Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

If it's a video game it goes here.

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, Arcanis, $iljanus

Post Reply
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Lordnine wrote: Sat Jun 01, 2019 7:44 pm You can't get higher than 40 without doing the global missions.
What global missions are we talking about? I've melted the ice caps and done the planetary seed missions. And I'm at 41% on Vegetation, so should something suddenly start to happen?
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

I remember seeing it somewhere in the game but I don't know where.

My first instinct was to ask about soil quality. If you trying to grow anything buy lichen you need soil quality. That starts with Lichen or lakes.
User avatar
Lordnine
Posts: 6034
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:09 pm
Location: Burlington, VT

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by Lordnine »

jztemple2 wrote: Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:07 pm
Lordnine wrote: Sat Jun 01, 2019 7:44 pm You can't get higher than 40 without doing the global missions.
What global missions are we talking about? I've melted the ice caps and done the planetary seed missions. And I'm at 41% on Vegetation, so should something suddenly start to happen?
The planetary seed missions. You will need to do a lot of them.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

Found it. My internet is almost non existent slow so I can't upload the screen capture. (Fricken Wowway, why don't I quit?) Hints>Buildings>Forresters says pretty clearly a forrester will only get you to 40% and then stop working.
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

LordMortis wrote: Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:36 pm Found it. My internet is almost non existent slow so I can't upload the screen capture. (Fricken Wowway, why don't I quit?) Hints>Buildings>Forresters says pretty clearly a forrester will only get you to 40% and then stop working.
Well, that makes sense then. Thanks for finding that for me :wub:

Now what do I do with 31k of seeds? :D
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

I think I'm calling it quits on this colony. I've gotten all 100% on terraforming except vegetation and I'm at 66.91% there, which I can only raise 5% at a time whenever a seed planetary mission comes up.

I've got 19 domes, 1.3k people, and $47.3B bucks in the bank :D. With an active Space Elevator getting resources is simple, and I still have about 50K of Rare Metal to mine. The only real concern I had was with water. I'm down to the last couple of water resources on the map, but with Moisture Vaporizers and fusion power buildings that no longer need people that's not going to be an issue. I haven't really looked at a dome's morale or sanity in hours, I've got enough tech to make them not a concern.

So I'm stopping at 190 hours in the game. When I got Green Planet I had about 120 hours in and I thought I might get a couple dozen hours out of the DLC; turns out it was a bit more :roll:. It was fun but I think it will be a while before I touch it again.

Image
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
Lordnine
Posts: 6034
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:09 pm
Location: Burlington, VT

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by Lordnine »

Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you. (seeing that quote carried over from Alpha Centauri made me feel all warm and fuzzy.)
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Lordnine wrote: Sun Jun 02, 2019 12:17 pm Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you. (seeing that quote carried over from Alpha Centauri made me feel all warm and fuzzy.)
+1 Nice quote :D

I'll probably go back to that save periodically. I figure that after another couple of hundred Sols there will be no more water and metal deposits, so I'll have to tinker with the personnel to give them more things to do, like the Workshops. I might just shut off the baby making and go with the Cloning Vat and the Biorobots.

And occasionally I'll send a ship just to trigger a meteor shower so I can watch my lasers in action :dance:
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

Got an email that this had a big revision "Update 5: Sanctuary". I don't see any new content (or DLC) since Green Planet though.

From the patch notes it looks like there has been some game evolution since Green Planet was released. Wooden Planks? Insect eggs? Tools? Clothing? Meals? That's all new to me.
KEY FEATURES
Update 5 Highlights


Anti-catastrophe features added: Lightning Rod defends against the Magnetic Storm by directing lightning bolts within a certain radius to itself. Sauna improves defence against Fallout and a Pandemic, as well as produces happiness by improving hygiene for colonists.

Tech tree improvements: Pregame now has an ideology selection, which customises the tech tree based on the selection. Tech tree has been reduced from five to four branches, but the branches themselves are bigger.

Visual Improvements: Crops in fields now properly decay with delay instead of dying instantly when a crop-destroying catastrophe strikes.

