Stormworks: Build and Rescue: Complete Guide

A builder's and rescuer's guide to Stormworks: picking a mode, surviving your first Career days, designing boats, helicopters and planes that actually work, understanding power, fluid and logic systems, the three DLCs, and the 2026 updates.

Researched September 2026 — current as of v1.15.23 "The Multiplayer API Update" (September 9, 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Studio note: Geometa released a new game, Anymaker, into Early Access on September 18, 2026. The developer stated it is not a replacement for Stormworks, and Stormworks development continues at its existing pace. Stormworks' USD price is unchanged, but regional pricing is being updated to Valve's latest currency conversion.

Quick Start

• Start in Custom (creative) mode to learn the editor. No money, unlimited parts, no survival pressure. Build a simple boat and a simple helicopter here first.
• Build small first. A working 3x6 boat beats a half-finished battleship. Get something that floats, moves and turns.
• Check buoyancy and center of mass. Use the editor's analysis overlays to see where mass and buoyancy sit. Keep the center of mass low and centered.
• Power everything. Most components need electricity. Batteries charge from generators/alternators; without power, nothing works.
• Save vehicles often. Save versions as you go (v1, v2, v3). Stormworks is a physics sandbox — things break in surprising ways.
• Use the Workshop to learn. Download other players' vehicles and open them in the editor to see how they did it.
• Career is about money. Missions pay; bigger vehicles cost more to spawn and run. Build for the job, not for show.
• Beware survival hazards on higher difficulty settings. Falls, fire, hypothermia in the sea, rotor blades, water pressure — and sharks.

Game Modes

Mode | What it's for

Custom | Creative sandbox. All parts, tunable rules, perfect for building and testing. Great for scale replicas and wild experiments.

Career | Progression: start your own search and rescue service with a small base, earn money from missions, buy more bases and bigger vehicles, and expand across the map.

Survival difficulty options add advanced engine and fuel mechanics, Lua microcontrollers, vehicle damage, spreading fire and player damage (fall/impact, fire, hypothermia, mechanical damage from rotors, water pressure, sharks). You can adjust these in world settings.

The world covers over 15,000 square kilometers of ocean and islands, with dynamic weather that can escalate into fierce storms.

The Editor: How Building Works

Blocks and components

Vehicles are built from blocks on a grid, plus functional components. Core categories:

Category | Examples of what you'll use

Structure | Blocks, wedges, pyramids, panels; hull shaping

Propulsion | Propellers, rotors, jet engines, wheels, train wheels (plus liquid-fuel rocket engines with the Space DLC)

Power | Batteries, generators, electric motors, solar panels and other generation options

Fluids | Fuel tanks, pumps, pipes, valves, water tanks

Engines | Modular engines (built from blocks, crankshafts and cylinders) and simpler engine options

Control | Seats, buttons, keypads, levers, throttle controls

Logic | Logic gates, numeric math, microcontrollers

Sensors and nav | Compasses, GPS, altimeters, radars, sonar, cameras

Rescue gear | Winches, ropes, hooks, lights, medical/cargo space

The three networks

Every non-trivial vehicle combines three systems:

• Electric: Connect batteries to consumers. Add a generator driven by the engine to recharge.
• Fluid: Fuel from tanks through pipes and pumps to engines. Water systems for firefighting or ballast.
• Logic: Seat inputs (throttle, steering) route to engines, rudders, rotors. Logic gates and math blocks refine behavior (stabilizers, auto-throttle, cruise control).

Microcontrollers and Lua

Microcontrollers are components that contain their own logic sub-networks and can run Lua code. Use them for autopilots, stabilizers, navigation computers, HUD screens and more. Survival difficulty options can toggle Lua microcontrollers.

Beginner path:

• Use simple logic first (seat throttle to engine throttle).
• Wrap repeated logic into a microcontroller.
• Move to Lua when the logic graph gets unmanageable.

Vehicle Design Basics

Boats

• Hull first. Hollow, sealed hulls float; use the buoyancy overlay.
• Low center of mass. Engines and fuel low in the hull.
• Propeller and rudder at the stern. Put the rudder directly behind the prop for better steering.
• Electric boats are easy to start with: batteries plus electric motors, no fuel management.
• Storms: taller freeboard and wider beam resist capsizing.

Helicopters

• Rotor balance is everything. Center of mass must be directly under the rotor.
• Tail rotor counters torque; or use coaxial/tandem rotors.
• Stabilization: Helicopters are hard to fly without assistance. Use logic (gyro-based stabilizers) or a Workshop stabilizer microcontroller to start.
• Rescue setup: winch plus rope plus a hook or stretcher, with lights for night work.

Planes

• Wings and control surfaces: Place the center of lift slightly behind the center of mass.
• Enough thrust: Propellers for small planes, jets for larger ones.
• Test in Custom first. Planes crash spectacularly.

