I think the wiring and piping taking the same space bloats the interiors up way too much in SE. Satisfactory introduces smart and hard clearance where many things are allowed to clip through now - easing construction, saving space and having less impact on the design (while still allowing to play around with clipping as design feature).
Space Engineers - "Open" Changes Everything
- Thread starter Old Duck
- Start date
So I apologize for not finding this thread a long time ago. I rarely ever venture into the off topic forums.
I used to play with this group of players who ran a rover only server. It was on a high G planet and they had a mad max/ raider theme to it. Lots of rust and smoke. It was alot of fun. I primarily play solo so I don't really have the technical skills to survive long term in PVP server.
I like to self impose restrictions on my play style on each game save I have to keep things interesting. In one I'm a pirate and another I'm a scrapper/salvage. Also making things as hard as possible from the start is something I like. I played a game once with meteors set to apocalypse mode... hunkered down in my little underground cave with nothing but a single wind turbine to power all of my equipment and terrified at any moment my one little light would flicker off after one hit too close.... littleraly the most fun I've ever had playing.
I used to play with this group of players who ran a rover only server. It was on a high G planet and they had a mad max/ raider theme to it. Lots of rust and smoke. It was alot of fun. I primarily play solo so I don't really have the technical skills to survive long term in PVP server.
I like to self impose restrictions on my play style on each game save I have to keep things interesting. In one I'm a pirate and another I'm a scrapper/salvage. Also making things as hard as possible from the start is something I like. I played a game once with meteors set to apocalypse mode... hunkered down in my little underground cave with nothing but a single wind turbine to power all of my equipment and terrified at any moment my one little light would flicker off after one hit too close.... littleraly the most fun I've ever had playing.
This game is really underrated by many. I think people are either put off by the "Lego" design or the initial "grind" (quite literally) needed to get up and running in survival, so they never get to experience the magic of Space Engineers. That said, there's a large and healthy community who enjoy it. It's the best social experience I've had in any multiplayer game to date.
I modified my "HMS Pearl" for high G worlds like Earth, so now I can go pretty much anywhere 
I enjoy walking around my bridge / observatory while flying over land, as it allows me to easily "look around and look down" to look for player installations.
I added some camouflage paint to key parts of my ship to make it a bit harder to spot from the air. This is a much bigger target than my little small-grid "HMS Scorpion" explorer, so I need to be a bit more careful in my attempts to hide it while I'm in cryosleep.
I enjoy walking around my bridge / observatory while flying over land, as it allows me to easily "look around and look down" to look for player installations.
I added some camouflage paint to key parts of my ship to make it a bit harder to spot from the air. This is a much bigger target than my little small-grid "HMS Scorpion" explorer, so I need to be a bit more careful in my attempts to hide it while I'm in cryosleep.
I think having persistent servers has been revolutionary for the game. It is underrated and honestly the beginning grind is the best part for me. There used to be a mod that added food and you needed to build hydroponics and such. I hope they add that to vanilla someday. Piracy is the single most fun part of the game imo. I love being able to just run up to a random cargo ship and break into it and take it over. I had one save file way back were I took over a hauler and in the process of me hacking into it I was accidentally pulled into the gravity of the moon and crashed. I spent the rest of my time surviving out of the remains and that was before they added survival kits. In the same save I saw a military transport fall the same way. The reactor was destroyed on impact and I got to explore the dead interior. Pretty creepy actually. There are litterly no other games that do anything like this.
I think SE is, for a pure space game, probably the best game out there.
Maintain ship's whilst you travel, have one large 'universe', no loading screens, seamless space to planet (use a re-entry mod makes it better).
If playing with a good ai mod, it is pretty difficult to travel in certain areas that are overseen by a faction.
Loads of mods that make the game fantastic.
I really like the look of SE, there could be more block types and textures (thinking EGS), but overall it's o.k.
However, if EGS had pistons, wheels, rotors etc, plus a single universe, then that would top SE.
But in other ways EGS does top SE. Building is much more intuitive in EGS, the choice of blocks is better and also textures for blocks. The colour tool in EGS is way beyond SE i.e. paint every side of a block a different colour or texture. Planets in EGS are simply amazing for me, way ahead of SE, although not seamless & much smaller (although they dont feel smaller) and done quite differently to your SE planets, but EGS gets away with it, because the planets are so rich in detail.
But then you come to no real moving parts in EGS. This makes SE the game for the builder imo, more options and more to think about tech wise.
I use the same ship in both games, well as near as I can get, there are those restrictions in both games. Building the ship in EGS was an easier experience, but the tech side is better in SE ie. piping fuel, air, using rotors, pistons etc.
Exterior/interior design wise, or for the look of a ship, EGS wins for me, it's simply down to the choice of blocks, colours & textures.
SE & EGS give players of block building games great entertainment in slightly different ways, but each can be enjoyed for that difference.
SE is top for me, but pretty close behind is EGS imho.
Note: walking around your ship whilst it travels along, doing maintenance etc, is also a massive SE plus, that EGS needs badly.
Both simply great space games, especially for the gameplay side.
Maintain ship's whilst you travel, have one large 'universe', no loading screens, seamless space to planet (use a re-entry mod makes it better).
If playing with a good ai mod, it is pretty difficult to travel in certain areas that are overseen by a faction.
Loads of mods that make the game fantastic.
I really like the look of SE, there could be more block types and textures (thinking EGS), but overall it's o.k.
However, if EGS had pistons, wheels, rotors etc, plus a single universe, then that would top SE.
But in other ways EGS does top SE. Building is much more intuitive in EGS, the choice of blocks is better and also textures for blocks. The colour tool in EGS is way beyond SE i.e. paint every side of a block a different colour or texture. Planets in EGS are simply amazing for me, way ahead of SE, although not seamless & much smaller (although they dont feel smaller) and done quite differently to your SE planets, but EGS gets away with it, because the planets are so rich in detail.
But then you come to no real moving parts in EGS. This makes SE the game for the builder imo, more options and more to think about tech wise.
I use the same ship in both games, well as near as I can get, there are those restrictions in both games. Building the ship in EGS was an easier experience, but the tech side is better in SE ie. piping fuel, air, using rotors, pistons etc.
Exterior/interior design wise, or for the look of a ship, EGS wins for me, it's simply down to the choice of blocks, colours & textures.
SE & EGS give players of block building games great entertainment in slightly different ways, but each can be enjoyed for that difference.
SE is top for me, but pretty close behind is EGS imho.
Note: walking around your ship whilst it travels along, doing maintenance etc, is also a massive SE plus, that EGS needs badly.
Both simply great space games, especially for the gameplay side.
Agreed. I really wish we could combine the strengths of both games. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and while I personally think EGS edges out SE overall, there’s a reason why I did EGS vs SE: Sidewinder Edition, and I’m currently preparing to do a Cobra version.
I know you prefer EGS and I understand why that is. For me it is a very close call.
It would be fair to say, when playing either game, it feels like the best at that time. They're that close.
Your right, we need them to get a room and have an offspring.
Back in SE to have a look through the past. I do love this game, I hope KSH keep adding to it, but not just weapons but with some substance towards exploration and block types, even the colour options, be nice to paint each side rather than whole block.
But still, to get back and have moving parts, seamless travel is quite refreshing.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHClNco77n8
But still, to get back and have moving parts, seamless travel is quite refreshing.
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An idea keeps tickling the back of my mind. SE lacks compelling single-player content, but I find myself wondering if I might be able to make my own content. The idea is to use creative mode to build a self-replicating opponent. I'm not just talking about something that spawns drones, but something more akin to Command & Conquer where the opponent builds bases, ships, etc. using resources to expand its fleet and territory. This would be done by creating some pre-existing factories and mining operations, but then allow this operation to expand itself over time to "spread out", again like a C&C map. Replication would be done through projectors and 3D printers, combat and supply fleet would be controlled via remote control blocks set on autopilot, with programmable blocks providing the basic AI needed to make this opponent feel alive. In theory, this could all be done using in-game tools, no mods required. In theory...
Once a basic enemy base / station is established, I could then switch the game to survival and start my own gameplay loop to start building my own factories and fleets, with the idea that eventually I'll clash with my enemy (again, modelling this after a first-person slow-burn C&C game). I don't think I'd start completely from scratch, but rather I might give myself a rudimentary starter base with some basic supplies. If I am going for a C&C style approach, then I'd probably want to start off on close to equal footing as my AI opponent.
The idea is very tempting, as setting up this "game inside the game" (figuring out how to build a completely automated expanding "empire" with decent combat AI) would be just as entertaining to me as the C&C gameplay I hope to achieve. Whether I could actually pull it off or not, I have no idea. If I attempt this, it'll be a middle-of-winter project when I tend to have extra spare time and a need to be distracted from the weather and darkness of the season.
BTW, the main reason I'm thinking about how to make solo more attractive is that as much as I enjoy online play, it has a lot of limitations. I'm trying to think of ways to get the things I enjoy online into the stability, smoothness, and flexibility of a solo game.
Once a basic enemy base / station is established, I could then switch the game to survival and start my own gameplay loop to start building my own factories and fleets, with the idea that eventually I'll clash with my enemy (again, modelling this after a first-person slow-burn C&C game). I don't think I'd start completely from scratch, but rather I might give myself a rudimentary starter base with some basic supplies. If I am going for a C&C style approach, then I'd probably want to start off on close to equal footing as my AI opponent.
The idea is very tempting, as setting up this "game inside the game" (figuring out how to build a completely automated expanding "empire" with decent combat AI) would be just as entertaining to me as the C&C gameplay I hope to achieve. Whether I could actually pull it off or not, I have no idea. If I attempt this, it'll be a middle-of-winter project when I tend to have extra spare time and a need to be distracted from the weather and darkness of the season.
BTW, the main reason I'm thinking about how to make solo more attractive is that as much as I enjoy online play, it has a lot of limitations. I'm trying to think of ways to get the things I enjoy online into the stability, smoothness, and flexibility of a solo game.
People used to build scenarios in the steam workshop. I believe a few of the "campaign" missions were part of them. Some of them were very creative. I remember playing this one where you were sent to make contact with a military base on the alien planet and discovered it had been overrun by spiders. By the end you had to parkour down into a damaged nuclear reactor... I cant remember the rest but it was very creative.
I had an idea for a scenario but never got around to doing it. Basically you wake up in a cry pod on the pilgrims curiosity seconds before it impacts a planet. You only have a few moments to collect your tools off the floor and hide inside the pod before you crash. Youd then have to build a rover out of the wreckage and travel towards this mysterious signal. Long story short you were brought down by a rogue AI that infected the computer systems of a research base after an alien monolith was excavated. I wanted it to have a sort of PG dead space sort of feel to it.
Well… I had the time yesterday morning to start my first session of my EGS vs SE: Cobra Edition on the CA2 server. I chose Titan as my starting location, figuring it would be more difficult than the Alien world.
It wasn’t.
By the end of my session, thanks to the lack of vegetation, I’d easily located all starting and intermediate resources, all within 4km if my drop pod. The lack of atmospheric oxygen wasn’t an issue, thanks to numerous “small” patches of ice nearby. Gravity was low enough that my jetpack could be used freely, not to mention that it’ll make atmo-craft more power efficient. Finally, the new thin plates meant that my initial survival shelter could be oxygenated for about 20% of the iron that the half blocks used previously.
Even the Earthlike world felt more challenging just starting out than Titan did. At least it requires exploration to find resources.
I’m going to choose a new starting location. This one wasn’t very satisfying…
It wasn’t.
By the end of my session, thanks to the lack of vegetation, I’d easily located all starting and intermediate resources, all within 4km if my drop pod. The lack of atmospheric oxygen wasn’t an issue, thanks to numerous “small” patches of ice nearby. Gravity was low enough that my jetpack could be used freely, not to mention that it’ll make atmo-craft more power efficient. Finally, the new thin plates meant that my initial survival shelter could be oxygenated for about 20% of the iron that the half blocks used previously.
Even the Earthlike world felt more challenging just starting out than Titan did. At least it requires exploration to find resources.
I’m going to choose a new starting location. This one wasn’t very satisfying…
It's too bad Keen servers don't have Perham - I hear it's the survivalist's dream, as in, it's really hard!Well… I had the time yesterday morning to start my first session of my EGS vs SE: Cobra Edition on the CA2 server. I chose Titan as my starting location, figuring it would be more difficult than the Alien world.
It wasn’t.
By the end of my session, thanks to the lack of vegetation, I’d easily located all starting and intermediate resources, all within 4km if my drop pod. The lack of atmospheric oxygen wasn’t an issue, thanks to numerous “small” patches of ice nearby. Gravity was low enough that my jetpack could be used freely, not to mention that it’ll make atmo-craft more power efficient. Finally, the new thin plates meant that my initial survival shelter could be oxygenated for about 20% of the iron that the half blocks used previously.
Even the Earthlike world felt more challenging just starting out than Titan did. At least it requires exploration to find resources.
I’m going to choose a new starting location. This one wasn’t very satisfying…
Drat!
After investigating the (increasingly out of date) Wiki, I’m going with the old Alien planet again. For better or worse, it’s got almost all the ingredients necessary for what I consider a decent Survival game… at least as far as Space Engineers is concerned.
Well... this is annoying!
I'd just gotten back to base with a load of spare parts from scavenged supply pod, when the server froze up, and now it won't let me back in!
At least I'd moved all the important stuff from the respawn pod onto my temporary camp before things went belly up.
I'd just gotten back to base with a load of spare parts from scavenged supply pod, when the server froze up, and now it won't let me back in!
At least I'd moved all the important stuff from the respawn pod onto my temporary camp before things went belly up.
Server was crazy crashy last night, not sure why. Usually it's pretty stable. That said, I've been visiting a fair share of bases lately, some people clearly don't understand SE physics and "clang", so I'm guessing somebody has a ridiculous contraption that's causing these problems.
I'll PM you our "Earth Alliance" Discord channel in case you're interested. It's like a United Nations of factions, and it's responsible for this "era of peace" we're currently enjoying. Here are a couple of pics from last night's adventures:
There's also a Youtube Stream of the event:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcGcRuzl3finI1EDzijTwMA
I've tried a couple of Keen's scenarios, but never could really get into them because they felt too compartmentalized and "on the rails". I wish, for example, the abandoned bases that tend to be the focus of these scenarios were just embedded into the main survival game, so that I can randomly come across them in my own ship / rover rather than being spawned in as part of the scenario.
What I'm thinking of doing would be part of the main survival game, and ideally it would have a form of randomness to it, in that an enemy base could grow in unpredictable ways. It would still need to use prefabricated blueprints (I'm not smart enough to make an AI that designs its own bases), but following the C&C model, the layout and composition of the buildings, along with the number and type of ships used, could in theory have a random element to it. The hard part will be building a mobile factory that can 3D print large buildings and ships, all autonomously. It might be out of my reach, and it will definitely require a lot of free time, but even the attempt would be enjoyable I think.
