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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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
This is a big milestone for us. Mechanical Blocks, weapons, contracts, economy foundations – many of the systems we’ve been building toward are finally in your hands. It feels great to see them come together and start forming a more complete gameplay loop.
It’s been great to see players returning – concurrent players more than quadrupled after VS2.2 launched.
Hotfixes are already in full swing, and we’re actively working on improvements and fixes based on your feedback.
I want to thank all of the content creators who participated in the preview campaign. The amount and quality of the videos you produced was incredible. Watching your previews, reactions, and experiments with the new systems was both exciting and reassuring for the whole team.
And to all of you playing the update – seeing your first mechanical ships and contraptions already in action has been amazing. The creativity and ingenuity of this community never stops surprising me. Every time we add new tools, you find ways to push them further than we imagined.
This is exactly why we are building Space Engineers 2 the way we are.
We’ve also been reading your reviews – both the positive and the critical ones. Your feedback shapes not just our hotfixes, but also what we prioritize in upcoming updates. If you haven’t tried SE2 in a while, now is a great time to jump back in.
And I simply love our new Pioneer Edition Trailer!
VS4: NPCs
We’ve started our first experiments with AI pathfinding.
In the last dev diary, I showed you a rather funny pathfinding bug. It was unpredictable – and honestly quite entertaining. But that’s part of the process.
Now I want to show you the real progress. Here you can see several early behaviors in action:
Coming to the player
Following the player
Basic patrolling
And patrolling with obstacle avoidance
It’s still early, but this is the foundation we will continue building on as we move toward NPC gameplay in VS4. Looking at this now reminds me of our very first 2D water experiments. It starts simple, a bit rough around the edges – but you can already see where it’s going.
And if you watched the VS2.2 livestream, you may have met Stompie – my AI honey badger who’s been watching every preview video and can’t wait to see what you build next. 🦡
Art Team Spoilers
The art team has prepared new birch-like trees to give planet Verdure more variety. We actually teased these in Zer0’s Legion datapads preview – did you manage to catch the easter egg?
And speaking of datapads… how many have you managed to collect so far?
And finally, let me share with you a first look at the Space Engineers 2 Merge Block.
Space Engineers 1
Our next major update is on the horizon – we have not forgotten you!
In update 1.209, we’re going big – and not just in terms of economy gameplay. We’re adding a new set of large blocks designed to open up more building possibilities and give you new ways to approach your creations.
The new Structural Block set includes 7 large-profile blocks, available for free to all players. You’ll see them used across the new Trade Stations, but they’re just as useful for your own builds – whether you need to quickly lay foundations, reinforce large structures, or create open landing areas.
As always, I’m looking forward to seeing what you build with them. Every time we add new blocks, you find ways to use them that we didn’t anticipate – and 1.209 will be no different.
Question to you: What are YOU engineering? We want to see your creations!
Share your thoughts in the comments below – I read them all, and they’re one of my favorite parts of making our games.
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Wouldn’t say no to an airlock block down the line
Yees i thnk we also need connector + door block
Me too. I wish a real airlock docking port for crew passage
Thank you for always documenting the team’s process and design philosophy, it’s a wonderful look behind the curtain! I agree with others that with more creative freedom, we’d love a traversible connector. I’ve longed for one for a long time, as a guilty builder of large smallgrid ships. (Also thruster control across rotors but we’ll get there!) Favorite game of all time!!
Hello Marek, whole Team and hello engineers. Just wana say how much i enjoy both games, great work and know that we get why everything isnt perfect on a 1st pass.
I agree with pasage conectors and i would also wish for pasage rotors, pistons and hinges, in the future those would by amazing.
Will we be able to make an airtight seal between subgrids? Or will we always have to use a merge block for that?
Looks great! Excited for the new blocks
The NPCs already look promising. I think the biggest improvement for them in the future will be adding behaviour: NPCs not taking turns as tightly, as they could sometimes, NPCs randomly varying walking speed (subtle, but makes it feel less mechanical), NPCs randomly checking something on their suit, etc. This will bringt a great feeling of aliveness to the world.
Also I would still love to be able to assign NPCs to ship stations so my ships feel more alive.
Thanks, these are actually good ideas, writing them down!
hey bud theres a big bug with welders making them no. fuctional for some people , this is my reason for starting survival again can you guys please get that fixed , it looks like your teem is working on it but it cant wait until 2.3 id really appreciate it
otherwise cool stuff id love to see like a design video for npcs twlling us the intentions on what your trying to get them to do
I’d love to see a swamp biome and/or Jungle in SE2
OK, good idea!
Nice front view of merging mechanism,
would be awesome to have some moving parts on sides, some interlocking clamps or screws that extend to other merge block so we see from outside if it’s connected even if is grid out of power for lighting signalization.
I like path finding; it’s nice to see how things are done from scratch. It would be interesting (in a more advanced version) if an NPC following you had a chance to trip. I also liked the fact that the player jumped from a high place and the others were like, “We’ll take the stairs, we’re not like that crazy guy.”
You guys are doing a big great Job 😉
Its crazy how good the new assets like the birch trees look! Already so excited for VS3 and 4 !
But one thing I’ve been wondering since VS1.5 is, when are Scripting and code APIs coming to SE2? Since VS1.5 we did not hear anything about that. Is that planned for later, so modders cant spoil e.g. water by adding some modded, inofficial and buggy version to the game? (which is a good reason imo).
Other than that I am only waiting for aerodynamics, but I trust you will be dealing with that when the time is right:)
Until then, keep up the awesome work!
when will the build planer get added also when will like custom world setting
hey, was just wondering on npc ai:
How interactable are you planning on them for players? Can I assign them contracts and/or fail states, a-la Rimworld/Kenshi…? Or more as a guard/follower for protection?
Thanks, love watching yall develop SE2
I would like to suggest that you do not align the center of the camera in 3rd person view in the cockpit; it’s terrible for various projects. Instead, I would like the camera to align with the vehicle’s center of mass. And another ticket I have on the official website that unfortunately hasn’t been answered, a great and simple suggestion as well. The ticket number is: 50181-11-24
Thank you for your attention!!!