I dusted off my credit card, bought Subnautica and dived right into it. This is what happened.

I will be continuing both these series in parallel.

#01 - Getting my feet wet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZmipiqFrYs

In this episode, I get acquainted with the surroundings and craft myself a knife. I also end up dying  :(

#02 - Let There Be Light

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJkxGAkeeL8&t=1s

I craft a flashlight so I can see in the dark, which is a lot of places / time. I go hunting for materials and end up blowing up :(

#03 - Don't Die

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5XQ3hZ_2i4

The main aim of this episode was to not die. Do I succeed? I also go find a lifepod.

#04 - Lifepod 17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FugOP8Aczk

I start this episode trying to find some silver, and end up going to find Lifepod 17.

#05 - Explorin'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWCLYEl_zpU

We continue our hunt for silver, lead and the final piece of the seamoth. Trying to remain alive at the same time.

#06 - The Sunbeam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt0yU9c-TRw

We get a message from the Sunbeam telling us that they are about to land. Rescue at last! or is it?

#07 - Lifepod 13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3YCJ8Z7Dhw

We head out to lifepod 13. On the way back, "Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you're doing is worth it?"

#08 - The Aurora

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0710Yo8Viw

We head over to the Aurora and manage to explore a part of it.

#09 - Time Capsules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MV_W1HTbjU

We head over to Second Officer Keens lifepod and find a few time capsules along the way.

#10 - Close Encounters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHbejQwsVuM

Try to head over to lifepod 12 which has sunk over 250m, but we don't make it that far. Why not?

#11 - Land Ahoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYfkuaUCdLU

Head over to the co-ordinates provided by Second Officer Keen. Still scared of water from the last episode.

#12 - The Jellyshroom Habitat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxHVvBqcm-I

Follow the Degasi into the Jellyshroom cave where we discover some treasures.

#13 - Stasis Rifle

https://youtu.be/3wxo_75jfoA

We head back into the Jellyshroom cave looking for Lithium but ending up finding a lot more.

#14 - Wanted: Gel Sack

https://youtu.be/AGEHX0G4dq8

Realising how crucial these little things are, and regretting accidentally eating a bunch of them, I try and find some. Do I succeed?

#15 - Some Base Building

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g20Unqz5bZU

A little bit of base maintenance and upgrades. Making life easier ;)

#16 - Back to the Aurora

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Yq6BErfM4

We go back to the Aurora, trying to get back into the Prawn Bay.

#17 - Lifepod 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fjh-x79NiQ

We try to find Lifepod 4 which is in Reaper territory. Scary!

#18 - Avoiding Lifepod 12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdFlpFSea8U

Terrified of going back to lifepod 12, I find something else to do.

#19 - Balls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kMAntYaaps

I visit lifepod 12 (the balls). I then make my way to the Degasi habitat at 500m and run into a field of blue balls. On my way back, Balls! What the hell was that?

#20 - PRAWN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR1Vb7XNJCg

Finally get the parts together to build a PRAWN suit.

#21 - Torpedoes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg70y0OZq2w

Get down the 500m deep Degasi habitat, then decide I probably need some torpedoes.

#22 - Crabsquid Ahoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MOd5cnGLTM

We head back to the 500m Degasi habitat, torpedoes armed and full of bravery.

#23 - Enforcement Platform

I try and find the island which shot down the sunbeam again and this time, I succeed. Lots of exploration and finding lots of new things.

#24 - Enforcement Platform pt 2

Offload all the loot and go back to the Enforcement Platform for more explorin'. What is that alien device that needed an ion cube?

#25 - What... are... you?

This episode is full of surprises.

#26 - Knowing Me, Knowing Yu

We go looking for Yu's lifepod and find some treasures.

#27 - Scanning Output

Set up a scanning output to try and find fragments a bit easier

#28 - Scanning from Output

Use the new output to try and find fragments for blueprints

I have been watching gameplay videos on youtube for a while now. I have always been inspired by them and wanted to start a series of my own.

I hadn't played space engineers for a few months and had been wanting to go back to it. That made it an ideal candidate to try this on. One thing I always struggled with Space Engineers is that it doesn't have a goal to work towards. To this end, I have tried to come up with a backstory that'll give something to work towards

It was substantially more difficult than it looks to talk and play a game and the first couple of episodes are incredibly stumbly. I share them for posterity, continuity and hopefully to also show how much improvement there is later on, hopefully.

