Marek's Dev Diary: June 26, 2025

What is thisEvery 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 itI 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 This is my unfiltered dev journal, so please keep in mind that what I write here are my thoughts and will be outdated by the time you read this, as so many things change quickly.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 2VS 1.5 - Modding for SE2This Tuesday we released VS 1.5 - Modding for SE2!It was a big update because it allows modders to change the game just by modifying data. Modders can add new blocks, change existing blocks, textures, character models, skybox, sound and music, and other things.I think our modding technology is quite amazing, because it's all data-driven. We released a HUB and Editor where you can do it all in WYSIWYG mode (with validation, templates, etc.), and your changes are validated—reducing the chances of breaking things. And it’s all Blender compatible - a very important thing for me, making the 3D modeling for SE2 accessible to everyone.Thanks again to the team who delivered the Modding—it was really a big project and will serve the SE community for the coming decades!VS2 Planets and SurvivalThis is our main priority right now.SE1 didn't have an explicit meta loop, and this was a benefit (it kept the game pretty open and people focused on what they wanted to do) but also a disadvantage (some players actually want clear objectives and a visible success metric).I feel pretty good about the final meta loop we designed:your goal is to colonize Almagest, sector after sectoryou see your colonization progress on the Colonization Map — the whole Almagest, sectors, planets, GPS locations, etc.you colonize sectors by completing contracts/missionscontract types: engineering, exploration, mining, and in the future, combat tooThis gives the ultimate purpose and end goal: Colonize Almagest. Everything will converge to this singular goal — and it's visual, tangible, and easy to understand and communicate. It's an end goal you can reach within a reasonable amount of time. And the game doesn't end there — it can continue in open-ended freestyle sandbox mode. You can keep building or just complete more missions.I am interested in your feedback, so please leave your comments!VS3 WaterWe are going through the final planning stages for VS3 Water — what still has to be implemented gameplay-wise, not just the water tech for VS3. Of course, water will be released after VS2 Planets and Survival, but we are working on them in parallel.Help Shape the Future of Space Engineers 2We’d love to hear from you! We’re running a short poll to get your thoughts on the direction of Space Engineers 2, and your feedback will help us prioritize.

Jun 26, 2025 - 13:00

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

VS 1.5 - Modding for SE2

This Tuesday we released VS 1.5 - Modding for SE2!

It was a big update because it allows modders to change the game just by modifying data. Modders can add new blocks, change existing blocks, textures, character models, skybox, sound and music, and other things.

I think our modding technology is quite amazing, because it's all data-driven. We released a HUB and Editor where you can do it all in WYSIWYG mode (with validation, templates, etc.), and your changes are validated—reducing the chances of breaking things. And it’s all Blender compatible - a very important thing for me, making the 3D modeling for SE2 accessible to everyone.

Thanks again to the team who delivered the Modding—it was really a big project and will serve the SE community for the coming decades!

VS2 Planets and Survival

This is our main priority right now.

SE1 didn't have an explicit meta loop, and this was a benefit (it kept the game pretty open and people focused on what they wanted to do) but also a disadvantage (some players actually want clear objectives and a visible success metric).

I feel pretty good about the final meta loop we designed:

your goal is to colonize Almagest, sector after sector
you see your colonization progress on the Colonization Map — the whole Almagest, sectors, planets, GPS locations, etc.
you colonize sectors by completing contracts/missions
contract types: engineering, exploration, mining, and in the future, combat too

This gives the ultimate purpose and end goal: Colonize Almagest. Everything will converge to this singular goal — and it's visual, tangible, and easy to understand and communicate. It's an end goal you can reach within a reasonable amount of time. And the game doesn't end there — it can continue in open-ended freestyle sandbox mode. You can keep building or just complete more missions.

I am interested in your feedback, so please leave your comments!

VS3 Water

We are going through the final planning stages for VS3 Water — what still has to be implemented gameplay-wise, not just the water tech for VS3. Of course, water will be released after VS2 Planets and Survival, but we are working on them in parallel.

Help Shape the Future of Space Engineers 2

We’d love to hear from you! We’re running a short poll to get your thoughts on the direction of Space Engineers 2, and your feedback will help us prioritize.