As always, thank you for your feedback. We’ll continue including your feedback and suggestions into future updates!
Spoiler:
With this update, your game version should be 1.5.0.5857 on PC and 1.5.0.44 on Xbox.
General

Anti-catastrophe features added:
Lightning Rod defends against the Magnetic Storm by directing lightning bolts within a certain radius to itself. Repair and maintenance is needed to keep the building operational.
Sauna improves defence against Fallout and a Pandemic, as well as produces happiness by improving hygiene for colonists.
Catastrophe size now scales based on Gatekeeper input.
Tech tree improvements:
Pregame now has an ideology selection, which customises the tech tree based on the selection.
Tech tree has been reduced from five to four branches, but the branches themselves are bigger.
Multiple new technologies were added.
[Community request] Support for 21:9, 16:10 aspect ratios added. Support for UI scaling will come in the future.
[Community request] Added option to navigate back and forth with the pre-game category buttons at the top. With a gamepad, triggers can be used for navigation.
[Community request] New building “Lumber Yard” was added to create Planks from trees in the early game.
Bartering menu has been reworked, and allows bartering with both resources and currency. Buying seeds, insect eggs, and vehicles is also now possible. Reputation with the society affects pricing of the products.
Ladybug Icon has been changed to a blue cockroach icon. Most of the questions were also changed or tweaked, so now would be an ideal time to give feedback!
Old trade menu was replaced with a menu that lists all the discovered societies.
Top bar will now only show resources inside storages, not the ones on the ground.
Silver Coin currency has been introduced for trading.
Colony events can now cause damage to buildings.
Ingame feedback questions are now presented top center, instead of top right.
Paradox Launcher update to 2020.1
Read more button added to tutorial dialogs, which shows the longer tutorial content.

Gameplay

Crops in fields now properly decay with delay instead of dying instantly when a crop-destroying catastrophe strikes.
Medical buildings now heal all patients concurrently instead of one at a time. Due to this, healing speed has been slowed down and conditions are more damaging when untreated.
Building info menu now has quick action for placing a Work Area on a gamepad.


Graphics

Colonists now wear props such as hats to add more variation to the character models.
Specialist textures were modified to improve their look and differentiate them better from colonists.
Moon and stars were added to the night sky and light direction now comes from moons direction during the night.
Emergency Shelters, Tenements and Two-Story Houses now have visual variations.
World Map Society models were scaled up to differentiate them from normal locations.
Bandit models updated in World Map.
Gate events now use the new colonists models introduced in the previous update.
New UI elements added for game saved information and when catastrophe starts.
Colony symbol icons have been retouched to more closely match the Society icons.

Balancing

Heat Wave now withers all crops similar to Nuclear Fallout, but slower.
Restored Specialist action point renewal to twice per day instead of four.
Meal recipes are less efficient and Fields yield slightly smaller crops to prevent late-game overflow of Food.
Plank deposits have fewer Planks as Lumber Yard can now be used to supply the demand.
More variation added to the furthest World Map areas.
Small decrease in Tool and Clothing durability.
Colonists now prioritize carrying resources off the ground more.

Modding

DoorVisual script added into the Shared library, to allow adding animated doors into buildings.
User avatar
Lorini
Posts: 8282
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:52 am
Location: Santa Clarita, California

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by Lorini »

That's for Surviving the Aftermath, not Surviving Mars :)
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

LordMortis wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:30 am Got an email that this had a big revision "Update 5: Sanctuary". I don't see any new content (or DLC) since Green Planet though.
This isn't for Surviving Mars, this is for the game Surviving The Aftermath, which is currently in development at Paradox. Right now the game is only available from Paradox and on the Epic store. I used my $10 coupon to get this at Epic since I thought I wouldn't be buying any more games from them before the coupon expired :roll:
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

jztemple2 wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:45 am
LordMortis wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:30 am Got an email that this had a big revision "Update 5: Sanctuary". I don't see any new content (or DLC) since Green Planet though.
This isn't for Surviving Mars, this is for the game Surviving The Aftermath, which is currently in development at Paradox. Right now the game is only available from Paradox and on the Epic store. I used my $10 coupon to get this at Epic since I thought I wouldn't be buying any more games from them before the coupon expired :roll:
Ahh.. then why is Pardadox emailing me. :evil:
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Wait, let's see, blow the dust off the thread, press the refresh button and...

