Hello, Engineers!
The day has come - Space Engineers 2 Alpha has officially launched on Steam Early Access!
After months of anticipation and hard work, we’re excited to take this first step together. The thrilling journey of Space Engineers 2 starts now, and we invite you all to be part of it. The release of the Alpha and Vertical Slice1: Creative Mode is just the beginning - there’s so much more ahead!
- Full Blog Post: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/space-engineers-2-alpha-early-access-release/
- Roadmap: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/roadmap-2/
- Grid Exporter Tool Guide: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/experienced-players/grid-exporter/
- Connect: https://www.keenswh.com/connect/
We’re taking a unique approach to developing Space Engineers 2 with our Vertical Slice strategy. A Vertical Slice is a fully playable portion of the game that showcases specific core features and improvements implemented at production quality. It serves as a milestone in the game’s development, allowing us to focus on delivering polished gameplay in stages while more features are added in subsequent slices.
You have now access to VS1: Creative Mode. Additional Vertical Slices will follow in the months after, each expanding the game's features and content. This development process will continue over the next few years until we achieve our full vision for Space Engineers 2.
Forging the Future Together
But first let’s talk openly and honestly about the Space Engineers 2 Alpha - the word “Alpha” is really important. Releasing Space Engineers 2 in such an early stage of development isn’t just a milestone for us; it’s a deliberate choice. It reflects our commitment to transparency, collaboration, and building something incredible together with our players.
We’re just as excited about Space Engineers 2 as you are. We couldn’t wait for you to get your hands on it and see what amazing creations you’ll dream up within this new chapter of the Space Engineers universe. Your creativity inspires us, and we know the game will truly shine as you begin to explore, experiment, and push its boundaries.
We’ve seen firsthand the power of a great symbiosis with our community. Space Engineers 1 was shaped, refined, and elevated by your ideas, feedback, and passion. You push us to try harder, aim higher, and get further. Without your voices, Space Engineers would have been a much different game. That same spirit is what drives us today.
An early release like this brings enormous advantages - not just for us, but for you. We get the opportunity to test ideas, uncover hidden challenges, and innovate beyond our limits. You get to experience and shape the development firsthand, influence its direction, and witness the evolution of the game from the ground up.
That said, let’s be honest. If you’re not ready for an unpolished experience, this may not be the right time to jump in. If you prefer to “plug in and play,” we encourage you to wishlist, sign up for our newsletter, follow the development, and wait for future updates when the game becomes more feature-complete. As a reminder, here’s the Roadmap, so you can see where we’re headed and decide the best time to hop on this journey.
However, if you’re excited about shaping the future of Space Engineers 2 with us - visit our Store, our Support Portal and get involved!
How to share your feedback?
The best way to provide your feedback is through our Support Portal. You can always find a direct link to the support portal from within the game - just press F1 to access the help screen!
This platform is your direct line to the developers and the Space Engineers community. Here, you can:
- Create a Bugreport
- Create a ticket with your Feedback/Idea
- Vote on other ideas or bug reports
- Comment and Interact with fellow players
- Suggest solutions and provide valuable feedback to help shape the future of Space Engineers 2
Vertical Slice 1: Creative Mod - Features
You have now access to VS1: Creative Mode, our first vertical slice, featuring:
- New VRAGE3 engine brings better performance and future optimization potential
- new 25cm unified grid system (no more small vs. large grids!)