Land vehicles and trains

• Wheels with suspension plus differential logic for turning.
• Trains: use train wheels on track. v1.15.19 (August 2026) added a small train wheel for smaller rail vehicles.

Career: First Days

• Choose your starting base and study what the default equipment can do.
• Do small missions first — anything within reach of your starter boat or vehicle.
• Save money instead of immediately buying a big base. Running costs add up.
• Upgrade into a rescue helicopter once you can afford it; it opens most mission types.
• Expand bases strategically to cover more of the map.
• Refuel and recharge between missions; running out of fuel far from base is a classic early loss.

Mission tips

• Read the mission brief carefully: survivors in the water, fires on platforms, cargo transport.
• Bring the right tools: firefighting water systems for fires, winches for sea rescue, space for passengers.
• Night and storm missions are much harder. Lights and navigation instruments pay for themselves.
• Hypothermia is real for people in the water — speed matters.

DLCs

DLC | Release | What it adds

Search and Destroy | October 5, 2021 | Modular vehicle weapons and handheld weapons for combat play

Industrial Frontier | October 13, 2022 | New southern desert islands, mining and industry, new land animals

Space | October 12, 2023 | Space travel and rocketry: liquid-fuel rocket engines, life support, spacecraft navigation, and the moon

A Complete Collection bundle includes all three.

2026 Updates at a Glance

Version | Date | Highlights

v1.15.12 "The Armour Update" | March 2026 | Projectiles now consider impact density; dense blocks can protect lighter blocks behind them; new properties for warheads and nuclear fuel rods (Search and Destroy focus)

v1.15.16 "Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Space Mining" | April 2026 | Hydrogen fuel cells; lunar mining of hydrous ore (Space DLC) to extract water, then hydrolysis for oxygen and hydrogen; FPS limit option

v1.15.18 "The Airburst Update" | June 2026 | Airburst ammunition for Search and Destroy; set detonation delay through a logic node on some cannons

v1.15.19 "Small Train Wheels" | August 2026 | New small train wheel component, multiplayer and AMD rendering improvements

v1.15.20 hotfix | August 2026 | Fixed spawning very large creations due to file size

v1.15.23 "Multiplayer API Update" | September 2026 | Multiplayer rewritten to use Valve's newer Steam P2P networking, plus fixes and quality-of-life improvements

Using the new space life-support loop (Space DLC)

• Mine hydrous ore on the moon.
• Extract water from it.
• Use hydrolysis to split water into oxygen (for life support) and hydrogen.
• Feed hydrogen to fuel cells or liquid rocket engines.

Using airburst (Search and Destroy)

Program the detonation delay on supported cannons so shells explode near a target's range — useful for anti-air or area denial.

Multiplayer

• Co-op lets friends join your world and crew multi-person vehicles.
• The September 2026 update moved to Valve's modern Steam networking, which should improve connection quality for many players.
• For a smooth session: keep vehicle part counts reasonable and agree on world settings in advance.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Building huge before building working. Prove the concept small.
• Forgetting power generation. Batteries alone run flat mid-mission.
• Ignoring the center of mass. Especially on helicopters.
• No save versions. One bad edit can wreck hours of work.
• Overspending early in Career. Bigger isn't better if it bankrupts you.
• Not testing in calm weather first. Storms expose every design flaw.

Advanced Tips

• Modular engines: Tune them for the load; mismatched engine size wastes fuel.
• Stabilizer logic: A simple PID controller in a microcontroller transforms helicopter handling.
• Redundancy: Two batteries, two pumps, two engines on big vessels.
• Workshop microcontrollers: Use them, then open them up and learn how they work.
• Armor (Search and Destroy): Since v1.15.12, dense blocks in front of lighter ones actually protect them — layer your armor.
• FPS limiter: On laptops, cap FPS (added in v1.15.16) to reduce heat and extend battery life.

FAQ

Is Stormworks still being updated? Yes. Geometa has shipped regular minor updates through 2026 and says Anymaker doesn't change that.

Do I need the DLCs? No. The base game is complete; DLCs add weapons, industry/mining and space.

Which mode should I start in? Custom, to learn building without pressure. Then Career.

How do I make a helicopter stable? Put the center of mass directly under the rotor, add a tail rotor or counter-rotating design, and use stabilizer logic.

Does it support Lua? Yes, via microcontrollers. It can be toggled with survival difficulty options.

How much does it cost? The USD price is $25 and unchanged; Geometa is updating regional prices to Valve's latest conversion. Check the store page for your region.

Sources

• Stormworks: Build and Rescue on Steam
• Stormworks Steam news (2026 updates and Anymaker statement)
• Stormworks: Build and Rescue on Wikipedia (release and DLC dates)