Space Engineers 2 News

Space Engineers 2 Dev Diary: September 11, 2025

[h3]Performance Optimizations[/h3]
SE2 and VRAGE3 are constantly undergoing performance optimizations - improving frame rate, reducing memory usage, speeding up loading times, and eliminating performance spikes (lags and stuttering).

Right now, one of my main focuses is scenario loading times. In the picture below you can see our internal reports, where the team tracks how these KPIs (key performance indicators) evolve from version to version (this refers to internal builds, not the public Steam version).
Loading times for scenarios with planets are gradually decreasing, which is very promising. Our current target is to get the Verdure scenario down to 30 seconds or less.

This matters not only for players but also for our team. Imagine loading a scenario dozens or even hundreds of times every day - if that adds up to an hour spent just staring at a loading screen, it directly reduces overall productivity. That’s why loading time optimizations are a top priority for VS2.

In Space Engineers 2 we are working on better deformation LODs. The goal is to keep the destruction and collisions looking detailed and believable, while at the same time achieving amazing performance during grid crashes.

These moments are core to the Space Engineers experience, and I want them to feel both spectacular and smooth, without turning into a slideshow. It’s all about finding the right balance between visual fidelity and simulation speed.

Here are some possible visuals for Safe Zones. We are experimenting with different styles and effects, trying to find a look that is clear and fits the art direction. The visuals must communicate protection without breaking the atmosphere of the world.

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[h3]MateriaLinker[/h3]
Alice Vescio is a member of our SE2 Art Team, working as an Advanced 3D Character Artist here at Keen. Recently, she shared something very cool - her first Python plugin for Marmoset Toolbag, called MateriaLinker.

This tool automatically links all your textures to their corresponding materials in one go. With just one click, it saves a lot of time when setting up PBR maps, and it works across many different naming conventions. There is even a checkbox option that will pull the Opacity Map from the Albedo’s alpha channel and link it directly into the Transparency slot.

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It may sound like a small utility, but things like this make a huge difference in daily workflows. I really like seeing our developers not only creating content for Space Engineers 2, but also pushing the tools and pipelines forward for themselves and the wider community.

Full Blog Post: https://blog.marekrosa.org/2025/09/mareks-dev-diary-september-11-2025/

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Space Engineers 2 VS2 Sneak Peek

So many blocks, so many construction stages, so little time…

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[h3]Join us this Monday for the Space Engineers: Apex Survival Update release![/h3]

[h3]📅 Monday, September 8th, 5 PM UTC[/h3]

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https://steamcommunity.com/games/244850/announcements/detail/499453279763169534

Before the update goes live, enjoy exclusive previews from our amazing community.

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Space Engineers 2 Preview: Verdure Sunrise

Hello, Engineers!

Up next on our roadmap is Vertical Slice 2, which introduces the first phase of the Space Engineers 2 survival experience, the colonization and mission system, and two brand-new planets for you to explore: Verdure and Kemik. This early version of survival will lay the groundwork for all the core systems, including the new Almagest colonization features. We're accelerating development to get it into your hands soon, so you can start exploring - and pouring in your feedback, helping us shape the survival experience.

In the meantime, the planets are coming together beautifully, and we think it’s time for a sneak peek. Here’s your first look at the sunrise on Verdure. Still very much a work in progress, but it gives you a taste of the view you might one day call home in the Almagest System.

While you're watching, keep in mind: every inch of the planet is destructible voxel terrain, and volumetric water is coming right after Survival & Planets!

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Want to get our teasers early and enjoy exclusive content? Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.keenswh.com/newsletter and be the first to get the latest updates, sneak peeks, and more!

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Space Engineers 2 Dev Diary: August 28, 2025

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.

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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.

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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.

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We heard you want more of those amazing Verdure screenshots – here you go:

[h3]Space Engineers 1 Free Weekend[/h3]
Also Space Engineers 1 Free Steam weekend starts today!

Full Blog Post: https://blog.marekrosa.org

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Space Engineers 2 Weekly Release: Small Window Set

Hello, Engineers!

This week’s release expands your creative options with a brand-new Small Window Set. Perfect for adding detail, variety, and style to your ships and stations, these windows come in multiple shapes and sizes to suit any design.

Included in this set:

Window Flat 1.25 m
Window Slope 1.25 m
Window Slope Half 2.5 m
Window Triangle Side 1.25 m
Window Triangle Slanted 1.25 m
Window Triangle Slanted Inverted 1.25 m

As always, all blocks are available now!

[h3]This is our last Weekly Release for a while - all hands are now on deck for Vertical Slice 2: Planets & Survival.[/h3]

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We are ending or pausing weekly releases, which involve adding new blocks every Thursday, to minimize distractions and allow everyone to concentrate on VS2. This decision was also made because the weekly releases created complications in our branch merging process as we are finishing VS2. Artists and designers had to push each block twice – to both the public branch and the VS2 branch – leading to inconsistencies and requiring extra support time. We believe this time is better spent working directly on VS2.

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[h3]Overhangs and boulders[/h3]
One significant improvement I’m excited about is the introduction of overhangs. In Space Engineers 1, terrain was largely restricted to pyramid-shaped hills and simple rock formations. This limitation stemmed from defining the planet surface with a planetary heightmap, allowing only one parameter per voxel: its height.

With our new VRAGE3 engine, we can now generate natural-looking overhangs, cliffs, and more complex landscapes. This makes the planets feel much more alive and believable.

While we still utilize a planetary heightmap (a cube projected onto the planet where the height of each voxel/location is defined; a voxel’s size is 1 meter, and the current heightmap resolution is one pixel per 8 voxels, though a “detail heightmap” ensures an effective resolution of one pixel per 1 voxel, resulting in 1-meter resolution), the game also spawns small voxel storages of overhangs and boulders throughout the environment.

The procedural generator ensures these are placed in natural locations, enhancing the shapes of mountains, hills, flat areas, and canyons. The end result is that the surface is no longer merely 2.5D (the maximum achievable with a heightmap) but fully 3D. Additionally, we have caves, as the game now also subtracts from the surface to generate them.

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[h3]Material Transitions[/h3]
Artists are enhancing the visual quality of planetary voxel material transitions. In Space Engineers 1 (SE1), material blending between voxels occurred simply over the surface of a single voxel (one triangle).

In Space Engineers 2 (SE2), these transitions can extend across multiple voxels and triangles. Additionally, a transition mask with height information allows for significantly more natural-looking material transitions.

We’ve also been expanding the internal VRAGE3 Editor. Here you can see editing planetary rings directly inside the tool. This is one of many incremental improvements that help us create richer worlds faster and more efficiently.

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Planetary rings are something I’ve wanted to try for a long time. They add scale and atmosphere to a system, and open up interesting design and gameplay questions.

Do you like the idea of planetary rings? Should they just be beautiful backdrops, or should they have resources and hazards hidden inside them?

Please join us for Space Engineers Developer Livestream!

🚀 Friday, August 22, 5 PM UTC
🛰️ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/keencommunitynetwork
🛰️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceEngineers

Image Credits: [C-67] - Cumulus - Dropship by Sheddyshiba

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