- new blueprint building (snap to grid, partial copy/paste, assign to toolbar)
- grid undo/redo
- enhanced creative mode with powerful building tools (new voxel hand, symmetry tools, line/plane building)
- grid speeds up to ~300 m/s
- safe speed system preventing damage under 20 m/s
- new magboots with camera stabilization
- new physics and dynamic fractures and debris for more realistic destruction
- visual revolution thanks to ray tracing, global illumination, tessellated terrain, parallax mapping, sleek armor edges, and enhanced lighting
Vertical Slice 1 Blocks
- Armor
- Light Armor
- Light Armor block
- Light Armor slope
- Light Armor corner
- Light Armor inverted corner
- Light Armor Half Long Slope
- Light Armor Half Block
- Light Armor Wide Half Slope
- Light Armor Half Corner
- Light Armor Long Slope Corner Base
- Light Armor Long Slope Corner Tip
- Light Armor Long Slope Inv. Corner Base
- Light Armor Long Slope Inv. Corner Tip
- Light Armor Wide Half Corner Tip
- Light Armor Wide Half Corner Base
- Heavy Armor
- Heavy Armor block
- Heavy Armor slope
- Heavy Armor corner
- Heavy Armor inv. corner
- Heavy Armor Half Long Slope
- Heavy Armor Half Block
- Heavy Armor Wide Half Slope
- Heavy Armor Half Corner
- Heavy Armor Long Slope Corner Base
- Heavy Armor Long Slope Corner Tip
- Heavy Armor Long Slope Inv. Corner Base
- Heavy Armor Long Slope Inv. Corner Tip
- Heavy Armor Wide Half Corner Tip
- Heavy Armor Wide Half Corner Base
- Structures
- Wall
- Flat 25 cm
- 25 cm Corner
- 25 cm Corner with Side
- Pillar
- Flat 25 cm
- Slope 25 cm
- Round 100 cm
- Round 50 cm
- Window
- Flat
- 90 Degree Corner
- 90 Degree Corner with Side
- Slope
- Slope with Side
- Long Slope
- Long Slope with Side Left
- Long Slope with Side Right
- Large Triangle Side
- Triangle Side
- Triangle Slanted
- Triangle Slanted Inverted
- Large Triangle Slanted
- Large Triangle Slanted Inverted
- Slant Long
- Slant Long Inverted
- Catwalk
- Square Base
- Narrow Base
- Corner Base
- Handrail
- Long Section
- Short Section
- Diagonal Section
- Long Corner Section
- Short Corner Section
- Ramp
- Stairway
- Half Cover Wall
- Narrow Sliding Door*
- Wall
- Control
- Control seat
- Cockpit
- Gyroscope
- Propulsion
- Ion Thrusters
- Gravity Generator*
- Energy
- Solar Panels*
- Reactor*
- Logistics
- Cargo Container*
- Production
- Assembler*
- Refinery*
- Utility
- Landing Gear
- Spotlight
- Interior light
- Corner light
- Medical room*
- Drill Small
- Button Panel*
- Antenna*
- Weapons
- Gatling Cannon*
Release Notes/Ongoing Improvements
While your feedback is invaluable, some features are not yet ready for your input. These systems and mechanics are temporary solutions or placeholders, and we’re already hard at work redesigning and refining them. We ask for your patience while we bring these elements to their full potential.
Here are some of the features and improvements we’re actively working on:
- We’re aware of incompatibility at launch of Space Engineers 2 on Intel Arc A-Series and Core Ultra Series 1 built-in Arc GPUs. We are working with Intel to enable the game experience and will provide relevant updates as development progresses.
- Some blocks are decorative-only for now (for example, the Assembler is present but cannot produce components)
- The Blueprint interface is currently in its initial version. Additional features and improvements will be introduced in upcoming updates.
- Performance
- Performance optimization is ongoing. For Alpha release, we’re targeting 16x Red Ship grids at 60 FPS on recommended hardware.
- The game simulation continues even when the menu is open (no pause function) and Autosave may cause brief lags during gameplay. Performance may temporarily drop when pasting or attaching blueprints.
- Performance optimizations of ship collisions and destruction are ongoing, so it won’t be lag-free at this moment. We will be continuously improving it in the following updates.
- PCU values per block may appear higher compared to Space Engineers 1, reflecting SE2's increased detail and more precise performance measurements. While the current total PCU limit is set at 400,000 in VS1, we plan to raise this threshold in future updates as we implement scheduled optimization improvements.
- The current GUI (Graphical User Interface) and HUD (Heads-Up Display) are works in progress. Our team is prioritizing core functionality first. Once we've confirmed all features are working as intended, we'll enhance the visual design and overall aesthetics.
- The inventory system will be implemented in a future update
- Fracture models will receive additional visual updates in future versions.
- Character shadow in first-person mode is disabled temporarily and will be re-enabled in future animation updates. Animations for uphill/downhill movement, jumping, and tools will be refined in the future update.
