VS2 Feedback

Now that I've completed the Verdure and Kemik contracts, and dabbled in building my own things, I have some feedback on the state of SE2 VS2.

Backpack Building

I love the backpack building system as a whole. It's the perfect way to let someone start up from nothing, without needing an existing base or survival kit. That said, it has issues. For anything that it can build, it is usually better to only carry ore during construction instead of components. It builds components way too fast (nearly instantly it feels like). It needs to go slower, so that there's an obvious reason to pre-build components at a base once you've got one going. The smelter should produce components considerably faster than the suit can.

Build Planner

The lack of a build planner compounds the speed problem of backpack building. With the backpack again being so fast, it takes more time to build components, and then withdraw the right amount of components, than it does to just grab a load of iron ore. The build planner is absolutely needed to speed up using the base to build things. The build planer also allowed for rapid movement of planned items from one container to another. This is going to be needed when ship welders are working.

The new build planner will also need to be able queue up subcomponents to handle the fabricator's build process.

Inventory Management

I have been extremely frustrated by the inability to quickly select which inventory I want something to go into when I double click it. In SE1, you can just click the inventory you want to highlight it, then double click the item from the other side of the screen and it's moved. SE2 doesn't do this. You have to put in the exact name of the inventory to make sure it's the first one on the list, or interact directly with it in the first place, to get this to work.

I hate the keybind shortcuts for moving inventory items around. Hopefully I can at least fix the mismatched keybinds compared to SE1 when customizable keybinds are a thing, but more than that they require double clicking instead of single clicking like in SE1. The double click should only be used when not using a keybind. And there's actually one case where it still is a single click. Dropping items. Not only does it use keybinds that are used in SE1 for moving items, but it's way too easy to throw things on the ground because it's a single click. Dropping items should never be that easy, especially when a bit of artificial gravity can send your hard earned components rocketing into space. SE1 made it require dragging the item off the inventory screen or onto a specific icon within the inventory screen. This prevents accidental drops.

I do like that you can drop items directly from cargo though. That's nice. Just don't make it so easy to accidentally drop a thousand steel plate on the floor.

In short, make inventory management work like SE1. SE1 got it right. It worked well. Don't change it all up for no apparent reason. That just confuses people.

Inventory Mass vs Volume

I both like and dislike using mass for inventories. I like that it lets me know the exact maximum mass a vehicle can have for calculating thrust requirements. I dislike that it takes away any sense of logic and flexibility from those same designs. I liked having multiple atmospheric vehicles for different types of cargo. A single medium container surrounded by large thrusters for carrying uranium ingots, or stacks of modular containers with just a few thrusters for carrying ice; it allowed for greater variation in design and engineering.

I wouldn't mind having maximum mass as a setting for cargo containers. That would let me design a ship knowing the maximum mass while allowing that mass to be of assorted volumes depending on density. It would also let me build my uranium ingot delivery bot and my gigantic ice haulers. Maybe even gigantic water haulers for VS3?

And speaking of mass and volume...

Ore and Ingots

At first I liked the idea of mining and building all in one go, but then I started to notice the problem. Ore is used 1kg to 1kg to make final components. This fits with the mass-only inventory system I guess, but it again reduces the need to create unique vehicles. What's the point of making a dedicated miner when the all in one ship can do it just as well, or arguably better? A mining ship was always built to handle large volumes with a relatively low density. Ingots were the high density usable resource that actually turned into components. Ingots were also what components could be disassembled back into to build other components. Using ore directly makes this whole thing feel very fake. I'm not engineering anything, I'm using space magic now. (Though SE1 refineries with 4 yield modules turning 100kg of iron ore into 140kg of iron ingot was also space magic... but that was the limit)

Disassembly

This needs to come back. I feel like I'm punished for salvaging wrecks when I can't actually turn all that steel plate and glass into the components I actually need. Sure it came in handy when I finally finished the Kemik contracts and started building something big, but I needed iron and silicon for other things when I first started out.

Contracts and Progression

I like the contract system as a way to colonize and unlock fast travel. I assume there will be other rewards for colonization as the game develops. Reputation systems, credits for trading, maybe even ore/ingots/components as rewards? I hope to see all of these.