Backstory

A lone space engineer wakes up in his small ship, far away from a home he once knew. There are only a handful of people still awake, with a few thousand people across a few factions in cryo-sleep. A capital ship is being built to house these cryo chambers. Several engineers have been sent out into the galaxies to build a base.

Their mission is to colonise planets, ideally multiple planets, for each of the three factions. With a few hundred to a thousand people in each faction. Once all the habitats have been built, the engineer is to send a radio signal and await the arrival of the cargo.

With the heavy burden of this mission on their shoulders, this space engineer wakes up, caught in the gravitational pull of a blue planet.

Episodes

Below are the episodes already uploaded to youtube.

#01 - Hunting for Uranium

https://youtu.be/GOqmD4lVTGM

In the first episode, we start in a respawn ship within the gravitational pull of Earth. We then move off into space and go hunting for uranium before we run out of power. The most excitement came when I realised that I was running out of oxygen and I hadn't taken a canister with me. Will I die from suffocation? Find out ;)

This is a very noob video, my very first. Also, due to a recording mistake, there are no game sounds on this video :(

#02 - Starting a Base

https://youtu.be/7qVowX5whJ4

We identify a location to start our base out on and start building it in earnest. Partway through, I realise that the scaffolding that I had painstaking built out was way too large, so I tear it down and try to build a small base. I also spend some time mining out a bunch of iron.

This is also a very noob video, though I think there are fewer boring parts (hopefully). The game audio issue is also fixed part way through.

#03 - Furnishing

https://youtu.be/m5Enko3Sxxg

This episode revolves around finishing construction of some of the items inside the base. There was some confusion about how to build a cargo container without dismantling the one on the ship.

This is hopefully starting to get a little better.

#04 - More Furnishings

https://youtu.be/oqEjvVypnlI

Realise that I am running out of oxygen (again) and we don't have an Oxygen Generator or Ice. Fix that first, then build a turret for some protection.

I felt this episode was a lot better.

#05 - The Bug

https://youtu.be/QXClJZm9Hb0

This episode starts with building a rudimentary mining ship which I screw up. I had been away from this game for a while ;) I then fix a bunch of the stuff, do some mining, then fix a bunch of other things.

This episode also felt pretty ok to me.

#06 - The Shredder

https://youtu.be/3w1T7pClos0

In this episode, I build a grinding ship. I then use this ship to grind down the original respawn ship completely. I also reconstruct the roof of the base to be a little tidier. The rest of the episode is spent scouting for resources.

It feels like I need to commentate more. While editing, I realise that there are a few unexpressed thoughts and the sheer amount of time when I am not saying anything still surprises me. A lot more work still to do :)

#07 - The Digger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcBFEOzxyEQ

We build another version of the miner, so that we don't have to deal with the container snafu 'bug' ;) This episode runs a little longer, but we end up with a much better version of the miner which I call the digger. This is a callback to a game that was released in 1983 which I loved growing up :) You can try it online.

I feel that the videos are definitely improving and look forward to hearing what you think :)

#08 - Tim is in Charge

https://youtu.be/6NCFKtMxRnQ

Tidy the base up a bit, plugging the reactor into the conveyor system. I then set up Talendan's inventory management (TIM) to automate the refinery, assembler and the inventories. Set up some LCD panels to see the status of these as well.

#09 - Base Expansion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PmEuCeQu8U&index=9&t=0s&list=PLQb-fOWHIdUzyM-bJllq3QpWdVGDBhC98

Fix a couple of things on the base and start on expanding it.

#10 - The Mole

Build a tiny mining ship using the Vertex Thrust 2 Script. This doesn't go exactly according to plan.

#11 - The Refinery Room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiqFMIspVHU

Get the framework for the refinery room more or less complete

#12 - The Beaver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7-unJTywWo

Most of this episode was spent trying to build a small and compact enough welding ship.

#13 - The Refinery Room Pt 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsMY4q_hBHw

We weld up the refinery room and link it up to the rest of the cargo network.

#14 - Misbehavin' Tim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMMrfkdvItM

Start on boring out the refinery room and run into some trouble with Tim too.

#15 - Assembler Jigsaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq0E45KqhhM

Start putting down assemblers.

#16 - Assembler Room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vORayj8-f-0

Finish construction of the assembler room.

#17 - Base with a View

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i2N8o9c1KQ

Prettify the base and tidy things up.