New content coming to Surviving Mars, which is free (again) on the Epic Store. Announced today at the PDX. Details from PCGamesN

Surviving Mars is back with free tourism update
Image
After two years, development has resumed on Surviving Mars, with a different studio at the helm, and two updates are being released to celebrate. One covers tourism for the red planet, and the other brings eight new buildings.

Announced by Paradox Interactive during the most recent PAradox Insider, Abstraction is now the developer working on the strategy game. Not resting on their laurels, players will have access to a free tourism update, and the in-dome buildings pack, on March 15, to commemorate this reveal. The tourism update changes how tourist ratings from affect your score, introduces safaris, and lets you build hotels and amusement parks to keep your holidayers happy.

A good “Holiday Experience” rating can get you rewards and funds, for which you can increase your chances by making a Low-G Amusement Park, and completing the Smart Homes research to unlock hotels. Snazzy. You can mark out a lovely tour of the cosmic scenery by doing the Rover Printing research, and building your own radio-controller safari. The course is then marked out by waypoints, and away everyone goes. If the research is taking too long, you will have the option of renting a rover from earth – all depends on your patience, really.

The In-Dome buildings pack is collaboration with Surviving Mars modder Silva, and the whole thing is catered to expanding community and housing. The eight buildings themselves range from smart apartments to hospitals to a TV studio workshop, and the pack will run you $4.99 / €4.99 / £3.99.

Here’s a trailer:


Paradox and Abstraction have a full Surviving Mars expansion in the works for later in 2021. If you’d like to try it, Surviving Mars is currently the free game on the Epic Games store.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

Heh, the same effect happened to me Epic got me to think about the game and then I launched and saw the newss. I was apparently 62 hours in to a 1000+ difficulty game last time I played. I couldn't figure out where I left off, so after not playing for two years, I started up at 1000+ difficulty game... three times...

Now, I'm getting my feet wet again and am looking forward to the update.

This is my favorite city builder to come out since Pharoah and even beats Dwarf Fortress because I dig the macro over micro. They do a lot right. The arc to getting the colony set before you hit tedium is long and the tech tree mix and breakthrough uniqueness make the repeatability high.

The worst part about the game in its current state, IIRC is that terraforming only really starts after you get you finish the long arc to stability. There is no urgency in addressing it, so by the time you get there the game is already "over" and if there were early urgency, it might the game too much chaos for me. But that is far from faint praise.

I'm glad the stars aligned this game is scratching the itch nicely.

Edit: I did not see any tourism update on Steam... But now I see the update releases... now.... time to give them my $5 and restart again.

Edit: Not a lot for $5. Still I'm in. Paradox model is brutal but they managed a perfect storm.
You are clear for landing!

Expand your colony with the first Surviving Mars Content Creator Pack from longtime Paradox community modder Silva - the In-Dome Buildings Pack. Take your colony to the next level with 8 buildings and technical additions to help you make the red planet feel a little more like home. This pack expands housing options and introduces more community buildings.

The In-Dome Buildings Pack Includes:

Habitats for Humanity
◾Smart Apartments (Habitats, Large)
◾Seniors Residence (Habitats, Medium)
◾Large Nursery (Habitats, Large)
Dome Sweet Dome
◾Medical Post (Dome Services, Small)
◾Security Post (Dome Services, Small)
◾Hospital (Dome Services, Large)
◾TV Studio Workshop (Dome Services, Large)
◾School Spire (Dome Spirees, Spire)
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

My population stopped aging around SOL 17. I may wait a patch :( Great timing and horrible timing on the new DLC and update.
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

LordMortis wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:05 pm My population stopped aging around SOL 17. I may wait a patch :( Great timing and horrible timing on the new DLC and update.
Yikes! I was just about to start a new game. I'll wait for more info.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

For those who might want to make bug reports, here is the Paradox forum for it.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

LordMortis wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:05 pm My population stopped aging around SOL 17. I may wait a patch :( Great timing and horrible timing on the new DLC and update.
Possible fix for aging problem. Here's the thread in the Paradox SM bug forum: Surviving Mars - Colonist do not age

Direct link to Steam Workshop fix mentioned in message: Fix Tito Tourist Suicide
Very likely a fix for the colonist suicides introduced in Tito/Tourism update.