The progression system feels very restrictive. It means I can't build my way to better structures like SE1. I have to do contracts. This could still work, given resource distribution and what materials blocks actually need to build them, since I'll have to visit other locations anyway. It just feels tedious right now. Especially those Verdure contracts that need me to fly to the other side of the planet. I expect much larger rewards if I have to fly for half an hour, each way, to do the work.

The contracts are very unclear about which blocks are being unlocked. I have no idea what energy tier 2 is going to give me. Just tell me what blocks are in the box. Sure the list may get long for some of them, but that's better than being vague. Transparency is the whole point of early access for SE2, so let's see that same transparency in the game UI.

HUD and UI

Overall I like the new look of the HUD and UI. It's a bit unresponsive at times, particularly in inventory screens. The tooltips seem to get in the way of actually interacting with inventory items. My hand tools have gotten tossed into the wrong box an many occasions when I'm trying to rapidly unload my inventory into a box.

The HUD is missing a few critical elements. Most notably the artificial horizon. It's basically impossible to tell if I'm level with the ground until I'm on it. Another missing item is the altimeter. It's very hard to tell how far up I am until I'm on the ground.

Flight Controls

I really don't like the new flight controls. They are extremely floaty and imprecise. While it might seem like a nice touch that it helps the ship realign itself if it gets bumped off course, that should only happen if you run into something, which usually means something went wrong. The ship instead ends up fighting against me every time I try to land flat on that very nicely made landing pad at the starter platform. The SE1 controls are better.

Inertial dampeners seem to be overtuned. I have had numerous occasions where my Sledge (fully loaded) couldn't actually get off the ground if I had dampeners turned off. It's like the thrusters can't actually provide their full thrust, or that the dampeners can exceed max thrust. Ships with balanced thrust also stop much faster than they accelerate. The suit does this too, stopping almost instantly, even if you were going very fast. This goes the other direction, making things feel less floaty, but then I'm left wondering why I can't make use of the full thrust that is apparently available for dampeners. If I want to accelerate at the true full thrust, let me. It's my ship to crash into things. Dampeners should not be a space magic safety net.

And speaking of safety nets...

Safe Collision Speed

20 meters per second is very fast. That should not be a safe collision speed. 20 mps is 72 kph, or about 45 mph. That is very much not safe. I don't understand this change at all. I understand wanting the suit to be able move at a decent speed without the player taking damage from little bumps, but 20 mps is way too far. Even half of that is still a bit too much, but that would at least be somewhat believable. A person going that fast could probably stop themselves from getting hurt by cushioning the impact with their arms or legs. It's believable even if you don't animate that. Maybe the materials used in construction are strong enough to withstand that much of an impact - really old cars with steel bodies can often hit things at that speed without much more than a scratch or a small dent, though the safety of the driver or passengers is questionable. It's at least believable. Space Engineers has always used believable, if clangy, physics, so don't change that for SE2. Well, maybe less clang, but keep it believable.

Connectors and Landing Gear

I like the increased range for using connectors, and the automatic docking. I just wish the ship would line itself up better with the grid I'm docking at. It loves to park at weird angles that look very very wrong, especially in gravity. I can't even line it up myself, because if any landing gear are in locking range then they will lock instead of the connector. Plus the flight controls make landing flat nearly impossible.

Jetpack

I like the energy jetpack. It looks like ion thrusters, so energy only makes sense. I think the safe speed limit should be lower (see above), but I like that you can just use energy. Boosting is problematic at best, though. It doesn't actually accelerate you any faster than just using the energy thrusters. It lets you go above the speed limit, but so does turning off dampeners. Boosting is currently only useful on planets where you need dampeners to stay off the ground but you still want to go faster. Boosting needs a boost to acceleration. I really like the boost animation, very good vfx there.

Backpack Consumables

This is an interesting system. I like having some dedicated slots for carrying these items. I expect oxygen tanks will show up here as well. I don't like that I can't put them in my regular suit inventory. If that special container is full, and I find some at an unknown signal, I have to first go back to my ship and drop off some spares before I can pick the new ones up. Let them go into the regular suit inventory, and restrict the automatic usage to the five slots. I love that automatic usage too, for both batteries and tanks. I don't know if it kicks in for health too, but I hope so. I haven't actually died yet in SE2.

