Frequently Asked Questions

General 40 questions
  • Hotkeys

    Yes, besides obvious TAB and 1-0 keys there are many other useful hotkeys:

    • X – toggle remove/add modes

    • Ctrl+LMB – copy pointed component

    • Ctrl+LMB – copy pointed color (only for Paint tool)

    • Ctrl+LMB – create selection for pointed component (only for Selection tool)

    • Shift+LMB – expand selection to include pointed component (only for Selection tool)

    • Ctrl+Z – undo

    • Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z – redo

    • Shift – changing drag plane when adding blocks

    • UIO – block flipping (mirroring)

    • JKL – block rotating

    • Enter – spawn a vehicle

    • P – toggle rotation controls hint

    • F – focus on block you’re hovering over but only for orbit mode camera*

    *Don’t forget that you can use free camera mode where you can move your camera with WASD and use E for up and Q for down.

  • How to throw and rotate handheld objects?

    Tap Q/E to hold objects up in front of you, or hold Q/E to tether to the object.

    Use arrow keys (←↑↓→) when holding object to rotate it.

  • How big is the world?

    Currently, it’s a 256×256 km play area that is filled with uninhabited islands and wind turbines. In the middle of the map you will find a 32×32 km zone that has many unique islands of different size. Very far north you can find arctic islands surrounded by icebergs (it’s easier to find by following a railway).

  • What maximum size of vehicle?

    Size of the vehicle depends on the dock or hangar that you are using for building:

     Medium Dock (longest for now) 56.75×21.75×19.75 m (Creative Base, Harbour Base, Mainland Dock, Arctic Island Base, Custom Base Large Boat and Custom Base Submarine)

     Medium Hangar (widest for now) 34.25×35.75×9.25 m (Creative Base, Military Base, Mainland Airstrip and Arctic Island Base)

     Small Dock 14.25×6.75×6.75 m (Starter Base and Custom Base Small Boat)

     Small Hangar 17.75×15.75×5.25 m (Helicopter Base and Airstrip Base)

     Train Depot 24.25×4.25×5.25(Mainland Dock, Keys Dock and Arctic Island Stations)

    Keep in mind that you can build vehicles using multiple joinable parts, so basically there is no limit by size.

  • Electricity Measurement

    The only thing that simplified here is electricity. There is no Watts, Hertz, Volts or Amps because we think that it will be complicated even for players who play with AV enabled. So we use our internal units to define electric charge. Batteries have next capacities:

    • 1600 Swatts for small

    • 12800 Swatts for medium

    • 256000 Swatts for large

  • Temperature Measurement

    Temperature in degree Celsius (°C). Engines start overheating at 120 °C. Character starts freezing at 5°C but keep in mind that air humidity and wind speed (and character speed as well) creates wind chill effect.

  • Pressure Measurement

    Pressure is in meters below the sea level.

  • Volume Measurement

    Volume in litres (L). Capacity of hollow block is 15.625 L. Capacity of placeable tanks are:

    • 31.25 L for small

    • 187.50 L for medium

    • 703.125 L for large

  • Rotational Speed Measurement

    Rotational speed of engines and motors in rotations per second (rps), so to get rpm just multiply it by 60.

  • Speed Measurement

    Speed is measured in meters per second (m/s) so if you need speed in kmph, mph or knots, then you will need to multiply the speed by:

    • 3.6 to show kmph

    • 2.236936 to show mph

    • 1.943844 to show knots

  • Radio antennas ranges

    Radio antennas range:

    • 100 m for small

    • 1000 m for medium

    • 4000 m for large

    • 10000 m for video

    • 20000 m for huge

    Total range is combined of ranges of rx and tx antennas and also depends on electric power if you are playing with AV enabled.

  • What system of measurement is used in the game?

    Game is set in Scotland so we use metric system:

    Length is in meters (m). One block is 0.25 m (25 x 25 x 25 cm). Row of 4 blocks will be 1 meter long. The character is 7 blocks tall (1.75 m).

  • Is there a pressure simulation?

    Yes, there is two types of pressure mechanics. For advanced vehicles (AV) there is a height-based pressure system that makes it harder to pump upwards than downwards (same kind of pressure physics as is generated by pumps). This also applies to pumping fluid in and out of a vehicle while underwater, as the pressure is higher with depth. Players and other characters are also affected by depth pressure.

  • Is there hydrodynamics/aerodynamics?

    Yes, so keep it in mind when designing your vehicle. Some of the components like wings and  control surfaces have effect in both air and water.

    Also making flat, smooth faces is better for the game performance than anything else. Boats with staggered wedges on the hull will be a lot worse in most cases than a boat that just has a regular V-shape made with wedges and inverse pyramids like the preset hulls. You can press F2 to see how the physics is simplified.

  • Why is my helicopter uncontrollable?

    Flight control is complicated. That’s why we added Gyro component – connect it to the pilot seat and your engines/rotors. See starter helicopter preset as example.

