in Unreal, all while maintaining deep competitive balance, player accessibility, and developer transparency, offers invaluable lessons for would-be indie devs, fighting game fans, and anyone interested in the intersection of software engineering and community-driven design.