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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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
VS 1.5 - Modding for SE2
This Tuesday we released VS 1.5 - Modding for SE2!
It was a big update because it allows modders to change the game just by modifying data. Modders can add new blocks, change existing blocks, textures, character models, skybox, sound and music, and other things.
I think our modding technology is quite amazing, because it's all data-driven. We released a HUB and Editor where you can do it all in WYSIWYG mode (with validation, templates, etc.), and your changes are validated—reducing the chances of breaking things. And it’s all Blender compatible - a very important thing for me, making the 3D modeling for SE2 accessible to everyone.
Thanks again to the team who delivered the Modding—it was really a big project and will serve the SE community for the coming decades!
VS2 Planets and Survival
This is our main priority right now.
SE1 didn't have an explicit meta loop, and this was a benefit (it kept the game pretty open and people focused on what they wanted to do) but also a disadvantage (some players actually want clear objectives and a visible success metric).
I feel pretty good about the final meta loop we designed:
- your goal is to colonize Almagest, sector after sector
- you see your colonization progress on the Colonization Map — the whole Almagest, sectors, planets, GPS locations, etc.
- you colonize sectors by completing contracts/missions
- contract types: engineering, exploration, mining, and in the future, combat too
This gives the ultimate purpose and end goal: Colonize Almagest. Everything will converge to this singular goal — and it's visual, tangible, and easy to understand and communicate. It's an end goal you can reach within a reasonable amount of time. And the game doesn't end there — it can continue in open-ended freestyle sandbox mode. You can keep building or just complete more missions.
I am interested in your feedback, so please leave your comments!
VS3 Water
We are going through the final planning stages for VS3 Water — what still has to be implemented gameplay-wise, not just the water tech for VS3. Of course, water will be released after VS2 Planets and Survival, but we are working on them in parallel.
Help Shape the Future of Space Engineers 2
We’d love to hear from you! We’re running a short poll to get your thoughts on the direction of Space Engineers 2, and your feedback will help us prioritize.
🗳️ Please take a moment to fill it out: https://forms.gle/TUP4MZ9VA3Nd1j7P6
Thank you for being part of the journey!
Space Engineers 1
The SE1 team is hard at work on the Advanced Survival update, and the release date is getting closer…
Do the sectors have to be completed in order or is a non-linear approach available?
ReplyDeleteSectors are connected through a fast-travel network that guides the general progression order. However, players will still have some flexibility in choosing the path within certain branching points.
DeleteFor example:
- After completing Sector A, the player unlocks both Sector B and Sector C
- The player can choose to complete either Sector B or C next
- Completing either one then unlocks access to Sector D
Another thing is jump drive - you can use it to travel in any order, but only to unlocked sectors.
Hey Marek, I really like the idea of the fast travel network, but also having the choice of using a ship (with or without jump-drive) to travel between sectors.
DeleteI also really like the idea with the meta-loop, making the gameplay more interesting through goals while also keeping the freedom. However, I find that just having some "invisible" border to a locked segment is somewhat unrealistic and somewhat takes away the freedom. I would like it much more if simply the "missions" for these sectors would stay locked. Or how should we think about "the border" to locked sectors?
That was a really short survey. I hold off until now because I enjoy the community of se1. I wanna try making mods but I'm especially looking forwards for multiplayer servers . I'd rather have it before planets and water, but I can still have fun with multiplayer on se1 so
ReplyDeleteReally cool to read about how the survival loop is supposed to look like. I think it's the best when sandbox games add some goals for players to achieve and don't meddle too much with how they achieve them.
ReplyDeleteI really hope there will be tools (modding or simply in game) to create our own custom star systems with sectors and fractions within them so that after finishing up with the Almagest system we can go and play in systems created by other players.
Hi Marek, have you ever considered adding some form of aerodynamic blocks or capabilities to the game? I loved making fixed and rotary wing aircraft in SE1 using "Digi's wing blocks for atmosphere", it would be so cool if it were ever in vanilla!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have. One day we will definitely make it part of the game.
DeleteAdding to the idea of aerodynamic physics, have the team been thinking of reentry physics? One other idea for those who would rather not play will realistic drag and lift could be the inclusion of a sort of dampener or stabilizer like that of other Sci-Fi franchises to mitigate the effects of air resistance on more bulky and blocky builds. Especially for larger creations.
DeleteA side-note: I have always loved this game and I have been playing for quite some time, I look forward to what you and the team have in store!
Would be cool if the colonisation system could be modded so that you could play territory conquest in multiplayer PVP
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer it to be non modded - So even base game, if you start a multiplayer/coop world, you can either work together to colonize or race to colonize more of it than your friends.
DeleteOn the topic of survival loops and such - I feel like an RTS-like loop would be incredible for replayability.
ReplyDeleteIf it becomes possible, having AI NPCs that collect resources in the world, who build ships as if they were players, who create bases in the world, and use those bases to attack the real player, who then has to defend themselves and fight back to remove that faction, it's just an awesome infinite loop of NPCs building up power, fighting you, which makes you need to constantly engineer solutions to them attacking, go on your own offensive missions, etc.
In SE1 there's the modular encounters mod, this is good, but it doesn't feel like the NPCs have real presence. They don't have a home base, like the player does, they don't collect resources that actually have to be transported back to their base for them to build larger. NPCs that can do this would give a game that feels like you're playing against real players, in multiplayer. Like Rust, and how alive that game remains, despite being nothing more than building bases and shooting guns. It's the competition aspect that keeps people coming back. "Will I be able to defend this raid!".
Just my suggestion :) No idea how hard that'll be to implement, but I can't help but think it'd allow for SO much replayability, and engineering opportunity.
Absolutely this!
DeleteHello. I am interested to know more about the missions to progress in the colonization map.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of this meta loop, thats really what I missed in SE1.
I think that in addition of the contract examples you mentioned, the "build infrastructure" unique mission would be fun. like "build a satellite with a radar faced to planet" or "build a comfy base for 10 NPC on Verdure".
There is another thing that I wonder by reading your blog: The water physics seems very far pushed. if it was just for boats and submarines, i feel this is overkill but it looks like you want aqueducs and dam being part of the main gameplay
Water physics – Yes, we’re pushing it really far. Most of it won’t directly impact gameplay… but we’re fully committed to realistic environmental simulations and interactions. That’s why we need to reach a certain level of fidelity.
DeleteIn other words: if our water worked in some situations but broke or felt unrealistic in others, it would ruin immersion — and both players and we would be disappointed.
I'm still not sure why modding support took priority over things like survival and multiplayer. Don't get me wrong, mods are nice to have in sandbox games. I just think any mods people are going to make right now will be limited because the game does not have basic features yet.
ReplyDeleteHow am I going to make a modded planet if we don't have planets yet. How am I going to make a more fuel efficient hydrogen thruster if we don't have proper hydrogen/conveyoring systems yet. I really believe if you polled people about what they would have wanted first, survival and multiplayer or modding support, the majority would have chosen survival and multiplayer.
1) The reason was that we needed to set up the modding infrastructure as early as possible, so all assets and content created later — both by us and the community — would be compatible with it.
Delete2) We have around 30 programmers working on SE2 and VRAGE3, but only 3–5 of them have been focused on modding over the past few months.
3) VRAGE Hub and Editor are also used by our artists and designers, so these tools need to be in good shape — not just for modding, but also to support the development of Planets and Survival.
When will modding expand to actual code? Making and mixing blocks is fine, but the best mods are those with innovative new concepts, and getting modders learning the new mod and VRAGE3 API early would certainly help jump start that part of the ecosystem.
ReplyDeleteI second this comment
DeleteWater is looking great!
ReplyDeletevery sad, no information about programmble block in SE2 again, will it be?