Unknown Signals

These are fun. I like the new way these work, instead of being weird pods dropping from the sky. They reward exploration. I particularly like the ones that spawn with hidden underground bunkers. I assume they will also be spawning alongside hostile signals later on, which will add to the fun.

GPS

Please add this as soon as you can. While unknown signals reward exploration, the lack of gps markers makes me not explore at all. I am always worried that I won't be able to find my way back to my base. I have never left visual range of the station bubbles because of this. There is no reason for me to build a base outside of the very short 10km antenna range of the stations because of this. I'd just lose track of them. I have had to resort to leaving relay satellites every 8km or so when I go scouting for asteroids to mine. Battery, antenna, solar panel (I know antennas don't use power right now, but it feels wrong without the panel), and try really really hard to not bump it because how do you even make a static grid any more?

Hidden Controls?

I have heard people mention being able to do certain things, like rapidly empty their inventory into a cargo container, but the game gives no information on how this is done. The tutorial story is generally great in terms of explaining game mechanics, but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. I feel like this will get better once customizable controls are a thing, because then I can just look up what controls do what. The tutorial part of the story really needs to explain all the things, or perhaps add some tutorial contracts to further explain how things work. I feel like that's what the progression contracts are already trying to do, so keep going in that direction.

Story

I have so many questions. Why did the trip take 10,000 years? Aren't they using jump drives? Are jump drives not actually instant? I know they have to charge up before each jump, but why is it taking that long? Did humanity leap frog past the Napir's tech in the intervening time? How far away is the Almagest system from Earth?

Why do the two brothers sound like they are completely unrelated? Why are they even brothers to begin with? It doesn't feel like it fits with the story at all. Be brave, make them husbands instead of brothers. It doesn't fit either, but it would at least explain why they sound so different.

Have you thought of making female characters? There are women who are very good engineers. Let's not all be clones of Miro. You could even do the best thing and make male, female, and nonbinary bodies, voice lines, and names for both Miro and Ivan. Give everyone a choice of how they're related: siblings, spouses, or work partners. Let the player make their own space opera relationship drama. I am a fan of options.

Unified Grid Size

I love this. The flexibility is amazing. The only complaint I really have is that some armor shapes now use more steel plate than before, like the old 2x1 slope base. That's now a 2x1 tip with a half block attached, and the two combined use more steel plate than a full cube. It's minor, but it can add up on large structures. I'd actually like to see some of the old full block shapes added back in as single blocks instead of being forced to combine half blocks like this.

Projection Building

I have mixed feelings about this. It certainly has potential, but without certain features it's nearly useless for actually designing ships. I can't weld anything on the inside of the projection. It needs an option to show only buildable blocks, preferably in a way that won't accidentally prevent me from welding a block in the middle. It also needs the option to keep the projected blocks saved in case I need to grind one off temporarily. Blueprint pasting needs an option to allow unsupported grids. Let the blueprint fall onto the landing pad so the landing gear can lock down when I weld it, or at the very least let me paste the blueprint with its landing gear directly against another grid.

Performance

The performance is, frankly, terrible. I can't run the game for more than about half an hour before it starts slowing down and stuttering. If I travel between the stations at all, this happens even more quickly. It also happens more quickly when I'm on a planet. I did not have this problem before VS2. I was able to load the VS1.5 creative scenario and run it for multiple hours without issue on high settings. Now the game struggles on medium settings, with performance mode turned on.

There are a number of issues that slowly get worse as the game runs for longer and longer. I start being unable to target blocks with my welder or grinder. At first it requires picky positioning but eventually I can't target them at all. Inventory screens take longer and longer to open up, and they open with increasingly blurry images.

Exiting to the menu and reloading the game seems to fix the issue, for another half hour or so, but it's very annoying. But, it's in alpha, so I don't expect perfection out of the box. Performance can be improved. Memory leaks can be plugged. Everything can be optimized, eventually. I absolutely do expect this to be worked on, and the last video I watched about the community feedback update seemed to back this up.

Summary

SE2 has a lot of potential. That's about where an alpha version should be. Hopefully all the rough edges can get smoothed out as development continues.

I love SE1. It is my second most played game on Steam. I hope to love SE2 as well.