This'll probably fix any weird issues you've having with colonists from the update.
Obviously not as good as a patch from Paradox, but I'll give it a try.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

At least it's not just me. Looks like it's time to wait.
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

LordMortis wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 9:19 pm At least it's not just me. Looks like it's time to wait.
I've put in a couple of hours on a new playthrough and after using the above fix I'm seeing colonists age. Whether that would have happened anyway I don't know.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

jztemple2 wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:19 pm
LordMortis wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 9:19 pm At least it's not just me. Looks like it's time to wait.
I've put in a couple of hours on a new playthrough and after using the above fix I'm seeing colonists age. Whether that would have happened anyway I don't know.
For me it happened around SOL 19. My first child hit 4 sols. It was about 5 Sols into post colonization (as all my colonists were at 5 sols on Mars). My school hit terminal occupancy before I got concerned and started poking around.
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82094
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by Isgrimnur »

You're the Martian Ponce de Leon!
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

LordMortis wrote: Tue Mar 16, 2021 8:23 am
jztemple2 wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:19 pm
LordMortis wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 9:19 pm At least it's not just me. Looks like it's time to wait.
I've put in a couple of hours on a new playthrough and after using the above fix I'm seeing colonists age. Whether that would have happened anyway I don't know.
For me it happened around SOL 19. My first child hit 4 sols. It was about 5 Sols into post colonization (as all my colonists were at 5 sols on Mars). My school hit terminal occupancy before I got concerned and started poking around.
I had to ask in the Paradox forums to be reminded that there is info on Age Groups in the official wiki.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

New patch out today, Tourism update hotfix - patch notes
Game Version:
1001539
Bug fixes

• Fixed Windows 7 startup crash
• Fixed crash that often occurred on Mega Dome completion in existing save games.
• Fixed an issue where colonists suddenly committed suicide in large numbers.
• Fixed an issue where colonists stopped aging and tourists didn’t want to leave Mars after 5 sols.
• Fixed an issue where the Low-G Amusement Park awarded a lot more satisfaction than intended.
• Fixes Rocket naming issue
• Terra Tourism text change in English only (for now) to fit with the new tourism reward mechanic.

Known issues

• Windows 7 always starts in windowed mode
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

Well, that's a good sign. 5 sol stop aging was my exact problem.

Edit: Also earlier I noted
The worst part about the game in its current state, IIRC is that terraforming only really starts after you get you finish the long arc to stability. There is no urgency in addressing it, so by the time you get there the game is already "over" and if there were early urgency, it might the game too much chaos for me. But that is far from faint praise.
This is a bad memory. Re jumping in to the 1000% difficult game, tarraforming is exactly what needs to happen to cycle down the never ending disaster. I'm not sure I'll be able to conquer the 1000% difficulty this time around. I'd say the game will take my weekend this weekend but I need to do stuff, like taxes, this weekend. We'll see.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

Played more this weekend. Playing at 1005% difficulty doesn't allow me explore the tourists pack I paid for but that's OK. The game is a bit harder than it was and the Renegade factor (jacked up for difficulty) is obscene. I also have a break through (Pheonix project) that sees them come back to life 50% of the time. At about 150 Sols in I may restart. I have 300 colonists and 50 of them are renegades. My population is growing too fast but it is not growing usefully fast, so I don't generate enough oomph (electronics, machine, and polymer) to work on another dome. Too bad if I restart, if I have some good stuff going on. I'm at like 250,000+ milestone points and I'm just beginning to get enough terraforming in place to start calming the disaster constancy.

One day I will hit all of the milestones at 1005 difficulty. I was going to do it my last play-through but then I got distracted.

