Surviving Mars Update Adds New Space Domes, Command Center, And More
Last month we reported that Haemimont Games’ Surviving Mars held a touching tribute to the late Stephen Hawking. Fast forward to now and the space simulator is getting a brand new update, one that includes a bevy of brand new features, such as new Dome types, a new toolset in the form of a Command Center, and more.
According to the latest blog post from the developer, “Curiosity introduces five new Dome types to the game. These are not skins or variants of the old Domes, but entirely new models with new shapes, functionality and costs. With one exception, they do not require new techs to be researched. Each of them is unlocked together with one of the old Domes, potentially by an existing tech. This means that many of them may be directly available even when you load a savegame created before the Curiosity update.”
Here are the new Dome types arriving in the Surviving Mars Curiosity update:
- Micro Dome – a very cheap triangular Dome available at the start. No capability to host a Spire. Can be very useful when space or resources are limited or as an extension to an existing Dome when connected with passages.
- Barrel Dome – an alternative to the Small Dome, available at the start. It provides more usable space but has no capability to host a Spire.
- Trigon Dome – similar to the Medium Dome and made available at the same time. Cheaper to build, but provides less habitable space.
- Mega Trigon Dome – similar to the Large Dome and made available at the same time. Cheaper to build, but provides less habitable space. The triangular shape can be kinda tricky to position on some places of the map with a Dome that big.
- Diamond Dome – this is the only new design that requires a new tech, more specifically a breakthrough, so it will not be available in every playthrough. It is a rhombus-shaped Dome that has the capability to host two spires. We want to keep the “two spire” Dome configurations special and somewhat exclusive but with the new design, we are increasing the chance that you get at least one of the two available configurations during any of your games.
Of course, what good are brand new Dome types without a nifty new toolset with which to operate them, along with other buildings, units, and vehicles? Enter the Command Center, which does all that and more:
- Graphs – view historical data for various colony metrics for the last 50 Sols
- Buildings – inspect and manage buildings, work shifts, workers and upgrades
- Domes – inspect and manage Domes and Dome Policies. Check average dome stats, as well as homes and jobs at a glance.
- Colonists – inspect Colonists and compare their stats, traits and interests. Locate problematic colonists quickly.
- Transportation – inspect and manage Drones, Shuttles and Transporters. Check Drone/Shuttle load at a glance and reassign Drones without hunting individual controllers in the normal view
Last but not least, the developer has also announced that a tutorial is being added in to the game. According to the developer, tutorials are “notoriously hard to develop and maintain,” though in the case of Surviving Mars one is entirely necessary given the overarching theme of the feedback from new players – “How do I play this game?”
Surviving Mars is now available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The Curiosity update will be available on May 28 for PC, and on consoles on June 12.
So, thoughts on the latest Surviving Mars update? What else are you hoping will be implemented into the game? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!
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Ryan "Cinna" Carrier3026 Posts
Ryan is the Lead Editor for Don't Feed the Gamers. When he isn't writing, Ryan is likely considering yet another playthrough of Final Fantasy IX. He's also the DFTG cinnamon bun.
