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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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.
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| 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
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!
I really can't wait for Vertical Slice 2 and Survival MP <3
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Well that's one way to know that your water physics are working properly to make a hole and watch it create a whirlpool!
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if you have this already, but one simple idea to bring more Wow to it could be to bring musical queues to that starting scenario. Let’s say when you open the mine and first see the broken down ship, there a big mysterious queue that plays, and when let’s say you start the ship and fly off, you have big adventurous queue that plays. Somewhat like in No man sky when you first reach space or first land on a station
ReplyDeleteThis all the way.
DeleteThe certain wow effect could come from a scripted ship crash? Ship goes down, escape pod shoots out, you land and have to go from there. Would give the player some connection, to their goals, telling them "the mid-term goal is to get back into space"
ReplyDeleteYeeeeees
DeleteWhile the FTUE seems promising for an first playthrough and tutorial purposes, I personally would not want that in my main survival world, as this first steps of building the first station and the first ship are my favourite parts of the game that I want to do from scatch. I can accept missions later or design ships to complete missions, but beeing free and building my existance from scatch is very important to me (otherwise, I feel like cheating, as I didn't build up my existance entirely by myself). So I really hope that it will be possible to create custom starting scenarios or at least choose between some premade ones to satisfy the needs of all gamers.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! I have had a hard time connecting with a ship that I didn't build or a station I didn't make, and starting from scratch just really does something different. For me it's a lot of fun to explore from nothing, maybe a crashed dropship and nothing but your own decisions to move forward in perhaps a world more harsh and filled with life than in SE1. like creating an epic fortress on a cliff overlooking a jungle maybe there is some type of native population that can attack you. You know the stuff that really adds to diversity creates more opportunity for imagination to shine.
DeleteOne wow factor could be once you get the ship to a certain altitude auto navigation takes over and sends it to the space station.
ReplyDeleteI can’t help but feel that the opening experience to Space Engineers should be…in space.
ReplyDeleteI’ve personally never been interested in playing on the earth-like planets in survival.
I think you could get more wow-factor and more of a sense of urgency if this were more of a Mark Watney-esque situation on a world where you can’t just take off your space suit and lie under the trees.
One wow could be a oasis, a pool waterfall(future) with a skylight inside the cave to immediately show what this game engine is capable of.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of getting some early wins (like ship flyable in first 5 minutes). I would say it should have just atmosphere thrusters at that point and when you get to the mountain base you’ll need to work a bit there to get to hydrogen thrusters to reach space. If I can drop in and be in space in 10-15 minutes it feels like the planet doesn’t get is opportunity to shine.
ReplyDeleteFor FTUE you want to get engaged with the game with early wins and not a lot of grinding but if you hit space too quickly….
Unless you were sent down to the planet on a mission but crashed, ejected, etc and then are directed to an equip cache in the cave. After you get back to space you resupply and try the planetary mission again (without the crash starting point). Then you have some familiarity with the planet and return more quickly to the surface.
Yes, this ship has only atmospheric thrusters. It will then take another 1 hour (or maybe we will push for 2 hours) to actually build a space ship and fly to the Orbital Station.
DeleteYou'll never be able to pry SE1 from my cold dead hands.... but I really like where SE2 is heading. 😄 You've put together a great team @ KSH.
ReplyDelete"Water Team created Whirlpool in a tub by accident " - Yeah, right. By accident. :D
ReplyDeleteEnd the FTUE with an actual npc. One of the things about SE1 that has been kind of a letdown (until recently, factotum and the new npc ships did improve on this) is how empty the world feels. Factions are meaningless, you don't see other engineers (unless you're in multiplayer with friends) and all the npc you see are mindless ships.
ReplyDeleteAdd an npc, even if it is just a guy at the station giving you some guidance.you said SE2 will have a campaign, give me a tiny taste of that.
Maybe the guy is the voice guiding you through this FTUE.and at the end you get to see them and do your first NPC interactions.
For me this will tell me "this is more than SE1 with some improvements" than any other feature so far
I wonder, if it's possible to add small "wheeled" phase before flying? Maybe first get working wheeled vehicle, suffer a bit while driving (somewhere below in canyon?) and get to flying ship, and then feel the freedom of flight and no surface restrictions. Maybe that wheeled vehicle will have a drill to free the entrance for the flying ship.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree. Having a rover before a ship makes you really value the ability to fly.
