Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life News

[h2]Hi Aurochnauts![/h2]

It's the May Mission Briefing: Developer Update for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life.

Make sure you are subscribed to our Mars Horizon Newsletter to get these updates direct to your inbox and join our Discord to talk to other Mars Horizon and space fans. 🚀


[h2]👨🏻‍🚀 What have the devs been working on recently? 👨🏻‍🚀[/h2]
The development team have been hard at work behind the scenes on a variety of exciting aspects of Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life. Matthew Holmes (He/Him), Producer on the game, shares what the focus has been recently:

"Over the past few months, the development team have been hard at work in various aspects of Mars Horizon 2. For the payloads, they have been rebalanced, and animations have been improved.

"A host of changes have been made to how the extra-terrestrial (ET) bases and outposts have been implemented, which will have an impact on how you use them to support your mission. They will be crucial if you’re looking to fully investigate a surface and track down signs of life.

"The ways in which the game communicates your missions, tooltips, and more have been improved. We’re looking to get people onboard as smoothly as possible and have made leaps towards this recently.

"We’ll have more to share with you in the next update for Mars Horizon 2. Thank you for being part of the journey with us so far. We’re so excited to share more with the community going forward!"


[h2]🛰️ A payload deep dive  🛰️[/h2]
In your mission to discover life in Mars Horizon 2, you will have a variety of payloads at your disposal to help you make that monumental discovery, but what exactly do these payloads do?

In our latest Deep Dive, we cover each payload and explain how they will help you to write your name in the history books.

Read it here!


[h2]🥳 It's ESA's 50th birthday! 🥳[/h2]
The 30th of May (today) is the 50th birthday of the European Space Agency! 🎂

Our partners for both Mars Horizon and Mars Horizon 2 have done an incredible amount of work over the past 50 years and we're so excited to see what the future holds for them. 🧡

Follow ESA on Bluesky/Twitter/Instagram for more of their work.


[h2]📰 Latest space-related news 📰[/h2]
There's been a variety of exciting space news recently and here's a round-up of them to keep you up to date! 
🎥How to Capture Moon Landing Videos - The next time footage is captured on the Moon, it will be in HD! ESA look at a simulated moonwalk they recorded to prepare for the real thing!
👃🏻 Exploring the Peculiar Smells of Outer Space - Scientists are analysing the smells of space – from Earth's neighbours to planets hundreds of light years away – to learn about the make-up of the Universe.
🍽️ What Astronauts Could End Up Eating in Space - Feeding astronauts is astronomically expensive and there's a race to find better ways to feed them.

[h2]🛰 Follow Mars Horizon 2 on Socials 🛰[/h2]
Don't miss out on the cool content we'll have to share throughout the development journey and some behind the scenes looks at what we get up to: 👀

Auroch Digital Bluesky Auroch Digital TikTok Auroch Digital Discord

In Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life, the goal is to make a monumental discovery of life somewhere in our Solar System. As you travel to different planets and moons, the planet surfaces will change, and different tools will be required to aid you in your search. So, what exactly will your agency have access to?

This blog looks at the various payloads players will have at their disposal to etch their name into the history books with that highly sought-after life specimen.

[h3]Rover – Light, Medium & Heavy[/h3]

The ever-reliable Rover is a robotic vehicle that journeys across the surface in search of new discoveries. This payload will be one of the main tools you use to comb the surfaces of planets to uncover the secret of each planet/moon.

The Rover can have modules applied to perform additional actions, like a loadout, so multiple of the same Rover can have a different use based on which modules are selected. It can reveal hidden world resources using signal detect and investigate sites of interest to reveal resources. In addition to these uses, Rovers can push back the fog from parts of planets/moons which you have yet to explore.

The light, medium, and heavy options for the Rover are unlocked via the game’s Research Tree. The medium and heavy Rovers will give more energy, more movement per turn, and more modules to be applied compared the light.

[h3]Lander – Light & Medium[/h3]

The Lander is a stationary craft that lands on the surface to conduct actions within a large landing radius. If there are multiple sites close together that require your attention, then the Lander will be the perfect payload to investigate these sites one after another.

In addition to investigating sites from afar, the Lander can also produce the Deep Space Network. But, what is the Deep Space Network?

[h3]Deep Space Network[/h3]

The Deep Space Network can be produced by Landers and Bases. It exudes a blue aura around the structure which can be used to restore the energy of your payloads and restores action charges.

As you delve further into your search, you can expand the network by using relay outposts. It also builds and activates outposts that are within its borders, allowing them to gather materials from world resources. As you make leaps towards your ground-breaking discovery, the Deep Space Network could prove to be key in your search.

[h3]Flyby[/h3]

It won’t always be possible to investigate every surface with a grounded payload, due to hazards, so for that you’ll have to scope out the planet from Space. This is where the Flyby comes in! The Flyby is an aerial observer which is useful for reconnaissance missions.

