Marek Rosa - dev blog

Monday, May 24, 2021

Why am I doubtful about the future of Bitcoin?

1. People use Bitcoin as a speculative asset rather than as a means of payment. Bitcoin isn't used where it could be most beneficial: storing and communicating value across time and space.

2. Volatility. It could be solved if we all use Bitcoin and nothing else. I don't know how this can be achieved.

3. Energy consumption. I could close my eyes on this if Bitcoin delivered what it promises. If Bitcoin would revolutionize the way we think about the economy, then the benefits could outweigh the energy costs.

4. What kind of complex system do we want our economy to be? Static and fixed? Or dynamic and evolving - with ever-changing credit-assignment schemes? If we get stuck with a monetary system that can't be adapted and regulated, it could have a terrible outcome.

5. This one is sci-fi but relevant: can Bitcoin communicate value across unlimited time and space? Imagine a multi-species civilization spanning thousands of years and multiple solar systems.

6. I am not convinced that wealth preservation over unlimited time is beneficial for the progress of humanity. Perhaps we should reward those who create new value instead of hanging on to piles of gold/Bitcoin.

7. Maybe the future of money is a decentralized cryptocurrency, but I am not convinced it will be Bitcoin. What if people in the future decide not to use the current Bitcoin but to start a Bitcoin 2.0 with fewer flaws? One of the reasons could be to avoid rewarding today's Bitcoin early adopters and speculators. Why? You don’t want to reward those who just lucked out in your credit assignment scheme. I am not convinced that rentiersm is beneficial for the economy.

8. There are many more entities in the economy than just money. Each of them must be incentivized to use Bitcoin and not want to overthrow it.
“Gold will not always get you good soldiers, but good soldiers can get you gold.” - Niccolo Machiavelli

Best,Marek Rosa
CEO, Creative Director, Founder at Keen Software House
CEO, CTO, Founder at GoodAI

For more news:
Space Engineers: www.SpaceEngineersGame.com
Keen Software House: www.keenswh.com
Medieval Engineers: www.MedievalEngineers.com
GoodAI: www.GoodAI.com
General AI Challenge: www.General-AI-Challenge.org

Personal bio:
Marek Rosa is the CEO and CTO of GoodAI, a general artificial intelligence R&D company, and the CEO and founder of Keen Software House, an independent game development studio best known for its best-seller Space Engineers (4 million copies sold). Both companies are based in Prague, Czech Republic.

Marek has been interested in artificial intelligence since childhood. He started his career as a programmer but later transitioned to a leadership role. After the success of the Keen Software House titles, Marek was able to personally fund GoodAI, his new general AI research company building human-level artificial intelligence.

GoodAI was founded in January 2014, with a $10 Million investment from Marek, it now has over 30 research scientists, engineers, and consultants working across its divisions.

At this time, Marek is developing Space Engineers, as well as leading daily research and development on recursive self-improvement based general AI architecture - Badger.

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Space Engineers - Warfare 1: Field Engineer

SUMMARY:

Infantry combat overhaul
Rocket launcher, new pistols and rifles, rework of existing rifles, and more
New PvP scenario: Uranium Heist
15 new blocks: Target dummy, Passages, Half window and more
Emotes and Skin

Hello, Engineers!

The next Major (1.198) release for Space Engineers is upon us. Warfare 1: Field Engineer provides you with new choices in how you create and destroy. Field Engineers is the first installment in our all-new Warfare content! Warfare 1 doesn't just focus on the Engineer, it also includes new blocks to outfit your base, space station, or fortress. Prepare your defense or lay siege like never before.

Free Content

With this release we are expanding the number of blocks, adding new weapons, and introducing new gameplay features, and expanding your creative arsenal!

You can find a complete list of all free game content below. We are also offering you the opportunity to support the future development of Space Engineers by buying the Warfare 1: Field Engineer DLC, which includes even more thematic additions to Space Engineers!

Infantry combat overhaul
This update features an overhaul of the handheld weapons and infantry combat. A number of big changes went into making Space Engineers infantry combat more rewarding, consistent, and compelling.

Infantry combat improvements - Friendly/hostile indicators, hit indicators, and damage indicators have been added to improve combat awareness and battle feedback.

New weapon mechanics - Our infantry weapons now feature recoil, muzzle climb, and reloading.

Existing weapon rebalance - The existing rifles are now rebalanced to each fit a particular niche and have a distinctive feel. What's your rifle of choice?

Ammo rework - Small arms now use their own specific magazines and ammo, and need to be reloaded when empty.

