Development of Space EngineersFrom an idea to Early Access in 7 months

Marek RosaKeen Software House

Introduction

• April to October• How we designed, developed and launched the game• Why we did it this way• Dig into the details

What is Space Engineers

• Sandbox game• Construction• Realistic volumetric-based physics

Plan

• New game in 2013 -> 10/2013• Sub-milestones: announcement, feature freeze, testing• Early Access & MVP – validate with the community and

then continue• Playable game at any moment

Initial idea

• Sequel to Miner Wars• Traveling, missions, economy, • Winner: construction & physics• Added astronaut (no more “ships only”)

VRAGE 2.0

• C#• Havok• Flexible• We understand it• We can optimize it

Design phase

• 1.5 months• Design documents, lists, GUI, HUD• LEGO• NASA• Generic sandbox – no story• Engineering game – no man-to-man combat

Design rules

• Object oriented game design – new features can be integrated easily (hacking, landing gears)

• Strong sandbox and physics foundation• Everything must make sense

Design rules 2

• No decorative elements (e.g. doors on cockpit, astronaut computer)• New features – only if required• Realism leads the design – don’t hack the reality

(e.g. max object speed, resources, …)

Schematic colors (number 7)

Texture patterns

Avoid voxel-look & Object scales

Astronaut / Engineer

• Functional• NASA look• Iterations

First-person vs. third-person

• Acceleration & Animations

Deformations & Destructions

• We didn’t plan it• Risks• Vertexes, Splitting• Physics• Advantages of flexible sandbox design

Gravity

• One directional• Only astronauts• When enabled on small & large ships…• Future plans

Limits

• No size or count limits• Only memory limits• 64-bit version• Impact on performance (lights and shadows)

Creative mode

• Unlimited resources• Instant building• Available now

Manual mode

• Drilling and harvesting• Refinery• Assembler• Inventory (backpack, cargo containers)• Welder & Grinder

Name of the game

• Multiple options• Winner: generic name• Decided one month before the announcement

Logo

• Multiple options• No retro• No space-agency look

Testing

• Different HW, OS• Testing lab• Play-testers (first 3 minutes were critical)• Test scenarios• Automatic testing• If you don’t test => there will be bugs

Community

• Players got the game (workshop, modding, controls)• Simple interface (GUI, HUD, game mechanics)• Works as expected• Minimize steps required to accomplish a goal

History - April

History - May 2013

History - May 2013

History - May 2013

History – June 2013

History – July 2013

History – July 2013

Public Relations

• Focusing on players only• No superb words• Not revealing future plans• Imperfections and work in progress• Everything is subject to change

Milestones• April

– Plan– Design phase– Dates and Steam

• August 15 - announcement video• Sep 9 - Announcement• Oct 1 - Feature freeze & Testing

– 3-hour & 24-hour window -> community exploded

• Oct 23 - Launch• Post-launch

– Localization– Workshop– Landing gears– Community feedback and response

• What’s next– Multi-player and manual mode is the priority– Small updates every 1-2 weeks– Bigger updates – when possible

Effective development

• Deadlines & Features & Quality• Estimations – not important, but if you need

them: multiply by 3• Prioritization – sort by importance (and risk

factor, dependencies, etc.)• Expect the unexpected• Deciding what doesn’t get implemented is

important too (e.g. character customization, animated GUI, post-processing, more weapons…)

Effective development

• Be careful on what you decide to implement (you will have less time for other things)

• Minimize risks (too complex, hard to maintain)• Detail planning - prepare in advance• Pessimistic approach (e.g. low poly, risky

features in advance)• Team – balanced, aligned

Effective development

• Deadlines – are your friends• Focus on your strong points• Don’t do things that you can’t deliver on 100%• Follow the vision, ignore random ideas (e.g.

things already done in other games)• Space Engineers is designed by programmers

(optimizations, low-hanging fruits)

Summary

• Balanced team• Prioritization• Planning• Discipline• Goal oriented• MVP• Focus on the player• You can do it!

Questions?

www.keenswh.com