Summary of multi-player update and what are we working on right now.
The multi-player release was the biggest event since the launch of Space Engineers. It was the most successful and yet the roughest update we had. Most successful - because it tripled the sales of Space Engineers and increased player numbers as well - http://steamcharts.com/app/244850#3m. Roughest - because there were bugs and connections issues (the worst should be fixed in the following update). The good thing is that we did this update only within the community and we didn't announce it publicly. We will announce it but only when the multi-player is stable and more feature-finished.
The interesting lesson from multi-player release is that it was the first update that had visible impact on sales. All previous updates haven’t doubled nor tripled the sales. Multi-player did it. Not all features are born equal and this applies especially to multi-player. The question is: which future change or feature will have a comparable effect. Any ideas?
The next couple of weeks will mostly be about consolidating and polishing what’s already in the game (work in progress or disabled). Our weekly updates may be less frequent and not on Thursdays.
Our programmers are working on finishing the “realistic mode” (this is what some of you call “survival”) – real inventory size, death, re-spawn and manual building.
The manual building is the exact opposite of the creative mode building which is present in the game. In manual building you use a welder to construct blocks from components and grinder for disassembling.
We are working on an algorithm that will allow proper deformation of non-armor blocks. Now if you have noticed, only armor gets deformed and other types of blocks just disappear. This will change soon.
Our artists are finishing the textures for the heavy armor - it has a camouflage pattern on it and is heavier, stronger and can sustain higher damage (collisions, impacts and missile explosions). Heavy armor comes in two sizes – large and small.
They are also finishing the 3D models for multiple phases of block construction (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) – see the below screenshot.
We have some new guys in the team – two programmers, two artists on internship (Artem and Adam) and a sound designer who already worked with us on Miner Wars 2081, so we are setting up the audio development procedure and already experimenting with sounds.
Our testers are focusing on multi-player testing – they do this on the public Steam branch of the game (this is the branch that’s available to everyone).
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Please keep posting your feedback and suggestions to our FB page https://www.facebook.com/SpaceEngineers or our forum at http://forums.keenswh.com/?forum=313735
We can’t reply to every comment, but I can assure you that we try read as much as possible and they will influence how Space Engineers develops.
Thanks!
Marek Rosa
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Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SpaceEngineers or follow us on
Twitter https://twitter.com/SpaceEngineersG and you will be notified on all updates.
Warning: Space Engineers is still in development. Everything in the game is subject to change.
Thanks for it devs, you are the best! keep up the amazing work
ReplyDeleteI was wondering, If we build two heavy armor walls linked by a single line of the most fragile blocks and then collide it only the armor blocks will get damaged right?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the game going so well guys. It's an amazing creation. I think the next possible update that may also triple sales would probably be the introduction of a new class of ship, maybe buildable mech units for infantry for carrier ships to drop off. Would give a bit more offensive capability to infantry during space station attacks etc
ReplyDeleteMarEK!!! *CLAP*CLAP*CLAP* MarEK!!! *CLAP*CLAP*CLAP* MarEK!!! *CLAP*CLAP*CLAP* MarEK!!! *CLAP*CLAP*CLAP* MarEK!!! *CLAP*CLAP*CLAP* MarEK!!! *CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*
ReplyDeleteWWWHHHHOOOOOO HHOOOOOOOO!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!! GO SPACE ENGINEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From that single screenshot of refinery construction stages, its not hard to tell that a massive amount of work is involved with survival mode.
ReplyDeleteGreat workMarek and team, absolutely loving the game so far, as I'm sure many others are too. :)
I gotta say, I am super excited for multiplayer. But lacking the hardware and steam capable PC's, don't have the ability to run a server 24/7. I have my fingers crossed we will get a standalone server option that I can run from my linux box for my friends and I to play around in.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work. This game is super fun.
Realistically, there are no in-game features that can match the impact of multiplayer imo.
ReplyDeleteI'm already inviting friends left and right, telling them to buy the game due to ammount of fun I've had already, even in these early stages.
But, on the top of my head, I think goals and challenges would be the most important thing to sustain the game. Make space hazardous, promote teamwork and make long term playing rewarding.
