6 Things We Know So Far About Space Engineers 2

Summary

• New Vrage3 engine with modern features like multicore CPU support and DX12.
• Space Engineers 2 will introduce full water physics for players to shape landscapes.
• Improved multiplayer experience with client-server model and better netcode.

Space Engineers is 11 years old. Despite its age, the game still has a loyal following. Keen, the developers, has a policy of releasing major new game features for free, alongside an optional cosmetic DLC pack. This means that players who bought the base game on launch have access to all the new features that have been patched over the years for this space survival game.

However, the original game is starting to look quite dated and simply does not exploit major technological advances such as raytracing and multicore CPUs. This is where Space Engineers 2 comes in. In recent weeks, Keen has released several teaser videos, finally announcing Space Engineers 2 on the 10th of December in a final teaser video. The new space game will feature the modern iteration of the Vrage engine, Vrage3. No release date has been hinted at yet, and it is likely fans will have to wait sometime to play Space Engineers 2, but at least it is confirmed as in production now.

New Vrage3 Engine

Replacing The Vrage2 Engine

Vrage3 is the next iteration of the Vrage engine that has been used in Miner Wars 2081, Space Engineers, and Medieval Engineers. The engine focuses on supporting large, voxelized, destructible worlds.

Vrage3 looks like a much more modern version of the engine, exploiting hardware improvements. Keen has stated on their development site that Vrage3 will come with multicore CPU support, follow a GPU-driven pipeline, and have DX12 support. It will also be multiplatform and is going to be a huge upgrade over the dated Vrage2 engine.

Water Physics

Shape The Waterscape Of A World

Space Engineers doesn’t have any water at all. It does have ice lakes, but these are made from static voxels. There are mods that attempt to add water physics to the current game, but these can be a little clunky and can tank the game’s performance on older hardware.

Space Engineers 2 will feature full water physics. Take a step back here for a moment, and consider what this means. Due to the fully destructible nature of the world, players will be able to modify the landscape and impact the water table. Imagine drilling and trimming down the edge of a cliff beside a lake to create a waterfall, or re-routing the watercourse to fill a valley, for example.

Improved Multiplayer

No More Steam Networking!

Let’s be honest here, the current multiplayer implementation in Space Engineers is pretty dire and uses the Steam networking services. It looks like Space Engineers 2 will include reworked multiplayer features and better netcode.

The Keen development site states that multiplayer will be based on a client-server model. Meaning, locally hosted games will become the authoritative server, in the same way a dedicated server works. As the new engine is stated as being multiplatform, it would be nice if Keen releases a Linux version of the dedicated server. Currently, Linux server owners need to run a Space Engineers server inside a container, under WINE. Time will tell.

Improved Rendering Engine

Much Better Graphics

Considering it is an 11-year-old game, Space Engineers still looks pretty good visually. However, it doesn’t include many of the graphical features players have come to expect from modern games. The new version of the Vrage engine that Space Engineers 2 will use should address this issue.

Many veteran Space Engineers players will be pleased to know that Vrage3 will fix the ever-present lighting bleedthrough, as well as add real-time dynamic global illumination. Raytracing is being added, no surprise here. Something that Space Engineers has always lacked, is any form of antialiasing. The new engine solves this, by providing a range of post-processing effects, including TAA. Overall, from what has been teased so far, Space Engineers 2 is going to look amazing.

New Game Assets

Not Simply Revamped Models

In the teaser videos for Space Engineers 2 that Keen has released so far, it is plain to see that the game assets have been completely redesigned for Space Engineers 2. Rather than take the existing assets from Space Engineers and rework them, they seem to be entirely unique.

This was likely a requirement due to the new grid system, but it is a welcome new addition and a sign of Keen’s commitment to making Space Engineers 2 a fresh experience. Many developers would have simply reworked what they already had.

25cm Unified Grid System

No More Split Size Grid!

Currently, Space Engineers enables players to build two different sizes of grids: small and large. Think of this like normal Lego and jumbo Lego. Indeed, building a base, ship, or station in Space Engineers is much like Lego currently, plugging blocks together to achieve an overall design.

Space Engineers 2 is going to change this system entirely. Large and small grids will be a thing of the past. Instead, the new Vrage3 engine will feature a scalable grid system, working on a 25cm grid, meaning blocks can be scaled down or scaled up to any size in this grid. Although blocks such as assemblers and refineries won’t scale, of course. What this means, is that players will be able to create much more detailed designs, and this is evident in the teaser videos.