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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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
Construction Stages & Construction Particles are coming together nicely for the VS2 Planets and Survival update. It’s one of those features that really makes the game feel alive – watching a block grow step by step, with sparks and dust flying as you weld it into existence.
It’s still work in progress, but I can already imagine how much more immersive survival will feel once this is in your hands.
Verdure’s landscape is also constantly improving. The version we have now is almost unrecognizable compared to what it looked like just six months ago. Terrain shapes, colors, vegetation density – all of it has been improved on again and again. Every time I load into Verdure, I notice something new: a ridge line that feels more natural, a valley that catches the morning light just right, or a forest that feels alive instead of just “placed.”
It’s amazing to watch a planet go from a rough concept to something that feels like a real place you could explore and call home.
And here is the planet Verdure, with its amazing cloud formations and the glowing sunset line as seen from space.
Reactor destruction particles are shaping up nicely:
VS3 Water Update
Most of the SE2 team is currently focused on VS2: Planets and Survival, but a smaller group – our Water team – is already deep into VS3: Water, which we aim to release a few months after VS2 launches. Fingers crossed.
I want to share a bit about how planning works in our team.
Before we start work on any update, we create a high-level vision document. This outlines:
- The goals for the update
- Key performance indicators (KPIs) – such as target retention, meaningful playtime, and session length
- The audience we want to reach
For VS2, the focus is on players who enjoy real gameplay challenges and rewards, while also being clear internally whether we’re designing primarily for SE1 veterans or also bringing in new mainstream players.
For VS3: Water, our KPI is to introduce a completely new medium – water – that opens new gameplay possibilities in engineering, exploration, and mining, along with fresh challenges and rewards.
Once the vision is set, we break down the required tasks for each discipline:
- Designers – Documentation, level design, gameplay tuning
- Programmers – Gameplay features, engine changes
- Art – New blocks, particles, animations, environment assets
- Sound – New audio effects, underwater sound behavior
Each team lead estimates the man-days needed for their tasks. This often triggers back-and-forth discussions to clarify scope and cut low-value work, so we invest time in high-impact features – things that are fun, novel, essential, or improve performance. We then check if we have the manpower to meet the deadline and lock the plan.
The VS2 project plan has been locked for about nine months, with only small additions two months ago – such as the Colonization Map, Colonization Progress, Contracts, and Encounters – to extend meaningful gameplay beyond the first minutes and give players long-term goals.
The VS3 plan was recently updated and is now being finalized. Much of the Water team’s work was scoped long ago, but we’ve refined the details and adding tasks for the other teams:
- Swimming animations
- Submarines – fully sealed against water both visually and physically
- Byblos – a new water-rich planet
- Pressure simulation at certain depths
- New blocks – pumps, ballast tanks, turbines, etc.
- Water audio – splashes, underwater muffling, walking in water
- Water-specific missions
- Ore distribution in aquatic environments
- Buoyancy and boat movement on the surface
- Water system optimizations to ensure good performance
We’re also adding non-water features to make VS3 even more exciting. While water itself is a huge addition – a completely new environment to interact with – we’re also working on:
- Survival improvements (production system, oxygen, block wrappers, area welding)
- New welder and grinder blocks
- Weather effects
- And more (I actually can’t share everything, because we are working on the plan as we speak)
Important disclaimer: The above is a snapshot of my current thinking, not a promise. Plans can change right up until release. I share this to keep communication open – not to “sell” you something in advance.
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.
First off: You plan regarding VS3 sounds amazing and the construction stages are looking great!
I have two thoughts regarding this weeks blog post.
First: I really hope that a damaged reactor is actually a hazard, so if your reactor is damaged (while running), you need to wear a special hazmat suit in order to avoid contamination and degration of health.
Second: I know, the environment is still under development and you have shared some insights in experiments with new grass, but I think currently this is the main thing that needs to be improved in order to make the landscape feel natural and realistic. Trees are looking great, the voxel terrain is looking great, just the grass looks fake and boring. But I am sure, you will improve on that.
The truss feels too dense, but the other construction stages look good. Verdure looks great as always. I really like the way plants only grow on the top of those rocks. I don’t mean that I don’t like plants growing normally on the sides of mountains, but that type in particular feels cool. The damaged reactor effects look funny but scary.
The VS3 plan sounds solid. I can’t think of anything more. Have you considered making bubbles and steam from water when a hot ship touches it? I’m hopeful that the possible new grinder and welder (and maybe drill) will be made. I recommend the team to borrow a grinder from a friend and try to use it, maybe you will understand what I don’t like about the current design. It’s so scary to have both handles in the same axis in a way that makes it really easy for it to rotate in the normal plane to it.
My last complaint of the day is that area welding has a lot of potential to make welding too easy and remove the need for complex factory systems, so please don’t make it too powerful. Thanks for writing these blog posts and for bearing with me.
Pressure simulation, does that mean that builds, submarines mainly, can be damaged by high depth or even destroyed?
Reminds me of Subnautica where you have to make pressure compensator so you can go even deeper.