Keep up the good work, you guys have quickly become my favourite dev team. A lot of game developers could learn a lot from you. Thanks!
Almost forgot. The next big update, in my opinion will be an adventure mode or something other than creative.
ReplyDeleteI kinda feel stupid for asking but, why isn't there chat in multiplayer, or how do you use it? Because I could not find it. ( tried enter,t and looking in the menus)
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's no chat in multiplayer... but this is a temporary thing. First we need to make sure that all stability and connection issues are solved and then we will add chat.
DeleteSome people have been using the beacons to leave messages to others. Slow and painful yes, but it does work until a real chat system is developed.
DeleteWith friends, this is certainly one of the funnest experiences I've ever had, I can't wait for survival. I hope you guys get a butt-load of money, this game deserves it.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about getting this game once the survival mode is done. The game looks really good, and people is starting to play it. Good work and continue! =)
ReplyDeletekeep on doing. You are doing a great job. But you have to make the game to run more smoothly, because it is impossible to build really huge ships. There are to many lags. And the multiplayer has do be fixed. But i am sure, you are already working on these points. So i wish you and your team good luck and a nice time.
ReplyDeleteKeep on^^
Keep it coming baby!
ReplyDeleteI guess if you introduce the faction system, health and death, together with the survival mode and some other little things, like colouring non-armour blocks, you will get even more friends. and it would be nice to have a chat function. and i want to see the name of the person who destroyed my spaceship on a public server, so i could tell the admin... somehow a safezone would be nice, or lockable spaceships... oh, im talking too much :D
ReplyDeletejust stumbled onto this game and joined the forums...been following this thread that seems to be generating alot of attention that you might want to check out....
ReplyDeletehttp://forums.keenswh.com/post/we-need-ainpcs-attention-devs-6726853?pid=1281332065#post1281332065
some pretty nice ideas for single player and multiplayer in there. Cant wait to see how the game turns out.
Good work. Q: Will there be available dedicated server files for people to get so they can host their own servers or even server hosting companies? I know right now there are none i believe.
ReplyDeleteYes, we would like to allow dedicated servers
DeleteHello Marek,
ReplyDeleteI am thinking about something for a while now and I would like to know what you think about it.
I had an idea about a Large Ship first person camera block.
It has a front side, can perhaps be put over an existing block (only visible when editing with block in hand), and is 1 or 2 blocks wide for even and uneven number of blocks in the width of the ship.
You have a great game and I wish the best of luck to you and your team.
-Ente
Yeah, we were already thinking about having a regular cockpit for small ships, so you can see from inside, like on small ships.
DeleteThe other idea is to have some kind of remote camera - like we had in Miner Wars 2081.
I just don't know when (if ever) we will get to these things, there's so much else we need to finish...
I don't think that there will be something which will provide equal sale effect to multiplayer adding. Just be creative, add more features, spend a little more time to show your activity on the forum, and sale stat will grow up.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work, having a blast with this game, can't wait for survival mode. :D
ReplyDeleteSo did the 75mb update to day just fixs some multiplayer bugs
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love where this game is going! You guys are doing brilliantly on this game!
ReplyDeleteThe only issues I've been having with this game are the lag (Which isn't your fault, My computer wasn't built for the awesomeness of this game) and servers. I have no friends that have this game and I think it would be good to have some sort of public server. Things like spawn protection PvP server and a Free build server. I think these would be great implementations into this game.
Continue doing what you're doing!
I'm not good with endings.
Fantastic work all around, Devs. Im glad that you all have some extra funds to work with on making this exellent game!
ReplyDeleteLove this game! Unfortunately I still get lag when playing online. I'm assuming this is being worked on though, so I'll be patient. Fantastic game though. Can't wait to see whats to come!
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for a feature add that will give you similar sales increases as adding multiplayer, you might look into adding some sort of NPC to "fight" against. Lots of good suggestions on the suggestions forum about pulling AI ships from steam workshops and things like that so they don't have to be super intelligent "builders".
ReplyDeletedear devs
ReplyDeletei bought this game in when it came available on steam.
for two reasons.