ReplyDeleteIt’d be great if we could make hydroelectric dams
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for survival and I'm waiting to start playing SE2 until it comes out. Its how I started SE1 and I enjoyed the challenge, discovery, mystery, and learning curve that came with it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would like to see with the colonization progression is also a natural increase in difficulty the farther you make it. Having to find rarer resources, greater threats to your base/character, more or new npc factions to make enemies with or befriend, and mission choices that can jeopardize your relationship with other factions. For example you can do a short and easy mission to progress a bit more quickly but it will come with a great cost to your reputation or you can grind a bit more for better distribution of reputation and rewards. If you dont pay mind to your reputations then it may make colonization harder in different sectors by missing out on certain missions/contracts.
Those are just some of my ideas and you have probably already put thought into many of these decisions. I think any additions to the sense of progression for players will help keep them engaged and make for a more rewarding experience so I'm stoked this is on your agenda (:
Best Wishes!
Toad
I'm kind of on the fence on your take on survival. Space Engineers 1 did have progression (what you called "meta loop") -- it was structured around finding all ores and reaching space. The problem is that it's very short and leaves you hanging afterwards. There's nothing to do but build and once you build a ship, there's nothing to do with that ship. You guys tried to add another progression system on top of that, but this only forced people to dig dirt by hand for several hours before producing enough components for a functional base. That only pushes away the genuinely good part of the game, which is building itself. It makes me sad because nowadays, I can't get far enough in Survival to try and fight the Factorum -- I get burnt by all this hand-drilling and quit.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Space Engineers is primarily an engineering game -- the same genre as Bridge Builder, Factorio or Kerbal Space Program. Its goal is to give players a series of engineering challenges with rising difficulty and complexity, and the ability to test their designs in practice, learn and improve.
I hope colonizing Almagest will become a great progression system, but it might just as easily become a boring chore, where the players find which type of mission offers most progress for the least amount of effort and then just spam it. I think the implementation will make or break it.
Regarding the survival progression. One thing I like in games, and would hope you consider as well with missions/quests is non-linear progression with quests.
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean that it can be easy to stumble over things, or build a station naturally for yourself while you just explore the game by yourself. It would be really nice if the game recognises this. Like if you were to find a particular thing, that a quest would have send you out to find, you get a quest saying "you found X, maybe someone is interested in this". That way you can't stumble over the quest later and have to find that thing again. Or if you need to build a station that the game recognises existing structures and just tells you what to improve, or NPC directly saying "I wanted to ask you to build X, but it seems you're already ahead of me. Very well done. Lets go straight to the next task at hand..."
Also, I know this is vague, but don't be too narrow with some requirements. I can't name an example because it's been a while, but some games set goals for players and have very strict ideas how to achieve them which kinda dampens the fun. Like build a bridge, and you're required to build a very narrow idea of what a bridge is. No hanging bridges, no viaducts, just a straight plate over the valley. Guard-rails? Nope, failed the quest.
Hy Marek, have you thought about adding orbital mechanics? I enjoyed playing Martin Schweiger's Orbiter Space Flight Simulator, before I started playing SE1. And I love playing SE1, but feel that it lacks more realistic physics like Orbiter had. Either way thanks for a great game.
ReplyDeleteRelated to the survey: is there any chance multiplayer can be added sooner if there is enough demand? I already own SE2 and it’s fun to mess around and see the progress, but even once survival and the other cool mechanics are added, I don’t see myself playing it as much as SE1 until there is multiplayer.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if colonizing has a story line, also once you finish colonizing to keep players from getting bored, it would be nice if the missions progressed in hardness and complexity, or new story chapters that could be stacked. Thank you for making this game!
ReplyDeleteI guess not but will any water be in vs 2 or some related blocks fore future proofing also off topic but is there any talks of se 1 for switch 2 (I got one and really hope games on Xbox 1 and PS 4 have ports)
ReplyDeleteI really do like where the game is going (or at least, what it could be). However, not launching with multiplayer (even if a bit buggy) is pretty rough. I really do hope that it gets pushed up in the pipeline (more focus) cause that + VS 2 should really see a lot of players coming in with some fun stuff, including me and a few friends.
