Required Software

Creating weather effects requires a text editor. We recommend Notepad++, but any text editor will do.

Locating the Weather Effect Definitions

In your installation directory of Space Engineers, navigate to the following file: SpaceEngineers\Content\Data\Weather\WeatherEffects.sbc

This file is an xml file which can be opened in your text editor. It contains all the weather definitions used in the game. You can use this as a basis for your new weather effect.

Example Weather Definitions and Customizable Fields

Below is an example weather definition, showing all adjustable options for a weather effect. You can modify any of these fields to adjust the weather effect’s behavior to your liking.

<WeatherEffect xsi:type="MyObjectBuilder_WeatherEffectDefinition">
<Id>
<TypeId>WeatherEffectDefinition</TypeId>
<SubtypeId>ExampleWeather</SubtypeId> A unique subtype identifying this weather event.
</Id>
<DisplayName>Example</DisplayName> Name shown on LCD panels/Weather App when this effect is active.
<FogColor> Color of Fog
<X>0.8</X> R
<Y>0.8</Y> G
<Z>0.8</Z> B
</FogColor>
<FogDensity>0.05</FogDensity> Density of Fog
<FogMultiplier>0.300</FogMultiplier> Multiplier for Environment Fog
<FogSkyboxMultiplier>1</FogSkyboxMultiplier> Multiplier of Fog on Skybox
<FogAtmoMultiplier>1</FogAtmoMultiplier> Multiplier of Fog on Atmosphere
<AmbientSound>WM_SnowLight</AmbientSound> Sound effect used for this weather
<AmbientVolume>0.5</AmbientVolume> Volume of the sound being played
<EffectName>WM_SnowSlow</EffectName> Name of the particle used for this weather
<ParticleRadius>75</ParticleRadius> Spawn radius of the particles
<ParticleCount>50</ParticleCount> Number of particle spawners
<ParticleScale>1</ParticleScale> Scale of particle
<LightningIntervalMin>0</LightningIntervalMin> Minimum interval between lightning strikes
<LightningIntervalMax>0</LightningIntervalMax> Maximum interval between lightning strikes
<LightningCharacterHitIntervalMin>0</LightningCharacterHitIntervalMin> Minimum interval between lightning strikes on characters in seconds
<LightningCharacterHitIntervalMax>0</LightningCharacterHitIntervalMax> Maximum interval between lightning strikes on characters in seconds
<LightningGridHitIntervalMin>0</LightningGridHitIntervalMin> Minimum interval between grid hits by lightning in secs
<LightningGridHitIntervalMax>0</LightningGridHitIntervalMax> Maximum interval between grid hits by lightning in secs
<LightningRodSafetyRadius>20</LightningRodSafetyRadius> Radius that decoys protect in blocks.
<Lightning>
<MaxLife>7</MaxLife> How long the lightning remains visible in ticks (60 ticks = 1 second)
<BoltLength>5000</BoltLength> Length of the lightning bolt
<BoltParts>50</BoltParts> Number of segments in the lightning bolt
<BoltVariation>100</BoltVariation> Variation/Jaggedness of the bolt shape
<BoltRadius>30</BoltRadius> Radius at the top of the lightning bolt
<Damage>0</Damage> Amount of damage lightning inflicts on an entity
<Sound>WM_Lightning</Sound>    Sound effect played when lightning strikes
<Color> Color of lightning bolt
<X>100</X> R
<Y>100</Y> G
<Z>100</Z> B
<W>1000</W> A
</Color>
<ExplosionRadius>1</ExplosionRadius> Size of explosion in meters
</Lightning>
<WindOutputModifier>1</WindOutputModifier> Affects wind turbine power output
<SolarOutputModifier>1</SolarOutputModifier> Affects oxygen farm and solar panel power output
<TemperatureModifier>1</TemperatureModifier> Affects temperature within the weather
<OxygenLevelModifier>1</OxygenLevelModifier> Affects oxygen level within the weather
<ParticleAlphaMultiplier>1</ParticleAlphaMultiplier> Alpha/Transparency of particles
<SunIntensity>30</SunIntensity> Changes brightness of the sun
<ShadowFadeout>0.8</ShadowFadeout> Changes hardness of shadows
<RadiationHazard>
<MinWeatherIntensity>0.5</MinWeatherIntensity> Minimum storm intensity at which the player starts to gain radiation, range from 0 to 1, default value if undeclared 0.1
<RadiationGain>-0.6</RadiationGain> Exposure gain per second, range from -100 to 100
</RadiationHazard>
<HealthHazard>
<MinWeatherIntensity>0.5</MinWeatherIntensity> Minimum storm intensity at which the player starts to gain radiation, range from 0 to 1, default value if undeclared 0.1
<DamageIntervalMin>10</DamageIntervalMin> Random interval lower boundary (seconds)
<DamageIntervalMax>120</DamageIntervalMax> Random interval upper boundary (seconds)
<DamageAmountMin>5</DamageAmountMin> Random HP damage lower boundary
<DamageAmountMax>40</DamageAmountMax> Random HP damage upper boundary
<DamageSoundOverride>ImpHail</DamageSoundOverride> Optional replacement for damage sound, if absent then PlayChokeHit is used
</HealthHazard>
<HazardNotification>
<Text>Notification_WeatherDamage_HailImpact</Text> Text used for the damage notification
<Font>Red</Font> The font used for the damage notification
<Duration>5</Duration> How long the notification should be shown (seconds)
<Cooldown>10</Cooldown> A cooldown period before another notification of the same type is shown (seconds)
</HazardNotification>
</WeatherEffect>


Spawning Your Custom Weather Effect

Spawning your weather effect can be done in two different ways, through the Alt-F10 admin menu, or by entering commands into the chat system.

Admin Menu

By pressing Alt-F10, an admin menu will appear, select the dropdown that says Admin Tools and switch to Weather.

Force Random Weather – This button will create a random weather using the planet’s automatic weather system, it will select a random weather the same as it would automatically. This will remove/override any already existing weather at your position.

Create Lightning – This button will create lightning at the position you are looking at, ignoring any existing weather.

Create Weather – This button will create the weather selected in the above drop-down menu. It will remove/override any already existing weather at your position.

Replace Weather – This button will replace the current weather with the selected one in the drop-down menu, instead of removing/overriding the existing one, it will only replace what type of weather is running and continue to keep position/velocity/life.

Remove Weather – This button will remove any existing weather at your position.

Chat Commands

Alternatively, all of the buttons above also exist as commands that can be entered into the chat system. To run any of these commands, enter the chat dialogue window and type any of the following commands:

/smite – Running this command will create lightning wherever you are looking, it behaves the same as Create Lightning in the admin menu.

/rweather – Running this command will create a random weather event using the planet’s automatic weather system. Same as the admin menu, it will override any existing weather.

/weatherlist  – This command will list all available weather types, it is considered the alternative to using the drop-down menu as seen in the Admin Menu.

/weather {weathername}  – This command will create the specified weather in the first argument. It will replace any weather that exists currently, to remove a weather, run /weather clear.

To learn how to insert your adjusted/new weather effect into the automatic weather system, continue here.