What is this
Every Thursday, I will share a dev diary about what we've been working on over the past few weeks. I'll focus on the interesting challenges and solutions that I encountered. I won't be able to cover everything, but I'll share what caught my interest.
Why am I doing it
I want to bring our community along on this journey, and I simply love writing about things I'm passionate about! This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly. Any plans I mention aren't set in stone and everything is subject to change. Also, if you don't like spoilers, then don't read this.
Space Engineers 1
The recent Fieldwork update for SE1 has brought many players back, and we're now seeing increased activity in SE1. This is wonderful to see, especially since we still have plans for SE1, and because SE1 and SE2 cannibalize each other's player bases in interesting ways:
Some new players purchase SE2 (simply because it's newer), only to discover there isn't much content for them yet, leading them to leave. Had they bought SE1 instead, they would likely have had a higher chance of remaining engaged with the game.
SE2 currently shows lower retention rates and player numbers compared to SE1, largely because creative mode appeals only to a smaller segment of players.
Nonetheless, we're committed to this as a long-term journey, so these are merely temporary challenges we'll overcome.
Personal
I want to share a personal experience with you. About a year ago, after a minor slip-up during BJJ, I started noticing spasms and stiffness in my upper and lower back. At first, I brushed it off, thinking it was just part of getting older. I turned to the usual remedies—massage, stretching, mobility exercises—but none of them made a dent. Frustrated, I consulted a sports doctor who referred me to a biokineticist with a fresh perspective.
Using movement tests, the biokineticist uncovered the real culprit: some of my muscles were over-active—doing more than their proper share of work—while others weren't pulling their weight. This overactivity led to muscle fatigue, which eventually triggered protective spasms when my body and brain decided to protect those overworked areas by stiffening them.
His solution was straightforward yet spot-on: massage the tense muscles to ease their burden and strengthen the weaker ones to bring my body back into balance. It worked wonders. We even discovered that in certain positions, some muscles were malfunctioning - for example, when I turned my head to the right, my abdominal muscles would completely disengage instead of maintaining proper support.
The best part was that we precisely debugged the issue with no uncertainty, targeting and discovering exactly three muscles that needed fixing. This precision meant I knew exactly where to be careful and how to address each problem area. With this approach, the pain faded, and now I'm back to long coding sessions, discomfort-free.
The takeaway? Whether you're debugging code or resolving issues in your body, don't stop at the surface—dig deeper to find the root cause.
Space Engineers 2
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VS 1.5 Modding
- Here are some use cases that I was recently testing:
- Replace the default skybox in the game - can be done in few clicks
- Replace the texture on the default Medbay block with a chrome one
- Add a new Medbay block to the game - so it shows as a new block in the G-screen
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Gameplay: Colonizing the Almagest System
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- Backpack building for direct ore-to-component conversion during construction
- Enhanced projection building with our improved ghost block system
- New build planner interface streamlining the engineering process
- Redesigned blueprint system facilitating knowledge sharing between engineers
The welder effects look cool, but the block abruptly changing textures is a bit odd. Maybe there's some way to fade between states, or another way to make it less jarring?
ReplyDeleteI think it makes more sense to have it that way. It's like you're building up all the internals, and then applying an outer shell or covering on top of it all. That's how you would construct a lot of things IRL.
DeleteFrom what I gather there won't be the "infinite space" but rather we'll only be able to traverse ONE solar system? If so that's quite sad, was looking forward to the new jumpdrives.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure there's much point to infinite space. Infinite space does not mean infinite fun, Starfield proved that. A solar system with a couple of planets will have the human touch to make them much better that hundreds of randomly generated ones. Pertam is SE1's best planet geographically so more of that would be awesome.
DeleteThere’s only one reason to want to go past the last planet, and that’s to build a base an annoyingly long way out
DeleteThere never was infinite space. It has always been small scale and cramped as far as "space" is concerned, it only feels larger because of the limited speeds. I would love to see multiple star systems, though. I think they'd definitely have to do some kind of sector system, though, if only to keep the floating point limits from causing problems between grids and terrain. Can't even do a single 1:10000 solar system with 64 bit floating points without faking it with proxies like Echthros does with the RSS mod. Even then, you can't do large rocky planets.
DeleteCurrent SE1 space is roughly 6AU - which is the size of one solar system - so no change there :-)
DeleteI agree that at least 'some' Solar system would be more immersive, that's something we can expect from a space game
DeleteInfinity is too much for us, but it would be nice to be able to travel between several star systems. If we could switch skyboxes for each coordinate...
DeleteWill there be any limits with the multiple entity type modded blocks (Such as amount of different types, any incompatible types, or anything)?
