GROUP EVENT Space Engineers Server Details

This thread will discuss what to expect in our upcoming Space Engineers Server.

If you don't already know how Space Engineers has been updated and in a full release state, please direct your attention here and watch the brief video showcase below:


And now on to discussion about our server.

The server will be hosted by:


They were recommended by members of the Space Engineers modding community specifically because their server UI and customer service are considered above average. So far, I have nothing to complain about.

The server will be hosted 24/7 except during downtime for updates and will have room for up to 10 players. We can always add more as needed.

The way ServerBlend manages the game's files, we can save multiple different worldsaves with the same account. This means that we can load different world saves with a few clicks inside the server manager. This will allow us to easily switch between Survival and Creative modes within the game.

Why is this important?

Because while we will predominantly run a persistent Survival server 24/7 we can also load "exhibition games" with Creative mode active that will let players go nuts in different settings without damaging all their long term progress. More specifically, this means:

• one-off player combat scenarios
• racing (w/ combat or without)
• team deathmatch games

These modes will allow players to load in vehicles without needing to go through the grind of harvesting materials to build them. Think of this as variations of a "battlebots arena" game.

Now when we are not in a Creative exhibition game, we will be running a 24/7 Survival server:

• Server will be public, but whitelisted (members will have preference for limited player slots).
• Starting game world will have one large earth-like planet and a few moons with varying atmosphere and geology.
• There will be limited spawn points; easiest start will be earth-like planet, with others available for players looking for a challenge.
• Pirate and other hostile or neutral forces will be ACTIVE both on planetary surfaces and in space; more dangerous encounters will be found in space.

Now a survival game of any sort is no good without some specific goals in mind. Here are our first three objectives:

1. establishing a permanent presence in space
2. build the Skjaldborg "flagship" that will become our mobile base of operations for all future scenarios
3. locate the main enemy fleet in the region and destroy it

So what is our setting?

Introducing our starting homeworld! (we will vote on a name later)

Planet
Gravity: standard
Atmosphere: breathable
Hostile Life: none except for presence of pirates


Moon 1
Gravity: low
Atmosphere: poisonous
Hostile Life: unknown


Moon 2
Gravity: low
Atmosphere: poisonous
Hostile Life: unknown


Moon 3
Gravity: low
Atmosphere: trace amount in low areas
Hostile Life: none


Once all objectives are met, we will "jump" out of this area and into a new game world. All ships that make the "jump" will be carried over to the new server. In this way, we can keep things fresh by introducing new planets, moons, and other world settings, but retain some semblance of player persistence.

IMPORTANT: I will be sending a newsletter out to all who voted for Space Engineers in our recent poll. If you do not receive it and are interested in this endeavor, please contact me and I will get you added.

 

Now that I've completed the Megamek and Alpha Strike mop for Tabletop Simulator, I am now actively working on final preparations for our Space Engineers server (as requested in our recent poll).

Lots of great news regarding Space Engineers. They released another update that really helps to beautify the experience and bring more immersion. Best of all, the new cosmetic DLC pack is entirely optional for clients who join any server. By that I mean the server can still have the cosmetics active for those who own the DLC and players who don't own it can still interact with those cosmetic blocks. The only limitation is you can't build your own unless you own the DLC... but I think this is a very reasonable solution to finding ways to support the game without forcing people to buy new content.

The free update and official support of LCD screen scripts is also a major bonus.

Here's the video with some great in-game examples:


We will discuss more regarding this at our upcoming meeting on Saturday.

 

They made an announcement about it after getting feedback from the community. It's good to see that from a developer.

 

Made good progress on having our starting position ready...

Our War Room is coming together nicely. The game world will operate on a 24 hour cycle with an accurate and automated in-game clock for easier coordination of missions.


You will be able to check our current objectives as well as see any upcoming events directly in-game. Objectives will update as players make progress.


LCD's are fully automated to report current resource amounts. This will greatly help us in assessing what resources we need to prioritize.


Our Command Center will feature dedicated remote turret controls, automated power management status readings, damage reports, and system reports.


Our banner will fly!