Edit: Internet says
Rebel Yell: There's nothing you can do to stop "Rebel Yell" Renegades being generated other than having domes with high morale and very low population (15 or fewer), for every individual dome 20% of the colonists beyond the 15th become Renegades (i.e. in a dome with 30 population, there will be 3 renegades, but no more). You can choose whether to accept 20% of the population beyond the 15th being renegades, or slaughter them and rely on high birth rate for replacements.
I don't remember Rebel Yell being this punitive before but now I know. Corralling them became the opposite of helpful and I need to not have the pheonix project breakthrough.
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Just put in thirty hours over the last few days playing India to Sol 144. I tend to burn out once the pop hits about a thousand, all the wonders have been built and I'm just doing a lot of plate spinning. It was a lot of fun to see the new buildings and the tourist rules, but with the F1 season kickoff tomorrow and Evil Genius 2 hitting the streets next Tuesday I'll have plenty to do.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

The renegades in my huge game annoyed me and I set the game back down. We'll see about getting to it later.
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Big new for this game, a new major expansion is set to release next week. Steam Link
Below & Beyond, Launching September 7th

~Incoming transmission~

Commanders, get ready to explore the Martian depths and extract precious minerals from the elusive asteroids in this brand new DLC for Surviving Mars! Below & Beyond pushes the limits of what is possible on the Red Planet. Expand your horizons with additional buildings, more resources, and a cavernous world full of mysteries. You can tunnel beneath the surface and construct subterranean bases below the colony and in nearby underground caves. Or you can attach rocket-propelled buildings to passing asteroids and mine exotic resources, but you’ll need to make it back to the Red Planet’s surface before the asteroid leaves orbit or else you lose your stuff and your colonists.

The DLC will launch on September 7th on all available platforms.

Key Features
• Back to the Bases - Expand your colony into caves and lava tubes under the surface. Players can use existing structures, or underground-specific buildings to build a base for exploration. Expand with caution, potential cave-ins can destroy everything.
• Mine Your Own Business - Players can now go below the surface and beyond the red planet for resource mining. Construct special rocket-propelled buildings to mine resources, including exotic minerals and Data Samples, on passing asteroids. Don’t stick around too long or else the Asteroid will drift away with your stuff!
• Branching Paths - The Recon and Expansion research tree unlock additional buildings, vehicles, upgrades, and locales. They will also unlock asteroid mining and tunnel colonization.

Launching alongside Below & Beyond is the Mars Lifestyle Radio. The pack includes 16 original tracks from four different artists, for 70 minutes of chill roving tunes.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Some images from the new DLC:

Image

Image

Image
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

The first Dev Diary for the new DLC, Below & Beyond Dev Diary #1 - Asteroid Mining

Excerpt:
It appears you requested an update on how we developed the new Below and Beyond project. The name’s Elmer Lexmond designer on the Below and Beyond planning and development team, nice to meet you! I’m here to give you a peek behind the curtain. On the agenda today is Mining Asteroids! Let me start you off with a quick summary. We have developed a new building, the Recon Center which lets us track Asteroids that pass in close proximity to Mars. You can visit these tracked asteroids with our brand-new Asteroid Landers, rockets designed to land in conditions that would be impossible for our standard Supply Rockets. Once there, we have a limited amount of time to mine as many resources as possible and leave the asteroids before it is too far away from Mars to make the return trip. We will need specialized Micro-G Auto Extractors at first, but we can eventually get permits to send the personnel that can populate our more efficient Micro-G Mining Stations.
There's a lot more in the diary, so give it a look. I'm planning to pick up this DLC on day of release so I'll post impressions sometime after that. I imagine it will take several hours of gameplay on a new runthrough before I'll be at the point of launching to asteroids.

My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
Stefan Stirzaker
Posts: 1136
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:12 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by Stefan Stirzaker »

Really loved that game, think i'll get this expansion too.
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Below & Beyond Dev Diary #2 - Underground
We've prepared another update for you on how we developed the new Below and Beyond project. My name is Bart Vossen, design lead on the Below and Beyond planning and development team. Nice to meet you! As my colleague already informed you about what lies beyond, today's tour is all about exploring what's below; the Underground!

Image

Let me give you a quick overview before we dive deeper. Our RC Explorers recently started running into surprisingly deep holes, which, after some further inspection, uncovered an entire underground network of tunnels beneath our colony. You should be able to drop an RC Explorer down there for initial reconnaissance. We've also developed a new building, the Elevator, which will be able to transport everything we need between our surface colony and the underground. Reports tell us the underground contains more resources and should provide protection against all hazards from the surface. Though the darkness and any local quakes, caused by our expansion efforts, may pose their own challenges. To this end, we've developed several buildings to keep our colonists safe. Lastly, those who came back also rambled on about something they called buried wonders, which we'd advise you to investigate further.

