Update: A good chunk of ya saw this for what it was, but for those that were looking forward to it - you have my apologies.It was indeed an April Fools prank (read the bold text in the original post). If nothing else, I will continue to work with DarkStar to ensure the two separate mods work well together!


Original Post:

Howdy everyone!

It's been a while since I've done a big announcement regarding MES. There's been a lot going on lately on the back-end, but that's all going to come to light with today's bold announcement.

With KeenSWH set to release the Automaton's update sometime in April, this is going to open up some pretty big doors in the PvE modding space. These are big changes and they are going to need a big response in development. I'm not the only modder that has found themself in this position. I got chatting with DarkStar, the creator of the WeaponCore mod framework, and it turns out there's a lot of overlap between what we're doing with our respective mods in preparation for Automatons. I need to ensure the new behaviors Keen is introducing are compatible with MES, and he needs to ensure that the new behaviors can fire WeaponCore weapons. It was almost at the point where we were both going to rewrite these systems from scratch separately. So after a lengthy conversation, we decided not to be fools about this and instead commit to a partnership to make these upcoming changes as streamlined as possible.

With that said, I am pleased to announce that Modular Encounters System is going to be rewritten and entirely integrated into the WeaponCore / CoreSystems framework!

I know this may come as a bit of a concern for some, so in the interest of transparency, I would like to address some potential questions that may come from this announcement:

Q: Can we expect large changes in the way encounters spawn into the world?
A: This integration does open a window into potentially changing how encounters can be spawned in Space Engineers. MES was originally designed to mimic what already existed in vanilla, while expanding on that. Now, there's an opportunity available to do something completely new and fresh, although I'm not sure what that looks like yet.

Q: Will existing NPC mods continue to function under this new system.
A: I'll be honest. The changes we are planning are pretty large and sweeping. While I have typically tried to maintain backwards compatibility in my mods, this time around I don't think it is going to be possible. During the transition, I will be working with modders to ensure that they'll be able to update their mods to this new system.

Q: Will this work on xbox or playstation?
A: This is one of the harder parts of this decision, but because WeaponCore has a heavy reliance on Client-Scripting, it will not be possible to continue development for those platforms.

Q: Will a separate version of Modular Encounters Systems still be available for those that do not want to use WeaponCore?
A: Both DarkStar and I are busy people, and it would use too much time and resources to maintain 2 separate versions of these frameworks. When the merge is completed, the current version of MES will be discontinued.

Q: Are you planning to use Inhibitor blocks in this new framework?
A: I am hoping I can finally abandon the inhibitor blocks. With WeaponCore and it's superior targeting ability, I'll be able to protect NPC grids properly from jetpack attackers - which will feel more natural than the cheaty inhibitor fields.


I know there will be other questions that people will have about this - change can be scary, but overall I am excited about this bold new direction we're taking!!