Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Space Engineers: Release Date for the Major Overhaul of Survival & Going out of Early Access

Hello Engineers!

Our next update is almost here. I want to reflect back on the progress of it and to share some important news.

I’ll start with the reflection on the public tests that we ran recently. You can find the details about the Survival update and the public tests here and here. The posts mention most of the new features, game improvements, and changes. We received fantastic feedback after these blog posts were published. I have also shared my vision and reasons for future updates, so I’m sure you’re now expecting more breaking news.

We started the public tests on Thursday, January 17, 2019, and we decided to run several individual tests until we were happy with the results. The tests were scheduled every two weeks. The first test was only open for one day, but we extended the following tests to four days. The information and the feedback we received from you during those tests have been very important for the final update, as well as changes we implemented to the upcoming update. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to play the new version and who provided us with feedback.

Now to the exciting news!

The upcoming Major Overhaul of Survival is going live on Thursday, February 28, 2019. 

This is going to be a big day for Space Engineers because we are also going to move the game out of Early Access. Yes, you heard it!


Getting Space Engineers out of Early Access has been planned for a long time. We have worked on it basically since 2016/2017, when the game entered beta. It was our goal to release the game in the state we consider to fulfill our original vision, including all planned features and core game components. Moreover, it includes a lot of things that were not planned at the beginning of the game’s development (solar panels, planets, rotors, pistons, wheels, and many more features).

Space Engineers was one of the first Early Access games on Steam and one of the few titles  that will be successfully released after several years of passionate development. We keep our promises.

The reason Space Engineers is leaving Early Access is because we have a solid foundation, which will allow us to continue releasing new features and content for the game. The future looks bright!

History

Space Engineers has been in Early Access for 5+ years, and during this period we developed the game from a proof-of-concept to a feature complete space engineering sandbox.

We went through more than 200 updates, which include major game changes such as:

  • planets
  • new HUD and game UI
  • skins, parachutes, wheels
  • more than 200 blocks
  • reworked and updated the character animations several times
  • improved the multithreaded physics, but also physics itself
  • implemented super-large worlds
  • a lot of game optimizations during this entire period
  • went through the massive updates of the game’s visuals and audio
  • we spent a significant amount of time on improving the multiplayer, air tightness and oxygen
  • survival mode
  • programmable blocks, modding support, antennas, landing gears, solar panels, cargo ships, meteorites, encounters, asteroid clusters, visual scripting, realistic mode audio, in-game help, and more.

You can view all the updates in chronological order here.

Check our very first Space Engineers video, Alpha Footage 8/2013 and one of our latest videos from the Major Overhaul of Visuals, Audio and Wheels.

We sold more than 3 million copies and we have more than 200,000 monthly active players.

We listened to our community, and used a lot of this feedback to improve the game where we could. It has been a rewarding and productive cooperation, which we really enjoyed! And something that we will continue to enjoy in the future. The Space Engineers community is strong, growing, and present.

We expect that some people will have concerns regarding what leaving Early Access means for the future of Space Engineers - if we are now going to abandon the game. We won’t stop working on Space Engineers and we feel good about the foundation we have built. Therefore, I think the answer is clear: This is not the end. This is just the beginning!

FAQ

Q: Will you abandon the Space Engineers? 
A: We have no intention of abandoning a project that we as developers and our community are extremely passionate about.

Q: Will you fix bug X or Y? 
A: Most likely it is already fixed in the upcoming update (we fixed numerous bugs). We will continue to fix bugs even after the Major Survival Overhaul update. We will continue to monitor the support site for both bugs and feature suggestions

Q: What will come next? 
A: Expanding the Space Engineers franchise with new features, blocks, and scenarios. We’re going to take Space Engineers to exciting places when it comes to gameplay, immersion, and challenges!


Q: Are you working on a new game already? 
A: Nope, we are currently focused on continuing to develop Space Engineers.

Q: I am disappointed because you never implemented features I wanted for this game. It’s not the game I expected.
A: While we are in the process of  completing the foundation of Space Engineers, we will be adding new content to the game in the future. It’s still very likely that we will implement some of features that you’ve requested. We are looking to the future and continuing to build on our strong foundation.

Q: Are you working on an XBOX port?
A: Yes, this is one of the top priorities for our team.

What is the community saying?

"Space Engineers has come a long way since I first installed the alpha back in 2013. Then it only featured single-player and creative mode. With each update adding more features and improving the game as a whole, I hope that Keen continues on this strong path with the future of the game."

"To say I'm excited for this update is an understatement, especially for the PVE content that seems to be coming."

”Space Engineers has had an amazing development journey since its launch; with each update I’ve been impressed at what the game and its playerbase can do. I hope the future still holds many exciting adventures ahead.”


Conclusion

Mark your calendar for Thursday, February 28, 2019, 5PM UTC, because this day will bring many new things and surprises (not seen during the public tests). This will be a truly momentous day for the Space Engineers community.

We are planning many new things for Space Engineers and we will start revealing them soon :-)
Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading this!

Thank you

We couldn't have made it this far without the amazing support of our community! Thank you all!

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

For more news:
Space Engineers: www.SpaceEngineersGame.com
Medieval Engineers: www.MedievalEngineers.com
General AI Challenge: www.General-AI-Challenge.org
AI Roadmap Institute: www.RoadmapInstitute.org
GoodAI: www.GoodAI.com
Keen Software House: www.keenswh.com
GoodAI Applied: https://www.goodai.com/goodai-applied

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 their best-seller Space Engineers (3 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 started in January 2014 and has over 30 research scientists, engineers and consultants working across its Research and Applied teams. 

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


73 comments:

  1. Me so horny
    Cant wait
    =3

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  2. Thank you. I'm looking forward to the new features.

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    Replies
    1. You're very welcome. So are we!

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  3. Amazing, thank you, space engineers is the sort of game i've wanted for a long time now. Since i first got it, a few years ago, i've put in over 1000 hours in it, and i expect to put in more! Best of luck!

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    1. Cheers, Regis! As Marek said, "This is not the end. This is just the beginning. :)

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  4. Not very good with bs and smooth talk so i ll just speak honestly. You should and could have done more work in a lot less time.
    Btw what are those chambers in the picture?

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  5. ermagherd, my berthday!!!! BEST PRESENT EVER!!!

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  6. What are those chambers?
    I hope for many new weapons and blocks, but i would be happy if pistons and rottors work without clang and if i didnt glitch inside a planet every day on a server.

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    1. for me it looks like a small grid cryo chamber

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    2. 28.02.2019: the day of truth. Decision day: will I continue playing the most important game of my life, whether I will remove it and never play it again. It all depends on whether the cockpits will become functional or not. If the game comes out of early access without functional displays in the cockpits - it will mean that I have been cheated by the creators.

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    3. cockpit panels will say offline when turned off, that's it. if you want functioning information on displays, there's scripts for that you can put into programmable blocks. Not even modded, vanilla. so quit complaining about the basis on whether the game is good or not based on a single cockpit function when your hud actually shows some of the ship information...

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    4. I wouldn't be worried about the cockpit LCDs... big things planned there soon.

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    5. I'm McVoy from this thread.

      I do not want to explain (once more) why functional cockpits are so important to me. I can not play without it. Currently, I'm just starting the game, I'm starting to design something and I'm coming to the point where I say it does not make sense because I will not have feedback in the form of a function in the cockpit. The cockpit is for me the heart of a ship, vehicle, base, etc. It should be the control center of all ship's systems and the information center about everything that is happening on the ship. For me, playing without a functional cockpit does not make sense. And if the game comes out of early access without a functional cockpit I will feel cheated, because from the very beginning the cockpits had modeled screens and various switches or indicators. It has always been obvious to me that it is only a matter of time that it will all come to life one day. Giving a game without this is like selling to your child - drawn on a piece of paper picture of chocolate. The child can only look at what chocolate looks like but will never taste it...

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    6. I'm sorry, I forgot to paste the link to the thread:
      https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers/general/topic/cockpit-lcds

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    7. You can not paste the link, so I mean the topic "Cockpit LCDs" from the support page.

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    8. What do you mean by "functioning"? I've used the LCD's for multiple differnt scenarios which required different information on the screen depending on the ships roll. So what do you expect the LCD's to run as a standard? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the games custom concept?

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    9. Perhaps it's a cryo chahmaber ; )

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    10. As a functional cockpit, I mean 3 LCDs working on the same principle as other LCDs, and a set of indicators displaying basic information: speed, acceleration, power consumption, payload, antennas etc. HUD should display information about the character and the cockpit information about the vehicle. This is logical to me. Ideally, the toolbar would move to the dashboard of the cockpit when getting into the cockpit. We have two cockpits for a small grid, one cockpit for a large grid, and a control station and workstation for a large grid. It would be sensible for me to supplement all cockpits and control stations with the same number of displays and the same indicators. However, I would change the workstation into an ordinary chair without displays and indicators but with the ability to control the vehicle. However, as a dashboard for a workstation, you can put a panel with buttons complemented by 3 LCDs and the same indicators as in cockpits. It would be such a larger ship control console consisting of two blocks.

      What I wrote above is the ideal situation for me. But as a minimum I expect at least running displays and maybe basic indicators.

      The problem is also with the toolbar, which when entering the cockpit can cover part of the dashboard. Therefore, if the displays and indicators are to appear in the dashboards, the toolbar should be transferred to the dashboard.

      Well, it would be nice if you could describe the buttons on the toolbar in words (but maybe I already expect too much ...).

      Sorry, but putting LCDs outside the cab is pointless. And if in addition on one of the LCD I have to put a description of the toolbar buttons. It has tired me already. I want to finally have a ship without mods, which will have at least operational displays in the cockpit - is it a lot after 5 years of waiting to finish the game?

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    11. "me me me me, give me give me give me, waaaah, I didn't get the one tiny little thing, game = bad"

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  7. Can't wait... Thank you. Love this game!

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  8. Super hra a těším se na nové věci ve hře. 1000+ hodin ve hře :-)

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  9. Congratulations in advance for release date. It was a great time since I joined early access at the beginning of 2016 (as a humble user only) and I think it will continue for years to come. As I don't get tired of designing new things in SE... and ME alike.

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    1. Thanks a lot for the kind words and support, Cetric! It means a lot to everyone on the Space Engineers Team.

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  10. I hope one day, I will see Space Engineers and Medieval Engineers come together in Space Engineers 2 ;D

    Congratulations on leaving Early Access!

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    1. Yeah, I would love this too. We already have a concept for this, but it's a pretty long way to get there :)

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  11. Have been waiting for this day, but I think there is still A LOT of polishing that needs done. Armor blocks are super weak, going a slow 7ms (which is like approx 13mph) and hit something it totally destroys the armor. I would understand a dent but to completely destroy it?? Nah. Please keep up the good work and gives us some armor that can take a little bit of a hit. :)

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    Replies
    1. Its called momentum and inertia :p

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    2. Will do! And we're going to keep adding new blocks, features and scenarios to Space Engineers. : )

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  12. Wait it hasn't come out of early access since 2013? I started playing right when it released and it has came a long way. I'm surprised that it hasn't come out of early access yet. I'm excited for it to release

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    1. Mark your calendar for Feb 28 because that's when Space Engineers is coming out of Early Access!

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  13. I joined this dedicated and very creative community in early 2014 - and have since "only" played SE for ~1,4k hrs. And during that time I realized that the developers really love this game - they are unlike any other studio out there and simply do their thing. They could have ended development a looong, loong time ago. But they made it clear, especially in the last two years, that they are here to stay. Do we have liquid water? Or atmospheric weather effects? No - but we never ever imagined to actually get REALLY BIG PLANETS, or the amazing realistic audio, or the rock solid reworkes and overhauls of many core components of the game, or the PHENOMENAL mod support! This game is a joy, If you like tinkering with stuff. Onward, folks. This is a very exciting time to rejoin or join the playerbase! And THANK YOU Keen, for this marvel.

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    1. Thanks a lot, xpgx1! We hope you continue to enjoy Space Engineers. : )

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  14. This is amazing. I have seen this game over the years and it never ceases to amaze me. Keep up the work Keen. This next update is well deserved.

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    1. Cheers, Memester56. We really appreciate your support!

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  15. New cryo-pod design, small grid cryo-pod, maybe more small grid blocks,possible new turret design or new turret. Any other hints in the picture?

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    1. small grid cryo-pod has not been confirmed on release day.

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    2. That cryo-pod is on a small grid, and the picture is a teaser for this update.

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    3. I always prefer a better small-large grid integration or a single grid size, over more small grid blocks.

      Small grid blocks are not necessarily physically small. Just their grids are small. They can be larger than all large grid blocks with giving more resolution for detailed constructions. People just rarely add large small-grid blocks to the game. Probably because of the rotor trick.

      Medieval Engineers small grids have even more resolution. Timbers, which are small grid light armor equivalents IMO, have size options. But SE light armors don't have size options. This prevents them from being used for large structures.

      I wonder if ME and SE teams work like rival companies, hiding technologies from each other. SE is behind ME in construction mechanics IMO and doesn't seem to be approaching ME.

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  16. Thank you. Do you know what time of day you plan to make the release available?

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. 28.02.2019: the day of truth. Decision day: will I continue playing the most important game of my life, whether I will remove it and never play it again. It all depends on whether the cockpits will become functional or not. If the game comes out of early access without functional displays in the cockpits - it will mean that I have been cheated by the creators.

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    1. Drama queen much? If it's the most important game of your life, then you probably need to put it down and move on. Especially if one little tiny detail is going to make you hate it.

      Hey! Write a mod that makes the screens in the drivers seat work.

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  18. In the new intro when you build the ksh logo you can see armor blocks in ramp 1x1x6 ... I hope it's a start to see new blocks of armor.

    I feel my English, I use the google translator.

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  19. If what's coming next is "We’re going to take Space Engineers to exciting places when it comes to gameplay, immersion, and challenges!" how is post-release going to be any different than the current development cycle? It sounds like another "beta" situation where the game's supposed state is changed for PR reasons but the development cycle stays the same.

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    1. Hi Jimmacle, the difference is that in last 2-3 years we spent majority of our time tweaking, fixing, polishing existing features. Whereas in post-EA period we will focus on adding new polished stuff. It very similar to how the dev cycle looks in 2013-2015, except back then we were releasing unfinished prototype. This time we aim for polished features.

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    2. So no break of the Mod Api anymore?

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. I've been with you devs since the start when the game was posted on steam.. its has always been my favorite game and afters hours of playing I'm still excited about this D*** game thank you all for your hard work its not a perfect game but its the perfect example of how a game should be built!! Space Engineer ALL DAY! -perezmcg

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    1. That's awesome to hear. Thank you!

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  21. So, are they actually adding a gameplay loop? PvE? A reason to build other than the sake of building?

    That's pretty much all this game needs. A reason to play it.

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  22. So, are they actually adding a gameplay loop? PvE? A reason to build other than the sake of building?

    That's pretty much all this game needs. A reason to play it.

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  23. Phenomenal work. I hope you will find funds to raise awareness about SE. The thematic creations and battles made by content creators (Star Wars, Stargate, Halo, Battlestar, 40k...) have really good potential to attract masses of players - that's something you could use for marketing. If ME could tap the same thing - recreating stuff from LotR, Game of Thrones, Elder Scrolls or real historical castles and sieges, that would be a huge turn on.