  • Why is my vessel sinking?

    Currently buoyancy is only calculated for completely sealed compartments. See starter boat and hull presets as examples.

  • What is gear ratio?

    By changing the gear ratio in the component settings, you can control torque of mechanisms: more torque = less speed, less torque = more speed.

    Check out these Tutorials

  • Clutch and gearbox?

    Combustion engine is not efficient on its own, without a proper power transmission system.

    Use clutches to engage and disengage power transmission:

    • from engine to gearbox and drive shaft

    • from engine or gearbox to generator

    • from drive shaft to wheels for part-time all-wheel drive vehicles

    Use gearboxes with predefined gear ratios to provide speed and torque conversions from engines to wheels, propellers and rotors.

  • What is advanced vehicles (AV)?

    Advanced vehicle mechanics is a part of survival and hardcore modes where vehicle editor have many additional features for building much more realistic and complicated vehicles.

    While building AV you will notice that fluid and power components will require connections through pipes. Also combustion engines will require fuel, coolant, air intake and exhaust. More than that – all the buttons, levers, engines, motors and most of the rest mechanical components will also require electric power from batteries or generators.

    So to properly run simple combustion engine you will need:

    • a button/seat to send ignition signal and a lever/seat to for throttle and idling speed (or engine will stall)

    • a battery to power up the engine and buttons/levers (use generator to charge the battery)

    • a fuel tank filled with right type of fuel

    • a heat radiator or sink (you can start engines without them, but your engine may overheat quickly at high rotational speed)

    • an air intake (fluid port or fluid intake)

    • an exhaust (fluid port or fluid exhaust)

    Keep in mind that combustion engines can’t run in reverse like electric motors, which means that you will need to use a clutch and a gearbox to have reverse speed.

  • Drive shafts, half shafts, axles, differentials?

    Well, maybe someday, but obviously only for advanced vehicles (AV)

  • Natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes)?

    Yes, all of that is on our list, but this is a little way off.

  • Search, filters, sorting and folders for the in-game file browser?

    Yes, it’s on our list including a search, filters and favorites support for Workshop items and server browser.

  • Bigger build areas?

    Larger edit zones are not an easy task right now. Even current default ones have issues with limits that we need to solve first. We have some ideas on a more comfortable way of creating large creations, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

    However these Tutorials will allow you to mod a larger build area.

  • Physical continuous tracks and icebreaking?

    Both features are very CPU expensive because of physics calculations, so probably will never appear in the game.

  • Weapons and explosions (guns, cannons, shells, missiles, torpedoes, rockets and bombs)?

    Weapons DLC is currently under development.

  • More basic shapes, longer slopes, windows, portholes, engines, propellers, rotors, wheels, engines, boilers, reactors, sails?

    Devs add new components regularly, and have a long list of items we want to add to the game.

  • Liquid fuel rockets, oxidizers, propellants, vectoring nozzles, RCS thrusters?

    Might be, but not in near future.

  • Will there be more player equipment added?

    Many inventory items have been added such as a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, flaregun, radio, and more. More items will be added as time goes on.

  • Will there be more physics and multiplayer optimizations in the future?

    We always did, do and will keep doing many different optimizations in the rendering process, physics simulation and our netcode. In fact, it’s a never ending process.

  • What Game Engine Does Stormworks Use?

    It’s our own engine written in C++. We use Bullet as the physics engine.

  • Where is the game/minidump/log.txt folder?

    Best and easiest way to find it is right-clicking Stormworks in Steam library then Properties > Local files > Browse local files

  • Where is the save folder?

    All your vehicles are saved here: %appdata%\Stormworks\data\vehicles

    Your mission playlists stored here %appdata%\Stormworks\data\missions

    World saves are located here: %appdata%\Stormworks\saves

    MacOS users will find those folders here Library/Application Support/Stormworks

  • How can I get that new experimental version of the game?

    Open your Steam library > Click the right mouse button on the Stormworks > Properties > Betas > Select the experimental public testing branch > Close properties > The new version should be downloaded quickly after that.

  • How to report a bug?

    We strongly recommend you to use the Report a Bug button which you can find in top right corner of the game menu. This way we will see much more info about possible issue.

    If you can’t get in main menu or you just want to make an suggestion then you can create a ticket here: http://mcro.org/issues/1

    Please, always include detailed info about the issue. Especially reproduction steps and a vehicle example (a link to an item on Steam Workshop for example). If you experience a game crash then upload the most recent minidump file and leave a link to it a ticket description. If there are no crash dumps generated then please, try to run the 32-bit version of the game and reproduce the issue.

    Please, check your issue on the experimental branch first because many of the fixes are already there.

  • Why game lag?

    Being a physics sandbox game, Stormworks is very dependant on CPU* and GPU** performance. But unlike other games, we are trying to not limit the players by the number of physical bodies, light sources and picture-in-picture rendering. That means that there are vehicles and scenes that can and will lag on other systems (sometimes they even lag on the creators’ systems as well).