Now you might be wondering, why the underground? Well, 99.9% of Mars's mass lies underground, and it gives us a network of tunnels to explore and expand into with completely new challenges. But mostly because Mars's underground has eluded us for centuries. As we got closer and closer to Mars, we were still only looking at its surface. Even after we landed, we were only able to scan the top layer. Now, we have an opportunity to fully discover what secrets Mars has been hiding from us.

Expansion into the underground will get us closer to resource veins and provide shelter from meteors, dust storms, and even cold waves. Though it may destabilize the area and cause local, underground quakes with occasional cave-ins. To better protect our buildings, our scientists came up with a nifty solution involving Exotic Minerals. This should make exploring and expanding into the underground a worthwhile endeavor to do while our surface colony is gradually expanding.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Also coming out on Tuesday September 7th is another DLC, Surviving Mars: Mars Lifestyle Radio:
Connect with your inner zen as you terraform the Red Planet with the Mars Lifestyle Radio. Relax to some surf influenced Tarantino music merged with a futuristic vibe consisting of electronic instruments and analog guitars and keyboards.

Mars Lifestyle Radio Key Features:
◾16 songs
◾4 artists
◾Approximately 70 minutes of music
I've posted a question to the SM Paradox forum asking if these songs will be in the style of the music found on The Free Earth Channel. I really, really enjoyed those tunes.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
Lordnine
Posts: 6034
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:09 pm
Location: Burlington, VT

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by Lordnine »

jztemple2 wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 11:04 pm Also coming out on Tuesday September 7th is another DLC, Surviving Mars: Mars Lifestyle Radio:
Connect with your inner zen as you terraform the Red Planet with the Mars Lifestyle Radio. Relax to some surf influenced Tarantino music merged with a futuristic vibe consisting of electronic instruments and analog guitars and keyboards.

Mars Lifestyle Radio Key Features:
◾16 songs
◾4 artists
◾Approximately 70 minutes of music
I've posted a question to the SM Paradox forum asking if these songs will be in the style of the music found on The Free Earth Channel. I really, really enjoyed those tunes.
Marsvision Song Contest all the way!
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by LordMortis »

Lordnine wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:54 am
jztemple2 wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 11:04 pm Also coming out on Tuesday September 7th is another DLC, Surviving Mars: Mars Lifestyle Radio:
Connect with your inner zen as you terraform the Red Planet with the Mars Lifestyle Radio. Relax to some surf influenced Tarantino music merged with a futuristic vibe consisting of electronic instruments and analog guitars and keyboards.

Mars Lifestyle Radio Key Features:
◾16 songs
◾4 artists
◾Approximately 70 minutes of music
I've posted a question to the SM Paradox forum asking if these songs will be in the style of the music found on The Free Earth Channel. I really, really enjoyed those tunes.
Marsvision Song Contest all the way!
I generally loved all of the soundtracks. That's a rarity for me. I'm not sure I'd pay for additional music stations but I would appreciate them and they would be a selling point when wrapped into other DLC.
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Below & Beyond Dev Diary #3 - Tech Tree and Free Update
Good to have you with us one last time, we've got one more update for you about the development of the new Below and Beyond project. It's me again, Bart Vossen, design lead on the Below and Beyond planning and development team. Previously we went into the development of what lies below and what to find beyond. Today's briefing will focus on how to actually get there and some things we did to make life easier for all commanders.
Image

My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

The Surviving Mars: Below & Beyond DLC has been released, along with the Surviving Mars: Mars Lifestyle Radio DLC. I picked up both, although the B&B DLC price of $19.99 USD seems a little steep. However, I'll take the bullet and do a playthrough to identify how much the game changes with this DLC.



The Changelog for both the free update and the DLC are in the spoilers tag:
Spoiler:
Below and Beyond Changelog

Game version
PC: 1007783
PlayStation: 1007785
Xbox: 1007783

Below and Beyond

Underground
• A new area to explore right beneath your colony. Uncovering what the Martian Underground has been hiding from us, perhaps we can even find something rivaling our wonders.
• Expand your colony into the Underground, providing shelter against the hazards from the surface and bringing you closer to richer deposits.
• Be careful, as there may be underground marsquakes that can lead to dangerous cave-ins.

