A really fun game, kinda like Minecraft in space with physics and a really cool destruction modell.
They just updated the game and introduced multiplayer.
So, if anyone is interested in playing and building, or showing off a cool spaceship you've build, post here!
I bought it when it first came out, the devs have had regular weekly updates so far with notable improvements in performance, stability and adding features. Already been more than worth the money paid for me at this point.
It is still alpha though, lots of stuff still missing and the multiplayer is barely functional as it has only just been released. Worth getting though in my opinion, especially if you like minecraft/space games.
So I tried this today and it's a very fun toy indeed, though little more than that at the moment. I wonder how they intend to turn this into an actual game.
I think it will take a similar route to minecraft but with better options for pvp (all the weapons kind of suggest that). Survival mode is planned but so far the developers haven't revealed how they intend to set up the threats to the player, whether they will be natural hazards or some sort of npc etc...
Cant put the quote in a spoiler cuz it messes it up
quote from my thread on the fse forums. has a lot more info
http://www.fsegames.eu/forum/index.php?topic=10309.0
also there is a new update to space engineers every thursday
What is it?
Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction and maintenance of space works. Players build space ships and space stations of various sizes and utilization (civil and military), pilot ships and perform asteroid mining.
Space Engineers utilizes a realistic volumetric-based physics engine: all objects can be assembled, disassembled, damaged and destroyed. The game comes with two game modes: creative and survival.
Volumetric objects are structures composed from block-like modules interlocked in a grid. Volumetric objects behave like real physical objects with mass, inertia and velocity. Individual modules have real volume and storage capacity.
Space Engineers is inspired by reality and by how things work. Think about modern-day NASA technology extrapolated 60 years into the future. Space Engineers strives to follow the laws of physics and doesn't use technologies that wouldn't be feasible in the near future.
Space Engineers concentrates on construction aspects, but can be played as a tactical shooter as well. We expect players to avoid engaging in direct man-to-man combat and instead use their creativity and engineering skills to build war machines and fortifications. Space Engineers shouldn’t be about troops; it should be about the machinery you build.
Features
- space suit color selection (in medical room)
- large ship drills
- added spectator mode
- added borderless window option
- more options for running dedicated server (configurable data path in command line)
- improved small cockpit mount points
- added the option to take anything from conveyor system by double-clicking
Fixes
- reverted to previous multiplayer code (improvements will come)
- fixed landing gear white color
- fixed cargo ships not de-spawning
- fixed issue with players’ name displayed as "Unknown"
- fixed issue when tools constantly deplete suit’s energy after the task is finished
- fixed merge block shifting when two ships were connected
- fixed Cockpit3 does not need any displays to be functional
- fixed issue with screenshots taken during auto-save
- fixed issue with broken workshop thumbnails
- fixed warning when switching from creative 1x to survival 1x
- fixed ship drill being too fragile
- fixed changing toolbar while constructing
- few animation fixes (character without gravity or jetpack, character sitting in a cockpit)
- fixed issue with ejector being functional when it was placed on large doors
- fixed grammatical translation errors (multiple errors on words, sentences & quotes in US English Version)
Spectator mode:
Can be enabled in world settings
F6 - return to regular mode
F7 - tracking camera, controlling object
F8 - free camera, controlling camera (this is true spectator)
F9 - free camera, controlling object
Dedicated server:
SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe -noconsole -path "D:\Whatever\Something"
-noconsole: will run without black console window
-path: will load config and store all files in path specified ("D:\Whatever\Something" in example)
taskkill /IM SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe
this will stop dedicated server correctly, saving the world etc
to stop it immediately add argument "/f", that will kill server without asking to stop and without saving the world
Features
- electricity is now being transmitted through rotors (inter-grid electricity and communications relaying)
- “center of mass” indicator (enabled in terminal screen: Info panel)
- moved some of the world settings to the new “advanced settings” screen
- new world settings: automatic removal of respawn ships
- new world settings: automatic trash removal
- new world settings: world size limit
- ban on player’s screen (F3) for dedicated server
- improved landing gear (setting break force, auto-lock feature)
Fixes
- fixed crashes caused by landing gears, rotors and merge blocks
- fixed crashes when character was walking near asteroids
- fixed toolbar issues (drag and copy, right click, double click)
- fixed crash when creating Crashed Ship scenario
- fixed frozen cube builder preview
- fixed auto-submit log after game crash
Features
- conveyor-connector system is fully functional
- set custom color to astronaut’s suit
- passenger seat
- copy-paste the grids which are connected through rotors
- items ejected from the ejector now inherit velocity
Fixes
- fixed weird/purple colors (especially visible on asteroids)
- fixed hand drill issue
- fixed clustered cargo ships in MP consuming server memory causing high ping
- fixed control groups after merging/splitting
- fixed issue with merge block causing CTD and stops Dedicated Server
- fixed issue when switching while in load screen by using ALT-TAB and load worlds list stays blank
- fixed issue when connectors could not connect if mounted to the same ship
- fixed crash when merging small ships
- fixed pink textures on asteroids
- fixed dedicated server crash when socket is already in use
- fixed few instances where mining is not working
- fixed some symmetry is off (Cockpit 3 Large, Cockpit 1 Small.)
In case any of you guys who like this haven't tried "Distant Worlds" (now on Steam lo-and-behold!) I recommend it. It is at a level one order of magnitude higher in scale than this: meaning you control individual ships not individual astronauts. Also civilian ships are automated and the focus is 4x in the tradition of Space Empires or Galactic Civilizations. It was originally a one-man show, some fellow from NZ, though he may have paid staff now.
The way the vastness of empty space between solar systems is conveyed and the way the map zoom works are best I've seen.
An integration of an engine like this with an engine like DW . . . oh wow, nerdgasm.
Does this game include a kind of "empire building" feeling to it at this point? Is there any combat or "threats" that must be dealt with? Are there economic constraints? Do you have to search for different resources in order to be able build stuff?
Or is it just purely a sandbox building game at this point?
If the answer is that it is just a sandbox building game, what is your sense for the long-term direction? Are they going to develop it to have more of an ecologically constrained "career mode" or campaign or scenario type stuff?
There seem to be more and more games that are very sandboxy and innovative in portraying unique contexts in highly naturalistic, if not pseudo-realistic form (e.g., Kerbals portrayal of how orbital mechanics and rocketry works; Spintires portrayal of off-roading; Universe sandbox portrayal of large- and mega-scale orbital mechanics). I have enjoyed these new directions immensely, but I find that I generally get bored with them once I understand how things work.
In the case of KSP, clearly they are developing (have? developed) a career mode. Spintires will hopefully eventually get an economic framework in which the player must compete either against himself, some criterion or other players. Universe sandbox . . . I don't see that one becoming a true "game,' but just imagine if the underlying engine in that game were "integrated" into a more traditional "Space 4x" or "Space Opera" type game!?
