Author: Jonathan

Hey folks!

The first regular update of the year is now available on the beta branch. In this update are two major changes: file paths and video encoding. Each is outlined below, and all of this information will be permanently housed on the #guides channel on our Discord.

Also in this update are all the fixes and catalog additions/changes since our last update in December, as well as tutorial fixes and new Featured Locations from the 0.991 Locations Contest.

Opting into the beta branch looks slightly different now. You still right-click SpaceEngine in your Steam library and hit Properties, but "Betas" is now "Game Versions & Betas", with a more descriptive list of branches rather than a dropdown. "Public" is now "Default Public Version." The "beta" option is still used to join the beta.

File Path Changes

To bring SpaceEngine more in line with common industry standards, we have made changes to how and where SpaceEngine stores user and cache files.

If you are a casual user and don't want to move files manually, it is recommended that you either remain on the Beta branch during the testing phase or wait for the full release. If you plan to swap branches or play with files during the Beta, it is recommended that you back up your user files (places-user.cfg, main-user.cfg, keys.cfg, etc.) to a separate location so you don't lose anything.

When you first launch post-update, SpaceEngine will detect and move/create files as follows:

• The cache (models, shaders, filesys) will be created at %APPDATA%\Cosmographic\SpaceEngine. The existing cache in your install folder will be deleted.
  • If you swap to a pre-0.991.50 version, the cache will be rebuilt in its old location, then deleted again when you return.
• Save data is now stored at %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Cosmographic\SpaceEngine. The save-user.cfg and places-user.cfg files go into a 'save' folder, while all other personal .cfg files (i.e., keybinds) go into the 'config' folder. On boot, if no save data is found in this filepath, SpaceEngine will first search the Steam install for existing save data, moving any it finds to the new location. For any file it can't find, new files will be generated.
  • Thumbnails for your custom Locations will need to be regenerated by visiting them again once each. These thumbnails are stored in the 'save' folder alongside your places-user.cfg and save-user.cfg.
  • Default .cfg files, such as graphical presets, will stay in the Steam install folder. These are not meant to be edited by the user and are now restored anytime SpaceEngine updates.
  • When you swap to a build older than 0.991.50 (i.e., visiting your old 990 locations), your save will appear to have been wiped, as it is reading from the Steam install config folder again. To restore it, you can either copy or move the .cfg files from the config/save folder in the new filepath back to the config folder in the Steam install, overwriting the blank save. Per the new boot logic, if you move the files, they will be moved back when you return to 0.991.50. If you copy them instead, you will effectively now have separate saves for either side of that breakpoint that do not interact. It is recommended that you make a backup of all files you plan to move/copy before you do this.
• All future exports, logs, screenshots, and videos will appear in the %USERPROFILE% filepath in corresponding subfolders. Existing media files (or any generated in older versions) will remain in their original places.
  • Logs, such as your se.log, now generate in their own 'logs' folder.
  • All forms of screenshots, videos, and exports populate together into similarly named folders.
  • For PRO users, the Camera Path Editor now opens %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Cosmographic\SpaceEngine\addons\scripts by default when you try to Save or Load a spline path. For old path files, you will need to manually navigate to the old folder in the SpaceEngine Steam folder each time, or move old content to the new location.
• Scripts, catalogs, textures, .pak files, and other addon files are now searched for at three locations: The original locations of SpaceEngine\data and SpaceEngine\addons in the SpaceEngine Steam folder, as well as %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Cosmographic\SpaceEngine\addons. It is recommended to use the third location for ease-of-use. Subscribed addons from the Steam Workshop are unchanged.
• If you are a mod/addon maker, you must manually move SpaceEngine\workshop\projects to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Cosmographic\SpaceEngine\workshop\projects for your projects to appear in the Workshop Config tool after this update. Content paths can stay as-is, but if you change them to accommodate the modified workflow (i.e., you store your content in the workshop folder), remember to update the file path in the tool as well.

