We’re not slowing down! Occupy Mars: The Game is looking better day by day! :)

We’d like to let you know that we have recently decided to switch our engine’s version to a higher number. The change required some adjustments, but we believe it’s worth it! With that, the game’s graphics, as well as performance should greatly improve. ✨

There is something else we’d like to dedicate this devlog to, though. Some of you may have already seen our little sneak peek in our other social media sites and probably have a general idea about what’s coming. If you don’t know – no worries, we’re getting there! 😊

We all know how essential good time management is on Mars. Time is yet another resource that is very limited. Moving by foot can be tiring, not to mention time consuming, and that’s why we’re implementing alternate and more efficient ways to move around the base.

One of them is a Jetpack! 🚀



With required materials, you can build a special kit, which you can then assemble into the proper thing.



With Jetpack, you can soar into the sky! Provided you have enough oxygen and methane to fuel it, of course. You’ll need to prepare a Well with all the necessary extensions including Sabatier upgrade and Methane tank, if you want to use your Jetpack on a daily basis.



Make sure to tune down your excitement during landing, though! You’re risking an injury if you crash. That much remains unchanged, no matter if you’re on Mars or on Earth. 😉



You’ll be able to try it out yourselves in the upcoming Early Access version of the game.

One more thing – today, we are also launching another Tight Beam From Mars episode, in which you will be able to learn more about the HI-SEAS base, the Airlocks & EVAs:



Stay tuned and thank you all for your support so far! ❤️

Sincerely,
Occupy Mars Team

Last week we released the first episode of TightBeam From Mars - our youtube miniseries created to show the reality of life on Mars. The second episode goes live today! and this time we're showing some interesting details and sneak peeks of the Spacesuits!

Watch today's episode to learn more about how the spacesuits in our game compare to real-life analog missions:


In the next episodes we'll showcase how to grow plants, use the airlock and other parallels between the simulated Mars missions and our upcoming game.



If you haven’t done it yet, subscribe to our channel to receive notifications about next episodes and other exciting news regarding our games. Also remember to join our Discord if you haven't already and meet our amazing community. We hope to see you there! :)

Best Regards,
Occupy Mars Team

We would like to announce exciting news related to our previous devlog.



TightBeam from Mars is our youtube miniseries created to show the reality of life on Mars. In the next episodes we'll showcase how to grow plants, use the airlock, the spacesuits and other parallels between the simulated Mars missions and our upcoming game. Together with the Valoria I Mission crew we will tell you about difficulties of life on Mars. It’s a great opportunity to get a glimpse of simulated Mars mission and learn how it relates to our open-world survival.

First episode of TightBeam From Mars will have its premiere this evening on our YouTube channel. We encourage you to check it out here:


If you haven’t done it yet, subscribe to our channel to receive notifications about next episodes and other exciting news regarding our games! :)

We hope to see you there!

Best Regards,
Occupy Mars Team

We know that we’ve been relatively silent lately (sorry for that), but it was due to being laser-focused on the development of this game. There was a lot going on “behind the scenes” and it’s time to tell you a little bit about it :)

Recently we've started a cooperation with the Valoria I crew from the HI-SEAS Project (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog & Simulation) - Mars Simulated research station.

Together with the Valoria I Mission crew, our goal is to prepare a youtube miniseries showing the struggle of life on Mars, how to grow plants, use the airlock, and the parallels between the simulated Mars missions and our upcoming game. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel where we’ll now regularly post videos from the game development in preparation for the release.



You can read more about the Valoria I mission in the space.com reports below:

Report 1: Mission Introduction:
https://www.space.com/hi-seas-valoria-1-mars-analog-mission-commander-report-1
Report 2: EVA activities and VR:
https://www.space.com/hi-seas-valoria-1-mars-analog-mission-commander-report-2
Report 3: Surviving the night:
https://www.space.com/hi-seas-valoria-1-mars-analog-mission-commander-report-3
Report 4: Mission summary:
https://www.space.com/hi-seas-valoria-1-mars-analog-mission-commander-report-4


In January, we released the Translation Update for the Prologue. The language update took us slightly longer than expected. Still, it was worth it because we were simultaneously translating the game to 10 languages - not only the Prologue but also a big chunk of the main game.

We are also reading all the feedback which you post on the Prologue forums and trying to include as much of your suggestions as we can into the main game.

As for the main game we’re currently focusing on balancing the Sandbox gameplay mode, we’ve also added more real-life Mars locations into our procedural terrain generation system.



Perseverance Rover is landing on Mars today, so we couldn’t forget about it as well. We hope the landing will be successful. In Occupy Mars it’s already sitting safe & sound inside the Jezero Crater.



Meanwhile, our second team has also added this rover to our previous game: Rover Mechanic Simulator in the form of a DLC. If you want to learn about Perseverance’s construction and the scientific instruments it has on board - it’s a great way to do it:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512110/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator__Perseverance_Rover_DLC/

We are a small team, but we are getting closer to the Early Access release of Occupy Mars each day. We also plan on launching a closed beta, first for our most active discord members.

We’ll announce the exact dates once we are sure that the game is ready. We know that a good Early Access launch is the most important, so we want to make sure that we'll make it right.



Thank you all for the amazing support so far! and for your patience while we prepare the game for release. There’s so much more we’d like to talk about, but we need to leave some information for the upcoming video-devlogs.

Stay tuned! Mars can’t wait for you to be Occupied :)

Best Regards,
Occupy Mars Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/758690/Occupy_Mars_The_Game/

Since there is Christmas, we would like to show you our winter wonderland in Occupy Mars! Our Starman visited the winter location and took a few screenshots for you - let’s take a look at them below:



Winter location will be available to explore in the full game. There you will find a frozen lake and remnants from the previous Mars mission. It is one of the most beautiful and relaxing locations in Occupy Mars.



As you can see, the sunsets are blue in Occupy Mars as they are on real Mars. Fine dust allows blue light to push through the atmosphere more efficiently, and that’s why sunsets are blue.



We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas with lots of love! Remember to take care of yourself during this festive season.



Stay safe!
Occupy Mars Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/758690/Occupy_Mars_The_Game/

For the past few months, we’ve been working extremely hard on improving the Prologue and the upcoming Early Access release. We have focused on the development of Occupy Mars because we really want to deliver a great survival experience on Mars.

Releasing a demo version and then the prologue, helped us gather tons of valuable feedback which allows us to introduce changes that make the upcoming Early Access better in terms of gameplay, core mechanics, features, quests and storyline. And that’s all thanks to our amazing Community!

We know that we haven’t been so active here on Steam lately, but now we’re back with the current development status. Recently, we've added all the Prologue changes and improvements into the upcoming Early Access version. Other additional changes also have been introduced.

One of the many things we've reworked is the player's inventory. We also keep working on gamepad control support for all the inventory screens.

Inventory Changes:

• The information window now appears when you hover your mouse, you don't have to click on it.
  
• Added auxiliary buttons to quickly move all items between inventories and a button to quickly divide. items.
  
• New appearance of the window with the selection options. Previously it was on the information window, now it is separated.

Below you can take a look at gifs showcasing improved inventory. Keep in mind this is a test footage of the new inventory system which we currently work on and doesn't represent the final look of the game:





We are also working on a Free Play Mode which will be available in the Early Access. As part of working on this mode, we’ve been working on the starting conditions menu, as well as Tech Tree and Hangar. We’ve added protection from the damage caused by atmospheric events to the Hangar. We’ve also redesigned the UI of changing the trailers. Unfortunately, we can't reveal too much information about the Free Play Mode as we're still redesigning it. However, we will tell you more details in future devlogs! :)

Below you can take a look at some of the new development screenshots:







This is just a hint as there's a lot more exciting stuff we'd like to show you, stay tuned for more updates after the Holidays! ːsteamhappyː

Now let’s move on to the Prologue. We’re still working on the next Update, which will add support for multiple languages. But the good news is that the update is almost ready and will be released soon! We will provide you with more details regarding the Localization Update soon on the Prologue page. We appreciate your understanding.

We would like to thank our Community for constant support and amazing feedback. We receive tons of motivation which keep us working hard on the game. Thanks to you, we’re making our game better, and we know that we’re on the right track.

Sincerely,
Occupy Mars Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/758690/Occupy_Mars_The_Game/

The next edition of the Steam Game Awards is here! If Occupy Mars: Prologue is the toughest game you've ever enjoyed, we would like to encourage you to vote for Occupy Mars: Prologue in the category The Best Game You Suck At.



Remember that you can only nominate the prologue in a single category, so if our game isn't your best game you suck at, then we would be very grateful if you'd vote for our game in other categories!

We would greatly appreciate your vote! ːsteamhappyː

Take care!
Occupy Mars Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1310520/Occupy_Mars_Prologue/

As you know we are working hard on preparing Occupy Mars for launch, meanwhile our previous game (made by a different team) Rover Mechanic Simulator just got a big update and is now officially out of Early Access. See the new trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lywJdc8vgP0
To celebrate the full release, our publisher prepared a special offer! The game releases with the special 15% launch discount and thanks to PlayWay you can also receive an additional 20% loyalty discount if you own at least one of the games below:



- Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
- Car Mechanic Simulator 2015
- Drug Dealer Simulator
- Cooking Simulator
- House Flipper
- UBOAT
- Barn Finders
- Thief Simulator
- Tank Mechanic Simulator
- Ultimate Fishing Simulator
- 911 Operator
- 112 Operator
- Train Station Renovation
- Plane Mechanic Simulator

This offer will be valid only for 7 days, this message will disappear on November 19th.
Purchasing Rover Mechanic Simulator is the best way to support the development of Occupy Mars.

Thank you all for your continuous support. If you have any questions regarding our games, feel free to ask them on our Discord Server! We're available to talk almost everyday!



Pyramid Games Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/864680/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator/

Yesterday we've made a Developer Stream as part of Gamescom Indie Arena Booth. During the stream we've talked about Occupy Mars and shown the recent features and updates as well as some hidden features available in the game.



The stream went live yesterday (28.08) at 17:00 PM CEST (8 AM PDT) and was about 3 hours long. For those of you who missed it - you can still watch it on one of our channels below. We will also keep re-streaming it here on Steam at least until the end of Gamescom. Be sure to watch it if you haven't already:

• Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/videos/724129820
  
• Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/1310520
  
• YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtGeseVqtRo

Thank you so much for playing and for the amazing feedback which helps us with the development of this game. Occupy Mars wouldn't be possible without such amazing community. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask: here on the comments, on the forums or on our Discord server. If you are interested in the details of the recent updates to the game you can read the full changelog here.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1310520/Occupy_Mars_Prologue/

P.S. we will take some much needed rest this weekend, and next week we are coming back with another update to the game, stay tuned! ;)

Yours sincerely,
Pyramid Games Team

What's more, we are streaming live now, so make sure to join us!

1. Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1310520/
   
2. Twitch:https://www.twitch.tv/pyramid_games
   
3. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PyramidlabPl/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1310520/Occupy_Mars_Prologue/


After the Demo version presented during the Steam Games Festival we've prepared a survey for you. Below you can find the answers from that survey. We've tried our best to implement as many of Your requests as possible in the Prologue.



We've also asked you about features most expected in the Prologue version. After reading your answers -we've managed to add most of those requested (and more - you can find the changelog here) (except translations) which are almost done but will be added in the next updates.



You can now play with saves, change key bindings, automatically load rocks on trailer, invert mouse, fix PCB and survive many shorter sandstorms!

While playing the Prologue remember to Press F4 during the game to send feedback to us. Thanks to your invaluable feedback we will keep updating the game to prepare the best possible Early Access launch of the full game.



Play Prologue and have fun!
Occupy Mars Team