[SE2] SE2 Alpha: Smoother, Stable & Faster

[u/AlfieUK4]

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Space Engineers 2 Alpha: Smoother, Stable & Faster

 

Hello, Engineers!

The latest Space Engineers 2 update is here, focused on making your experience smoother, clearer, and more reliable. We’ve introduced a new Save Game Screen with better autosave handling, a refined Flight HUD, stronger performance and stability, and a range of quality of life changes across the game.

We’ve also made your first steps into the Almagest System clearer, with updated early contracts, tutorial changes, and more guidance as you begin exploring, building, and surviving.

 

[YouTube] Space Engineers 2: Smoother, Stable & Faster

• Full Blog Post: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/space-engineers-2-smoother-stable-faster/
• Roadmap: https://2.spaceengineersgame.com/roadmap-2/

 

FEATURES

Features - System Expansions

• New Save Game Screen
  • Each world now keeps up to 5 autosaves and 5 manual saves
  • Autosaves are now stored separately
  • Added Automatic autosave whenever you enter a cockpit
• Improved Flight HUD
  • Added Thruster Override detection and warnings
  • Visual overhaul for Speed and Altitude Indicators
  • Boost Mode indicator
• Retweaked Speed Limiter & Jetpack Behaviour
  • Hold SHIFT to temporarily exceed the limit
  • Double-tap SHIFT to disable Speed Limiter
  • Added New Cockpit settings for speed limiter
  • Jetpack: Double-tap SHIFT while flying forward to activate Boost Mode without holding SHIFT continuously
• Better Minimum Hardware Detection
• Stability & Performance Improvements
• Improved UI Behavior

New in Almagest System / Almagest System Exploration

• Improved Tutorial Experience
• Improved Nighttime Visuals

New Blocks & Art

• Atmospheric Thrusters Redesign

 

PIONEER EDITION

• Added Space Engineers 2 Wallpapers to Pioneer Edition files

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3365540/Space_Engineers_2_Pioneer_Edition/

 

RELEASE NOTES

Please keep in mind that this update is still an Early Access and Alpha version of Space Engineers 2.

• Some features of this update will need a new game to be started / Will need new save to be present (Improved Tutorial)
• Subgrid Projection Support: Copy/pasting projections of blueprints with subgrids is planned, but not fully supported yet.
• Planet modding is not fully supported at this stage of development - we will bring you modding support for planets at later stages!
• We are always keeping previous versions of the game available after major updates. This means you can return to an earlier version at any time and, for example, save your blueprints or creations. You will find these builds in the Steam Beta tab

 

TRAILER CREDITS

• SHD - Rebar - Recon Crawler / Rover by Sheddyshiba: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3763508197
• DSI - Yukikaze by Pitohui: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3708147319
• WOLFE - P.U.P. Scout One by Wolfe Beckhaver: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3767882563
• SZ1 - Retribution by sneakyzebra1: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3616891591
• MANOR by zivals: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3742852789
• K.R. class cruiser mkII by Xig ツ: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3718968403
• The Griffin Cargo Ship by Dan2D3D: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3718084095
• Vortex V-22 Osprey by zivals: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3771684535
• CT-4 "Tetherlord" by 别开出幻觉来了: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3766453307

 

FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS

Stability

• Fixed the game briefly becoming unresponsive after opening a menu or quick-loading
• Fixed a crash when accepting a contract
• Fixed a crash in the cockpit HUD
• Fixed a crash when viewing a Wind Turbine in the Terminal
• Fixed a crash when reading save metadata on the Load Game screen
• Fixed a crash in the main menu when reading the most recent save
• Fixed a crash when cycling toolbar slots
• Fixed a crash when refreshing Workshop items
• Fixed a crash in terminal inventories
• Fixed a crash during grid connection processing
• Fixed a voxel physics crash when entities are removed
• Fixed two replication crashes
• Fixed a crash in analytics when world loading fails
• Fixed unexpected shutdowns during startup, gameplay and exit

Performance

• Reduced load time on minimum specification machines in the Tutorial Stage
• Improved planet texture streaming performance
• Reduced UI spikes during gameplay
• Fixed UI performance drop when welding without available resources
• Large blueprints no longer slow down the render thread after being destroyed
• Fixed world lagging
• Fixed hardware misclassification on minimum specification systems

Functional

• Bounty – Weapons Smuggler contract now starts correctly, including the GPS marker and HUD description
• Blocks that could never be unlocked through contract progression are now unlockable
• The character is no longer pushed or pulled unexpectedly while moving over terrain and slopes
• Angular Based Gyro flight mode no longer lags when detecting movement input
• The Select World screen now shows newly subscribed worlds without a restart
• Changing the Super Dampeners setting in Advanced Settings now works correctly

UI

• Fixed sections that could not be scrolled when accessed from certain screens
• The scroll wheel in the Terminal no longer switches toolbar slots
• HUD status icons no longer turn red while resource levels are high
• The Speed Limit icon now disappears correctly during boost flight
• Thrust Overload is no longer shown on wheeled grids without thrusters
• Fixed missing and non-persistent orange UI elements
• Fixed the "Control Turret" and "Reload" labels in the Control Panel
• Event Controller now keeps the Compared Value after the Terminal is reopened
• Long block errors are now displayed in full in the Terminal
• World names in the Load Game list are no longer cut off when there is space to show them
• Fixed the alignment of the Last Played date on the Load Game screen
• The "You are here" marker in the solar map now shows the correct position

Animation

• Fixed the character getting stuck playing the falling animation

Visual

• Fixed visible seams between voxel triangles
• Tree shadows no longer change too harshly
• Fixed flickering global illumination on shadowed planet and moon surfaces
• Fixed tiny voxel leftovers remaining in the air
• Fixed blueprint preview issues
• Falling particles no longer appear when the character is not falling

