PDXCON2019 is coming and we couldn’t be more excited to meet our community at the event - which takes place on October 18th - 20th, 2019. Tickets go on sale on May 7th, but we’ve got a secret to tell you…

If you head over to the PDXCON 2019 website at https://pdxcon.paradoxplaza.com/ you can sign up to the mailing list. Anyone that signs up will be given 8 HOURS early access before the public availability of the tickets to buy before everyone else! Sign up now and keep your eyes on the news we’ll be sending out because tickets will sell out.

Hi everyone!

Last time we talked about the terraforming process and what it means to turn the Red Planet Green, today we’ll take a look at two new tools to achieve this tremendous goal:


In Green Planet we’ve added 7 new buildings, which are dedicated to the terraforming efforts. Some of these buildings require specific planetary conditions to function properly. Three of these buildings appear much later in game and require significant research progress to even become available! They have the spatial dimensions and the construction costs of wonders but may be constructed more than once. There’s this rewarding feeling when you cover an area with huge smoking chimneys, knowing that you’re changing the planet on a large scale.



The terraforming buildings will be added to a new category of the build menu – Terraforming. Players are in complete control of when they choose to start the terraforming progress by deciding when to research the first tech in the chain. Every step in the chain unlocks new buildings and improvements which will help in your mission to terraform Mars.


Here’s the list of the buildings you will find inside:

The Forestation Plant (or the Sprinkler, as I love to call it) spreads seeds imported from Earth, or produced on Mars, to plant wild vegetation in its range. Initially, it plants only lichen, but later grass, bushes, and trees become available as the terraforming project progresses. As some of the seeds get carried away from the colony by the winds, each Forestation Plant helps for the increase of the global vegetation.



The GHG Factory (short for Greenhouse Gas) burns a mixture of fuel and locally extracted carbon to produce greenhouse gases, which are released into the atmosphere. Thus increasing the average temperature of the planet.



Similar to the GHG Factory, the Carbonate Processor converts waste rock into carbon dioxide. The release of CO2 in the atmosphere improves its density and creates the necessary circumstances for oxygen-producing bacteria to thrive and for rains to occur.

The Core Heat Convector is a system of pipes that go deep into the Martian crust. It uses water to transport heat from the planetary core and improves the atmospheric temperature, while heating its immediate surroundings.



The Magnetic Field Generator improves the magnetic field of the planet, decreasing the loss of atmospheric gasses. It has a secondary function as a science facility and generates research according to the current state of the atmosphere. As a side effect of the strong magnetic field, the MFG may trigger “marsquakes” in its immediate vicinity. So take care to place these far away from the heart of your colony.

There are several different sizes of lakes, each having different forms. Lake beds are dug up by drones and then gradually filled with water. If liquid water is not yet possible on Mars, the lake remains frozen. When the conditions allow for it, the water liquefies and the lakes start to gradually improve the global water levels through evaporation.



The Open Farm is a huge unmanned facility which grows various edible plants away from your domes. This open-air farm spreads a mixture of water and seeds, which grow or wither according to the local soil quality and the overall terraforming progress. Once fully-grown, plants are individually harvested by drones for food.



All terraforming buildings are unmanned and can be built as soon as you research their corresponding tech in the Terraforming field of the research UI. For those of you who intend to terraform Mars before sending the founders of the colony, we added one additional building, the Capital City.

The Capital City requires the atmosphere of Mars to be breathable and warm. It’s the most spacious dome design and it doesn’t have a cupola, or metallic frame. Instead, it’s surrounded by trees, doesn’t consume Oxygen and can be placed on rough terrain.




I’ll be looking forward to your screenshots!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ieYJrZuISk
Haemimont and Paradox Interactive present a feature breakdown about some of the new features, mechanics, and missions within Surviving Mars' upcoming expansion: Green Planet!