DeleteRegarding the FTUE: It sounds good on paper, it is hinging a lot on how the mechanics actually play, as in how easiy it is to understand, and how well tutorialized are the mechanics like building and projection.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about your approach to narration? I've seen a lot of people hate Goodbot tips, and many people switch off tutorials, so it's a challange to make it in a way that even without narration it could be done, but at the same time people who never played SE can still progress and make things works.
Things I'd consider would be a fully voiced narration, something like a projection. I'm partial towards something like a Subnautica 1 datapad. It's a bit snarky, but overall providing a good, audible tutorial. When it comes to tutorials I always recall how Diablo 3 was approaching it, and they were iterating on trying to find a way that won't just make the player stop the action, but provide information while the action was going. They ended up with NPCs following along the players while they did the exposition fighting along them - not directly applicable to SE2, but the lessons they learned there could be because they were touching on topics like "players don't like to read exposition and tutorials" so reading is out of the question. Voice and narration could be irrittating, but at least not reading.
As I was writing this, a 3rd option came to mind. LARS from Intertellar. Where the settings could be adjusted. Imagine a SE2 tutorial bot or projection that you can set various settings on before it starts tutorializing. Completely new players can have "enhanced" tutorials where there are more details, experienced survivorists can get "moderate settings" where goals are presented, but not everything is explained in detail, and experts who are already familiar with the game, and just get the end goal.
On the subject of the FTUX, I think that it’ll be more meaningful to players if it ties into the meta-narrative. We know generally that this leads into the colonization objective, but is there a clear reason for why the player is there on the planet by themselves, in that specific location, and under those circumstances? Additionally, as far as WOW moments are concerned, it seems only natural to tie this to the new planet tech, right? Like, if you started in a crypto-pod or lifeboat that crashed into a collapsing cavern, and your first objective is to dig out quickly, you can have a lightly time locked situation (get out before the tunnel collapses), and then a huge reward of surfacing the player at whatever breathtaking vista of your choosing. Just some food for thought, but it would be easier to provide feedback by getting to step through it myself. ;)
ReplyDelete"We're brainstorming additional elements to make the experience more impactful."
ReplyDeleteExplosions are nice. :D
Truth be told i would love a crash szenario with wow effect. Starting in a failing ship with the need to enter an ejection capsule seing as you tumble down to the planet your ship explode. Then you start the journey to cave and so on.
ReplyDeleteI think rushing from Earth to space too quickly would really hurt the game.
ReplyDeleteIt’s important to fully saturate and develop the planet first, making the journey to space a real challenge. It would add more value to making rovers and land-based vehicles like tanks and explore the beautiful se2 environment and cave systems.
Essential ores required for space travel could be buried deep underground, pushing players to invest heavily in land-based progression before reaching space. You could even take it further by making space completely unreachable until players shoot down passing spacecraft and salvage their parts.
Also, having an Ark-style research system for progression could really take the game to the next level.
Will your jetpack work straight away or will you learn ground movement first? May be a bit of parqour and bridge building, some swimming and water sliding would not go a miss somewhere down the line. Lessons like, how far can I fall without dying would be good, how now not to crash into a wall when jet packing and crouching behind a wall to avoid being shot. When I die will I go to heaven? Reincarnation and where in the world am I. Watching the Sun rise in the morning.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: What is the time difference between my arrival and the first settlers on the migration across space?
I think that wow elements could be things like;
ReplyDelete- An impressive interface: Maybe some cool AI-character interactions that gives you notifications to open with nice sound design and animations.
- If AI: then you can maybe add an "ask how to" mechanism and answer from it (maybe youtube videos/gifs gets shown).
- The AI can be improved in the future: making it a beloved character that you interact with and has some funny-scripted lines in the "main game quests", before free roam. (Think "Jarvis" from Iron Man or the Portal 2 robot). (can also be turned off in non-campaingn/story game) [many cool ideas with this but this text would be long]
- If it's a map thing, "initial scripted music": maybe as you discover the ship in the cave some nice sounding score starts to play. (think that in the star wars movies one of the things that made the wow factor is the music in the background) [this element could be awesome, maybe you get to look over the mountain and an awesome score plays, giving SE a theme song]
- Sounds can also be added for small things like the tutorial pointers, menu, .
