Space Engineers 2 News

Vertical Slice 1.1 Arrives in March, Marek's Dev Diary

Hello, Engineers!

We’re excited to announce the upcoming Vertical Slice 1.1 - Steam Workshop, arriving this March!

VS 1.1 won’t just introduce the Workshop for Blueprints and Worlds - it will also refine pivot controls, giving you more precision when copying and pasting. When you copy, cut, or create a blueprint, the pivot point will now be automatically set to the block you aimed at during the action. When pasting, this pivot point will be highlighted, making placement clearer and more intuitive.

Additionally, the snap size of the pivot point now determines the default snap size of the pasted grid or blueprint, giving you better control when positioning structures.

[h3]Space Engineers 1[/h3]

Update 206 is nearing completion.
Here is a little sneak peek from yesterday's team presentation:

[h3]Space Engineers 2[/h3]

VS 1.1 is almost finished and we are testing it now, release will be soon
Flora impostors for VS 2 - rendering all visible trees as real geometry would be too GPU intensive, so a good practice is to render distant trees as billboard impostors, which are not recognizable to the eye. Here's what the first prototype looks like.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
To optimize performance, animation on blocks with animated sub-parts should be culled (disabled) when the player is too far away to see it. This video demonstrates this feature, with the culling distance artificially lowered for visibility.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The water team has made significant progress, with an updated "delete water dam" testing scene that shows improved performance and visual effects. The water surface now appears more realistic, accurately reflecting the velocity of the flowing water and various surface effects.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
This screenshot shows how the 25cm unified grid system allows for items to be placed on the Gearforge block's table, and for a light to be positioned on the block itself.
Fracture simulation - because it's cool!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Planetary flora progress
Modding will come soon to SE2 (in VS 1.5). This is a modded skybox example.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We are working to enhance first-person animations, with a focus on ensuring that the tool or gun remains steady and consistently forward-facing on the screen.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Full blog post: https://blog.marekrosa.org/

Please join us for Space Engineers 2 Developer Livestream!

🚀 Friday, February 28st, 6 PM UTC
🛰️ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/keencommunitynetwork
🛰️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceEngineers

Image Credits: SE2 "Story & Universe" Sketch by DesertTusk

🛠️ Feedback & Support - https://support.keenswh.com/
🗺️ Roadmap: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/roadmap-2/#current
🛰️ Discord: https://discord.gg/keenswh
📫 Newsletter: https://www.keenswh.com/newsletter
➡️ Connect and find us on your platform of choice: https://www.keenswh.com/connect/

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/526461473225968958
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/526461473225965658
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/503942841152569364

Space Engineers 2 Pre-Launch Event, Steam Workshop

🚀 Relive the excitement of our Space Engineers 2 pre-launch event, where we showcased new features, developer insights, and the future of Space Engineers.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Note: The Space Engineers 2 Steam Workshop is now visible in preparation for the Vertical Slice 1.1 release. It will become fully available once VS 1.1 launches!

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/526461473225965658
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/503942841152569364
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527585470625877560

Marek's Dev Diary, Friday Livestream

[h3]Why SE2?[/h3]
We’re building SE2 because we believe in the dream of the ultimate space-sim - one that goes beyond anything seen before. We want a game where engineering, survival, and combat truly matter, where every action has weight, and where players can shape their own destiny in a vast, living universe.

SE1 was just the beginning. SE2 is our chance to push the boundaries - to create the space game we've always wanted to play. A game where players build, explore, and fight for survival and the colonization of Almagest, a raw and untamed frontier filled with danger and opportunity.

This isn’t just a sequel. It’s our vision for the future of space simulation - a world where creativity, skill, and ambition define your fate.

[h3]SE1 Alpha Footage in SE2[/h3]
FighterPilot O5 has recreated the classic SE1 Alpha Footage in SE2. Thanks very much for the effort and for reading my mind because I was honestly considering asking Janusz to do it.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]What I worked on this week:[/h3]

Music Design: We designed an adaptive music system to fit different locations and situations - sandbox mode, campaign mode, and dynamic moments based on player actions.
Character Art Expansion: We recently hired an amazing new character artist, growing our team. This means SE2 will feature a greater variety of characters, suits, and skins.
Character Animations & First-Person Camera: We are improving how the first-person camera moves, making sure it feels natural and immersive. One example: the first-person camera isn't just a single point but behaves more like a position on a stick, which means its rotation also introduces unintended movement. This results in unnatural optics, and we’re working on refining the offset system to make the camera feel more stable and immersive.
3D UI Prototyping for Partial Copy-Paste: We have been working on a new 3D UI system for copy-paste mechanics in the game.
Jump Animation Improvements: We are working on more natural jump animations - detecting whether the jump starts from the left or right foot, then adjusting fall/landing animations accordingly.
We are having a discussion whether projections (blocks or blueprints) should cast shadows or not. My opinion is that they should because it will help with depth perception of the scene, player will be better aware of where exactly is the block/blueprint being projected. For illustration, here’s a screenshot with one bug where only part of the projected block is casting a shadow (the alpha masked grid inside of it). What is your opinion? Leave your comments.
Future Plans: Unifying spectator mode and character controls to ensure smooth transitions between gameplay perspectives.

Full blog post: https://blog.marekrosa.org/

Please join us for Space Engineers 2 Developer Livestream!