Video Encoding Changes

A recent update to NVIDIA graphics drivers dropped support for older NVENC SDK versions, causing many users to see a "Function not implemented" error when trying to record. To fix this and future-proof for other hardware, we've updated the version of FFMPEG used by SpaceEngine and added more options for users:

• The Video Capture tool (F9 by default) now holds a host of codecs and formats to fit nearly all machines. Not all codecs work with all graphics hardware; you'll have to experiment to find what works best for your setup and needs.
  • AV1: High-end codec with good performance/quality, but requires modern GPUs (NVIDIA RTX 4000 series, AMD RX 7000 series, Intel ARC series or newer, respectively). Used for high-quality, high-resolution production or streaming.
  • HEVC (H.265): A high-quality native encoder, similarly ideal for production, but on a wider range of GPUs. May have compatibility issues with playback on some media players/devices.
  • H.264: Default for the average user. This should work on most manufacturer-supported GPUs.
  • SVT/AOM Software AV1: Compatible with all machines, but they use the CPU to record. SVT prioritizes performance, while AOM prioritizes quality. These are often considered a last resort for those without hardware encoding support. Users who relied on VP9 may want to switch to this codec.
  • Hardware encoders further specify NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel Hardware options. If you attempt to record with an incompatible codec, SpaceEngine will output an error and fail to record.
• There are now two modes to choose from before capturing. You'll need to experiment to find what works best for your project:
  • Offline rendering (Fixed FPS): Enter a target frame rate, and SpaceEngine will throttle itself to guarantee that frame rate in the final output.
    • Added a new 'Asynchronous loading mode,' which will use the full multithreading capabilities of the engine to improve performance, but may show the loading/generation process in the final video.
  • Streaming (Real-Time): Captures the raw, real-time output of the SpaceEngine window. You can set a framerate limit with or without Vsync if desired. Output quality is heavily influenced by your bitrate preset and will ignore custom values.

Changelog

Note from the Editor: You may have noticed that some change logs are missing on the website. This is because they were posted exclusively on Steam. In the future, we plan to make sure updates and change logs are reflected both on Steam and on the website. To see those missing change logs, please go to the SpaceEngine Steam News.

Below are all changes since build 0.991.49.2095.

• Pressing the Screenshot button on the magnitudes toolbar no longer opens the screenshot folder. You must now shift + click to do so (the tutorial has been updated to reflect this)
• Disabled the normal functions of edit mode keys while in edit mode, so you can focus on editing
• Added new splash screen images and quotes
• Added new Featured Locations from the 0.991 Featured Locations Contest
  • Note: Due to catalog updates, some locations were altered or removed during implementation. All original submissions can be found in the contest-07-archive channel in our Discord
• Added Tarantula Nebula with custom model
• Added VFTS 234 (binary system with quiet black hole)
• Added 16 new LMC globular clusters
• Added LMC open clusters NGC 1850A and H88 301
• Added globular cluster NGC 1049
• Added Wolf-Rayet binary R145
• Added 42 new ultra-cool dwarfs with rotation periods, added another 24 rotation periods to existing ultra-cool dwarfs
• Updated the exoplanet catalogs with 66 new host stars and 93 new planets, six brown dwarf candidates
• Added one new small moon of Uranus (S|2025 U 1)
• Added 11 new moons of Saturn
• Added triple quasar system LBQS 1429-0053A/B/C
• Added 25 new binary asteroids and one satellite of Quaoar
• Added Betelgeuse companion star, Siwarha (While Siwarha is still somewhat contested, recent evidence heavily favors its existence)
• Added RR Lyrae name to HIP 95497 and updated its spectral type
• Added Gaia designations for 107,567 stars
• Fixed dozens of galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters
• Improved orientation of all Messier galaxies
• Improved several Local Group galaxies
• Improved rendering of elliptical galaxies
• Fixed parent galaxy of Fornax A*
• Updated the distance and spectral type of x Carinae
• Updated orbital information for asteroids Salacia and Actaea
• Updated the spectral type and other parameters of WOH G64
• Improved position/size/orientation of LMC
• Improved the HIP 81208 system
• Removed refuted planets Fomalhaut b and 42 Dra b
• Removed duplicate of planet CFHTWIR-Oph 98 A b
• Fixed an issue where planets 55 Cancri B b and 55 Cancri B c orbited the planet 55 Cancri A b instead of the star 55 Cancri B
• Fixed a bug where planet temperatures displayed in the Solar System Browser changed when entering Chart Mode
• Fixed a bug where oblate planets were too dense
• Fixed Location thumbnail fitting method on ultra-wide displays (shown on-screen during pre-loading)
• Unlinked scrollbars in the Locations menu; this fixes an issue where one tab could appear empty after scrolling too far on the other
• Improved the Planetarium Tutorials with updated language and fixed multiple progression stops (community translation work requested!)