- Small film-cuts; How you got to the "spawn point" in the game.
- An impressive looking map: that shows topography of the explored area in a ceratin radius.
Some ideas I've thought of:
ReplyDelete- Scripted Scores (music): Maybe at some point in the experience you get to look over the mountain or/and when you first fly the ship, an awesome score plays. Make a rememberable theme for SE, with a special motif melody. (think that Star Wars music was a big element)
- Extra with music: Maybe you spawn in while it's sunraise and you can enjoy the view with awesome music - Just things that comunnicate to the player how vast the game is and mysterious (inciting the "explorer"-feeling into the player)
- "Sleek/neat sound Fx": For the interface.
- "Cool topografic map": Maybe a map that shows topography and in a certain radius (explored land)
It would be cool to see an animation at the beginning, like landing from an escape pod launched from a ship that failed to jumpdrive and/or was destroyed by a new, unknown enemy or a Factorum ship that followed. I don't know — something to make the game more lore-like.
ReplyDeleteThe cave might contain a large structure. At some point, a hazard might appear, creating time pressure. Then, digging your way out of the cave isn't fast enough. Instead, you'll have to use the ship's weapons to destroy supporting parts of the building. This causes the building to collapse (spectacularly), opening a path to the outside. Perhaps it can be designed in such a way that the flight outwards is also dramatic (for example, you have to avoid further falling debris).
ReplyDeletethose clouds are gonna make spotting a viable LZ quite the nailbiter
ReplyDeleteEverything you all have been doing looks awesome! I am aware the clouds are in development but I am picky, considering that planet has tall mountains and low valleys maybe lower the clouds a bit? and add some low lying fog during sunrise or sunset sometimes. I feel it really adds to the feeling of being up high in the mountains and maybe one tall enough to be over the clouds would be really cool. like Imagine building a base with a lookout on a mountain that's over the clouds overlooking the world, ooh maybe a dogfight above and through the clouds. Like two motherships on a complete ocean world battling above the clouds. lose your engines? crash in the ocean and maybe by chance figure out how to build a boat or sink to the deepest parts of the ocean to never be seen again...
ReplyDeleteHey Marek,
ReplyDeleteConsole player here.
1653hrs in game (on console)
SE1 questions
Could console players get a version of the lost colony scenario?
Could a player created & player voted expansion for the first jump scenario be possible?
Scenarios provide that aspect of the game scripts provides for pc players. It would be amazing if console players were to get more to play.
What if this first part is on a moon on a hidden spot and the wow factor is a marked on a planet to collect water or other resource. So the wow would be looking to a vast planet for the first time
ReplyDeleteWhat if the wow efect os seeing a planet for the first time? You do exact the same things but on a hidden spot of a moon and the marker is on a planet to get more resource (fuel) so you can build larger ss
ReplyDeleteSounds awesome, maybe exchange the widening part of the cave for the detonation of a small warhead to blow the entrance free! (I love explosions).
ReplyDeleteTo delay getting to space a bit (I think it should not be less than 2 hours, or it will not feel like a big archievement), you should focus a bit on getting the abandoned station operational again and repairing key components. You could also need a few components, that you cant yet produce. So a nearby crash site is marked via GPS, which you have to loot (looting is totally addictive! If you have not yet given it thought, please do. Exploring a crash site and finding valuable materials inside the wreck feel incredibly rewarding, even though the player himself didnt do much! You should definitely(!) have some kind of looting mechanic (e.g. batteries, reactor fuel?). It has too much potential to not be used.)
After you repaired the station and looted a bit, you can build the first spaceship to get to the orbital station.
Another thing you should consider (if you arent already) is making e.g. reactor fuel modular. I think for the battery you already plan this (have battery items that can be inserted into the battery block for power), but for the reactor it would be awesome to be able to swap reactor fuel rods by hand or loot the fuel cells from other ships (without having to grind down the block), leaving them stranded. Generally SE1 was very much not incentivizing you to board another ship, but in SE2 I hope that boarding will be a much more common tactic/mechanic.
Apart from that it sounds really amazing and the fact, that you are giving the FTUE so much thought and are making it so engaging, leads me to believe SE2 will have a much bigger playerbase than SE1 ever had. And I love it!
Keep up the good work Keen, I cant wait!