SUMMARY:
- Steam Workshop for Blueprints and Worlds
- In-game Workshop Browser
- Mouse Sensitivity Controls and Inverted Mouse Setting
- New Grid Pasting Mode, Pivot Controls
- Advanced World Settings
- Release Notes
- What’s Next
- Marek’s Dev Diaries
- FAQ
Hello, Engineers!
This is our first Vertical Slice update since the Space Engineers 2 Alpha release, and we’re excited to bring you a whole set of new features - and improvements based on your feedback. This update adds in-game UGC Workshop support with Steam Workshop integration, making it easier to share and discover Blueprints and Worlds. We’ve also introduced mouse sensitivity controls, an inverted mouse axis option, and a new grid pasting mode with improved pivot controls.
On top of that, we’ve added advanced world settings for all saves and improved performance when pasting and placing grids. We’re just getting started, and there’s plenty more to come!
Vertical Slice 1.1 Features
Steam Workshop for Blueprints and Worlds
The UGC Workshop, with Steam Workshop integration, allows you to easily share and explore Blueprints and Worlds directly in-game. Mod support is planned for Vertical Slice 1.5. The Space Engineers 1 Steam Workshop is the 4th largest on Steam, with over 500,000 creations, and we hope Space Engineers 2 will one day surpass its older brother!
You can start sharing your blueprints - build something incredible, and show us what you're engineering!
This is just the initial implementation of the Workshop, supporting Blueprints and Worlds. We have many additions and improvements planned, including Workshop Collections and other enhancements to make sharing and discovering content even better.
This is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to see what our amazing community creates!
Mouse Sensitivity Controls and Inverted Mouse Setting
Because you wanted it, we’ve added Mouse Sensitivity Controls and an Inverted Mouse Setting in today’s update!
Keyboard and mouse controls aren’t fully customizable yet, but don’t worry - they will be in a future update!
New Grid Pasting Mode
We’re introducing an improved Grid Pasting Mode, making it easier to place and align copied grids and blueprints. When pasting, you'll now see a projection of the grid in your clipboard, complete with a bounding box selection effect. A new “Pasting” banner will indicate when you're in pasting mode - whether you’ve copied a grid with Ctrl+C, pressed Ctrl+V with a grid in your clipboard, or performed a partial grid copy.
Helpful tooltips and input hints will guide you through the process, and pressing Ctrl+B will now take you directly to the Blueprint Creation screen.
Improved Pivot Controls
We've also refined Pivot Controls to give you more precision when copying and pasting. Now, when you copy, cut, or create a blueprint, the pivot point will automatically be set to the block you aimed at during the action. When pasting, this pivot point will be highlighted, making placement clearer.
Additionally, the snap size of the pivot point now determines the default snap size of the pasted grid or blueprint, giving you better control when positioning structures.
Game Saves - Advanced World Settings
We've added the ability to edit World Save Settings, giving you more control over your game. You can now rename your world, enable or disable Auto-save with a simple checkbox, and view all Autosave backups in one place.
This makes managing your saves easier and more convenient!
There are many additional improvements and fixes in Vertical Slice 1.1 - you can explore everything included in the detailed Changelog.
Work in Progress / Ongoing Improvements
- Known Issues - will be hotfixed ASAP
- Better communicated response time when placing complex Blueprints in-game.
- Corrupted files in "UGCContentCache" can cause a game crash.
- Players are not able to re-publish a local item after deleting the published version.
- Space Engineers 2 Workshop
- In-game Blueprint interface - Additional features and improvements will be introduced based on player feedback.
- Published items are Public by default.
- Displaying Steam Workshop Collections in-game is planned.
- Blueprint screen refresh can be slow in some cases - it should be fixed in the next update.
- Your owned Private items are not currently visible in the in-game Workshop browser.
- We are addressing edge cases where re-publishing, renaming, tag display in the Steam interface, and sorting may not work as intended.
- Offline mode improvements - we are working on better handling when Steam is offline.
- Keyboard and mouse controls are not customizable yet, but they will be!
- Toolbar block groups and sizes (block selection via R key) are a temporary mechanism and will be redesigned in a near update.
- We have additional Symmetry Mode fixes planned for VS1.2
- We’re aware of incompatibility at launch of Space Engineers 2 on Intel Arc A-Series and Core Ultra Series 1 built-in Arc GPUs. We are working with Intel to enable the game experience and will provide relevant updates as development progresses.
- Some blocks are decorative-only for now (for example, the Assembler is present but cannot produce components)
- Performance
- Performance optimization is ongoing. For Alpha release, we’re targeting 16x Red Ship grids at 60 FPS on recommended hardware.
- Autosave may cause brief lags during gameplay.
- Performance optimizations of ship collisions and destruction are ongoing, so it won’t be lag-free at this moment. We will be continuously improving it in the following updates.
- PCU values per block may appear higher compared to Space Engineers 1, reflecting SE2's increased detail and more precise performance measurements. While the current total PCU limit is set at 400,000 in VS1, we plan to raise this threshold in future updates as we implement scheduled optimization improvements.