• Thursday: Dev Diary #2 - New Buildings and Wonders
  
• Friday: Tutorial Video by FeedbackGaming

Which feature are you most excited for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtijP5PltXQ

My name is Ivan Grozev and I've been working as a game designer at Haemimont Games for more than six years now. I've been fan of Paradox Interactive's games for decades. I've enjoyed thousands of hours of Europa Universalis and Crusaders Kings, always striving to achieve the next world conquest, and I've always loved large scale, long-term games. There's a saying in the design team that we've made a game especially for me. Frankly, I've loved working on Surviving Mars since the start and I'm excited with my current position as the Lead Game Designer for this project.



Today, I have the honor to briefly introduce to you the second expansion of Surviving Mars, Green Planet.

So, how did it all start? The inevitable truth that surviving Mars' barren deserts would eventually lead to humanity changing the Red Planet has stuck with us since we started working on Surviving Mars over 2 years ago. Back then, we didn't know what the future of Mars would look like, but we did envision that one day we would add terraforming. The growing desire for more late game content among our fans made this vision more and more appealing, as terraforming an entire planet would be a gradual and painstaking process. Believe me, we strived to make it challenging but worthwhile!

In Green Planet, you'll be able to fully transform the Martian surface. Starting with endless, barren deserts and leading to frozen ice caps and fields of lichen, and finally ending with a planet covered with lush green forests and oceans. You'll be able to plant different types of vegetation all across your colony, dig artificial lakes and fill them with water that freezes or evaporates according to the average global temperature, decrease the severity of dust storms as atmosphere improves and watch Moisture Vaporators produce more because of oceans evaporating water into the atmosphere.

In order to do so, you need to achieve progress on four major terraforming parameters: Atmosphere, Temperature, Water, and Vegetation.



The Atmosphere parameter symbolizes the density and the content of the Martian atmosphere. At 100% Atmosphere terraforming progress, Mars has an Earth-like atmosphere and deep blue skies, capable of sustaining human breathing without artificial aid. There are several ways to improve this parameter, varying from mass production of greenhouse gases to melting the polar ice caps. Initially, it's easy to improve the atmosphere; however, its raising density means that more and more gases are lost due to Mars’ lack of a strong magnetic field. To continue the process, the need for magnetic shields in orbit and massive magnetic generators arises.

The Temperature parameter symbolizes the average planetary temperature. It's necessary for liquid water to exist on the surface of Mars and for more advanced plant life to survive the extreme Martian conditions. The increasing temperature creates conditions for the polar ice caps to melt and changes the existing ice fields into blue lakes, seas, and oceans. Higher average temperature also means that cold waves are shorter and less likely to occur.

The Water parameter symbolizes the amount of water accumulated in the atmosphere and in water bodies on the surface of the planet. Water is a major ingredient in the making of acidic and pure-water rains. It directly affects the output of Moisture Vaporators and is required for more advanced plant life to grow and spread.

The Vegetation parameter symbolizes the sustainability of plant life on the planet. Initially, plant life consists of adapted cyanobacteria and lichen but it will eventually form huge, continent-wide forests. This parameter directly affects the spreading of plants around your colony. On one side, it increases the likelihood that locally seeded plants will spread on their own. On the other side, it guarantees that, over time, seeds carried by the wind will grow in various locations on the map.



You're probably asking yourselves "How could I achieve all that?". You'll notice that Green Planet has added a new technology field, Terraforming, in your Research UI. The 20 new techs there are harder to research but will allow you to start terraforming whenever you feel ready for the challenge. To begin, just unlock the first building in the tech tree. You achieve terraforming progress by constructing and maintaining terraforming-related buildings, or by completing dedicated terraforming projects such as sending rockets to capture ice asteroids. We're going to talk more about these in the following dev diaries.

Speaking of which, next week on Thursday we’ll have another dev diary all about the new buildings and wonders coming in Green Planet.

Ivan Grozev
Lead Designer of Green Planet
Haemimont Games

You can cast your votes on Facebook, Twitter, or our Forum

https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingMarsGame/videos/2566622680032356/

You heard right! Animals are coming to Mars. Not just farm animals, which will serve useful functions in your Mars colony, but also cute and fuzzy pets to keep your space-faring colonists company!