ReplyDeleteAs one other had said, if the colonization system can be modded (which I really hope it can be) I think it'll be a really great experience when everything has come out. Any plans for that?
I do worry a bit that the Water, while cool, might lead to some *really* bad performance issues. I was hopeful when I saw that the aqueduct had pretty nice performance, but that last video shows it still has a bit to go. I know it's still early stages, but have you guys been able to test it in your internal multiplayer (I assume that exists, at least, due to screenshots) for performance? If not, whether due to it not existing or just not tested, I hope you prioritize making it run good rather than look good.
One last thing I'd ask is whether or not the gameplay loop is intended to be a bit random? Different sectors, ownership, or spread of resources per save/world (even with only slight variations) would add a good bit of replayability (especially if modders can do their magic with it).
I know I'm saying and asking a lot, but just putting it out there in case others might be wondering too (and just thinking aloud).
Hey marek, i was wondering how the NPC system would work, could we like spawn in the NPC characters in creative or hire them?
ReplyDeleteHey Marek, will the Monolith and Stereolith from SE1 have any ties to the campaign? Zer0’s Legion decoded the writing on them and they spoke of a alien civilization. Also the SE2 soundtrack’s song names give clues to the SE2 story campaign. #Keen Shall Reign Supreme
ReplyDeleteCan we expect rovers and ground vehicles to be more useful in SE2? As currently in SE1 there’s not too much reason to build them since ships are fairly easy once you learn the basics, and have far more advantages.
ReplyDeleteI would love gameplay elements that incite more ground vehicle usage, perhaps surface resources and caves that are better accessible for said vehicles. Though I think more incentives are needed such as balancing thruster power or fuel usage, and/or aerodynamics to slow aircraft down a bit in atmosphere. But of course nothing should detract from one’s gameplay to further another
This is a great question!
Delete- we want to improve the physics of car/rovers in SE2... to make it more intuitive and feel great
- but we are still investigating what purpose the cars/rovers can have on the gameplay...because as you said, ships are simply better and easier to use, which makes the car/rovers kind of useless. But that's sad.
So if you have any suggestions, I am eager to hear them!
There is plenty SE scenarios that use rovers well. Being resource/power starved and having rovers as a power efficient mode of transport, a high capacity cargo transport, mobile base, i wouldnt have liked SE half as much if it had had no rovers.
DeleteIf you're planning on technology tiers (the players having only a limited number of blocks to use but successively expanding them), the first tier could be just rovers. It gives the player both a challenge and motivation to obtain atmospheric thrusters.
DeleteYou could also expand on the weather system and, for example, have extreme wind accompany storms, making flight dangerous.
full disclosure, this is a pipe dream and i don’t actually see any of this happening in SE2 for the near future, but i do think the concept is really cool and maybe could craft a few ideas for how to make the SE2 universe feel alive and lived-in!
ReplyDeletein Minecraft, there’s a mechanic where Villagers will spawn if the requirements are met (beds, light sources, no enemies, etc). i think that having something similar in SE2 could be really really cool and help feel like you’re actually crafting communities.
my friend Uta initially came up with the idea, and he said; “Dude, in minecraft villagers spawn if you create the ideal conditions for them to spawn. It would be cool if in SE some NPCs appeared after we colonized an area and gave us the possibility to trade items/get quests.”
i followed this up by saying: “would fucking love that man! imagine you make a few buildings and defenses and homes and a beacon/antenna and what not, then suddenly you start seeing a few random ships flying around and coming in to land at your landing pad and a Space Engineer NPC hopping out and just interacting with your base. coming up to talk to you and asking if they can live in your growing community. the more Space Engineers you have living and working in your little colonies, the less likely they are to get attacked by enemies! and if they do, the Space Engineers run back to their parked ship and hop in and use the weapons on it to fight and help defend your town!”
