Written by Andrew Hammel

Odyssey is RimWorld’s first official space travel system. Save Our Ship 2 is the fan-made system that came first. Now that both exist, a lot of players want to know if SOS2 is still worth using, or if Odyssey makes it obsolete.

The short answer is that Odyssey is smoother and more stable, but SOS2 still has way more depth. That might change over time, but right now, they both serve different roles.

What Odyssey Actually Adds

Odyssey is built directly into the 1.6 update and DLC. It gives players the ability to build a ship, launch into orbit, and move between space maps. Here's what it adds:

Pressurization systems and oxygen management
Ship power and life support mechanics
Gravity zones and magnetized floors
EVA suits and airlocks
Multi-map gameplay with actual space sectors
Docking and structural integrity systems

This makes it a huge step forward for the base game. It’s faster, has better performance, and doesn’t crash under 100 mods.

But Odyssey does not cover everything SOS2 offered.

What SOS2 Still Has That Odyssey Doesn’t

Save Our Ship 2 goes way beyond what Odyssey does right now. These are the biggest features it still holds onto:

Full ship-to-ship combat
Boarding battles inside enemy ships
Modular ship hulls and precise internal structure design
Shields, cannons, ship weapons, and damage visuals
Orbit-based world events and threats
Unique orbital story missions
Advanced salvaging, trading, and exploration features
Complex threat and heat management systems

SOS2 lets you fly around in a flying fortress and blow up raiders, pirates, or even enemy fleets. Odyssey gives you a clean and immersive way to go to space, but no enemies follow you there yet.

Compatibility and the Update Problem

SOS2 was made before Odyssey existed, so its systems don’t connect to Odyssey’s. It still works in RimWorld 1.6, but it’s running on its own duct-taped framework.

Here’s the problem: merging the two systems isn’t easy. To make SOS2 use Odyssey’s backend, everything would have to be rebuilt. That includes:

Retargeting every ship part to new building types
Swapping SOS2’s life support code for Odyssey’s
Rewriting event triggers and threat systems
Reworking map transitions and docking mechanics

That would take hundreds of hours. The original developers are mostly gone, and the current team is made of community volunteers. They’re already keeping it compatible, but not rebuilding it from scratch.

What Could Happen Next

SOS2 stays separate and becomes legacy

This is the most likely short-term path. SOS2 keeps running for non-Odyssey players or for people who want deeper space systems. It won’t use any Odyssey mechanics, but it will still be playable.

Eventually, this version may fall out of sync with newer versions of RimWorld or just stop receiving updates.

SOS2 becomes SOS3 and uses Odyssey as a base

If someone decides to rebuild SOS2 using Odyssey’s framework, we might see a brand-new version that works directly with the DLC. It could restore all the old combat systems and modular building, but run more smoothly and avoid mod conflicts.

This would be ideal for most players, but it would take a big time investment. Some past SOS2 devs have said they might try this if they get the time or support.

The dev team splits it into two branches

Some users expect a split approach. One branch of SOS2 would work without Odyssey, keeping the old systems intact. The other would be built as a companion mod to Odyssey, restoring the missing content like ship battles or boarding raids.

This avoids alienating players who don’t own the DLC, while also letting Odyssey users play a more advanced version.

Will Ludeon Expand Odyssey Further?

It’s unclear. The base DLC feels like a solid framework, not a finished space adventure. If Ludeon adds more later, it could make SOS2 less important. But if they stop here, mods will still be needed to add real space combat, enemy ships, and complex orbital systems.

This is exactly what happened with Humanoid Alien Races after Biotech. Biotech added gene-based aliens, but modders still used HAR for deeper control. SOS2 might survive the same way; leaner and more optional, but still more powerful in the right hands.

What the Modding Community Thinks

Most modders agree that Odyssey helps, not hurts. The 1.6 update improves mod performance, opens new backend tools, and solves years of duct tape bugs. If anything, it gives SOS2 or a future SOS3 a much better platform to grow on.

But some are frustrated that Ludeon didn’t work directly with the SOS2 team. The devs said they would’ve helped if asked. Now we have overlapping systems without full compatibility, and players have to choose one or juggle both.

Final Blurb

RimWorld Odyssey is the future of official space travel. It runs smoother, looks cleaner, and gives everyone a stable base to build on. But Save Our Ship 2 still has all the advanced features and combat that Odyssey skips.

Unless someone rebuilds SOS2 to work with Odyssey, it’ll likely stay as a powerful but aging option for players who want more depth.