Update log
Full SpaceEngine update
The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.
Repeated intro
Hey folks!
Extracted changes
- Gameplay
- Compatibility
- Performance
Our next major patch, 0.991: The Universe Generation Update, is now live! This update brings major changes to SpaceEngine’s procedural generation systems, elevating all things beyond the known universe and breaking from the dreaded giant-terra-giant-terra pattern.
Generation changes like this cause a universe reset — recalculating the 'where' and 'what' of all procedural objects. For established users, this means information like screenshots, saved locations, and procedural object names from 0.990 will likely no longer be accurate*. Fear not for your 0.990 records, however! For posterity, build 0.990.48.2075 has been saved as a legacy branch and is available in the Betas dropdown (Steam library, right click SpaceEngine, Properties, Betas).
(* data from Beta Update 2 will carry over)
The changelog section at the bottom outlines everything new to SpaceEngine in 0.991.49.2090. Below we’ve highlighted some of the immediate changes you’ll find in the update:
Planetary Generation
In 0.991, expect system-to-system exploration to become more interesting! The old giant-terra-giant-terra meander sequence has been replaced with a more diversified procedure. This includes dwarf planets, which did exist in 0.990, but were exceedingly rare.
Comparison of the 'same' system between 0.990 and 0.991
You’ll also find greater diversity among planetary rings (including rings for smaller objects like dwarf moons), accretion disks, and more!
Graphical Tweaks
We’ve also made some tweaks to visualization for star surfaces and underwater terrain.
Sunspots and granulation patterns in 0.990 had contrast much higher than in reality. With this update, they look closer to real-life images. On top of that, we’ve updated calculations so that the visual temperatures of these features are determined by the effective temperature of the star.
A comparison of granules and sunspots on a G2V star in 0.990 (left) and 0.991 (right).
Also new with 0.991, the terrain of underwater surfaces mimics the absorption of light, darkening as you increase depth. This is a small shader change, but lets you feel just how far down you’ve gone.
Sea floor images from a variety of depths, showing their appearance in 0.990 (left) and 0.991 (right).
Math Overhauls
Finally, we’ve updated the math for several aspects of procedural generation. We’ve already mentioned planetary generation and sunspot temperature, but that’s far from everything! We’ve also overhauled the math behind:
Globular cluster generation
Effective temperature/radii for main sequence M dwarfs and L, T, and Y brown dwarfs
Mass-radius distribution of terrestrial planets
Iron core mass distribution in terrestrial planets
Eccentric orbits (greatly reducing the likelihood of planet/star or planet/planet collisions)
Galaxy type generation probabilities
For those who want to read more, see the Overview article from September
What you don’t see here is all the hard work that went into fixes and testing during the Beta, both by the team and you, our dedicated community. We opened to Beta on September 15th; then, over the course of two months of daily feedback (and three total resets), we’ve packed in several further fixes to make this the best build it can be, as well as logging many more reports and suggestions for the next major update.
It’s all thanks to you, our community of space enthusiasts, that we can keep working on this project. We’ve made a solid leap with 0.991, and have much more planned for future updates. Thank you!
Changelog:
Editor’s Note: Changelog reflects changes between 0.990.48.2075 and 0.991.49.2090. Fixes between beta patches are excluded. Duplicate entries from beta patch notes imply the issue(s) pre-dated 0.991.
Improved procedural planetary generation, fixing giant-terra-giant-terra meander sequence and increasing diversity of procedural systems
Improved diversity of
Source