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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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
The team is almost finished with VS 1.5 Modding (should be completed this week, and then a few weeks of testing will begin). With this milestone approaching, everyone is now shifting focus towards VS 2 - Planets and Survival, which I'm personally very excited about.
Some of the basic loops in the game are already working well during our internal playtests: the ore detector now elegantly displays ore locations on your HUD, you can drill ore, and the inventory screen allows smooth movement of items between inventories and grids. During yesterday's playtest, we focused on refining the grid roll function (Q/E keys) which many of you noticed wasn't fully implemented. I'm pleased to report it's now working as intended.
The art team is polishing voxel materials for planets - cliff materials, grass, soil, sand, and more. I'm genuinely impressed with how planets look from orbit and from 1-2 km distances - the view is breathtaking. However, we still have work to do in the middle distance range (200-2000m), where some material detail patterns don't quite match the scale. This is the kind of subtle polish that will make a huge difference in the final experience.
Turning SE2 into a Game: Core/Meta Loops & Progression
This topic has become my personal priority. Many systems in SE2 are already solid and polished, so now it's time to "turn it into a game" with meaningful, satisfying loops.
Core loops in SE2 encompass exploration, engineering, combat, and various combinations of these activities. A key design principle we're implementing is accessibility - ensuring the first experience with engineering isn't overwhelmingly complex, which might discourage new players. We're designing a progression from simpler engineering tasks to more complex challenges as players gain experience, but importantly, players are free to progress in any direction they want. The game will gradually introduce more complexity and challenges, but you'll never be forced down a specific path.
Let me walk you through a concrete example: Imagine spawning on a planet where your HUD objectives guide you to a ship projection. The interface intelligently directs you to nearby resource locations. You mine ore and then use backpack building (which automatically converts raw ore to components for basic blocks) to weld the projection block by block. Within minutes, you've constructed your first ship, and your HUD guides you to the next objective. Of course, this is just one optional path - you're always free to ignore these suggestions and forge your own way through the universe.
This engineering core loop creates satisfying and rewarding moments every few minutes. It's something players will repeat regularly, so we're meticulously fine-tuning it to ensure it remains engaging. This is just one example - we have numerous core loops designed with the same care.
Meta loops provide longer-term goals. You might accept a mission, travel to a specific location, solve various challenges (exploration, combat, engineering), receive rewards, and then progress to the next mission. Through this journey, you'll unlock new areas and advance your colonization index - a visual map showing which regions of Almagest you've already colonized. This provides intuitive, visual progression feedback without resorting to arbitrary gates.
Progression in SE2 isn't about arbitrary skill trees or artificial restrictions. Our philosophy is to gradually introduce complexity, allowing players to learn the game's systems organically while providing clear visual indicators of progress. We respect player intelligence while ensuring the learning curve doesn't become a learning cliff.
What I've described is just a glimpse into the ongoing design discussions we're having. Another major topic we're currently brainstorming is the combat meta and core loops - examining why players would attack or defend, what challenges they'll face, what rewards they'll receive, optimal combat frequency and distance, and whether combat should be automated or manual. These decisions will fundamentally shape the SE2 experience.
What aspects of SE2's core loops are you most excited to experience? What other topics are you interested in? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Personal: Safari in Botswana
We recently took a quick three-night extended weekend trip to Botswana (an easy choice when you're staying in Cape Town). I've always wanted to visit, but since we didn't have time for a car journey, we opted for this shorter trip.
Botswana is a vast country with fewer than 3 million citizens. They have quality education, good governance, and generally, people seem content in their country (there's relatively little emigration). Our focus, however, was purely on nature - we stayed at a camp in the Okavango Delta and enjoyed the classic safari experience: morning game drives and evening boat rides to observe wildlife.
We were fortunate on the first day to encounter two lion brothers, whom we followed for almost an hour. We witnessed them attempt two hunts - first on a warthog and then on giraffes. Both were unsuccessful. It was fascinating to observe how lions rely on the element of surprise and abandon pursuit if not successful in the first few seconds. It was quite the experience sitting in an open vehicle just 5 meters from these magnificent predators with nothing between us.
To summarize: Botswana is beautiful, safe, has incredible wildlife, excellent food, lush greenery, and friendly, happy people. We plan to return in the future, but next time as a road trip to experience the country more intimately.