1# i do like playing games ons pc :)
2# i was doing some research for school cuz i wanted to know how a game-studio works at a game.
and what is i saw was amazing!!
you guys are the only devs who work so hard at a alpha game.
and realy listen to there own community
i get a update each 2 weeks but each update is it worth to explore :)
and usually all the updates works fine.
Keep it up!!.
hopefuly i could help with some ideas for the game.
1# maybe you devs could place some enemy's in the world like
ships,stations, what you can loot for weapons and mining resources'.
2# maybe you can update the world generator so it spawns astroids (fields) to
currentý we have only seen that there are some asteroids at the spawn only.
3# when there are enemy's..... is it cool to have a radar system or something like that to find them..
hopefully you can use some of these suggestions.
cheers.
Maurice Schipper
mauriceschipper@hotmail.nl
ps sorry when my English fails sometims.
i had no time to write nice and slowly
Increase the size of the world planets to explore, stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are doing great! Thank you for the game!! The only thing I'd like right now is a player view and chat in multiplayer, but that's not even a negative bullet point. The game is great and quite enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteChampion ! Your next dollar increase is when survival is tuned and released.
ReplyDeletePiddlefoot.
Good stuff, guys! Can't wait for heavier armor!
ReplyDeletethank you for the update. There are nay Sayers about your project that claim you are going to take the money and run to Switzerland. I'm glad you seem to be in this for the long haul.
ReplyDeleteSurvival and NPC enemy's or some mission system so things have a point beyond building would be nice.
please make it so your person doesn't rotate with out pressing Q or E when dampeners are on this is very very very annoying. thankyou
ReplyDeletedream devs <3 .. mp is hot stuff.. synergy with the social aspects like chat/friends list/way to tell in-game who is friend.. .. i hear rumors that the control of ships functions is fiddly .. might want to have control grouping + sequencing .. so a player can click a button and make a motor swing 91% hold for 5 mins then return automatically followed by another motor spinning for a min with a light on it that just turned on.. if all that can be done with a button... then this game is amazing.. well its already amazing.. but hey
ReplyDeleteYou should make npcs like hirable bots for your ship (maybe just for single player or limited to like 5 npcs per person on mp.... it would make it allot more interesting. Also you should add selective options for launching torpedos (that way you don't launch every torpedo all at once).... the npcs would probably bring in a few more customers....
ReplyDeleteplease stop player from rotating unless Q or E is pressed well dampeners are on. Thankyou
ReplyDeleteGreat job as usual Keens :) I am looking forward to those real sounds
ReplyDeletemy name is artem
ReplyDeletethe Armored blocks just came out recently but what else did? anything else? since i cant find any way to see what has been updated
ReplyDeleteYou can find all updates in this forum folder: http://forums.keenswh.com/?forum=313693
DeleteBTW, heavy armor hasn't been added to the game yet, not to the public build
Will the in-game sound be anything like a Fan-Made version of it? This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbnwQB9DlYY
ReplyDeleteSome of the sounds will be similar, some will be a lot different. But SqueegyMackoy did a great job and we really use his video for an inspiration.
DeleteGood to see this great game is doing well!
ReplyDeleteStill, I have a few points to bring up. I noticed that in this update missiles were nerfed and machine guns were buffed, though I think that the missiles may be a little too under powered at this time. If small ship missiles cannot inflict enough damage to large ships, you will run into the issues that starmade had where only large ships were good to use, which is bad. Of course this would also be affected by how resource intensive missiles are to make.
Anyway, that's just my opinion, and I'm sure you'll be able to reach a good spot in terms of the balance of weapons
I hope there will be some kind of Dedicated Server mode in the near future. Bought myself a server just to run this game down the road :)
ReplyDeleteMarek Rosa January 28, 2014 at 12:13 AM
DeleteYes, we would like to allow dedicated servers
Just to quote the god of gaming industry himself on his own blog. (Eh, be happy, you won't have to rewrite it yourself. :P)
And that's quite really nice to see some players already planning their future server, I like that with this community, barely never disappointed and always planning.
Thanks for the update. My take is no other feature (in and of itself) can generate a buzz as large as multiplayer.