Magazines visual update - Rifles have new magazines that visually match their ammo capacity. More bullets? Bigger magazine!

Name changes - Rifles, pistols, and rocket launchers are all now named and described in a way that is consistent with the Space Engineers universe.

S Series Pistol - 3 Variants
The S series standard issue sidearm. Built for use in hostile environments: Simple, reliable, dependable.Provided in three variants: Semi-auto (S-10), Full auto (S-20A), and Elite (S-10E).

MR Series Rifle - 4 Variants
The MR series is a staple of both military and police forces. An exceptionally reliable rifle. Easy to use, easy to clean. Provided in four variants: The standard (MR-20), Marksman (MR-8P), Squad Support (MR-50A), and of course, the cutting edge MR-30E packed with all the latest tech, gadgets, and goodies.

Rocket Launcher Weapon - 2 Variants
Looking for something that packs more of a punch? Basic and Precision launchers are the weapons of choice when faced with mechanized opposition.

Uranium Heist scenario
Gather your team and face off against two other teams of four and test your combat prowess in this action-packed close combat scenario. Gather the uranium, repair your escape pod, and fight for victory!

Target Dummy Block
Target practice on your target dummy! The Target dummy is a block made of several destructible subparts. Main body, left arm, right arm, and head.

The Target Dummy is a robotic target capable of triggering actions when hit by bullets. Low maintenance, the Target Dummy can self repair even after the most severe damage and will be ready for your next round of weapons testing or target practice!

New passage blocks
Two new passage blocks have been added to bring interior hallways up to a more modern visual standard. One can be used as a replacement for regular passage and the other is a “wall-passage” designed for the creation of larger hallways.

Warfare 1: Field Engineer Pack

Similar to our previous major releases, we hope you will take this opportunity to support the continued development of Space Engineers. This DLC pack consists of cosmetic items that enrich your game visually. None of the features in this package provide any advantage to players who purchase this DLC.

The price of the Warfare 1: Field Engineer Pack is $3.99 USD or your regional equivalent. Show your continued support for Space Engineers and check out the Warfare 1: Field Engineer Pack.

This DLC package includes:

Fire Cover Block
Provides excellent cover while crouched behind it and provides a limited line of fire through the lower gaps. Comes in 2 different variations, both Normal and Corner.

Half window Block
The half window is much like the cover wall with a viewing window above it. The block is air-tight and connects nicely with vanilla window blocks. Comes in 2 different variations, both Normal and Corner.

Weapon Rack Block
The weapons rack is an open locker that stores your armament inside. A home for your new arsenal. Keep it well-stocked, well guarded, and behind lock & key. Provided in small and large grid versions.

More Passage Blocks
Eight new passage blocks provide greater possibilities for interior design and provide an easy-to-navigate space. Designed in several new variations.

Embrasure Block
Having the dimensions of a half armor block, this block serves as a window for players to fire through while still maximizing cover from incoming fire. An ancient innovation now brought to the far future battlefield of Space Engineers.

Two new Emotes
“Got hit”: Oh no, they got me!
“Finger guns”: Fire off a few warning shots.

Assault Suit skin
The Assault Suit skin combines precision engineering, state of the art design, steel, and kevlar. The end result is a highly resistant, hermetically sealed, military exoskeleton. The Assault suit skin is designed for one purpose, war.

What's Next?

We plan to continue with the development of Space Engineers for both PC and Xbox platforms. As the title of today’s release hints, we plan to release Warfare 2 in the future, so I’m sure there is a lot you can look forward to.

This is our second release where we have aligned the content between PC & Xbox, so that all Engineers get all content, on the same day, regardless of platform. We will also continue our focus on further performance improvements and optimizations on both platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why are you releasing another DLC?
A: As with our previous DLCs, this release gives us the opportunity to explore new ideas and provide more unique content the community wants. This is another thematic-based DLC where all players will be able to interact with new blocks, but only those who own the DLC pack will be able to build them.

Q: Should we now expect that we will get a new DLC every three months?
A: Free and paid content releases support the continued development of Space Engineers, as well as bringing new things to the game. All paid DLCs are not pay-to-win, but rather cosmetic. We think this is the right way to bring interesting content to the game and keep the game improving. We bring a lot of free content to all players. This content is usually highly requested by our community.

Q: Can we expect some special promotions in the future?
A: We are always looking at new ways to bring Space Engineers to a wider audience. Special promotions are good opportunities for this. We have a number of exciting promotions planned for the future, which include both game and DLC content!

