Updated Transmissions: Damage Particle Effects, Ship Tool Shaking and Camera Zoom

Once again it's Thursday, and the developers of Space Engineers have given us an interesting update. Some features that players have been asking for, some that change previously removed aspects of the game and yet another that, as far as I can tell, wasn't asked for but is ultimately an unexpected bonus to those of us who enjoy some of the more immersive aspects of realistic gameplay. As always, the full list of features and bugfixes for the version 1.068 update can be found here.

Parts of your ship, excluding armor, now show particle effects when significantly damaged.

For those of you who try to play Space Engineers in a more realistic and immersive way, the unexpected part of this update might intrigue you. All parts of a ship can normally be damaged by gunfire or through contact with other ships or asteroids while moving at speed. Now, once any non-armor blocks are damaged below the red line that marks their completed state, they'll start to emit different particle effects. These effects are determined by what kind of block it is: thrusters and  turrets spew flames whereas gravity generators, lights, antennas and most other ship blocks will give off crackles of electricity. Reactors instead emit a harmless but radioactive-looking green gas. These effects coincide with the point at which a block stops functioning until repaired.

An aspect of the game that had been removed in a previous update was the shaking effect that came from using the spinning mining drill on a ship. Depending on the mass of your vessel, this shaking could be quite disorienting and was one of the leading causes for parts of a mining ship breaking away from bumping against the wall of a tunnel system. Although many players quite liked its removal, it could also be seen as a loss of game immersion for some. Today's update brings it back, as well as a similar shaking sensation for ship welders, as a single setting you can toggle for each game world you own.

In my time spent perusing the Space Engineers subreddit, I've seen many players ask for some way to zoom in the view either of their space suits or the ships themselves, theorizing that such an effect could be commonplace in a time and place where lone astronauts could build and pilot their own craft amongst asteroid fields in deep space. Just such a function has now been added to the camera blocks that can be placed on your ships and stations. Although the standard engineering space suit currently lacks such ability, this still opens up some interesting possibilities for reconnaissance satellites or spy drones.

Despite being outside of my realm of knowledge, I'm sure the modders and programmers of the Space Engineers community will enjoy the final aspect of this update. Modding API and programming documentation can now be found in a folder located within the installation point of the game itself. Simply accessing it through the game properties tab inside Steam, and navigate to the Tools folder.

See you next Thursday, fellow engineers!