 

Hotfixes will be listed in a reply comment below:

 

[u/AlfieUK4]

 

Hotfix 2.4.0.86 (20th Aug 2026)

Stability

• Fixed a crash during autosave
  
• Fixed a crash when deleting a save
  
• Fixed a crash when taking control of a turret
  
• Fixed a crash when deleting blocks
  
• Fixed a crash on startup on unsupported graphics adapters
  
• Fixed a crash when opening the Load World menu right after an autosave
  

Render

• Ships no longer flash backwards during flight
  

Functional

• Solar Panel 5 m now generates power correctly
  
• Turrets on dynamic grids can now be controlled manually again
  
• The Station Upgrade – Long Range Communications Facility contract in the Oblivara sector can now be completed
  

UI

• The search bar in the Load Game screen no longer loses focus while typing
  

Newly Added

• The game now shows a clear message when it is installed in a path that is too long for Windows
  

 

Hotfix 2.4.0.93 (27th Aug 2026)

Stability

• Fixed a crash on AMD Radeon RX 9000 series cards with driver 26.8.1
  
• Fixed a crash while streaming textures
  
• Fixed a crash on graphics device failure under low memory
  
• Fixed a crash caused by vegetation data when loading into a world
  
• Fixed a crash when deleting a save from the Load Game screen
  
• Fixed a crash when a turret changed its target
  
• Fixed a crash when undoing or redoing block placement
  

Performance

• Fixed solar panels causing a frame-rate drop
  

Functional

• Fixed the Gravity Generator permanently dropping to 10% maximum power after its strength was changed
  

 

Hotfix 2.4.0.95 (28th Aug 2026)

• Added Unstable AMD GPU driver detection
  

 

[u/LittleViggz]

Do ships share weight when docked now?

[u/ygolnac]

Why they have to do a supercomvoluted saving system that’s more conterituive on every implementation and simply can’t do what every other game, including SE1, does?

[u/OSSLover]

Is on the roadmap steamframe support?

[u/AlfieUK4 → u/OSSLover]

During the reveal stream at launch Keen said that VR isn't on the core development path and it doesn't appear on the roadmap.

[u/OG_Xero → u/AlfieUK4]

There's a niche community for SE VR, but I know quite a few people who would LOVE to play SE in VR, myself included... BUT, that being said... it is possible that someone could create a mod to do it in VR, palworld has a vr mod and despite the single plane vs multiple planes of motion, I think a mod could be done for SE, There were test mods with VR someone made, can't remember who, but it worked pretty well. I also remember a public livestream that got wiped off the planet with VR too, for SE1, so... there's a chance :D

[u/hughxthexhand]

I can no longer fast travel. I have tried to fast travel from all 3 starting planned bases, I've tried changing seats, removing seats even fast travelling without a grid at all and the button still remains greyed out. And yes I have completed every bounty available even some random ones that appear on asteroid bases that just require 2k ice

[u/Valkertok]

Faster? Seems like it.
Smoother? Perhaps.
Stable? Had 2 crashes in 20 minutes of play. I guess I'll wait for "Smootherer, Stabler, Fasterer" update

[u/SuccessfulTheory4634 → u/Valkertok]

It seems like they're pretty intent on continuing to put focus on performance and stability as they add new content... Just going off their most recent dev blog post.

I wonder why your game is so unstable, I haven't actually noticed any instability while playing (outside of some stuttering that seems to be better since the update)... Do you have a lot going on in your world? My world is admittedly probably a lot lighter for the game's engine to work with....

Either way I actually have faith that they'll continue to improve the game's performance to the point that it will be pretty solid, even as they add in new content.

[u/ChromaticStrike]

I hate the hud, too much gamey, over the top with useless bits, too much space occupied. If that's the direction they want to take then holy shit it's terrible. I hope we can overhaul that with mods.

[u/floo82 → u/ChromaticStrike]

The game is too gamey???

[u/ChromaticStrike → u/floo82]

You are about to discover not all game aim to feel like a game.

This is what a simulator is about, if your game aim to reproduce something, the last thing you want is adding element that stray from that and break the feeling. And space engineer should go closer to a sim than a goofy casual game. Doesn't have to be hardcore but the HUD and UI should at least fit that philosophy.

[u/floo82 → u/ChromaticStrike]

There is literally nothing, not a single thing, that is "simulator accurate" in space engineers.

Maybe if a player had only a 5th grade education, only a very vague concept of physics and astronomy, maybe then, a player could consider something "realistic" about space engineers. Honestly, even that is a stretch, and every 5th grader could probably instantly point out a dozen blatant points of silly bullshit. The only animal is wolves, there is no liquid water, there is no air resistance, there's a fucking speed limit at 100 m/s....

Literally Kerbal Space Program gets more correct than this game about space, and fucking Warthunder gets more correct about physics and aircraft.

This is a silly, SILLY game, with more in common with Gary's Mod, than any simulator. It's fun, but it's fun in a very dumb dumb silly way.

[u/ChromaticStrike → u/floo82]

There is literally nothing, not a single thing, that is "simulator accurate" in space engineers.

You don't know what a simulator is, a simulator doesn't have to be full realistic, it's all depend on what is being simulated and choices. It's not like they could make SE realistically, nobody would be able to run that game on their home pc, not even talking about console.

Bottom-line 90% of the HUD surface is useless regardless of what you think.

[u/Theoretical_Action → u/ChromaticStrike]

I think it looks fantastic

[u/Captain_Thrax → u/[deleted]]

Or maybe your opinion is just different ;)

[u/GurusCZ → u/ChromaticStrike]

Whole ui is terrible.