Surviving Mars

Mod support should be for all versions of the game.

state: playing the Linux version, currently around 10 hours into the game's first map and enjoying myself immensely It is basically a city builder, with heavy emphasis on a technology tree that you gradually research, and revolving around exploring and exploiting the scarce resources that you find. In the beginning (and well into the game) you need to import a lot of goods and also building components from earth. You do that by controlling a finite number of rockets that you can order back and forth between Earth and Mars. They take a long time to travel and are very expensive, so a little planning is essential. The more technology you research, the more self-sufficient you (can) become. The first map is supposed to be very easy and indeed it allows for mistakes and you can still keep going. In this respect, it really feels like colonizing a remote planet, since you do not get second chances there either. It is still a challenge, because resources (and colonists) are always scarce. The AI does a reasonable job, for example controlling transport drones, so you can stick to your planning without too much micro-managing. The controls are functional and do their job without getting into your way - I suppose that makes them qualify as good. However, there is no real tutorial or anything. You get thrown into the game with just a few help texts. These let you completely lost after the first few minutes, and you have to find out the rest yourself. For me, I considered this a challenge, but it might put you off. Technically, the Linux version is running smoothly, despite my rather unusual setup with Radeon graphics. I did encounter one defective save game that crashes upon loading, but all others worked fine so far. So, while annoying, this seems like a rare problem. So far, I am enjoying the game a lot. It is slow paced, but I never found myself waiting for anything to finish, because there is always something else to do. Perfect for my taste.

It's look for me like beta version. A huge field of unrealized possibilities

Were it possible, I'd rate 4 1/2, but since it's not, I'll round up. It's an enjoyable city-builder with limited resource-choices and amounts and a goodly number of buildings and research choices, and for a nice change from a lot of builders, there are difficulty settings with obvious (though simple - mainly starting-cash-based) effects. Depending on the difficulty you start on, Mars will either be harsh or downright unforgiving, so you'll need to conserve your cash and resources and not waste them, and _think_ about how you're building and deploying. Thankfully, you do _not_ have to worry about traffic patterns, though you need to keep in mind that colonists work only in their own domes. It's not perfect. As others have stated, it's lacking a tutorial, though things seem straightforward enough I didn't find that a major negative. Keypress instructions are onscreen if you need them, and buildings and research state what they do. The interactions and resource costs of factories aren't clearly stated, however, which takes learning. There are also some additions that would have really helped in some situations. The big one for me? The question of why your colonists didn't bring _birth control_ along. Later game population growth can balloon out of control, so a 'policy' control mechanism would have been nice. Still overall fun, and I'm glad I purchased.

If you like your city builder style games at a nice gentle pace this is well worth investing in. Even though I generally prefer a little more storyline, I'm still finding it very compelling.