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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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
Story is Optional, Sandbox is Still King
You can accept missions from NPCs or the Contract Block - or simply play free-form sandbox.
Some of these missions are part of the Colonization of Almagest - our meta-progression loop. This system unlocks new areas, resources, blocks, upgrades, and more.
It’s not mandatory, but it’s a key way to grow your capabilities and unlock more of the world.
Separate from colonization, some missions push the story forward - including cutscenes and narrative moments.
The story layer is completely optional. If you ignore both the colonization missions and the story, you’ll have a pure sandbox experience.
You decide how deep you want to go - colonization, story, both, or neither.
What About Multiplayer?
The last blog post focused on single-player, but here’s our current thinking on multiplayer:
- Co-op Story Mode: Your friends join your world. You play as Miro Sokol, and they’re your companions. Together, you experience your story.Vanilla Sandbox Servers: On public or dedicated servers, the story is turned off. Nobody is Miro Sokol. Everyone starts freely, just like classic SE sandbox.
This design is still a work in progress and subject to change. But your feedback is helping us shape it in the right direction.