ReplyDeletemaking the progression systems things you can turn on and off in the custom game menu is essential. Not everyone is playing on a server. AND make the system robust enough that one player can still unlock everything given time.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sold on the backpack building idea. won't this remove the whole point of components ? also, I gathered that the point of SE1 at least was that it wasn't about the engineers, it was about the contraptions. wouldn't it be a better engineering insentive if we had to make a machine that manufactures needed components on request ?
ReplyDeletei agree. i don’t like the backpack crafting
DeleteI believe the backpack building is for making things like component parts and the max tech level would likely be tools or bottles.
DeleteI’m pretty sure Backpack building cannot make most components, its just for starting out, so it gives you only the ability to construct simple blocks like refineries and assemblers, which you use to construct further
DeleteFrom what i have gathered from previos posts and streams the backback building will be limited in what components can be crafted and less efficient in terms of ressorce consumption compared to the Refinery / Assembler.
DeleteKind of like how in Minecraft you have limited crafting options in you inventory.
From what I have gathered from previous posts and streams the backpack building will only be for early game components and less efficient in term of ressource consumption than Assembler/ Refinery blocks.
DeleteBasically to speed up the inital "mine rock"-phase of SE.
Backpack building is the best idea they've ever had. Prevent some truly dumb scenarios where you feel like you're getting soft locked because you can't build a very specific part (especially in scenario and Junkyard style games).
DeleteI think starting with modding was not a bad thing. I view modding as an indicator for what players think is missing from the game. Sure, some are just want to add their own thing, you can't turn your game based on what mods are out there, but it's sure is indicating that a portion of you player base thinks that something is missing. For example, we have some "must have" mods for SE that we don't start a server without, since we think they are missing from the game otherwise. In our case it's custom skyboxes - having only 1 skybox by default gets really really boring. We personally like colorable thrusters, it syncs up with the colorful ships we sometimes make, or we add Grated Catwalks mod since that adds like a 100+ new catwalks and stairs which add a lot to base building. Serenity really likes to add pannable cameras, and the welding pads, and one of my favorites are buildable foliage (greenhosue decor) since I like to add a lot of foliage to every base.
ReplyDeleteMods are great. It's not a problem you prioritized it. Adding it this early ensures that the game will have 500k mods before release, lol :D
I love the new foliage. Whoever makes the foliage in your team deserves some praise. And an idea for them, if you have foliage that can be harvested for survival, they can work on some crops and edible plants.
Security contractor would be popular role.
ReplyDeleteThis all looks very great. Different progression paths like engineer, pilot, soldier, etc. sound very promising, as long as it is possible to unlock every block in the end (although maybe through different objectives and in different orders). Additionally it could have stat buffs on some aspects.
ReplyDeleteAn alternative idea would be to allow multiple characters in singleplayer too. Not at the same time, otherwise it wouldn't be singleplayer, but when you could switch to a different character with a different role in the same world. This way you could explore all the different roles and their progression and you could unlock all blocks, although each role on its own can't. This would also create a reason for building specialized areas for the individual roles in your bases and ships, like it would be in real life.
But I have one question for the modding: Will we be able to write and inspect code or is it a purely node based system similar to UnrealEngine? I definitely hope for the code option, as I find node graphs rather confusing.
Really HYPED by this colonization system, progress tree & shared objectives!
ReplyDeleteI’m sure we will still use some kind of jump drive to get around between planets. I remember in SE1 it took forever get anywhere with hydrogen thrusters in space even with speed mods.
ReplyDeleteStarting with modding seems like a good choice because this way survival can be modded from the start.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for survival!
ReplyDeleteI think I would have to say that survival before modding probably would have been better for growth. But hopefully with modding already being in place when survival comes out there will be an influx of mods
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing!
ReplyDeletei highly suggest you to dig in deeply into ksh se2 feedback and ideas page and read the topics. me and many more enthusiasts have brilliant ideas for you to inspire from
ReplyDelete@Marek Thank you for sharing about your back issues, indeed we should look for the root cause of problems to be able to have effective solutions.
ReplyDeleteI would love it if you had a forum where we could think about progressive challenges/missions a player would have to overcome to progress. Limitations are very important, otherwise we can just make a ship that can solve all challenges. The situation or environment has to pose restrictions that force creativity. Examples are the escape mars scenario in SE one where you cannot build thrusters but have to conduct salvage. Indeed that one limitation of not beng able to build certain blocks can add scavenging, trade and other dynamics, much like the introduction of prototech blocks and tech introduced.
Environmental challenges could include places that destroy rubber tires and thrusters, forcing you to build mech-like vehicles for movement. Or an environment that destroys spacesuits forcing the player to build vehicles for building things.