But what to name such a pack?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-E0w5xL8uA


The next step in mankind's quest to becoming a multi-planetary species is coming! Prepare your colonists for their newest mission: turning the red wastes of Mars into a Green Planet, and a new home for the human race.

Learn more on the Steam store page!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/952890/Surviving_Mars_Green_Planet/


Follow along on our social media channels and the forums to discover Green Planet and all the features coming your way!

Wednesday, April 10th
- Animal Pack Naming Contest
- Live Stream at 3pm CET: Sharing more information on the Animal Pack and naming contest

Thursday, April 11th
- Dev Diary #1

Friday, April 12th
- Video Tutorial #1

Monday, April 15th
- Name reveal for Animal Pack
- FAQ for Animal Pack

We'll continue to have video dev diaries, video tutorials, and more each week! The release date for Green Planet will be announced at a later time.

Happy Terraforming!

Last week we invited modders and asset creators to help us with a special project that is coming to Surviving Mars soon - and we have not been disappointed by our amazing community members! We have approximately 50 interested modders at this time (with 23 prizes to give out, that's good odds to win something!).

The deadline to participate in this project and contest is February 5th. So if you're interested in making any kind of mod/asset/UX/whatever please message us directly on Facebook or Twitter! The deadline for completion will be February 20th, when we announce the project to the world!

Because we want to reward and encourage our modders (fancy way of saying "bribe") we've decided to up the stakes. Say HELLO to the new and improved contest rewards:
- Three RTX 2080's
- Three $300 Gift Cards to a Retailer of Your Choice
- Twenty $20 PDX Gift Cards

The grand and runner-up prizes will have three distribution categories:
- Chosen by Us
- Chosen by You
- Completely Random

Paradox Interactive has a new mission preparing for launch on February 5th.



We need top-secret creators to join our soon-to-be-revealed project and create a mod or asset for Surviving Mars. This will require a simple NDA, so Direct Message us on Facebook, Twitter, or contact Azurespecter on our forums here

What's in it for you?



Modding Contest Rewards include:
1 GeForce RTX 2080
3 $300 Gift Cards to a retailer of your choice
20 $50 Gift Cards to the Paradox Store

The Grand Prize and 3 Runner-Ups will be chosen by a panel at Paradox Interactive. The 20 Paradox Store Gift cards will be People's Choice Awards, chosen by the players!

Players from all games are welcome to try their hand at winning these amazing prizes and helping Paradox with our upcoming project.

So remember to message us if you'd like to create a mod or asset for our secret project, and we'll fill you in on the rules and details!​

Haemimont Games and Paradox Interactive have been hard at work to bring you a fresh set of fixes, updates, and helpful additions!

One big thing you'll notice is a series of hint messages and helpful encyclopedia entries to assist you in Surviving Mars.


General
- Added videos in Hint messages
- Added videos in Hints section of the Encyclopedia
- Changed text alignment in Hint messages
- Fix for Hint messages getting restarted when the selected object changes
- Fix for screen remaining blurred in some cases
- Fix for Black Cubes destroying passages
- Fix for Find Water Milestone not being completed in some cases when Water is found
- Fix for Amplify upgrade of Rare Metals Refinery to properly increase production per day
- Fix for Waste Rock Dumps becoming irresponsive after loading of old save games
- Fix for Triboelectric Scrubber no more cleaning stuff after change of its range

Gamepad
- Fix for RB/LB control of sliders in info panels
- Fix for unnecessary selection of "Basic Resources" and "Advanced Resources" rows in depots' info panel

Fixes in the following events
- Fix for event-related techs missing in the absence of Space Race
- Long Winter
- Dust Sickness
- Power Surge
- Broken Dome
- Frozen Batteries

Modding
- Changed naming convention for "New" in mod editor toolbar to avoid ambiguousness
- New Specialist msg now supplies the specialist
- Fix for garbled file formats in drop-down list of the "open file" dialog