Mod link:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1726962466

The server is coming along smoothly. I hope to have it ready for us by the end of this week. Stay tuned for more info.

 

Have tested and confirmed that NPC raiders WILL come after you. Best be on your guard.

Spoiler: The only good pirate is a dead one!

 

Spoiler: Found some more action this afternoon

^this last picture was taken just as the ship's reactor went critical... BOOM!

 

Space Engineers
29/04/2019
Minor Update 1.190.1

Features

- All players can now use any DLC blocks without owning the DLC, however, placement of DLC blocks is still reserved for DLC owners only
- Added warning messages about using DLC content without owning it
- Changed survival spawning mechanics to not be easily exploitable
- Spawning players are no longer tied to one particular player
- Readded option to have respawn timers on drop pods
- Spawn position can be custom through editing save files again
- Added new billboard blend type called 'PostPP' in order to offer a solution for problems with post-processing affecting Text HUD API mod

 

I was able to import these music tracks into Space Engineers:







They will be available to everyone in-game.
...if for no other reason so that we never forget where we came from.

 

Still need to test it so I'm not sure how balanced it is for our server, but...this thing just brings a big dumb smile to my face:

 

Finishing touches are being completed. Should be done some time this weekend.

Spoiler: Some random screenshots of our starting location

Engineering with some good examples of helpful tools and visual aides.

Living Quarters for additional flavor:

Officer Quarters (more flavor):

Mess Hall (more flavor):

Armory & Medbay (for storing personal equipment next to spawn location):

Armored scout truck in action:


Working elevator with numeric floor selection:


Random shipwrecks to be explored:

This will likely be the last update I post before the server officially launches. I hope you all are ready!

 

I'd better have quarters in the Officers section....

 

Server is ready! We light this candle Saturday! Pre-game show will start at 1400 EST with the main event starting at 1900 EST! No mods required to join, but you can pre-load them to make your first load time better by subscribing to this list: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1669368966

Come for what you can!

 

A group shot while excavating the ISS Christine (a random wrecked ship we found).
(Left to right: Fet,Audit, Mag, Tzeentch)

 

1st day was a success! Thank you to all who could take part. There is still plenty to do so everyone please consider joining us when you can.

Here is a break down of what we did today:

Our starting position, Thule Station:


Situation Report


Mission Briefing Room:


So in summary...

we did a short tour of the facility and then got everyone oriented to the game. After that we loaded up in our recon truck and did a 5km sweep of the area.


Found a few wrecked ships and then stumbled upon a pirate outpost that didn't appreciate our presence on their turf (they shot at us). After beating a hasty retreat, we licked our wounds, and then started doing some casual mining from surface resources we had found during our recon sweep. We did that for a bit and goofed off a bit more. Eventually, most of us logged off, but a few stayed on and we had a few more join us later. All in all I think we had more than 10 people log into the server over the course of the day. That's a great start!

One bad bit of news though... we got attacked by a pirate corvette (a somewhat BIG ship) about an hour before this posting.


Most of us were logged off, but a few of us were privy to the destruction. I apparently GROSSLY OVERESTIMATED our shields on the station that were suppose to protect us from such things (+100k hitpoints). The corvette chewed through those alarmingly quick and them proceeeded to go to town on our parked vehicles and the facility itself. Our base defenses did a good enough job of killing it, but to add insult to injury, the whole damn thing fell from the sky on top of Trev's little fighter! Suffice to say... there were some casualties...


Good news is that most of the serious damage was done to the parked vehicles rather than the facility itself. Also, our recon and transport trucks got out of it mostly undamaged. Gnat (welcome back Gnat btw!) was nice enough to help me with some provisional repairs to get all the facilities running again. The control tower probably got the worst of the damage, but its functions are all secondary to the command center which was not damaged thankfully. There might be a other missing bits, so if you spot any, kindly replace them in your free time. Tzeentch found a large shipwreck with a functioning large reactor and a stockpile of uranium. I incorporated that into our facility to boost our shield output by 600%; should keep us safe from any future attacks.


Overall, great first day. Will post more details on plans for later, but you can assume we will be doing something as a group at least every Saturday if not other days for the near future.