The Fieldwork Pack DLC for Space Engineers has now been released, so it’s high time for a review of this lab enhancing add-on.
As the developers themselves describes it, The Fieldwork Pack provides new decorative blocks ideal for constructing secret bunkers, mad scientist labs, mobile research outposts and the like.
The new round corridor blocks somehow instantly made me think of space station for some reason, which maybe is odd. The fact is that once I started playing around with them it got clear that they are probably more for that secret bunker construction than for orbital stations. For one thing they lack a piece with any windows. But besides that the seven different corridor blocks provides you with all the parts you need to build connecting passageways, be it underground or in space. There is even as a first a dedicated block in order to go from the rounded corridor design to the more standard square one.
For the first time – as far as I can recall – there are dedicated floor blocks available. Seven of them in total. Of these I see the most use for the large 3×3 floor block, not the least due to it probably going to assist in making the rendering of a large base slightly faster due to the reduced number of blocks needed. But also of course being a help in not having to lay down as many blocks when building.
The 1×1 floor blocks can best be decribed as similar to dice. They have different part-designs on all six sides and by flipping them when building one can produce pretty intricate floor patterns. This is in theory a good idea but is – at least in the beginning – a bit fiddly to get right. It takes a lot of turns to get that preferred side of the block in the right direction. Personally I think that patterns had been better implemented as part of a paint function than stuck onto the block’s sides. But maybe that’s just my lazy side speaking.
Most pieces in the pack are however for that laboratory design work. Here we find six different lab desks which together makes it fully possible to design very nice lab spaces. And some could also do dual work as a good choice for the improvement of a kitchen area too. A glass door which works well together with standard glass walls helps in getting that laboratory feeling. Or for that matter anywhere where you want a bit less closed, walled-in feeling.
Some larger laboratory design parts are also available in the form of lab experiments blocks. These three different blocks don’t actually have any function even though they have very nice animations. They do however complete that feeling of a working lab. The lab vat on the other hand does have a function – it is technically a cryo pod in a different design. Now I only wish there was a way to not have the player having the whole space suit on while in it.
A lab freezer provides a lab-worthy small storage unit, while there are also new designs for small oxygen and hydrogen tanks as well as new O2H2 generator designs in both big and small versions.
Of particular note is the new cargo access terminals which have the same functions as normal conveyor-connected cargo storage containers but looks oh so much better for use as collecting points for items and material you need. In addition these new cargo access terminals comes both in a full block and a half block size, making for even better design possibilities.
For decoration there’s also seven new blocks with pipes, best used for making plain walls look a bit more busy and interesting. These blocks are also entirely decorative without any function, which is a bit sad since they would have been excellent working as conveyors. But who knows, maybe there will be a mod solution for that in the future.
To round the pack out there’s also a number of additional modular bridge pieces (seven in total) and a decorative exhaust cap for both the large and small grid. The latter being able to set to visually show smoke or fire exhaust.
As usual for Space Engineers DLC packs, the Fieldwork Pack does not add any new, DLC-specific locked abilities to the game. It purely adds new visual variants, options and better flexibility for your builds. This is something I always think the game developer should have a lot of credit for.
The other part which I always want to point out when it comes to Space Engineers DLC is the fact that no DLCs are mandatory to own in order to connect to a multiplayer game that uses DLC content. The only user who needs to own the DLC is the host of the game. Players who do not have the DLC themselves can still interact with the blocks, just not place new blocks.
To conclude, the Fieldwork Pack brings quite a lot of nice new designs to the table and feels like a pack that brings value for money. Being able to design a nice looking science lab is very welcome and a logical thing to have for most space stations and exploration bases. What makes the pack very attractive in my opinion is in particular the cargo access terminals which bring a clear visual improvement over the standard yellow square cargo compartment, as well as the differently sized oxygen and hydrogen tanks which is a benefit when designing.