A quick final thought is that various difficulty settings can be given as an option to players to provide progressive challenge as their skill grows. Eg a checkbox that would disable thrusters on planets is a mod that I like to use in my game. It can be a toggle option for hard playthroughs/servers.
A request I have is for your team to consider making a blueprint editor block that can be used in survival to edit blueprints while you are in your survival game. It can have a variety of tools for shaping curves or other shapes, section tools, information overlays, advanced select and replace, and the other innovations you have already introduced in SE 2 creative building. This would allow players to pass time is survival yet plan créations. Do fix multi grid projection. There is already a mod that fixes it in SE1.
Thank you for inviting us to give feedback. Best wishes on your projects.
Some interesting aspects in this. I can already see how the colonisation index can be utilised for many things. For example a factions behaviour towards your colony could vary depending on this index. Meaning a faction might be more hostile towards a colony with a low index thirsting for an easy prey, or another faction could be more willing to trade with a colony with a high index. A lot of potential for modding
ReplyDeleteSurvival mode should’ve been in the game at launch. How are modders supposed to add anything of substance when the base game itself is missing so many features? (wheels, assemblers, control panel settings) Any work these people do now will just be broken when survival is officially implemented.
ReplyDeleteBackpack building takes away immersion. I enjoyed SE1 because it felt realistic. If i’m gonna play an arcade space game I’ll just go play no man’s sky. or starfield. lol
Careful, Marek. Modders will finish the game's development before KSH! That's not a slight against you guys but don't overestimate the modding community in SE!
ReplyDeleteThe planetary improvements looks absolutly insane. You Devs doing a really great job <3
ReplyDeleteNot to be harsh but simple objectives combined with deep gameplay mechanics would be a much better approach, instead of an uninspired and bloated class system and an artificial tech tree behind a score wall. Colonisation should be about dominating strategic resources in an interactive environment. From there we need hostile encounters that will fight to invade our territory and defend their mining sites against our assaults. Then the acquired resource should organicaly give us access to new horizons and other resources to conquer, with each resource its unique way of securing, extracting, refining, utilize it. So much can be done if you start by actually doing something with the mechanics that were implemented in the first game but never made into something worth the player's time, like trading for example ! If there is trading, there should be multiple corporations making trades, fluctuating good's values, cargo ships with coherent itineraries, trading routes, pirates, mercenaries, ship wrecks, just to say the first things that come to mind... now you're implementing Water into SE2 that is such a gigantic feature, but it will be worth nothing if it stays superficial like trading was in SE1. I am trying to say that you don't need artificial ui based complexity and segregating the existing gameplay to make SE into an interesting survival experience. You need to exploit the full potential of what it already offers.
ReplyDeleteThink about Valheim tech progression system that is the most satisfying and sucessful in promoting exploration and making the player find ingenious ways to access high risk areas without any superficial Ui based boundary.
We don't want Space Engineers to simply conform to the current videogame landscape and check boxes, it has so much more potential and you should not be afraid to make something different, but deep.
Best regards
I agree with this summary.
DeleteI agree, the problem is that if you make artificial problems, it will feel that way. A good game has the right amount of -friction-. In Space Engineers, ENGINEERING is that friction. I should be rewarded for making clever use of my engineering skills. Each planet or asteroid belt can have their own constraints and we get to develop / invent use our creativity to overcome the obstacle. This would be the most satisfying progression.
DeleteAnd I agree that the world really needs to become alive. If you have trade lanes, have a possbility to either trade to get that rare component, or steal / hack it. If there are colonies that have a certain blueprint you need, several approaching using engineering or shipbuilding skills should reward you.
Maybe there will be challenges getting things from underwater, maybe there are acid or ice lakes we need to overcome with new possibilities and materials.
Finally, having a full quest and SCENARIO editor that can be used by any noob would truly open up the game for sandbox and roleplay worlds for others. Think simply bounding box triggers and actions, like we already have in devices, but in a Scenario Editor mode. Say trigger A -> Ship X from faction Y will arrive. Action A will lead to hostility, Action B will engage a friendly encounter.
Also backpack building sounds exactly the wrong way for that vision. No way I can fit a refinery / assembler in my pocket. It takes away from the grounded feeling of SE. I wouldn't add such a feature.
As long as all those systems are optional, anything they add is an improvement over the nothing that SE1 has without mods or playing specific scenarios.
DeleteThe space race thing is really cool. I hope someone makes a mod which gives us NPC colonists who will wander around the settlements we make. Maybe be able to zone buildings to be living spaces if they contain certain decorations etc.
