Marek's Dev Diary: July 17, 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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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

First of all - thank you for the 130+ comments on the combat system in last week's dev diary. I really appreciate it. You’re a great community. I love you for it.

And the same thanks goes for all the FTUE feedback the week before - see this post.

Fractured Cryopod Design

This week in our internal playtest:

Asteroid Clusters - Asteroids are now grouped into clusters - soon they’ll be organized into proper asteroid belts and rings. This is part of a bigger plan to add structure to space using the Star Map (we’re now calling it the Colonization Map).

Multi-Character Emotes - These can be triggered from the debug screen (not available to players). We’ll use them in trailers and cutscenes. For example: two characters shake hands in a synchronized animation. Animators are also working on the facial rig now - for emotions and lip sync in cinematics.

Hand Drill Animations - I've always wanted the hand drill to feel heavy and dynamic. When you push it into rocks, it should bounce and fight back. We realized we need three clear states:

• Idle (just holding it)
• Drill on, no contact (drilling into air)
• Drill on, in contact (drilling into rock, bounces, etc.)

This should feel instantly gratifying - like hitting something with a crowbar in Half-Life. That same feedback loop. We’ll apply this to the grinder and probably the welder too.

Acceleration-Based Camera - Shake When piloting a grid or jetpack-boosting, the camera shakes slightly during acceleration and deceleration. It gives you that visceral sense of momentum - like engines pushing. It only triggers during velocity changes, not while cruising. We tuned it down a lot to avoid being annoying, but I think we still need to reduce it by 40%. I expect some veterans will hate it - so maybe we’ll add an option to turn it off.

Space Engineers 2 Grass Tests

Story and Sandbox Merge - We’ve decided to merge Campaign into Sandbox. Originally they were separate: Sandbox was colonization only, no story, no main characters - just systems and generic NPCs.

But now we realize that having story outside of Sandbox would be a waste. It complicates production and splits our focus. So: no separate Campaign mode anymore. We’re putting the story into Sandbox.

Space Engineers 2 Rocks Scattering

So how will story work inside Sandbox? (SPOILERS!)

• It starts with a cutscene: who you are, what the Bering Project is, what Almagest is, who your brother is
• FTUE begins - you repair your ship, build a small spaceship, and reach the Orbital Station
• From there, you take contracts and missions that progress colonization of Almagest
• Some missions push the story forward (not just colonization meta)
• Cutscenes play at the beginning or end of key missions - but they will avoid anything that the player could have influenced (e.g., ship builds, destroyed stuff, character skins), because the cutscenes are pre-rendered
• There will be datapads and hidden locations to reveal more of the world and its mysteries

I'm really looking forward to telling the story of Almagest. It’s deep, has a big twist, and is quite personal - shaped by how I see the world.

Space Engineers 2 Grass Biome Tests

Complete Roadmap, Player Experience: Besides that, I’m looking forward to getting a full day just to dig deep into our "Complete Roadmap" - to lock in everything that needs to be in the final version of SE2, the version that leaves Early Access. The goal is to deliver a complete and well-balanced experience - and then keep expanding through updates, like always.

I'm also working on the Player Experience document - it’s a short doc (just a few pages), but it outlines how players should experience SE2, from the very first moment all the way to 50+ hours of gameplay.

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Let me know what you think about any of this. 

I read all your comments - it’s one of the best parts of my life.

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Marek's Dev Diary: July 10, 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 1

The next update for Space Engineers brings many new gameplay elements to survival mode - including more environmental hazards. Here is a small teaser. 

Space Engineers 2 - Rethinking Combat 

This week we spent time discussing what combat should look and feel like in Space Engineers 2. Nothing is final yet. We're exploring ideas, identifying the pain points from SE1, and trying to define what kind of combat experience we actually want to build.

What are we aiming for?

We started by outlining a few core principles that we think should guide combat design in SE2:

• Longer, more tactical engagements
  Fights should take time - measured in minutes, not seconds. We want to avoid sudden one-shot kills and give players time to react.
• Preparation should matter
  Players who scout, build defenses, or prepare ambushes should be able to generate unfair local advantages.
• Rock-Paper-Scissors balance
  No single weapon or strategy should dominate. A system where different combat types counter each other could make battles more dynamic.
• Player feedback and clarity
  You should know when you’ve hit something, what damage you’re doing, and what’s happening around you - without guesswork.
• Support both attack and defense playstyles
  Offensive and defensive roles should both be viable, with tools and mechanics that support each side.

