Space Engineers 2 Alpha: Vertical Slice 1.1 - Steam Workshop

Hello, Engineers!

This is our first Vertical Slice update since the Space Engineers 2 Alpha release, and we’re excited to bring you a whole set of new features - and improvements based on your feedback. This update adds in-game UGC Workshop support with Steam Workshop integration, making it easier to share and discover Blueprints and Worlds. We’ve also introduced mouse sensitivity controls, an inverted mouse axis option, and a new grid pasting mode with improved pivot controls.

On top of that, we’ve added advanced world settings for all saves and improved performance when pasting and placing grids. We’re just getting started, and there’s plenty more to come!

• Full Blog Post: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/space-engineers-2-alpha-vertical-slice-1-1-steam-workshop/
• Full Changelog: https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/announcement/space-engineers-2-alpha-vs1-1-ugc-workshop
• Community Hub: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/space-engineers-2-community-hub/
• Roadmap: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/roadmap-2/
• Connect: https://www.keenswh.com/connect/

Steam Workshop for Blueprints and Worlds

The UGC Workshop, with Steam Workshop integration, allows you to easily share and explore Blueprints and Worlds directly in-game. Mod support is planned for Vertical Slice 1.5. The Space Engineers 1 Steam Workshop is the 4th largest on Steam, with over 500,000 creations, and we hope Space Engineers 2 will one day surpass its older brother!

You can start sharing your blueprints - build something incredible, and show us what you're engineering!

This is just the initial implementation of the Workshop, supporting Blueprints and Worlds. We have many additions and improvements planned, including Workshop Collections and other enhancements to make sharing and discovering content even better.

This is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to see what our amazing community creates!

Mouse Sensitivity Controls and Inverted Mouse Setting

Because you wanted it, we’ve added Mouse Sensitivity Controls and an Inverted Mouse Setting in today’s update!
Keyboard and mouse controls aren’t fully customizable yet, but don’t worry - they will be in a future update!

New Grid Pasting Mode

We’re introducing an improved Grid Pasting Mode, making it easier to place and align copied grids and blueprints. When pasting, you'll now see a projection of the grid in your clipboard, complete with a bounding box selection effect. A new “Pasting” banner will indicate when you're in pasting mode - whether you’ve copied a grid with Ctrl+C, pressed Ctrl+V with a grid in your clipboard, or performed a partial grid copy.

Helpful tooltips and input hints will guide you through the process, and pressing Ctrl+B will now take you directly to the Blueprint Creation screen.

Improved Pivot Controls

We've also refined pivot controls to give you more precision when copying and pasting. Now, when you copy, cut, or create a blueprint, the pivot point will automatically be set to the block you aimed at during the action. When pasting, this pivot point will be highlighted, making placement clearer.

Additionally, the snap size of the pivot point now determines the default snap size of the pasted grid or blueprint, giving you better control when positioning structures.

Game Saves - Advanced World Settings

We've added the ability to edit World Save settings, giving you more control over your game. You can now rename your world, enable or disable Auto-save with a simple checkbox, and view all Autosave backups in one place. This makes managing your saves easier and more convenient!

• Steam Workshop Support for Blueprints and Worlds
• Added In-game Workshop Browser
• Added Mouse Sensitivity Controls
• Added Inverted Mouse Axis Option
• New Grid Pasting Mode with Improved Pivot Controls
• Added Advanced World Settings for all Saves (Backup lists, World Settings Editing)
• Performance improvements while pasting/placing Blocks and Grids
• Added ability to make blueprint from Spectator Mode
• Jetpack will auto-activate when boots are no longer in contact with a surface in Zero G conditions
• Added Pause function (The game simulation does not continue when the ESC menu is open)
• Improved the precision of highlight interactions with Blocks and Improved detection of interactive elements
• Added Texture color changes to Paint Tool
• Autolock State added to the Terminal (Autolock Enabled, Autolock Disabled, Autlock Cooldown)
• Out-of-date GPU detection was made more user-friendly

• Known Issues - will be hotfixed ASAP
  • Better communicated response time when placing complex Blueprints in-game.
  • Corrupted files in "UGCContentCache" can cause a game crash.
  • Players are not able to re-publish a local item after deleting the published version.

• Space Engineers 2 Workshop
  • In-game Blueprint interface - Additional features and improvements will be introduced based on player feedback.
  • Published items are Public by default.
  • Displaying Steam Workshop Collections in-game is planned.
  • Blueprint screen refresh can be very slow in some cases - it should be fixed in the next update.
  • Your owned Private items are not currently visible in the in-game Workshop browser.
  • We are addressing edge cases where re-publishing, renaming, tag display in the Steam interface, and sorting may not work as intended.
  • Offline mode improvements - we are working on better handling when Steam is offline.

• Keyboard and mouse controls are not customizable yet, but they will be!
  
• Toolbar block groups and sizes (block selection via R key) are a temporary mechanism and will be redesigned in a near update.
  
• We have additional Symmetry Mode fixes planned for VS1.2
  
• 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)
  
• Performance
  • Performance optimization is ongoing. For Alpha release, we’re targeting 16x Red Ship grids at 60 FPS on recommended hardware.
  • Autosave may cause brief lags during gameplay.
  • 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.
  
• Inverse kinematics (IK) is not yet implemented. Animations for uphill/downhill movement, jumping, and tools will be refined in the future 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.
  
• Jetpack mechanics are being polished, including adjustments to boost, acceleration, sound effects, and camera shake is coming in VS 1.2
  
• We continue to experiment with the off-center third-person camera for characters and ships.
  
• Ship controls are functional but will be further refined with target-based gyroscope controls.
  
• Character shadow in first-person mode is disabled temporarily and will be re-enabled in future animation updates.
  
• Work on enhanced sound effects is ongoing, including jetpack audio, debug gun, ship sounds and destructions.
  
• The Alpha releases in English language, more localizations will follow.
  
• Sometimes character peeks through the cockpit - this will be fixed in the following update.
  
• Tutorials will be added closer to the end of development.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438343560
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438343239
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438342992
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438343918
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438344242
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438344573
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438342527
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438342754
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3438948225
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3439890936

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.

Stability

• Fixed a crash when Landing Gear on 'Autolock' tried to lock onto a grid
• Fixed a crash when closing the game while loading, just before entering a scenario
• Fixed a crash when pressing keys simultaneously
• Fixed a crash when shooting at blocks
• Fixed a crash caused by running out of memory

Performance

• Fixed a performance issue when aiming with a block on a grid
• Fixed a performance issue when placing multiple Light blocks
• Fixed a performance issue when when adding a blueprint to the toolbar
• Fixed a performance issue with the in-game menu opening before loading finished, causing a freeze on exit
• Fixed an issue where pressing F2 made the game unresponsive
• Fixed a performance issue when changing Paint Tool colors

Functional

• Fixed an issue where 'Replace Grid' discarded changes without asking
• Fixed an issue where replacing a blueprint created a new blueprint instead of overwriting the existing one
• Fixed an issue where a deleted blueprint still appeared in the blueprint screen
• Fixed an issue where adding a deleted blueprint to the toolbar caused notification spam
• Fixed an issue where a corrupted blueprint wasn't distinguished in the blueprint screen
• Fixed an issue where screenshots didn’t display correctly in the blueprint screen
• Fixed an issue where an old screenshot prevented a new blueprint from being pasted
• Fixed an issue where changing a blueprint's thumbnail and discarding changes still saved it
• Fixed an issue where changing a blueprint's thumbnail discarded title and description changes
• Fixed an issue where exiting a blueprint detail screen would freeze the game
• Fixed an issue where the blueprint preview briefly faced the camera before placement
• Fixed an issue where Reactor's power button opened terminal
• Fixed an issue where the front terminal of the 7.5 m Cargo Container couldn’t be interacted with
• Fixed an issue where block placer tried to build a plane instead of a line
• Fixed an issue where copied split large grid pieces couldn’t be placed
• Fixed an issue where copying 0.5 m and 0.25 m grids was inaccurate at certain spots
• Fixed an issue where interaction highlight didn't work under certain angles
• Fixed an issue where using 'Cancel' during bulk placement/deletion triggered an additional action
• Fixed an issue where block preview didn't rotate 90 degrees while in grid-aligned placement mode in voxel
• Fixed an issue where symmetry mode didn't mirror a ship's arm
• Fixed an issue where symmetry mode placed extra blocks
• Fixed an issue where Control Seat transported the character to a different location when exiting
• Fixed an issue where the character started drifting after landing upside down in gravity
• Fixed an issue where the character was ejected into a grid
• Fixed an issue where switching from 1st to 3rd person while crouching positioned the camera incorrectly
• Fixed an issue where tools used the 1st person camera transform to aim, even in 3rd person mode
• Fixed an issue where a single block dealt more damage than a 10-ton grid
• Fixed an issue where relative dampeners didn’t persist through save and reload
• Fixed an issue where relative dampeners stopped working after re-entering a Cockpit
• Fixed an issue where the dampeners-off icon remained displayed regardless of the dampeners' state
• Fixed an issue where the jetpack didn’t automatically activate when magboots turned off in zero gravity
• Fixed an issue where recoloring some blocks was limited to certain sides only
• Fixed an issue where Paint Tool didn't pick colors reliably
• Fixed an issue where the Pick Up Material function didn’t work with the voxel hand 1 m
• Fixed an issue where a static grid embedded in voxels became dynamic upon separation

UI

• Fixed an issue where the font on the on/off switches had inconsistent weights
• Fixed an issue where group selection was canceled when scrolling through the terminal
• Fixed an issue where double-clicking on a save in the load game screen did not work reliably
• Fixed an issue where the shadow distance under texts was inconsistent
• Fixed an issue where color sliders were not updating when changing the Hex value
• Fixed an issue where the UI elements layout were not aligned properly
• Fixed an issue where HUD bars were too cluttered
• Fixed an issue where the "+" symbol was missing on the Help screen after launching the game
• Fixed an issue where clicked buttons didn’t display the correct overlay on the top side
• Fixed an issue where a corrupted blueprint wasn't distinguished in the blueprint screen
• Fixed an issue where blank lines were appearing in the terminal
• Fixed an issue where a black line was present on the Disclaimer screen
• Fixed an issue where blocks that were scrolled out of view were not highlighted for the selected group in the terminal
• Fixed an issue where the parking icon didn’t update when the ship was locked or unlocked to a surface
• Fixed an issue where the tooltip incorrectly displayed "No Blocks Copied" even though block settings were copied
• Fixed an issue where the hint for "Grid-Aligned Placement Mode" and "Free Placement Mode" was missing
• Fixed an issue where typos appeared in the Help screen and within the quotes
• Fixed an issue where the arrow for sorting by "Last Played" was reversed

Audio

• Fixed an issue where character impact audio was missing
• Fixed an issue where a strange sound occurred when destroying Catwalks
• Fixed an issue where the thrusting jetpack sound was present when drifting with dampeners off
• Fixed an issue where the push sound was triggered outside of the Cockpit when pushing a grid
• Fixed an issue where small ship collisions at low speed with asteroids or grids didn’t produce collision sounds
• Fixed an issue where debug gun sounds played incorrectly
• Fixed an issue where the Paint Tool sound was delayed
• Fixed an issue where the jetpack boost sound kept playing after releasing the direction key before the shift key
• Fixed an issue where the push sound interruption triggered a click-cut sound
• Fixed an issue where a second intro music track played without respecting the volume settings

Animation

• Fixed an issue where jumping and running forward caused the character to get stuck in the land pose and briefly sink after landing
• Fixed an issue where a broken blueprint in the toolbar disrupted hand animations

Art

• Fixed an issue where the Refinery 7.5 m had a part with incorrect collisions
• Fixed an issue where the Reactor 7.5 m button highlight was inconsistent with the Gravity Generator and Reactor 2.5 m
• Fixed an issue where the Refinery highlighted only the LCD screen and not the keyboard

Render

• Fixed an issue where texture quality could not be lowered within one game session
• Fixed an issue where smears appeared on blocks when looking through the 3D UI
• Fixed an issue where holograms blocked the flares
• Fixed an issue where a light wave appeared when placing a plane of Interior Lights
• Fixed an issue where blocks blinked when swapped from functional to fractured
• Fixed an issue where the transparent UI during partial copy-paste appeared to move
• Fixed an issue where the Paint Tool was overlapped by brush projections
• Fixed an issue where the flare of the Interior Light was visible through the grid
• Fixed an issue where tools did not occlude highlights
• Fixed an issue where a light placed in the Medical Room cast an unrealistic shadow
• Fixed an issue where shadows flickered when using an NVIDIA graphics card

Analytics

• Fixed an issue where analytics polluted logs when the service was unreachable

🛠️ Feedback & Support - https://support.keenswh.com/
🗺️ Roadmap: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/roadmap-2/#current
🛰️ Discord: https://discord.gg/keenswh
📫 Newsletter: https://www.keenswh.com/newsletter
➡️ Connect and find us on your platform of choice: https://www.keenswh.com/connect/

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/758396486688964701
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/518581441632665953
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1133870/announcements/detail/758396486688964707