ReplyDeleteJust waiting for rebindable keys. For me personally in Games that have flight mechanics not separated from movement mechanics. I use wasd for strafe + up/down. And mouse buttons for acceleration/deceleration
ReplyDeleteSo for SE1 i move around with my character usind the mouse.
Now im not gonna unlearn 15+ years of muscle memory i use in every other game for SE2. so im just waiting for the day i can finally swop the keybindings
(And also mechanical blocks so i can make elevators inside the 25cm block gaps and deployable landing gear etc.)
I agree with a lot of whats been said here about artificial/forced progression. I ALWAYS turn off progression in SE1 because I dont want to fit my early gameplay into the cookie-cutter route that is set before me. Some of the progression just doesnt make sense, at least to me.
ReplyDeleteIm personally not driven by an established set of goals to be met, defined by some artificial criteria to push my progression forward. If I can make a dinky rocket and shoot myself into space and into a platinum asteroid, then I should be able to reap the benefits of my excursion by using platinum for whatever it allows me to make.
In game dynamics that require interacting with it in a certain way to achieve an outcome are far more interesting in a game about engineering. I used to play on the custom planet, Agaris, with Industrial Overhaul and water, and that was a BLAST. Gold deep under water and requires a functional submarine to retrieve it? Boom, engineering challenge that, once done, unlocks a lot of automation blocks requiring advanced computers. OR you can make rudimentary combat rovers and attack the local enemy base sitting on a gold deposit. Boom, engineering challenge that achieves the same outcome, but appeals to the engineer in a different way, which also serves the role of “classes” as discussed in this blog.
You dont need a pilot class, you need a challenge that requires a pilot to achieve, but similar outcomes can be achieved doing something else if you arent a good pilot. This dynamic promotes specializing in certain roles because thats what you engineer better, not because the game requires you to be good at something that you just dont enjoy. If part of the game is walled off because you cant learn to pilot well enough, then you get stuck and lose interest.
Another quick example to drive this point home in a way a lot of us are familiar with. You need gold in Minecraft? You like peaceful, simple gameplay? Mine for it. Thats boring? Go to the nether and fight pigmen for a more combat-centered approach, plus mining nether gold ore is easy and doesnt require a lot of luck, while still being in a harder environment. Neither of those entice you? Build a gold farm and automate it, as us engineers often do. All of these things achieve the same end, but they appeal to different types of people at different levels of difficulty and still allow you to progress forward with that resource.
Additionally, Im not a huge fan of the backpack crafting. I think maybe you should have super basic refining and assembling blocks that can be crafted from super basic components, like a crafting table/furnace in Minecraft, and those make the components. I agree that a backpack doing all that is… a little silly. I think the machines should be on your person, and your inventory will be limited until you place them down to work in an area. Then you can refine materials down to a much smaller volume so you can take them and the machines with you, or you build what you need right there and take with you what fits. Or something like that.
Thanks for reading if you got this far. I love this game, and I think a lot about what drives me to play it. I hope something useful can be gleaned from my input ❤️
I agree with this comment a lot. And also that I love the visuals and tech created for SE2. This game has the perfect setup for natural progression. Everything in this game can be locked behind engineering challenges that you need to overcome.
DeleteSome planets have a high gravity, others have environments that are inhospitable, and might rust your equipment, some things might be under water. Some blueprints to advance can only be found in certain bases. Others can only be traded. Some need stealth to ambush. Some areas might have enemies or aliens that have their own unique challenges. Friction makes a game come alive, and challenging my wit is perfect for this game.
SE1s universe in survival feels kind of bland and like window dressing (although the latest patches address that a little bit, thanks Keen!)
SE2 could improve by adding multi-stage interactions. True factions (some Marek already discussed) that hoard resources and can be found at places. Give his some mechanics to interact with those factions on a meaningful level. If you create a few NPCs who we can actually talk to that would flesh out the story telling, without going full RPG like say Skyrim or Baldurs Gate, since that would take too much work. Maybe the ability for cutscenes (aka show-don't-tell) would flesh out campaign mode, where certain actions would trigger certain end-games, creating the opportunity to finish the game multiple ways.
That feels a lot more believable than skill trees which are fine for some RPG games, but in Space Engineers it might lock you artificially in a certain career. It depends on how they mean to implement that, from the blog it was hard to gauge exactly.
In that same vein I feel the colonization index might feel a little bit to abstract. Seeing a number go up and down might be a bit to disengaging. If I am cog in the colonization machine, it might work, if the world is really fleshed out.
I do like the mention of the different area's they got planned! Let's see what will happen and hope they will have lively discussions at Keen :)