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  24. I'm really happy to be all the way from near since day one (since you sold the game on your website before it came to Steam) until to the release day.

    I know in the earlier days I post often on the Forum "X is not really possible, too complicated, too Resource hungry." and than came a update with exactly this feature. So I early stop to say such things and Planets was mind blowing. And now we are so far, have so much futures we never expected.

    Nice to see after such a long way the "Release" of the game. I hope we would see now more Mods that didn't break after a game update. That was annoying for many Modders. I also plan to make Mods for the Game now after Release. I made in the first years my Skybox Toolbox with Dark Shadows support until it was not needed anymore because of Steam Workshop support, so I was already a bit in the SE Modding Community.

    Can't wait to see the future of SE after Release, I hope it is bright.

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  25. Survival isn't ready.
    It has numerous balance issues, a nonsensical progression system,and a temperature mechanic that isn't mitigatable and is pointless.
    There is nothing requiring a strategic approach to survival (no meaningful choices with consequences).

    As far as ending Early access is concerned,
    there is more Engineering absent from the game than is included in it. (Structural, Electrical, Hydrological, Materials, Chemical, Nuclear, Aerospace, Electronics, Environmental, Agricultural, Petroleum, Biological, Marine, Genetic, Geological, etc.)

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  26. I have had the game since it came out o steam. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. I can honestly say that I feel like I have gotten my money's worth back several times over in the entertainment value. That is hard to find in games anymore. Keep up the good work and the enjoyment.

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  27. Yeah, but when are you going to put some game, in the 'game'?

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  28. I love that it's finally ready to leave early access but I hope there is more to do in this new survival. Once I left the planet I always felt there was nothing else to do. something to fight would have been nice that isn't just an npc that flies in a straight line with turrets.

    The most exciting part of this post for me is the xbox port is a high priority, There were times I was starting to think it was forgotten about and being the only person I know with a pc i've been dying to the xbox version for years. it gets so lonely being a solo spaceman.

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  29. I've been playing Space Engineers since the first couple of months it came in to EA and i still have my very first savegame (yellow ship at 0,0 coords) saved on a couple of disks (backup, you know). Up to this day, it became my most played game in my Steam library, with 1600+ hours played.

    Your team has given me years worth of fun even before the full release, which i'm honestly thankful for. Reading multiple times now, that you will continue further development & improvement, also makes me happy about the future of my favourite game. I wish you the best launch ever and look very much forward to the future of both SE & ME. Thanks again!

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  30. Thank you KSW, for your open ears and not giving up your game or your community! So my 1500hours in game were not wasted :D Good Job! Go on and i will buy your next spacegame!

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  31. welcome to the future gents, with alot more guaranteed by keen, thanks for the great times guys :)

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  32. Still waiting for rotors to update to program block API

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  33. I feel like I've ripped you guys off. I paid like fifteen dollars for this game back in October 2013, and I've gotten years worth of work and updates from you guys to say nothing of hundreds of hours of enjoyment out of this game. I almost kind of hope some of this new content comes as DLC in the future so I can support your work.

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  34. Congratulations Keen on this momentous occasion for your game and your company. Watching this project develop and matriculate over the last 5 years from an exciting concept to a mature masterpiece has been an awe inspiring journey, as I'm sure it has been for you. Thank you for making the game I've always dreamed of playing. Thank you for not abandoning your vision and seeing it through to the end. Thank you for actually listening to the community you created. Kudos, you guys fucking rule!

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  35. I hope in VR version too.. :)
    And can you confirm if current saves will be compatible with new patch or not? Thank you for great game! Good work..

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  36. Hello, will you be doing a release stream?

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  37. Got to love that you didn't include any of the Group Survival 3 youtubers that you had on your planets release stream. Only the 3 more positive ones. Well I guess Shack having quit SE for a while due to the bugs for example. And W4sted with his salt probably aren't good marketing material.

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