and you’d have a few permanent members but they also occasionally use your resources in storage containers to build shit and repair their ships and add to them. or otherwise they’re just there to offer resources and trade you for items! maybe merchant ships simply passing by looking for a quick sell before they move on, OR a more permanent settler looking to set up shop in your lil town to have a permanent store! as long as there’s resources available nearby they’ll keep making trips out to mine by hand or they’ll build a cargo rover/mining ship and fly it back to your resources storage and continue to have it shared between y’all. if they need something you don’t have, they’ll ask you to run out and find some and they’ll pay you for the trouble or give you a discount on your next purchase!
just a few ideas to make NPCs seem a little more alive and to make your towns and colonies really feel like they’re being lived-in and not just some ghost towns you visit once in a blue moon
This is a great idea!
Deleteif this project is about to fail as hytale did, please tell us, the community will try to backup the studio
ReplyDeleteHi. Thanks for this diary. I like all se series! But Please pay attention to the weather effects in the game. In the first part, when a sandstorm, fog, rain began, an unpleasant fog appeared even indoors!!!
ReplyDeleteHello! Thanks for your post. In future Please pay attention to the weather effects in the game. In the first part, when a sandstorm, fog, rain began, an unpleasant fog appeared even indoors!!!
ReplyDeleteThe water and environment look great, as always. The engine and art teams really are doing 10x work. Thank you everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think the loop and progression need more work.
One thing is about the industrial system. It looks like ingots may stay, which is great if true, but still needs some adjustments in my opinion. The refinery should be a sort of previous stage to the smelter. Imagine a natural progression that is refinery->smelter->assembler->fabricator, with some "exceptions", so to speak, where the smelter would be able to skip the refinery at a lower efficiency/speed and produce simple components and the suit would do the same but at an even lower efficiency/speed/capacity. I think that these two should still have ingots internally, so the chain would be the same at every level. So, for example, the smelter would accept ore, would produce ingots, and then would use the ingots to produce simple components. Sometimes the ingots would be consumed fully, which would make it look like a direct ore to simple component thing, but if there was an excess, they (the ingots) would remain. This way the problem of having to keep ore or wasting it would be gone and new players would understand the one system from the beginning, instead of having to relearn it at every level of complexity. Putting some basic production on the suit is a good idea because it makes starting from a suit possible, and if the suit produced ingots internally I would be completely happy with it. The reason why I think that the smelter should be between (sort of) the refinery and the assembler is to keep it useful even at advanced stages.
The other thing I wanted to comment is the sector progression. Please make it as immersive and natural as possible by, for example, having environmental hazards that require technology found on a certain planet or having distance that may incentivize going to the nearest planet or place. In one reply you explain that a jump drive may allow the player to travel to any unlocked sector, but what do locked sectors look like? I don't know your current idea, but making them separated by an invisible wall or them just not existing until they are unlocked wouldn't be great. Imagine if planets were locked because they had a thick atmosphere that would burn your ship up and you needed to go to a certain place in a certain planet to mine a certain resource that would allow you to make heat shields with the right composition to descend through those atmospheres. Maybe there are magnetic storms that fry the electronics of ships, leaving them stranded if they try to go in. Maybe there are enemies in orbit with powerful radars and they will destroy anyone trying to travel to the planet, but if you go somewhere and blow something up, they get distracted and reposition enough ships that you can fly in. Something like this.
Any thoughts on integrating communications/signals more tightly with the map? It would be cool to have more interplay between communications systems and my various other creations. In SE1 I setup some antennas, I eyeball the range and I am essentially done. Having more reason to create communication satellites, communication centric bases, and really make sure I have full sensor/communications coverage across the sector map would be pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThe game could limit the range of certain blocks (like antennas and ore detectors) and extend them depending on the number of those blocks. It would encourage larger builds.
Delete