The smartest thing about video video games, consultants agree, is particle results that spray, ping, spang, billow, and zbloom far and wide. Crafty area sandbox Space Engineers has recognised this in its newest large early entry replace, including a brand new particle system which showers sparks, glimmers, and clouds far and wide. As it proper and good. The replace additionally spruces up the sport’s seems general, making it concurrently fancier and nearer to its daring and blocky authentic look. The replace additionally brings a brand new physics system for wheels, making spacecars much less prone to freak out or flip whilst you’re admiring the particle results they kick up.
Keen Software House’s Marek Rosa particulars every part about Friday’s replace in a blog post however let’s have a look at some highlights.
First, footage. A brand new particle engine runs on the GPU quite than the CPU, which Keen say means they will have extra and fancier particles with out harming efficiency. A load of recent particle results are in too, for every part from explosions to thrusters. The color palette is extra saturated, nearer to the look of the sport in its early days. Character animations are improved, together with new touchdown animations. A brand new voxel engine borrowed from Keen’s personal Medieval Engineers masses and runs quicker. Tone mapping, bloom, ambient occlusion, and different results make lighting and scenes extra dramatic. And a couple of (non-compulsory) “cinematic” results are in, like lens digicam grime and chromatic aberration. In quick: fairly issues and technical phrases.
As for wheeled automobiles, Rosa says the brand new physics ought to make them “be strong, robust and endure more”. They ought to suck much less.
Sounds are reworked too, with a mix of additional sounds and rebalanced ranges supposed to make issues really feel heavier and extra actual. Oh, and a ‘realistic mode’ choice makes sound extra like precise area – very quiet. Rosa explains:
“Sound waves travel only where there’s a physical connection between a sound source and a listener. The medium can be either the atmosphere or a solid object, and influences how you hear the sound: clearly or muffled / low-passed (through vibrations). The game simulates this property. The end result is that you won’t hear an explosion of a ship nearby if you are not standing on it. However, you will hear a muffled explosion and cracking of your ship if you are standing on its surface.”
Fancy!
All of this sounds good? Good stuff. Space Engineers has been strong to play for yonks however this appears like good sprucing. While there’s nonetheless no phrase on when Space Engineers shall be ‘finished’ and launch correctly, it did just lately enter beta status, no matter which means lately, and appears to be beginning to end up.