- Inverse kinematics (IK) is not yet implemented.
- Toolbar block groups and sizes (block selection via R key) are a temporary mechanism and will be redesigned in a near update.
- Undo/redo functionality for the paint tool is not implemented yet, but internally we already have it, so it will be available in a near update. Changing block colors currently requires switching to the paint tool, but this will be streamlined. In addition, the paint tool’s limited palette is temporary; future updates will include RGB/HSV color settings and custom palettes.
- Many small HUD and UX improvements didn’t make it into VS1 but are planned for future updates.
- Jetpack mechanics are being polished, including adjustments to boost, acceleration, sound effects, and camera shake (note: in an internal build we are already finishing jetpack 2.0, with more pronounced boost mechanics… so please expect changes in VS 1.2)
- The off-center third-person camera for characters and ships is not yet implemented, but we are working on it, aiming to get it to one of the next updates.
- Ship controls are functional but will be further refined with target-based gyroscope controls.
- Enhanced sound effects are coming, including jetpack audio, debug gun, ship sounds and destruction.
- Tutorials will be added closer to the end of development.
- Keyboard and mouse controls are not customizable yet, but they will be!
- The Alpha releases in English language, more localizations will follow
- Recoloring some blocks is limited to certain sides only - this will be fixed in the following update
- Sometimes character peeks through cockpit - this will be fixed in the following update
- Physics
- Character can get through voxel during collisions (this can break character physics)
- Destroying cockpit, while character is using it, can disable physics
- Splitting static grid connected to a voxel results in relocation and/or explosion of split grid (we are working on a hotfix)
Suggestions
If you have ideas or suggestions for the game, we want to hear them! Your feedback has been instrumental in shaping the Space Engineers experience, and your contributions will be just as crucial for Space Engineers 2.
Take a moment to share your ideas on our Support Portal and help us improve - we value your time and input!
Bug Reports
Encountered a technical issue? Let us know by submitting a bug report.
When reporting bugs, please:
- Provide a thorough description of the issue.
- Include reliable reproduction steps if possible.
- Attach any relevant log files, screenshots, or videos.
- Share a save file of your world, if applicable, to help us investigate further.
These details are essential to help us resolve issues effectively. Even if you can’t provide reproduction steps, the more information you include, the better!
Don’t Forget to Vote!
Before submitting new feedback or bug reports, use the search feature to see if a similar topic already exists. If you find one, don’t hesitate to vote for the topic to show it’s important to you!
If you don’t find what you’re looking for, feel free to start a new topic. Every vote, suggestion, and report counts and helps us prioritize updates and improvements. The support portal is the best and most direct way to help shape Space Engineers 2. We’re looking forward to hearing from you
Post-release Support
We will continuously monitor Space Engineers 2 stability after the release and fix any problematic cases that lead to game issues.
Pioneer Edition
Pioneer Edition Bundle includes the base game, soundtrack, and exclusive behind-the-scenes development materials (from 2022 to 2024). As development continues, we will keep adding new content and updates.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/48063/Space_Engineers_2_Pioneer_Edition_Bundle/
For Space Engineers 2's soundtrack and in-game music, we wanted to capture the story of people who carried their ancestral heritage across 10,000 light-years to The Amalgest System. We drew inspiration from various ethnic styles: the soul-stirring melodies of Eastern Europe, the mystical sounds of Arabia, the intricate patterns of Indian music, and the primal rhythms of Northern European tribes.
To bring this vision to life, we turned to Karel Antonin, who has been composing and leading music production for our games for almost 15 years, from Miner Wars through Space Engineers and Medieval Engineers. Under Karel's direction, each piece of music became a bridge between Earth's ancient cultures and humanity's far future, blending traditional instruments with modern synthesizers to show how our musical heritage might evolve across millennia.
Working with talented musicians and a full orchestra, Karel composed music that feels both ancient and futuristic, where you might hear folk melodies transformed through electronic textures while still maintaining their emotional core. This vision continues the musical journey we began together all those years ago, growing and evolving with each game we create.
Soundtrack Recording
What happens when you put together over 80 amazing players and record the score live?
It was an amazing day from start to finish, filled with "hard fun", notes & liters of coffee. Check it out: