Marek's Dev Diary: June 19, 2025

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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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 2

This week was mostly about finalizing the SE2 roadmap. We need to figure out what absolutely has to be in the game before it leaves Early Access. The tricky part is not letting the scope grow forever - it's easy to keep adding "just one more thing" and never actually finish. So we're defining what needs to be done for the initial release and sticking to it.

Water, Water Everywhere

We conducted a comprehensive review of our Water system - looking back at the last few months of development and mapping out the next steps. The technical foundation is solid, and we've got some great mechanics working already: aqueduct system, water dams that break and unleash torrents, pools that overflow realistically, water flow that pushes grids and characters around, water particles, grids crashing into water (with damage based on impact velocity), and proper buoyancy calculations for floating grids. 

Now we're turning our attention to the visuals, focusing on:

• Enhanced water surface textures and animations

• Proper foam generation and particle effects

• Improved transparency and reflection systems

• Wave pattern animations with both low and high frequency components

• Shallow-water equations (SWE) - a more performance-friendly approach for situations where we don't need full volumetric simulation, which also opens up some nice visual tricks to make water look even prettier

These aren't just cosmetic improvements - they're essential for making water feel like a real, dynamic part of the game world.

The Survival Experience

Perhaps the most critical work this week has been our intense focus on survival gameplay. We're not just thinking about the mechanics - we're obsessing over the player journey. The first two hours need to hook players, teaching them the ropes while keeping them engaged and excited. But equally important is what happens after 30+ hours. What keeps players coming back? What gives them that sense of meaningful progression and accomplishment?

This is the kind of design challenge that keeps me up at night (in a good way). Creating a survival experience that's both accessible to newcomers and deep enough for veterans is no small feat, but it's exactly the kind of challenge our team thrives on.

Looking Back at Spring Week

Just a quick note about last week's Spring meetup - it was absolutely amazing to see my colleagues in person again. There's something special about our annual gatherings that video calls just can't replicate. I'm already counting down the days until next year's meetup!

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Until next week,  Marek