Asteroids
• Venture to asteroids as they fly past Mars, giving you a limited window to visit them.
• Set up temporary mining outposts to extract as many rewards as you can from each asteroid.
• Bring back Exotic Minerals, a new resource exclusive to asteroids, to improve your colony on the Martian surface and its underground.
• Some asteroids may not be as they appear and have a mystery to solve while you are on them.

Recon & Expansion tech
• Unlock multiple specialized buildings, rockets, and upgrades in the underground and on asteroids.
• Gain benefits and upgrades for your entire colony.

Free Update

New Building:
• Amphitheater - a new building to comfort your colonists and increase tourists' satisfaction.

UI Improvements:
• Construction Ranges - You can now hold CTRL (Y on Xbox and Triangle on Playstation) to see dust ranges of other buildings and other relevant ranges.
• Reorder tech queue - You can now easily adjust the order of techs within your research queue.
• Leak Icons - Cable and Pipe leaks now show icons above them so you can easily locate them.
• Cycle Grids - You can now cycle through different power grids and life support grids by clicking on power or oxygen and water in the top bar.
• Extended Resource info - We expanded the Top UI tooltips with more information per resource.

More Colony Control:
• Custom Colony Name - Change your colony's name to best fit your colony.
• Dome birth limit - Besides allowing and forbidding births, you can now also allow births as long as the dome still has available living space.
• Must include Filter - Colonist filters now have an option to include all colonists with a certain trait or specialization, even if they have undesired traits.

Balance Changes:
• Rebalanced the Door to Summer event.
• School Spire; reduced the odds of the genius trait being given.
• Smart Apartments; reduced resident slots and increased maintenance cost.
• Medical Post; reduced number of colonists that can use it per shift and increased service comfort.

Known issues

Asteroids:
• Drones that are “busy” with transporting resources do not get added to the cargo of a Lander rocket when the asteroid moves out of range. This can occasionally cause a crash
• After salvaging an asteroid lander, its contents are dumped on the landing pad. Any drones and RCs part of the cargo can not be used
• Pin menu does not show incoming Asteroid Landers from Asteroids
• There is no warning about an unloaded cargo when launching a rocket back to Earth
• Drones occasionally try to get to the unreachable area on Asteroids in order to gather resources
• The camera is out of the map if the player clicks on the Astronomer's pin while s/he is in orbit (Dying Wish mystery)

Underground:
• Even after clearing debris, the area is uneven and unbuildable
• Some cave-ins are unreachable and therefore cannot be cleared which prevents further exploration.
• Shuttles can fly ‘too high’ vertically in the Underground.

Platform specific:
• MAC: Many UI images don't show up in the Mac build
• Black squares are shown instead of B&B content icons on Epic build (Mac)
You might notice there are a number of "Known issues" which hopefully will get fixed quickly, but... :roll:

And as always, a new update invalidates all mods, so I'll be doing this playthrough without the mods I've gotten used to, so I might struggle a bit. I'm taking the wife to the beach today, so I won't getting any significant time in-game till this evening. I'll try to post some impressions later tonight.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

Back from the beach early, so I'll start posting some content. I've started a new game and in the unlock square of the map that's given to me I see the below underground entrance. My first thought is, what if i chose to start at some other map location? Are there multiple underground entrances? Hmm... :think:

Image

UPDATE: Yup, there are multiple underground entrances. So, are they connected underground...? :think:
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
User avatar
jztemple2
Posts: 11545
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA

Re: Surviving Mars - Start a Colony on Mars, from Haemimont Games/Paradox Interactive

Post by jztemple2 »

I'm finding the Surviving Mars: Mars Lifestyle Radio DLC to be a disappointment. Apparently all instrumentals (I've been listening an hour and haven't hear a song actually sung) and not very inspiring. I was hoping for something like The Free Earth Channel but it's not in the same league at all. I've requested a refund. I've canceled my refund request because I'd have to start my game over again :roll:. Oh well, maybe the channel will grow on me :?
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
Post Reply