Space Engineers: Warfare 2 “Broadside”

SUMMARY:

• Our Biggest Update yet! 
• New weapon blocks: Artillery Turret, Railgun, Assault Cannon, Autocannon and more
• Quality of life changes: Target Locking, Mod API update, Gas tank detonations, Armor Penetration and more
• New Premium content: Warfare Ion Thruster, Warfare Reactor, Warfare Rocket Launcher
• New Premium blocks: Light Panel, Searchlight, Heat Vent, Offset Passenger Seat, Sliding Hatch Door and more 

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Hello, Engineers! 

The time has come! The team has been working hard on this update and today, we delivered. New blocks, enhanced gameplay mechanics, and a reimagining of warfare in Space Engineers. 

Warfare 2: Broadside expands and improves vehicle combat in Space Engineers. We are continually inspired by our incredible community and so we have created this vision of war based on community feedback. Your creations, machinations, mods, stories and visions of the world of Space Engineers helped guide our efforts and deliver one of our biggest updates ever!

The goal of Warfare 2: Broadside is to bring you more fun and engagement with Space Engineers, both on planets and in space. Defending against pirates, boarding a freighter, having a tank battle on a moon, or a breakneck dogfight through the canyons of Pertram, we believe this update will change the way you play.

While war is the theme, we mustn’t forget that this is Space Engineers, and thus “building and creativity” remains the center of the Space Engineers universe.

With this update, we are introducing a series of quality of life improvements as well as entirely new mechanics.

New Mechanics and QOL changes include: 

• Target Locking (Guide)
• Ammo and Gas tank detonations
• Gravity impacts projectile trajectory (“bullet drop”)
• Removed the Good.bot chat feature
• Armor Penetration
• Point light limit increased for high graphic setting
• Increased Beacon range, and can be set as a Jump Drive target
• First-person camera improvement: auto look return 
• Mod API Improvements

There is so much to cover, let’s get started!

Free Content

With this release, we are again expanding the number of blocks, introducing new gameplay features, and expanding your creative tools! 

You can find a complete list of all free game content below. We are also offering you the opportunity to support the continued development of Space Engineers by buying the Warfare 2: Broadside DLC, which includes even more thematic additions to Space Engineers!

Warfare 2 Combat changes
Warfare 2: Broadside brings a staggering amount of change to combat in Space Engineers in the form of QOL changes, as well as entirely new mechanics and systems. The guide below covers those changes and provides an easy guide for future fighter pilots, battle-barge captains, and warship officers.

Combat Guide: https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/new-players/warfare2-combat-guide/

Custom Turret Controller (subgrid turrets)
Provides a simplified way to design and construct custom turrets and control them, including AI targeting. Designed for ease of use with a straightforward setup process.

Railgun
A large static railgun that fires projectiles at extremely high velocity and is able to penetrate many layers of armor. Has a very high power requirement and needs to recharge it’s capacitor similarly to jump drives, after being discharged.

Artillery Turret
Huge capital battleship turret. Designed for long range engagements, provides devastating firepower against even the most heavily armoured targets. Is not effective vs small and fast targets due to its slow tracking speed and overall limited mobility.

Artillery
Static variant of the titanic artillery cannon. Designed for long range engagements, provides devastating firepower against even the most heavily armoured targets. This weapon has substantial recoil when fired.

Assault Cannon Turret
A true multi-role weapon, designed with versatility in mind the Assault cannon is equally well suited to use in close quarters as well as at range. Delivering a powerful punch the Assault Cannon excels in its role as a primary weapon on smaller craft, and a secondary weapon on even the most titanic vessel.

Assault Cannon
The multi-role Assault cannon. Provided in a fixed mount format. Delivering a powerful punch the Assault Cannon excels in its role as a primary weapon on smaller craft, and a secondary weapon on even the most titanic vessel. 

Autocannon Turret
The Autocannon turret  is a significant improvement over the gatling turret in raw stopping power. Extremely effective against small grids such as fighters and rovers. The telltale sound of an Autocannon firing gives even the most staunch soldier a reason to pause.

Autocannon
A fixed mount Autocannon. Extremely effective against small grids such as fighters and rovers. The telltale sound of an autocannon firing gives even the most staunch soldier a reason to pause.

Offset Passenger Seat
A community request. An adjusted version of the current passenger seat to allow offset placement and make better usage of available space.

Artillery shell
Large calibre shells for use with the mighty Artillery turret or static Artillery cannon. Handle with care.

Assault cannon shell
Medium calibre shells for use with all assault cannon variants. Handle with care.

Railgun Sabot
Rail gun ammunition comes as a multipart sabot with as metal jacketed depleted uranium core. The outer “carrier” shell of the sabot is shed during flight, prior to the core striking its target.

Autocannon Ammunition
Autocannon ammunition comes in easily transported magazines.

New Scenario: Asteroid Armory custom start
It's time for a new start in the “Asteroid Armory”. Play as the red or blue faction against friends in this prebuilt conflict zone. Go solo and engage in a bit of piracy! Join the Red faction, take command of Big Red, and hunt cargo ships! Use the Asteroid Armory as a weapons test platform, blasting everything in sight! This “showcase” provides a testbed for the new weapons as well as access to both of the Iconic red and blue ships!