ReplyDeleteSecond best is anything that turns space engineers from a simulator (a crash/building simulator) into an actual game. Not just limited resources, but environmental hazards, enemies, stuff like that. The audience for actual games is much bigger than the audience for pure sims.
A chat box is necessary.
ReplyDeleteWhat about your sneaky wiki team ? Do you like the work we're doing currently ? Or being Rhine's slave is just making you laugh while I feed him with cookies ? (Yeh, I feed him with COOKIES !)
ReplyDeleteWe love what you are doing with the official wiki. You keep it updated and that's great.
DeleteNice to see you care about us, little ninjas. Here, have this cookie ! *hands you a cookie special Marek Rosa with chocolate stuffed in*
DeleteGenerally, devs never really care of their wiki team and forum mods team, but you, you do ... You're special, sir ! Really special ! And I love that. :)
Hi Marek, congratulations on a great game. Keep up the work.
ReplyDeletemy biggest suggestion would be the ability to group actions like multiple rotors or multiple lights. Maybe a sequence triggered by a mapped key of the ship designers choice.
Only thing I can think to rival the multiplayer would be buggies like lunar buggies and maybe some larger masses with gravity like moons. Building underground moon bases with transport systems could also be built using the same components. Complete with timed/scripted sequences of actions set on auto you could set automated transit systems.
back in the day I spent hours building a huge map in duke nukem 3d and it was having multiple automated transit systems that really gave the multiplayer an extra dimension. Think shooting from a moving vehicle.
Will leave you with those ideas. But please provide an easier way of activating multiple actions.
Shall be purchasing as soon as my new PC arrives. Multi-player has sold it for me for sure but I would like to see some sort of goal or challenge which focuses the gameplay. Perhaps random asteroids being lobbed around? or something better...
ReplyDeleteIf you add controller support it will help your sales toward steam boxes as will as make me vary happy BTW I would love full support for the Xbox controller I saw it in your notes and that's why I got the game.
ReplyDeleteI originally bought this game in the hopes a survival mode would come out soon. Even though this feature is not yet implemented, I am happy with the consistent updates to the game.
ReplyDeleteThe main draw for me with building centered games such as Space Engineers is starting from nothing, mining the materials and turning those materials into something amazing.
I have logged many hours in the creative mode and I am very impressed with the progress. I still eagerly await the day when I hope to find myself spending long hours exploring asteroids for specific materials and mining them to build my creations.
Great job so far! And I hope the "realistic mode" update comes out soon!
I picked this game up after hearing a few people talk about it. All I can say is wow...but for me the game is lacking just a bit. As a miner/explorer, I would really like to see the ore detectors activated, as well as factions. Also, being stuck in one place is kinda boring, would like to be able to move to say, different solar systems. Perhaps this could be implemented with factions. Also...blueprints: instead of uploading a finished ship, maybe players could upload blueprints of ships. This way players could keep the worlds they've worked so hard on but still be able to built their favorite ships from the workshop. Also had an idea about the mining drills. If a mining drill is put on a certain way, the drill could rotate in the opposite direction to its counterpart. So one drill spins clockwise, the other anti-clockwise. This might solve the wobble problem. But all in all, shaping up to be a very enjoyable game
ReplyDeletePS There seems to be a blue-green ore that doesn't drop anything when mined...anyone have any idea what this is?
Can take the current beacon change the name to transponder. then have FTL beacons and FTL Drives on large ships.. You can set the ftl drive to warp to a new star system ( another generated map far away) or go to existing ones Via ftl beacons ( admins can limit the amount of systems that can be made)
DeleteHey.
ReplyDeleteI have a few questions. They are very important to me.
I work in the space industry.
Question about gyroscopes.
You wake up and perform rotations around axes xyz gyroscopes?
Rotation on all axes so will 1 gyroscope?
Gyroscopes, and so it is not realistic, and here it is that he is one. (you represent mass flywheel gyroscope for rotating 18 ton ship)
Why to rotate around the axes are not used maneuvering jet engines?
And yes - I am your customer.
Send e-mail response ed_dreamATlist.ru
Questions about physics
ReplyDeleteHey.
I have a few questions. They are very important to me.