Hiring

If you’re interested in working on awesome games like Space Engineers, we’d love to hear from you!
Check out the open positions at Keen Software House and don’t forget to send us your English CV/resume and cover letter.

Remote collaboration is possible!

Follow our social media to get the latest news!

If you want to let me know your feedback, please get in touch via my personal email address marek.rosa@keenswh.com, or use our Keen Software House support site. I welcome all of the feedback we receive and we will use it to learn and provide better services to our players.

Thank you for reading this blog!

Best,
Marek Rosa
CEO, Creative Director, Founder at Keen Software House
CEO, CTO, Founder at GoodAI

For more news:
Space Engineers: www.SpaceEngineersGame.com
Keen Software House: www.keenswh.com
Medieval Engineers: www.MedievalEngineers.com
GoodAI: www.GoodAI.com
General AI Challenge: www.General-AI-Challenge.org

Personal bio:
Marek Rosa is the CEO and CTO of GoodAI, a general artificial intelligence R&D company, and the CEO and founder of Keen Software House, an independent game development studio best known for its best-seller Space Engineers (4 million copies sold). Both companies are based in Prague, Czech Republic.

Marek has been interested in artificial intelligence since childhood. He started his career as a programmer but later transitioned to a leadership role. After the success of the Keen Software House titles, Marek was able to personally fund GoodAI, his new general AI research company building human-level artificial intelligence.

GoodAI was founded in January 2014, with a $10 Million investment from Marek, it now has over 30 research scientists, engineers, and consultants working across its divisions.

At this time, Marek is developing Space Engineers, as well as leading daily research and development on recursive self-improvement based general AI architecture - Badger.

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Medieval Engineers in Robert De Niro movie

Keen Software House has made its Hollywood debut with Medieval Engineers in The War With Grandpa!

You can check out the trailer:

We are honored and humbled that one of our titles has made it into a movie!

Medieval Engineers was selected by the producers of “The War With Grandpa” because of its lifelike take on real-world physics, building, destruction, and structural integrity. This unique combination of features are core to the plotline and allowed Medieval Engineers to play a pivotal role when the grandpa (De Niro) wants to destroy Peter’s (Fegley) creation. Spoiler alert!

Peter loves to play Medieval Engineers as a creative outlet and a way to hang out with friends.

Returning to live with family, Peter’s Grandfather (De Niro) takes up residence in what was once Peter’s room, and Peter is forced to move into the, less than appealing, attic. Very upset over his move into the attic, Peter formally declares war on his Grandpa, seeking to retake his old bedroom by any means necessary!

Unfortunately for Peter, as this “war” escalates, his grandfather (Robert De Niro) realizes that Petes’s love of Medieval Engineers makes it a perfect target, and the destruction begins!

An All-Star Cast

The War with Grandpa features many well-known actors and we could not be more proud to see our game alongside this incredible and talented cast. ;)

This all-star cast includes the likes of Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken, Oaks Fegley, Laura Marano, Cheech Marin, Jane Seymour, and many more!

For a full list of cast and crew check out the Full Credits.

“The War with Grandpa”, is now available on Google Play and Amazon as well as other streaming services.

Hollywood Simulation!

Medieval Engineers became a well-known, and much-loved title for its physics and structural integrity system. These features allowed players to not only imagine sprawling worlds and innovative machinations but to realize those creations, all while adhering to the constraints of “real world” mechanics.

At Keen Software House, we want to create games that are based on real science, real facts, real physics, and real emotions. No magic and fantasy allowed.

Our game Space Engineers for example, which has sold over 4 million copies, features a realistic, volumetric-based physics engine. Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction, and maintenance of space works. Players build spaceships and space stations of various sizes and utilization (civil and military), pilot ships, and perform asteroid mining.

GoodAI, which I started in 2014 with a personal investment of $10M also uses Space Engineers in experiments for the new VeriDream project, testing possible applications of artificial intelligence, robotics, and more. GoodAI’s mission is to “develop safe general AI, to help humanity and understand the universe.”

Our games promote science and encourage creativity. We want to help foster an interest in history, physics, space exploration, and all STEM fields. Our hope is that players will learn new things while playing our games.

We feel honored to share such a big stage and hope that it serves as a platform for games like Medieval Engineers. Not only is Science & Engineering engaging and fun, but it’s worthy of the big screen!

Hiring

If you’re interested in working on awesome games like Space Engineers, we’d love to hear from you!
Check out the open positions at Keen Software House or open positions at GoodAI and don’t forget to send us your English CV/resume and cover letter.

Remote collaboration is possible!

Gallery

Thank you for reading this blog!