Community Collaboration

We would like to thank you, our community, for your continued support, collaboration and inspiration. You feed our “Need to Create”.

A very special thank you to:

• Darkstar 
• JTurp
• Jakaria
• AWG
• NinjaPirate
• Mexpex
• Okim
• Klime
• Math0424
• Whiplash141
• Dondelium
• Meridius_IX
• Gwindalmir
  

...and so many others that have, and continue to, inspire us with their creativity, ingenuity, and passion.

ModAPI Improvements

Recently, we had a chance to sit down with some of the talented members of our modding community and discussed a series of improvements to the modding API. Included in this update, these changes will have a big impact on the ease of mod development and modder freedom.

Close collaboration with our modding community ensures changes can be made that best reflect their needs. This open communication simplifies the process of improvement and ensures that the modding community has direct access to the development team.

 

ModAPI Highlights

 

• The ability to easily synchronize mod data between server and client.
  
  
  “...I worked with Keen…and now we have a  MySync<T> class that you can use in mods to automatically synchronize data”
  - Gwindalmir
• Provide direct access to the air tightness system allowing for more realistic implementation of mods like the “Water Mod”.
  
  
  “...adding an API to the air tightness system, which in turn allows me to actually calculate displacement for water realistically…”
  - Jakaria
• Mods now have the ability to read data from other mod directories.
  
  
  “Modders are going to be able to put in…custom definitions, custom data files, data structures…”
  - Draygo

For a detailed look at our most recent Mod API changes, please check out our changelog.

"I and the rest of the WeaponCore team are really looking forward to this update. We are excited to see Space Engineers take the games "competitive elements" to the next level and see strong alignment with the WeaponCore framework. We are also very excited to leverage all of the new ModAPI features in the coming weeks and months."

- Darkstar

We are very proud of our ongoing community partnership and look forward to continued collaboration.

 

 

Warfare 2 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 2: Broadside Pack is $3.99 USD or your regional equivalent. Show your continued support for Space Engineers and check out the Warfare 2: Broadside Pack.

This package includes:

Warfare Ion Thruster

A refreshing new version of the Ion Thruster. These new thrusters allow for more complex and imaginative arrangements. These thrusters are available for both small and large grid ships and come in a variety of designs.

 

Warfare Reactor

A new version of the iconic Nuclear Reactor. Available for both large and small grids. Please wear proper protection when working in close proximity reactors. 

 

 

Warfare Hangar Door variants

A series of large grid hangar doors. Designed to fit together in any desired arrangement and promote more complex, modular designs.

 

Warfare Rocket Launcher

A visually distinct and lightweight rocket pod. Deliver destruction, in style.

 

Warfare Gatling Gun

A modernized gatling gun design. With extended barrels and a heavier feel. The spinning barrels of a gatling gun have never looked so good.

 

Searchlight 

An articulated spotlight that behaves like a turret. Able to track targets at limited range. Comes fully equipped, with all the standard spotlight features, including custom colors, blink settings, intensity slider etc..

 

Bridge Windows

A visually hardier version of the window. Provided in both Bridge Window Slope and Bridge Window Face.

 

Passenger Bench

Troop carrier style passenger seat. Multiple seats can be arranged as a bench. Designed to seamlessly fit together and provide seating for multiple engineers.

 

Light Panel

An alternative to existing lighting solutions. Works well as ceiling decoration with passage blocks. Designed with a small profile for tight spaces. May also double as a disco dance floor!

 

Helm

A new take on the cockpit. A true command station. Give orders, or take them, in style. “Helm 108!”

 

Warfare Battery

Charge your railgun with this new, stylized battery. For all your power needs.

 

Heat Vent

Provides “at a glance” power usage as the vents open, belching system heat in response to power demand. Perfect for a poorly lit reactor room.

 

Sliding Hatch Door

A single large bulkhead door. This heavy duty, industrial style door has only a small porthole for viewing. Perfect for keeping the air in, or something out... 

 

Woodland Camo Armor skin

A Woodland camo skin. Maintain cover on your tank, artillery emplacements, or hidden outpost. Color can be changed.

 

Shark Mouth Helmet skin

For the hunter, circling its prey.

 

“Rock Paper Scissors” emotes

A "pvp" emote for deciding who needs to go on the next mining run or take point in a firefight. Randomly selects and shows one of the rock, paper, or scissors animations. Can also show a specific animation with the /rock, /paper, /scissors chat command.

 

“Salute” emote

Stand and salute your allies, enemies, or honored dead. 

What’s next?

We have a roadmap for continual development of Space Engineers for both PC and Xbox platforms, so I’m sure there is a lot you can look forward to.

Our “Major” releases for PC & Xbox are aligned 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: Can we expect more mechanical and QOL changes, not just cosmetics?
A: Yes. We hear you and we have big changes, updates, and additions planned for 2022 and beyond.

Q: How do I provide feedback?
A: Please contact us with your bugs, and feedback here: https://support.keenswh.com

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: 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!

• Space Engineers Twitter
• Space Engineers Facebook
• Keen Software House Discord

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.