[h3]Orbiter[/h3]

Much like the Flyby, the Orbiter offers support from Space. However, the Orbiter can reveal even more of the surface and provide buffs to the grounded units. The Orbiter is a terrific payload to have if your Rover is low on energy and is venturing into the unknown. The Orbiter could be the difference between a successful mission and your agency falling behind in the race of finding life.

[h3]Constructor[/h3]

As your journey to find life starts to take shape and you begin exploring surfaces beyond Mars, it may be beneficial for you to create your own bases on these planets/moons so payloads can be built and delivered post-haste! For this, the Constructor is crucial in establishing those bases. This payload allows you to create a base to your liking and put your own stamp on a planet/moon. Getting the Constructor to your place of choice is one thing, but you’ll also have to find a suitable area for your home from home to be built on the surface.

[h3]Crewed
[/h3]
The final payload that we will cover in this blog will be the Crewed payload. This payload sees a group of astronauts on the surface of a planet or moon and conduct advanced actions effectively. Whether it is experiments or other ways of determining life, this is the fastest way to figure out whether you have found life or not. However, it is the most precious payload, so the risks are very high!

___________________________________________________________

This is just a small glimpse into the various payloads of Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life. They all provide different ways of investigating anomalies and signs of life. How you use each of them is up to you.

We’ll have more information on the payloads soon. Until then, keep watching the skies! ✨

[h2]Hi Aurochnauts![/h2]

It's the March Mission Briefing: Developer Update for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life.

Make sure you are subscribed to our Mars Horizon Newsletter to get these updates direct to your inbox and join our Discord to talk to other Mars Horizon and space fans. 🚀



[h2] 👨🏻‍🚀 What have the devs been working on recently? 👨🏻‍🚀 [/h2]
A bunch of work has been done on the game since we last updated you. To bring you up to speed, Matthew Holmes (He/Him), Producer on the game, provides us with the latest:

"It's been a few months since we last updated you on what we've been working on behind the scenes. Recently, we have implemented several features which impact your agency's effectiveness when combing planets for sources of life. One of these features will allow you to extend the use of a payload, should you choose to. This will just be one decision of many you’ll have to make as you search for that monumental discovery.

“As was shown in the most recent trailer, we have been working on various visual improvements, including new cinematics when you land on a planet/moon for the first time. Even comparing this footage to what was shown previously, you can see the difference on the surface of Mars.

"In addition to this, we have also implemented various updates to UI legibility and the overall appearance of it. We can't wait to show you how that's looking once finalised!

“We’ll have more to share with you on the game in the near future!”



[h2]🧪 Our visit to the University of Edinburgh 🧪[/h2]
We recently shared a blog reflecting on a trip members of the Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life development team took to the University of Edinburgh last year. 

Read the blog to see how we're using what we learned to make the game more authentic. We've also shared some videos from our trip on TikTok, so check those out, too. Thanks again to the team at the University of Edinburgh for making it happen! 💛

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]😎 February's trailer & screenshot recap 😎[/h2]
ICYMI: We released a new gameplay trailer for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life last month in partnership with Charlie Pryor! 🙌🏻 In addition to this, we also uploaded some new screenshots to the game's Steam Store page.

We can't wait to share more content with you as development progresses.


[h2]📰 Latest space-related news 📰[/h2]
There's been a variety of exciting space news recently and here's a round-up of them to keep you up to date! 
✨ Euclid's first deep dive into the Universe - ESA recently shared the first catalogue of astronomical data from the Euclid space telescope. The video above includes three new enormous image mosaics with zoom-ins.
🔭 Webb Space Telescope captures a star in the making and a galaxy - The Webb Space Telescope has captured a plume of gas and dust streaming from a star in the making, with a spiral galaxy as a stunning backdrop
👩🏻‍🚀 What nine months in space does to the human body - NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore recently returned to Earth after nine months in space. The BBC shares what happens to the body in that time in space.

[h2]🛰 Follow Mars Horizon 2 on Socials 🛰[/h2]
Don't miss out on the cool content we'll have to share throughout the development journey and some behind the scenes looks at what we get up to: 👀

Auroch Digital Bluesky Auroch Digital TikTok Auroch Digital Discord

Hi Aurochnauts 👩🏻‍🚀,

We have just published a blog on the Auroch Digital website looking at our work with the University of Edinburgh and how they've influenced development on Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life. Check it out here!

As mentioned last year, we visited the University of Edinburgh to meet up with the Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences department, who have been helping us to make Mars Horizon 2 as authentic as possible. This blog shines a light on the experiments we conducted during our visit and how the department's knowledge is influencing our development of the game.

Thanks to everyone at the University for their insight. 💛 We'll be back at the end of March to with a monthly update, so stay tuned for that! ✨

We are thrilled to have Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life participating in the GamesAid Steam sale! The sale is currently live and runs through to the 3rd of March.



Money raised from the event will go towards GamesAid and the fantastic work they do for other charities based in the United Kingdom.

Mars Horizon is also part of the sale and has a 75% discount, so be sure to pick it up if you haven’t already!

Thanks to GamesAid for including us in the event, it’s greatly appreciated. 💚

Link to the GamesAid Steam Sale