Playing alone/with friends

[Brother Nature]

Hi all,

Not 100% on what this game is exactly, but I was thinking of getting something that I could play alone and/or with friends. For reference - I'm a huge Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program fan and this seems like somewhat of a mix of both?

Is this fun playing alone? Can this be played alone and together - like a shared save file or dedicated server or something?

Basically thinking of having like a shared server with friends so either of us can play alone or if we all have time, we could play together, but on the same map. Not sure if that would be possible.

[BlueBronco1]

Yes, it’s coop you can play with a friend or join a server. In My opinion this game is great. I strongly recommend. You can build any thing from a mining base to a skyscraper to a battleship. It’s an open world sandbox game. Create, design, explorer.

[BlueBronco1]

Also you don’t need a server. Just go to NEW GAME and pick what you want and it will have a Public, Friend or Offline option.

[BlueBronco1]

There is a huge learning curve but don’t let they scare you. Just play the tutorials and there’s a number of people on YouTube that have tutorial videos. Recommended: #1 Splitsie
#2 Splitsie
#3 Splitsie
# 4 garage gamer. He makes good ship building vids and some other stuff .

[Mojo]

@GRoss- Not to sound like a troll, which I know it will sound like I am. All of your questions are answered on the Space Engineers Store page.
(other than the playing alone part being fun, that is totally up to you. :) )

And remember you can always refund the game as long as you play it less than two hours or own it for less than two weeks with less than two hours of play time, if you decide that you do not like it.

[TheVipersFang]

I do believe that a good way to describe playing Space Engineers is to liken it to a time travelling machine. You start playing in the evening after getting home from work with the intention of establishing a basic base of operations. The next thing you know the sun is rising and it is somehow tomorrow already.

[BlueBronco1]

Originally posted by TheVipersFang:

I do believe that a good way to describe playing Space Engineers is to liken it to a time travelling machine. You start playing in the evening after getting home from work with the intention of establishing a basic base of operations. The next thing you know the sun is rising and it is somehow tomorrow already.

I have made that mistake. Lol

[Squidtank]

I've had better performance using a dedicated server with friends, so if your MP direct connect experience is not great you may want to try that. Also the DS has an option to pause while no one is online. This game runs better in single player, MP is not perfect, but its still good times.
This game is frankly amazing once you get into it, you should definitely check out workshop mods, there are mods for nearly anything you can think of and they can change the game quite dramatically. The base game is fairly limited as far as weapons and NPCs, but easily fixed with some time on the workshop (very active and crazy mod community). If you like Minecraft and Kerbal, definitely worth trying. Things do not always work as expected in space engineers, but that usually part of the fun (save often & make blueprints). Once you figure out what you are doing, this game can just suck you in forever. If you do use mods, keep in mind mod order matters, so highest one on the list will take priority if two mods change the same things. Also if you use a dedicated server, avoid door mods, most of the advanced doors on the workshop have a problem where if you try to go through them on a dedicated server while a ship is moving it lags/murders you. Anyway, getting ahead of myself there with helpful advice since you don't own it yet!

[BlueBronco1]

Originally posted by Squidtank:

I've had better performance using a dedicated server with friends, so if your MP direct connect experience is not great you may want to try that. Also the DS has an option to pause while no one is online. This game runs better in single player, MP is not perfect, but its still good times.
This game is frankly amazing once you get into it, you should definitely check out workshop mods, there are mods for nearly anything you can think of and they can change the game quite dramatically. The base game is fairly limited as far as weapons and NPCs, but easily fixed with some time on the workshop (very active and crazy mod community). If you like Minecraft and Kerbal, definitely worth trying. Things do not always work as expected in space engineers, but that usually part of the fun (save often & make blueprints). Once you figure out what you are doing, this game can just suck you in forever. If you do use mods, keep in mind mod order matters, so highest one on the list will take priority if two mods change the same things. Also if you use a dedicated server, avoid door mods, most of the advanced doors on the workshop have a problem where if you try to go through them on a dedicated server while a ship is moving it lags/murders you. Anyway, getting ahead of myself there with helpful advice since you don't own it yet!

I agree. you said what i wanted to say but i did not know how to say it.

[Rio]

I always play it alone. In part because my friend hates playing the game, Because it has a long learning curve.


Playing alone, other than achivements/story maps, you do have to largely make your own goals. Theres npc quests for money, and you can make it a goal to own every ship the npc traders can sell.

A simple early on goal is to start on an earthlike planet and try to reach space (Space is basically the EZ mode area of the game). If you want much harder you can make your start planet Pertam/Alien planet. You can enable wolves too, they don't make things too much harder, and they can drop parts, they're more annoying than anything else.

There are enemy A.I. ships you can beat (Only in space) and take home for parts, but that makes the game pretty easy mode, specially in the early game. You can use all those easy gotten parts to make a massive ship the A.i. ships probably have no chance against.

[Brother Nature]

Thanks for all of your replies, comments and suggestions!

I ended up picking up the game and it's really cool! VERY steep learning curve, figuring out the basics and wrestling with things like small vs large grids, but it's immensely satisfying!

It definitely feels like a mix or Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program in many ways, so I'm a huge fan! I just hope that it doesn't get too boring, too quickly. I'm not exactly sure what to do, but my current plan is to finish my mining vehicle, produce enough resources to make a decent space craft and take it up into the orbit!

[BlueBronco1]

Your welcome. If you need anything just ask the community. They will help you.