    Roughly speaking, spawning a huge ship with lots of light sources and cameras will be a nightmare for many systems. Or it can be multiple less big and less complex ships (see Benchmark 3 for example).

    * Spawning large and complex vehicles will require more time for physics simulation and eventually can lead to slowing down the speed of the game. It may not affect your actual framerate so you can feel it as a slow-motion effect.

    ** Spawning vehicles that have many spotlights, flares, cameras, and monitors will affect render and reduce your framerate.

  • Why I can’t access the vehicle editor?

    Initially, only a host player is able to spawn vehicles so if you want to let your friends have access to workbench too then type a simple chat command:

    ?add_auth <id>

    Where <id> is the player ID from the player list (a tilde ~ hotkey by default).

    The same goes for the public servers – you will need to ask an admin to authorize you first using the same chat command.

  • What Are The Game Requirements?

    Stormworks is a PC based game currently.

    Minimum Requirements
    OS:
    Windows 7,Windows 8,Windows 10
    Processor:
    Intel i5 4th Generation
    Memory:
    8 GB RAM
    Graphics:
    Geforce 650M / Geforce 550
    Disk Space:
    500 MB available space

    Recommended Requirements
    OS:
    Windows 10,Windows 8,Windows 7
    Processor:
    Intel i7 6th Generation
    Memory:
    8 GB RAM
    Graphics:
    Geforce 750 / Radeon R7 360
    Disk Space:
    500 MB available space

  • Who Is Developing Stormworks?

    Stormworks is being developed by Sunfire Software

  • What Genre Is Stormworks?

    Stormworks could be considered a light simulation within a sandbox environment. The game includes a semi-survival career mode.

    The game also supports creative mode and the ability to create Boats, Planes, Submarines, Cars, and anything in between. Some builders have created rockets, hovercraft, and spaceship using a combination of blocks and unrestricted creative ingenuity.

  • What Is Stormworks?

    GAME DESCRIPTION

    Join a world where you design, create and pilot your own sea-rescue service.

    Stormworks: Build and Rescue is a rich and dramatic physics playground. Take your custom-designed, block-based and programmable vehicles into fierce oceanic storms. Plan and execute thrilling rescues in a variety of challenging crisis scenarios. Export and share your meticulously designed vehicles and missions with other players via the Steam workshop.

    Stormworks: Build and Rescue – create, rescue and release your inner hero!

    Featuring

    2 GAME MODES

    Creative mode
    Creative mode is suited for players who like to let their creativity run free and wild. In this mode you are not limited by number of components allowing you to create large and complex vehicles from the outset. Ideal for players who like to create scale replicas of real world vehicles or Wacky and ambitious creations of their own design.

    Career mode
    Career mode focuses on progression and an overarching plot of starting your own search and rescue service from humble beginnings and building it up to cover the entire Stormworks: Build and Rescue world map. You will initially start off with limited components and build space and will have to complete various missions to unlock more components and money to buy larger building areas.

    Survival difficulty options
    You are now able to turn on the survival difficulty options in both creative and career mode. These settings will deliver a real challenge as it adds an extra level of difficulty to your search and rescue operation with the most in depth and advanced game features including: advanced engine and fuel mechanics, vehicle damage and a variety of player damage types that can result in player deaths including:

    • fall / impact damage
    • fire damage
    • prolonged exposure to the sea resulting in hypothermia
    • mechanical damage (rotor blades)
    • water pressure damage
    • And Sharks

    VEHICLE DESIGN
    Construct vehicles by placing blocks in a rich editing suite, customize them with your own design and program their behaviour using the powerful in-game logic system. Choose from a wide array of components to assemble your own rescue helicopters, boats, submersibles and more…

    NAVIGATE, STEER, PILOT
    Take to the sea, land or sky in your newly created vehicle. Navigate through over 15,000 square kilometres of ocean and islands in an amazingly dynamic world. Players will need to ensure that they create the right vehicle for the job as every mission is unique.

    RUN YOUR OWN COASTGUARD
    Design specific vehicles to respond to challenging missions across open oceans, island facilities, remote rigs and more. Rescue survivors from the water, fight fires, help repair oil rigs, operate nuclear power station machinery and more. Create and share your own missions using the rich missions editor. Unlock new locations and components in career mode or explore your imagination in creative mode.

    PLAY WITH FRIENDS
    Join your friends in cooperative multiplayer as you operate multi-crew vehicles, and execute complex missions involving careful planning and coordination.

    DRAMATIC, SIMULATED WORLD
    The day-night cycle and dynamic weather system create diverse environments to put your creations to the test. From calm sunny mornings, to unforgiving stormy nights and even tsunamis – strong winds can turn the ocean from gentle ripples to fierce heaving waves, affecting your vehicles using physics-based hydrodynamics and displacement-buoyancy systems.

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