#18 - The Storage Room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcmL3luT_8U

Drilling out the storage room

#19 - Storage Room Complete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrTGpPYQi0c

Completed the welding and setup of the storage room.

#20 - Control Room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaAL_MOdghY&t=2s

Tidying up the Control room and preparing the base for pressurisation.

#21 - Fully Automated Mining

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3uaLVomaMo

Using Rdav's AI Autominer Script to put together a fully autonomous mining ship.

#22 - Ant Mk II Better Automated Miner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvLNVdIRlkg

While falling asleep, I had some ideas on how to improve the Ant. I get on with constructing the Ant Mk II.

#23 - Testing the Ant Mk II

https://youtu.be/WhtVJZxtj3E

Wait, why does the ship try and drill through the asteroid sideways?

#24 - Ant Mk II Chassis

We build the Chassis around most of the Ant, send it off mining and start working on airlocks.

#25 - Rotary Airlock

Put in Airlocks and start on getting the base airtight.

#26 - Airtight Refinery Room

We manage to get the refinery room airtight? What was the problem - something I had done right at the start of setting the room up.

#27 - Fully Pressurised

Fix the autominers so they work across reloads. Get the base fully pressurised and move on to the next project.

#28 - Holey Cave

What I wanted was to have the new section to be mostly just rock, or in this case, iron deposits. Do I manage to get it airtight?

#29 - Unholey Cave

Working on making the way to the hanger airtight.

#30 - Fixing Sim Speed

Space Engineers had been dragging for a few episodes. Fix that.

#31 - Way to the Hangar

We make progress building our way towards the hangar.

#32 - Building a Tunnel

Building the tunnel that'll take us to the Hangar.

#33 - Finishing the Tunnels

We finish off the tunnel to the Hangar

#34 - Under the Stairs

We start furnishing under the stairs ;)

#35 - Starting the Hangar

We make our way to the hangar and start on it in earnest.

#36 - Hangar Foundations pt 1

We start putting in the struts that will hold the hangar together

#37 - Hangar Foundations pt 2

We continue our work in putting in the struts around the hangar

#38 - Small Steel Tubes

While putting in the tubing around the hangar, we run out of small steel tubes.

#39 - Automining Without Lag

Try and get the autominers working without lag.

#40 - Faster Mining

Try and speed up automatic mining by attaching several more drills.

#41 - Hangar Foundations pt 3

Putting down another set of foundations for the hangar

#42 - Hangar Foundations pt 4

Piping up the hangar

#43 - The Printer

Build a welding ship and get started on the capital ship.

#44 - Everything is Broken :(

One by one fail by fail. At least, that's how it felt.

#45 - Fixing Things

Try and fix everything that broke in the last episode.

#46 - Making Space

Making more space inside the large grid ship to put things.

#47 - Interior Design

So... What should go inside this brand spanking new ship?

#48 - No More Gold!

We run out of gold while building the jump drive.

#49 - Detaching the Ship

We grind off the supporting beams. Will the ship crash and burn?

#50 - The Big Five O

The fiftieth episode of this series. My first ever YouTube series and it has got to 50 episodes. Hurrah!

#51 - Interior Redesign

I start off with the intention of finishing off the hanger, but end up grinding the whole hangar down.

#52 - Rebuilding the Hangar

We get back on to the hangar and get most of it down

#53 - The Right Wing

No, it's not a political episode, it's about building the wing on the right hand side of the ship.

#54 - Out of Cobalt

Working on the right wing and I run out of metal grids, which as it turned out was because we were out of Cobalt.

Future Plans

The main next plan is to flesh out the base a bit and get a solid starting point. After that, we'll go to the moon. We'll build a moon base with a habitat of some form.

If I am not bored after that, I might try heading to Mars or the Alien planet since I've not been to either of those locations.

Unlikely but would be awesome

In an offline map, kaljack and I were working on building a massive capital ship with hundreds (or thousands) of cryo chambers. The idea being that this ship would contain the remaining people from a now dead civilisation. They are looking for a place to land and call home.

The habitats and the environments we are building are for these people. If we ever finish that capital ship, we'll get it jump into our world and land on one or more of these locations.

Finally

I welcome comments, ideas and thoughts, ideally in the form of compliments ;) but I also welcome constructive criticisms, ideas, questions and requests.

If you like Space Engineers, you might also like games like Space Engineers (by game cupid)\