Catalog Additions

Exoplanets:

• NGTS-34 b
• NGTS-35 b
• TOI-1422 c
• TOI-1472 c
• TOI-1648 b
• TOI-3288 b
• TOI-333 b
• TOI-4507 b
• TOI-4666 b
• TOI-4940 b
• TOI-521 b
• TOI-5349 b
• TOI-5489 b
• TOI-5489 c
• TOI-5716 b
• TOI-5728 b
• TOI-5736 b
• TOI-6041 b
• TOI-6041 c
• TOI-6448 b
• TOI-7166 b
• TOI-7510 b
• TOI-7510 c
• TOI-7510 d
• TOI-912
• Gliese 3090 c
• Gliese 4274 b
• Gliese 4274 c
• HD 176986 d
• TOI-1774 c/HD 85426 c
• KMT-2022-BLG-1818L b
• KMT-2022-BLG-1818L c
• KMT-2025-BLG-1616L b
• TOI-1054.01
• TOI-1230.01
• TOI-1243 b
• TOI-1774.01
• TOI-261.02
• TOI-4495 b
• TOI-4495 c
• TOI-4529 b
• TOI-5788 b
• TOI-5788 c
• TOI-5789 b
• TOI-5789 c
• TOI-5789 d
• TOI-5789 e
• TOI-6692 b
• TOI-6716 b
• TOI-682.01
• TOI-7384 b
• KOINTREAU-1 b
• DMPP-2 c
• DMPP-2 d
• DMPP-6 b
• DMPP-6 c
• DMPP-7 b
• DMPP-8 b
• DMPP-9 b
• Gliese 887 d
• Gliese 887 e
• HD 100508 b
• HD 164604 c
• HD 48265 c
• HD 68475 b
• KMT-2016-BLG-1337L b
• KMT-2020-BLG-0202L b
• KMT-2022-BLG-1551L b
• KMT-2023-BLG-0466L b
• KMT-2024-BLG-0176L b
• KMT-2024-BLG-0349L b
• KMT-2024-BLG-1870L b
• KMT-2024-BLG-2087L b
• KMT-2025-BLG-0121L b
• ISO-Oph 96 b/KOINTREAU-3 b
• LHS 1903 b
• LHS 1903 c
• LHS 1903 d
• LHS 1903 e
• TOI-1080 b
• TOI-2094 b
• TOI-2133 b
• TOI-2267 b
• TOI-2267 c
• TOI-2267 d
• TOI-375 b
• TOI-375 c
• TOI-375 d
• TOI-3862 b
• TOI-4336 A c
• TOI-5734 b
• TOI-5938 b
• TOI-7009 b

Brown Dwarf Candidates:

• HD 128717 b
• HIP 54515 b
• KMT-2024-BLG-1005L b
• V2376 Ori
• TOI-5422 b

Binary Asteroids:

• 2001 QS4 system
• (60050) 1999 TJ106
• (48489) 1992 EZ28
• (33956) 2000 NN3
• (4350) Shibecha
• (11361) Orbinskij
• (50142) 2000 AY129
• (7563) 1988 BC
• 1999 KP4 system
• (108968) 2001 PE40
• (720) Bohlinia
• (13234) Natashaowen
• (13166) 1995 WU1
• (2607) Yakutia
• (3918) Brel
• (14708) Slaven
• (60186) Las Cruces
• (8930) Kubota
• (6690) Messick
• (4373) Crespo
• (8895) Nha
• (67426) 2000 QA98
• 2024 XW49 system
• (849935) 2006 RA55
• (44168) 1998 JJ4

Saturn Moons:

• S|2020 S 45
• S|2020 S 46
• S|2020 S 47
• S|2020 S 48
• S|2023 S 51
• S|2023 S 52
• S|2023 S 53
• S|2023 S 54
• S|2023 S 55
• S|2023 S 56
• S|2023 S 57

Ultra-Cool Dwarfs:

Note: Some objects have multiple names. These are separated by a slash "/"

• LSPM J1025+0512/CNS5 2553/2MASS J10252645+0512391
• 2MASS J13365044+4751321/SDSS J133650.50+475132.1 
• LSPM J0036+1821/2MASS J00361617+1821104/CNS5 175
• 2MASS J08490052+0220155
• WT 887/2MASS J22135048-6342100/DENIS J221350.4-634210
• LP 944-20/CNS5 931/2MASS J03393521-3525440
• 2MASS J12322390+2528259/CNS5 3088
• J0805+0417/CNS5 1997/2MASS J08055713+0417035
• 2MASS J14121476+3053316
• LSPM J1450+4723/2MASS J14503658+4723574
• LP 427-38/2MASS J09253485+1704415
• LP 295-444/2MASS J01341928+2919571
• 2MASS J16224204+3252252
• LP 828-75/2MASS J01514778-2305333
• 2MASS J00140580-3245599
• 2MASS J07465323+3945098
• LP 849-69/2MASS J10593133-2409548
• 2MASS J04393407-3235516/CNS5 1161
• LP 549-39/2MASS J10172680+0719260
• LP 675-7/CNS5 3045/2MASS J12235208-0858432
• LP 134-7/CNS5 3557/2MASS J14230252+5146303
• LSPM J1050+4907/2MASS J10503222+4907423
• LP 588-61/2MASS J01484747+0014290
• LSPM J0137+0036/2MASS J01371937+0036128
• 2MASS J11221075+4228366
• LSPM J1049+2538/2MASS J10494146+2538535
• LSPM J1252+2528/2MASS J12522354+2528469
• LP 413-28/2MASS J03405493+1929474
• LP 399-274/2MASS J22244238+2230425/CNS5 5528
• 2MASS J10120649-3049263/CNS5 2506
• LSPM J0449+5138/2MASS J04490464+5138412/CNS5 1206
• LP 369-27/CNS5 2319/2MASS J09192021+2154324
• LEHPM 1188/2MASS J01031199-5351433
• SDSS J092554.83+300755.8/2MASS J09255469+3007571
• LP 266-16/2MASS J12080810+3520281/LHS 2514
• LP 94-310/2MASS J11442261+5821595
• LP 555-25/CNS5 3073/2MASS J12294530+0752379
• 2MASS J01581572+1807128/CNS5 502
• LP 649-72/2MASS J02141251-0357434/CNS5 568/LHS 1363
• LP 93-438/2MASS J11115476+5657296/LHS 2371
• LSPM J1231+5130/2MASS J12315462+5130389
• LP 484-38/2MASS J08134347+1329384/NLTT 19149

Star Clusters (not already named above):

• NGC 1846
• NGC 1850
• NGC 1854
• NGC 1856
• NGC 1866
• NGC 1868
• NGC 1872
• NGC 1898
• NGC 1903
• NGC 2003
• NGC 2005
• NGC 2019
• NGC 2041
• NGC 2108
• NGC 2210
• NGC 2257

Miscellaneous:

• New Quaroar satellite: S/2025 (50000) 1