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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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
We’re excited to announce the upcoming Apex Survival Update for Space Engineers, arriving this September!
Building on the solid PVE foundation laid by previous updates like Contact and Fieldwork, Apex Survival update introduces food, farming, environmental hazards, new Space Encounters, and much more – giving survival mode a whole new edge.
Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the release!
Also Space Engineers Free Steam weekend and Great Skin Hunt start today!
Space Engineers 2
I heard you want more of those amazing Verdure screenshots – here you go:
Welder character animations and welding particles are being refined right now to be ready for VS2. It’s a small detail on its own, but when you see the sparks, the motion, and the way the character interacts with the block under construction, it adds so much to the feeling of actually building. These incremental steps keep pushing the game closer to the survival experience we want you to have.
We are also working on ragdoll physics. Right now it’s still a work in progress, but already it makes characters feel more dynamic and reactive. Seeing a body tumble, react to collisions, or get pushed around by the environment brings a new layer of believability.
Another water development milestone: here you can see our testing “Yellow Submarine.”
Water is all around it – and there is no water inside! At first glance it might seem obvious, even a small thing, but in reality this is a huge milestone for the system.
Share your thoughts in the comments below – I read them all, and they’re one of my favorite parts of making SE2.
Hello! I love to see this kind of content! Though I have a question, How will the future SE1 update affect Official Keen servers? will they be updated? or will the settings be turned off?
Thank you, -Interior Light.
“Shining brightly in a world of darkness”
What’s the planned release timeframe? I know the plan is by end-of-year but is there any more specific estimates?
Based on what I see and what I think I would say mid September to late October
But I am not a keen employee you that’s just a guess.
The welder looks sick, same with the drill tool currently in the mod sdk. Can’t wait for VS2
This looks great! Every week the graphics look more and more impressive. I cannot wait for the Console release (hopefully before the full release, I cannot wait 2 years.)
Take my money and shut up! 🤣🤣🤣 Dude that submarine is badass! Can’t wait to create water bases where we can have water drain like aqualocks… Even make cannel locks the amount of engineering we’ll be able to do will keep us busy for years!! 🔥🔥🔥 Keep up the good work!
Water explosion base oil rig….. Water shooting ship crash cool
Water base build up cave
up until now i didnt care about subs that much but that changed now
I hope there will be interesting things underwater so making submarines is worth it. I feel like the worst thing about SE1 is the lack of gameplay and things to do, so I hope it will be much improved in SE2 because the tech is amazing but you have to make a real game with this potential.
Awesome job guys! Any decision made until now was perfect!
The welder looks more like a taser than a tool for construction, honestly.
I am looking forward to the water mechanics, but do you have any plans for major improvements for wheel-based vehicles? The rover physics of SE1 is very odd, and it would be a shame to take it over to SE2.
I’ve never seen a welder from the future like you have so I wouldn’t know.
I am completely blown away by the progress made on space engineers 2. VS3 is a dream for me and that submarine is oh so cool! Thank you for your passion and talent!
This progress seems great and the screenshots look amazing!
Just one question: Will we be getting new decorational blocks in the forseeable future?
I have two ideas for improvement though:
1. Grass should be perpendicular to gravity, not to the surface. Right now it looks a bit off that grass just grows to the side.
2. The water splash particles should not just fade out, but grow a little bit at the same time. Also the fade effect should use a noise map, so not everything fades out at the same speed but dissolves in like a noisy patch pattern.
1 – I mean grass don’t grow “perpendicular to gravity”, if it to grow “perpendicular to gravity” it will be as odd as it is now if not worse.
Is it true that mechanical blocks (e.g., rotors, pistons, hinges) are not being added until after VS3? This seems like it would be a major omission if this is the case.
Love it!
Amazing!
Only thing is that I have out-of place question to which it is likely preferable to not give answer:
After seeing submarine I’m super-curious about water displacement!
Is it full-fledged displacement logic? (Unlikely)
Does grid get “water free” bobble without any displacement logic around it to simplify computation?
Or maybe mixture of two? Displaced water is being added to source body of water as height!
It feels like back in the day when I as a kid discovered Terraria and played with it water system!
I use to care more about the space part in space engineers, but the submarine really catches me. Also the planet stuff. I will have to find a way to connect hiking and engineering.
Water Profiles = big depth, small lift
Give each authored water body a tiny Water Profile tag (e.g., clean / mineral-heavy / corrosive / cold / organic-rich). The tag changes how you engineer (filters vs. coatings vs. heaters vs. ballast tweaks) and what you get after processing (skews toward life-support, fuel gases, or industrial feedstock, no new chemistry tree).
Implementation stays light and plays to your VS3 plan: reuse pumps/ballast/turbines, add one Water Processor with three toggles (Filter → Condition → Extract), and a single console readout (profile icon, flow/pressure, power, fouling, output mix). Profiles are authored data, not a heavy sim, so it’s performant and easy to test. This dovetails with water-specific missions, pressure at depth, submarines/boats, and your KPIs around “meaningful playtime,” without expanding scope.
One thing I hope SE2 improves over SE1 is the first person animations, I really dislike how jittery and clunk the weapons and tools animations look in SE1
Water Profiles = big depth, small lift
Give each authored water body a tiny Water Profile tag (e.g., clean / mineral-heavy / corrosive / cold / organic-rich). The tag changes how you engineer (filters vs. coatings vs. heaters vs. ballast tweaks) and what you get after processing (skews toward life-support, fuel gases, or industrial feedstock—no new chemistry tree).
Implementation stays light and plays to your VS3 plan: reuse pumps/ballast/turbines, add one Water Processor with three toggles (Filter → Condition → Extract), and a single console readout (profile icon, flow/pressure, power, fouling, output mix). Profiles are authored data, not a heavy sim, so it’s performant and easy to test. This dovetails with water-specific missions, pressure at depth, submarines/boats, and your KPIs around “meaningful playtime,” without expanding scope.
Everything looks good. I feel that the welder should be focusing those jets on a single point, but it could be interesting.
Progress looks amazing, keep up the good work. I VS2 craving has increased substantially. Cannot wait to play planet side!
What I really like, the sreenshots you show are clearly what we get. Its not hyper upscaled in engine rendering, which is not what you see in gameplay.
I like this honest view how the current state actually is. Of course here and there are some sharp edges and fragment stairs but this is what every game has to work on. What I saw so far from Space Engineers 2 feels fresh. The graphics color palette seems something new and playful. I like that, this gives some variation between the bioms and so variations in the feeling of gameplay.
I still think dropping the bag when dying makes no sense. Would it be too performance tanks to leave the body wuth the backpack attached a allow players to interact with the whole body like we do in SE1 with Mobs?
Thursday is honestly my favorite day of the week now because of these dev diaries. Keep cookin! 🕺
Keep up the great work!
ALL HAIL THE GREAT CABLE – Jimothy John Junior. Also i hope this does not mess with Keen Servers either.
Me want console release in less than 2 years. If not, me no patient and me go sad sad
Ragdoll physics are a strange approach. A real unconscious body is more of a tripping hazard, and surprisingly difficult to turn over.
How would you know 0_0
I have my fingers crossed that the re-spawn/cloning mechanic will be an improvement on SE1 and will overcome some of SE1’s re-spawn short comings.
What you have shared of SE2 is looking good.
Still a little unsure about removing Ingots, but willing to let Keen cook. The welder visual upgrade is great, making it a sci-fi device that kind of “prints” things (like in satisfactory) and not just a regular welding torch in se1. definetly an upgrade.
Also appreaciate showing the water tests with lag, its a more honest approach than just showing perfect clips with editing.
insanely impressive work with the water.