With those principles in mind, we discussed possible features and mechanics that could support this kind of gameplay.

Combat Duration & Survivability

In SE1, a single cockpit hit could end the fight instantly. We’re thinking about ways to prevent this - possibly through shields or other durability layers that give players more time to react. The idea isn’t to make combat slower for the sake of it, but to make it more interesting and fair.

Weapon Dynamics: Rock–Paper–Scissors

We explored a triangle-based balance model:

• Aimed/manual weapons beat automated turrets
• Automated turrets beat rockets/missiles
• Rockets/missiles beat aimed weapons

This would encourage diverse ship builds and make strategic choices more meaningful, especially in PvP.

Detection, Infiltration & Defense

We’d like players to have ways to detect enemies - not just through visual spotting but via tools like scanners or sensors. This also opens up infiltration gameplay, where a player could sneak into an enemy base or ship and gain an advantage. But for that to work, defenders need countermeasures - like surveillance systems, detection blocks, or hacking protection.

We’re also toying with the idea of hacking encounters as a mini-game or high-stakes mechanic during infiltration.

Safe Zones & Risk Management

Safe zones came up a lot. We’re considering making them:

• Limited in size and availability
• Costly to maintain over time
• Slow to set up

The idea is to preserve tension and avoid scenarios where players are untouchable. One suggestion was to have safe zone chips decay over time, even when stored, to prevent stockpiling. There could also be progression systems that allow players to expand their safe zones later in the game.

Character vs Grid Combat

Another angle we’re still thinking about: how important should character combat be compared to grid combat? Should it play more like a shooter, or more like an engineering-driven encounter?

Some ideas we’re toying with:

• Characters boarding grids and taking them over
• Combat-focused suit upgrades
• Dedicated tools for sabotage or infiltration

There’s also potential to make enemy characters more visible or tagged on your HUD if they’re hostile - not allied - making encounters easier to track and respond to.

Conclusion

As always, these are early design discussions. Some of these systems may evolve, combine, or be cut entirely. But this is the direction we’re thinking about as we continue shaping SE2 into the game we’ve always wanted to play.

Let me know what you think combat in SE2 should feel like!

Marek's Dev Diary: July 3, 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.

General

This week and last week, I've been busy with team quarterly evaluations and other administrative work. While this might seem less exciting than feature updates, team management and leadership are actually crucial topics for me. At Keen Software House, we're building a culture that's trustworthy and accountable, while also being friendly, respectful, and professional.

These quarterly evaluations aren't just bureaucracy - they're how we ensure everyone on the team knows where they stand, what they're doing well, and where they can grow. It's about creating an environment where people can do their best work and feel valued. I might dig deeper into our approach to leadership in a future diary (lessons learned, what doesn't work, what does work).

Water Team created Whirlpool in a tub by accident - caused by a small hole in the armor

Space Engineers 2

The main thing that's been occupying my thoughts is playtesting the First Time User Experience (FTUE) in SE2. The prototype is coming together nicely!

== Spoiler Alert ==

Here's how the FTUE currently works: You spawn on Verdure planet with a GPS marker leading you to a cave. First, you'll need to dig out the entrance. Inside, you'll discover an unfinished small ship with several components shown as projections (thrusters, survival kit, etc.).

Your tasks include:

• Mining ore within the cave
• Using Backpack Building and Projection Building to weld the projected blocks
• Finding batteries from a nearby stack and installing them in the ship for power
• Expanding the cave entrance to fly out
• Flying to a nearby mountain where an abandoned station awaits
• Landing and transferring batteries to power up the station grid

This is where the prototype currently ends, but our goal is to create a 1-2 hour FTUE that concludes at the Orbital Station. After that, the freeform Colonization meta-loop begins.

The experience is guided by:

• HUD objectives
• GPS markers pointing to key locations

Our FTUE design goals (KPIs):

• Teach players the basics
• Make the process enjoyable (mining, welding, cave exploration)
• Achieve first win (repaired ship & flight) within 5 minutes

The FTUE will evolve with future updates. Once we add water mechanics, we might revisit and redesign it entirely - we'll see when we get there.

While the prototype is functional, the team agrees it's currently missing that "WOW factor." We're brainstorming additional elements to make the experience more impactful. 

If you have ideas for what would make this first experience more memorable, I'd love to hear them!