Space Engineers Interview: Xbox One Console Exclusivity, Gameplay Mechanics And More

Keen Software House’s Space Engineers isn’t your typical voxel-based, space structure building, asteroid mining sandbox game but then, what is in today’s world? The game, which first started life as an early access title for PC, will be coming to the Xbox One in the coming months. After a round of success on PC, will it make a strong impact on the Minecraft-minded Xbox crowd?

That remains to be seen but there’s no denying that Space Engineers is one of the few Xbox One exclusive titles to watch out for. GamingBolt recently got in touch with Keen Software house founder Marek Rosa to speak about the game’s development, it’s various modes, the chances of it arriving on the PS4 and much more.

"Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction and maintenance of space works. Players build space ships and space stations of various sizes and utilization (civil and military), pilot ships and perform asteroid mining."

Rashid K. Sayed: To begin with can you tell us about yourself and the company you work for?

Marek Rosa: My name is Marek Rosa and I am the founder of Keen Software House, an indie studio, where we develop Space Engineers and our in-house engine VRAGE 2.0.

Rashid K. Sayed: So for those who are unaware, what is the game about?

Marek Rosa: Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction and maintenance of space works. Players build space ships and space stations of various sizes and utilization (civil and military), pilot ships and perform asteroid mining. In more simple worlds, players can spend hundreds of hours, using their limitless creativity, experimenting with the game’s mechanics, building spaceships, constructing huge space stations or play online together with their friends either cooperating or competing with each other.

Rashid K. Sayed: Space Engineers will be a 12 month exclusive for the Xbox One. I find that news pretty interesting since from a business point of view you would probably like to be on as many platforms as you can, especially with the PS4 selling 10 million units. What was the reason for going console exclusive with Xbox One?

Marek Rosa: Microsoft was one of the first who expressed their big interest in Space Engineers and offered their support from the beginning. We also believe that the game will fit perfect with the XBOX ONE audience since Space Engineers is written in C#/DirectX and porting on Xbox should be easier.

Rashid K. Sayed: Having said that will we see the game on the PS4 at some point?

Marek Rosa: Our focus at the moment is only on the development of the Windows/PC and the XBOX ONE version. Despite that, there are a big number of players who are already requesting us for this. We can’t comment or promise anything now, but it is something that we might consider for the future, not only for the PS4 console, but also for other platforms as well.

"We read all the suggestions that our community is sending and we try to implement what is possible."

Rashid K. Sayed: Space Engineers has a similar look and feel to Habitat and Starbound. How will Space Engineers make itself unique in the ever growing open and persistent world genre?

Marek Rosa: What makes Space Engineers unique comparing to the other games of this genre are its realistic physics and interactivity, the graphics, the focus on the engineering and construction aspects.

Rashid K. Sayed: Talk us through the creative and survival modes.

Marek Rosa: With creative, players have unlimited resources that they can use, together with their creativity, to build anything they like. Survival is more complicated and demanding; players must think about resources, harvest them, collect them, refine them and create materials that are needed to build various constructions and to survive.

Rashid K. Sayed: Furthermore how will the single player narrative play out?

Marek Rosa: We still have many plans and many new features and modes to add in the future, but (please forgive us for this) we can’t share them at the moment. We read all the suggestions that our community is sending and we try to implement what is possible. Don’t forget also that Space Engineers is a sandbox game, so the options for the single-player are unlimited.

Rashid K. Sayed: Will the game run at 1080p and 60fps on the Xbox One?

Marek Rosa: It is still too early in development to be able to comment on this.

Rashid K. Sayed: Furthermore did you face any issues while developing on the Xbox One’s eSRAM?

Marek Rosa: It is still too early in development to be able to comment on this.

"We will continue to develop the game and new features for as long as it is requested by our players."

Rashid K. Sayed: How do you think the latest June SDK update and extra GPU resource due to Kinect less Xbox One will help developers such as yourself?

Marek Rosa: It is still too early in development to be able to comment on this.

Rashid K. Sayed: Can you tell us when will the final retail release happen on PCs and Xbox One?

Marek Rosa: This is something that we can’t announce at the moment. We will continue to develop the game and new features for as long as it is requested by our players.

Rashid K. Sayed: Do you have your plans laid out for post launch content?

Marek Rosa: Not for now, but if there are any new ideas that be implemented in the game after its release, then we can consider doing it.

Rashid K. Sayed: As someone who is working on both the Xbox One and PC, what kind of advantages do you think DX12 will bring to games development?

Marek Rosa: It looks like DX12 will help with the performance

Rashid K. Sayed: Is there anything else you want to tell us about the game?

Marek Rosa: The game itself is just one part of the equation. There is a bigger one and that’s our community who keeps creating amazing and unbelievable stuff in our game (running robots, various mechanical toys, logic gates and more)

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