- The current GUI (Graphical User Interface) and HUD (Heads-Up Display) are works in progress. Our team is prioritizing core functionality first. Once we've confirmed all features are working as intended, we'll enhance the visual design and overall aesthetics.
- The inventory system will be implemented in a future update.
- Fracture models will receive additional visual updates in future versions.
- Inverse kinematics (IK) is not yet implemented. Animations for uphill/downhill movement, jumping, and tools will be refined in the future update.
- Undo/redo functionality for the paint tool is not implemented yet, but internally we already have it, so it will be available in a near update. Changing block colors currently requires switching to the paint tool, but this will be streamlined. In addition, the paint tool’s limited palette is temporary; future updates will include RGB/HSV color settings and custom palettes.
- Jetpack mechanics are being polished, including adjustments to boost, acceleration, sound effects, and camera shake is coming in VS 1.2
- We continue to experiment with the off-center third-person camera for characters and ships.
- Ship controls are functional but will be further refined with target-based gyroscope controls.
- Character shadow in first-person mode is disabled temporarily and will be re-enabled in future animation updates.
- Work on enhanced sound effects is ongoing, including jetpack audio, debug gun, ship sounds and destructions.
- The Alpha releases in English language, more localizations will follow.
- Sometimes character peeks through the cockpit - this will be fixed in the following update.
- Tutorials will be added closer to the end of development.
What’s Next
How to share your feedback?
The best way to provide your feedback is through our Support Portal. You can always find a direct link to the support portal from within the game - just press F1 to access the help screen!
This platform is your direct line to the developers and the Space Engineers community. Here, you can:
- Create a Bugreport
- Create a ticket with your Feedback/Idea
- Vote on other ideas or bug reports
- Comment and Interact with fellow players
- Suggest solutions and provide valuable feedback to help shape the future of Space Engineers 2
Suggestions
If you have ideas or suggestions for the game, we want to hear them! Your feedback has been instrumental in shaping the Space Engineers experience, and your contributions will be just as crucial for Space Engineers 2.
Take a moment to share your ideas and help us improve - we value your time and input!
Bug Reports
Encountered a technical issue? Let us know by submitting a bug report.
When reporting bugs, please:
- Provide a thorough description of the issue.
- Include reliable reproduction steps if possible.
- Attach any relevant log files, screenshots, or videos.
- Share a save file of your world, if applicable, to help us investigate further.
These details are essential to help us resolve issues effectively. Even if you can’t provide reproduction steps, the more information you include, the better!
Don’t Forget to Vote!
Before submitting new feedback or bug reports, use the search feature to see if a similar topic already exists. If you find one, don’t hesitate to vote for the topic to show it’s important to you!
If you don’t find what you’re looking for, feel free to start a new topic. Every vote, suggestion, and report counts and helps us prioritize updates and improvements.
The support portal is the best and most direct way to help shape Space Engineers 2. We’re looking forward to hearing from you
Post-release Support
We will continuously monitor Space Engineers 2 stability after the release and fix any problematic cases that lead to game issues.
Marek’s Dev Diaries
These diaries dive into the latest challenges, solutions, and ideas shaping the game. They are Marek's unfiltered thoughts, meaning details may change as development evolves. If you enjoy insights into game creation (and don’t mind potential spoilers), be sure to check them out!
FAQ
Space Engineers 2 Links
- 🤩 Play Now on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1133870/Space_Engineers_2/
- 🛠️ Feedback & Support - https://support.keenswh.com/
- 🗺️ Roadmap: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/roadmap-2/#current
- 🛰️ Discord: https://discord.gg/keenswh
- 📫 Newsletter: https://www.keenswh.com/newsletter
- ➡️ Connect and find us on your platform of choice - https://www.keenswh.com/connect/
Thank you for reading this blog!
Best,
Marek Rosa
CEO, Game Director, Founder at Keen Software House
CEO, CTO, Founder at GoodAI
Personal bio:
Marek Rosa is the founder and CEO of Keen Software House, an independent game development studio, and GoodAI, a research company focused on general artificial intelligence development.
Keen Software House, established in 2010, developed Space Engineers, which has sold over 5 million copies and maintains the 4th largest Workshop community on Steam with over 500K user creations. The studio is now developing Space Engineers 2, built on their new generation in-house VRAGE3 engine.
Following the success of Keen Software House, Marek founded GoodAI in 2014 with a $10 million personal investment. The company develops autonomous agents and AI technologies, including the AI People game featuring LLM-driven NPCs with long-term memory and evolving personalities. Current projects include Groundstation, a multi-drone system.
Both companies, employing over 100 professionals, work toward advancing technology through gaming and artificial intelligence, with GoodAI's specific focus on developing AGI to help humanity understand and explore the universe.
Would love to see the SE1 to SE2 Conversion tool in open source! Also It would be great to see armor skins as soon as possible to make the switch to SE2 a little easier. Thx for the update!
ReplyDeleteWell, we eventually see small grid gravity generators? I want to see a 1x1x1 Small block gravity generator As well as maybe a 3x3x3 small block gravity generator
ReplyDelete