🚀 Friday, February 21st, 6 PM UTC
🛰️ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/keencommunitynetwork
🛰️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceEngineers

Image Credits: DSI Talon by Diggrok

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/503942841152569364
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527585470625877560
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527585470625877545

Marek's Dev Diary - February 13, 2025

The SE2 team is finishing VS 1.1 (Workshop). It will go into the final testing round next weeks and could be released soon after. It will bring Steam Workshop integration and an in-game browser, along with many other improvements - including mouse sensitivity and mouse inversion settings - because you asked us to add it.

Lukas and I were working on sound improvements for VS 1.2, mainly ship sounds (boost sound, speed-dependent sounds) and drill sounds (idle drill, contact with voxels or blocks). It's feeling much better now. Another significant improvement where Lukas went all out are the destruction sounds - when you shoot with the debug gun and incrementally damage blocks, and then when the final stage of block breaks or explodes. He created custom versions of sounds for all types of blocks. It really sounds meaty and satisfying.

We've finally implemented grass and trees into our internal VS2 build - of course, this is just the first stage, and we plan to make them several times more beautiful.

The debug gun tool got a new 3D model (we still need to improve the animation and projectile trail rendering).

We are improving the precision of highlight interactions (when you aim at a block and see the highlight), so no invisible occluders will interfere with the raycast from your crosshair.

The water team encountered a funny bug, so I'm sharing it here with you 😀

Gearforge - a brand new block for VS2 Planets and Survival, for our improved survival mechanics.

Full blog post: https://blog.marekrosa.org/2025/02/mareks-dev-diary-february-13-2025-se2.html

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527585470625877560
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527585470625877545
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527586104606458308

💻 Space Engineers 2 Alpha - Hotfix 0.12.23.42, Planetary Sneak Peek

[h2]Hotfix 0.12.23.42 has been released![/h2]
If you have issues running the game, please make sure your drivers are up-to-date as a first step. Drivers older than 2023 are not supported.

➡️ Changelog: https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/announcement/space-engineers-2-alpha-vs1-creative-mode
🛠️ Support Portal: https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc
🛰️ Discord: https://discord.gg/keenswh

Fixed crashes on NVIDIA 10X0 with the high/extreme preset
Fixed excessive memory allocation in analytics

Go behind the scenes with Marek and the team as they test out planets and conduct crucial terrain research. Get an exclusive look at the process and see what goes into bringing these worlds to life!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Features and improvements we are actively working on:

We’re aware of incompatibility at launch of Space Engineers 2 on Intel Arc A-Series and Core Ultra Series 1 built-in Arc GPUs. We are working with Intel to enable the game experience and will provide relevant updates as development progresses.
Some blocks are decorative-only for now (for example, the Assembler is present but cannot produce components)
The Blueprint interface is currently in its initial version. Additional features and improvements will be introduced in upcoming updates.
Performance
- Performance optimization is ongoing. For Alpha release, we’re targeting 16x Red Ship grids at 60 FPS on recommended hardware.
- The game simulation continues even when the menu is open (no pause function) and Autosave may cause brief lags during gameplay. Performance may temporarily drop when pasting or attaching blueprints.
- Performance optimizations of ship collisions and destruction are ongoing, so it won’t be lag-free at this moment. We will be continuously improving it in the following updates.
- PCU values per block may appear higher compared to Space Engineers 1, reflecting SE2's increased detail and more precise performance measurements. While the current total PCU limit is set at 400,000 in VS1, we plan to raise this threshold in future updates as we implement scheduled optimization improvements.
The current GUI (Graphical User Interface) and HUD (Heads-Up Display) are works in progress. Our team is prioritizing core functionality first. Once we've confirmed all features are working as intended, we'll enhance the visual design and overall aesthetics.
The inventory system will be implemented in a future update
Fracture models will receive additional visual updates in future versions.
Character shadow in first-person mode is disabled temporarily and will be re-enabled in future animation updates. Animations for uphill/downhill movement, jumping, and tools will be refined in the future update.
Inverse kinematics (IK) is not yet implemented.
Toolbar block groups and sizes (block selection via R key) are a temporary mechanism and will be redesigned in a near update.
Undo/redo functionality for the paint tool is not implemented yet, but internally we already have it, so it will be available in a near update. Changing block colors currently requires switching to the paint tool, but this will be streamlined. In addition, the paint tool’s limited palette is temporary; future updates will include RGB/HSV color settings and custom palettes.
Many small HUD and UX improvements didn’t make it into VS1 but are planned for future updates.
Jetpack mechanics are being polished, including adjustments to boost, acceleration, sound effects, and camera shake (note: in an internal build we are already finishing jetpack 2.0, with more pronounced boost mechanics… so please expect changes in VS 1.2)
The off-center third-person camera for characters and ships is not yet implemented, but we are working on it, aiming to get it to one of the next updates.
Ship controls are functional but will be further refined with target-based gyroscope controls.
Enhanced sound effects are coming, including jetpack audio, debug gun, ship sounds and destruction.
Tutorials will be added closer to the end of development.
Keyboard and mouse controls are not customizable yet, but they will be!
The Alpha releases in English language, more localizations will follow
Recoloring some blocks is limited to certain sides only - this will be fixed in the following update
Sometimes character peeks through cockpit - this will be fixed in the following update

Image Credits:

Inferno by Viny

Thank you for helping us make the game better!

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527585470625877545
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527586104606458308
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/527585470625877517