I work in the space industry.
Question about gyroscopes.
You wake up and perform rotations around axes xyz gyroscopes?
Rotation on all axes so will 1 gyroscope?
Gyroscopes, and so it is not realistic, and here it is that he is one. (you represent mass flywheel gyroscope for rotating 18 ton ship)
Why to rotate around the axes are not used maneuvering jet engines?
And yes - I am your customer. ))
We considered maneuvering by jet engines sometime at the beginning of the development, but it seemed too hard to control (for players who just want to play) - so we added thrusters and gyros with a little intelligence that helps player.
DeletePerhaps in future we will enable thrusters and gyro that doesn't try to help player, it won't be a big problem for us... it's just a matter of development priorities.
Thks for answer.
DeleteIn X3 game series is not an arcade flight control - no problems with the management is not there ..... There are more problems orientation in space. )))
I very much hope that you do not get on the path of simplicity. Realism only adds to the appeal .
I have standard questions about the oxygen rooms, vacuum locks and so on. But you must ask them too often. )))))
Just I'm wondering whether the following functions:
- Rear camera mirror. To facilitate the landing maneuver. In the cockpit .
- Local antigravity device . To create a transport wells in large space stations.
- Robotic arms to control the tools, instruments , extraction of minerals from the ship.
I have many questions ... I read a lot of fiction )))
Survival mode in space, is very interesting.
Perhaps we should do this as a duty on the basis of long-distance ( Observatory ), and that once in one year will come the ships with supplies .
Forgot the question about the transfer of energy devices located behind the engine rotation.
DeleteSo de sorely lacking landing devices with shock absorption. They have to build yourself.
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/794059098522881362/C73C284ED638C2D2D3456EA65CBFAC335A8632F3/
By the way thanks for the guns. I was able to machine guns used as an engine to accelerate to 100 m\s.
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/794059098514189594/80BD071BEFAD480E119D0FDB39D2528F609A463F/
If you do not stumble on the maneuvering gyroscopes, do so for maneuvering 3m axes, use 3 gyroscope.
Another question about balancing.
DeleteWhen creating digging machines, it is very important to have the stability of motion in the mine.
Drilling tool is not very balanced, and if his balance in the same device, but rotating in the opposite direction and standing on the same axis. Balancing occurs. Fluctuations are very large. This is necessary as it is to figure out how to deal with vibrations.
The increase in weight of the ship seems to me not a good idea. I want to create a small mining ship.
Ed, I made that very same point not too long ago, and my idea was that if the drills are set a certain way, they spin in the opposite direction to each other, much like dual motors on a speed boat spin the propellers clockwise and anticlockwise. With all drills spinning in one direction, the ship is extremely unstable and I usually end up bashing in to the side of the asteroid
DeleteBreytac.
DeleteThis is not work. This not stability.
I haven't been so excited about a video game in years! Thank you for this wonderful creation!
ReplyDeleteSounds like its been talked about to death, but AI enemies and enemy scenarios would make the game simply epic.
A couple questions, has there been any thought on environmental factors? Like decompression of ship compartments on damage thus killing the player if they don't have a suit on?
Any thoughts on planetary bodies for the future?
Thanks for this excellent game; I look forward to seeing what you guys have in store!
I think there are 2 major features that will cause a big bump in sales and interest.
ReplyDelete1. I think that if you can create a quick drop in PvP competition. Example: If you started a game, you have 5 minutes to build a ship, there are limits to the size and weapons you can have, then duke it out. I think this will appeal to the more casual gamers, and create a big bump in interest.
2. I think a large pervasive world would be a huge jump in sales. Im not sure what architecture would be best for the game, but there are a number of options. Maybe create a central server that ties all the worlds together in a web, then a jump gates between worlds. These jump gates could have limits, of tonnage. This way you could regulate how much was moved from one world to another and so that a person couldn't bring an enormous ship through and just destroy everyone in a world.
Great Game! Just my 2 cents about what i think your goals should be.
Umm...no from me on point 2. I play a game that's set in a persistent world, and the amount of players who ruin other player's days just because they can is unbelievable. If I were to set up a server, it would be for my friends and I to get on, build ships/stations, maybe do some exploring and a bit of pvp if we were bored. But no way would I ever connect my world to a central server so some idiot and his friends could blow stuff up just because they can/want to. I don't mean to sound harsh, but for some reason, some people believe it is their right to ruin a game for other people. No thank you. But Point 1 could be somewhat fun, and force players to come up with some rather inventive light fighter designs
DeleteI following this game hoping it turns into a proper MMO, persistent world. where ships, bases can me made. i would happily pay a subscription for it
ReplyDeleteI loved this game when I first picked it up, several months ago, but quickly discovered that it's all but unplayable due to the first-person mode within structures - the view-bob gives me headaches and nausea in minutes, making construction of large ships and stations impossible. Please, are there any ways to disable this "feature" so I can resume playing?
ReplyDeleteThe game is very good now, but what is the fail of multiplayer?: in big ship, when 1st player is in cockpit , the second one just fall down trough the armor, and when the 1st player is moving with the big ship, the 2nd one cant land on it with small ship, the landing gear isnt working.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: 1)Do u know about this fail?
2)When will be some fix update?
Please focus on the game's playability and fun factor; the sales will be there. Game players appreciate games made by game makers, not businessmen.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the outstanding game. It bears a LOT of potential - I hope you don't squander it on profiteering.
I just got Space Engineers yesterday and have been enjoying it a lot.
ReplyDeleteThere is really only one thing I don't like, the maximum speed limit. Being limited to 104m/s is a major issue for me. I love that it uses a 6DOF setup, that it has realisticish newtonian physics/movement, that it has enableable/disableable automatic dampers (fantastic idea), and almost everything else. I even like the odd (as in different/new) way of doing gravity generators.
The maximum speed though, is by far the least realistic and most offensive thing in the game for me, I was very surprised to find it.
I'm really looking forward to "survival" mode regardless, but I'd be even more psyched if the speed limit goes up (a lot) or disappears entirely. If it makes PvP harder so much the better, space is difficult! Plus then you could make kinetic kill weapons, something "real" war in space is likely to be full of.
In any event, keep up the good work!
Awesome game!! I'm enjoying building stuff. I know that it's important to make money and to develop software to that end.. but don't forget about the SP people. As an older gamer the last thing I want to do is get trash talked by potty mouthed 11 year olds a la COD. Minecraft was awesome because of the bots/AI. Add enemy AI of some kind, a nav system/radar, and friendly AI so that I can send a probe out to coordinates xyz and have it STOP there on it's own and fill in my map. As it is, flying in one direction for 20 minutes looking for something else interesting was only fun once.
ReplyDeleteWe want to explore this new world and defend our bases. Not necessarily PVP. Pretty please? Without bots there's not much else to do in this game unless I can get to an internet connection (I'm in middle of nowhere northern Canada for the next few weeks). I'm a small minority, I know.
But again: great concept and game! I enjoy the engineering challenges very much. It would just be nice to add some suspense/urgency/conflict in the form of AI threats to keep it interesting for those of us who don't play MP or who don't have constant internet access (as strange as that sounds these days).
I'll keep playing and looking forward to future updates!
Is it possible that, when Thrusters damage is implemented, you let Creative players toggle it?
ReplyDeleteOtherwise it will break a lot of fandom builds.
What About the plans of map size`? can you tell us anything on that? Great game
ReplyDeleteBought the game two days ago.... Now im back to 1980´s building lego space ships online with survival mode! xD To good! Love it. Keep the good work going and i hope we see a lot more cool stuff coming.
ReplyDeleteJust purchased your game. Love survival mode, haven't tried creative yet. You've captured the feeling of being isolated in space brilliantly, and the challenge of starting survival in a Crashed red ship is really cool.
ReplyDeleteOnce the conveyor systems working, moving materials from drill to refinery will complete the playability I reckon!
How The F*ck do I set up a server? I've googled and you tubed and I can't find out how :( someone please tell me!
ReplyDeleteGood article. Based on experience in software development and testing, I can say these static analysis tool really avoid coding mistakes which leads to exceptions.
ReplyDeleteFixed Build developmen and build your own development team