Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life News

🚀Mission Briefing 👩‍🚀Mars Horizon 2 Developer Update #6

[h2]Hi Aurochnauts! 👩‍🚀[/h2]

It's the August Mission Briefing: Developer Update for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life with our latest update on what we've been up to 🚀

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 the devs been working on this month 👩‍🚀[/h2]

August might be a quiet month for some, but here on the Mars Horizon team we have been busily working away adding new features.

Our Research Tree is starting to take shape, this is where you will be able to spend the resources burning a hole in your pocket to upgrade your agency. Through the Research Tree you will be able to access to all our payload types in the build, Flybys, Orbiters, Landers, Rovers and Constructors to support your exploration endeavours! You can then follow these payloads through space after launch via transfer lines in the Solar System as you wait for their arrival with bated breath.

We have been continuing to build adversaries into the game, with unique hazards on the planet surface that you will want to give a very wide berth! Also, a bit of healthy competition with the introduction of AI agencies who will gobble up all your resources and race to find life first.

- Alix Taylor-Searle, Producer for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life

[h2]👀 A Sneak Peek Into Space Exploration Fest 👀
Sign up to our Mars Horizon newsletter for a freebie![/h2]

Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life will be part of Steam's Space Exploration Fest, which runs from 2nd - 9th September.

During the event, anyone signed up to the Mars Horizon mailing list will receive a special edition of the newsletter with exclusive content and a freebie🎁!

Be sure to check out all the incredible space-themed games in Space Exploration Fest next week and make sure you're signed up to the Mars Horizon Newsletter below so you don't miss out!

Sign up to the Mars Horizon newsletter to get exclusive content and a freebie during Space Exploration Fest!

[h2]🔬 Our Collaboration with University of Edinburgh 🔬[/h2]

Throughout the development of Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life, the Design team have been working closely with Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences students from the University of Edinburgh to ensure that the game is as authentic as possible. 👩🏻‍🔬

We are delighted to have the students involved to share their knowledge and make Mars Horizon 2 even better!

The university recently shared the news of our partnership, and you can read more about it below. 📖

Read more on our work with the University of Edinburgh 🧪

[h2]🌍 Mars Horizon at Gamescom! 🌍[/h2]

Last week, Gamescom took place in Cologne, Germany, and our partner for both Mars Horizon and Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life, the European Space Agency (ESA) were present on the show floor with their space-themed booth! 🚀

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat anything and everything related to space and entered the competitions to win space goodies, including a key for Mars Horizon. We hope you had a great time at the event! 😁

[h2]🛰️Join The Official Mars Horizon 2 Socials🛰️[/h2]

There's never been a better time to follow our social channels! This will ensure that you 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. 👀

Mars Horizon 2 is Part of the ESA Gamescom Stand!

Hi Aurochnauts! 👨🏻‍🚀

With Gamescom taking place in Cologne, Germany, this week, our partners for both Mars Horizon and Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life, the European Space Agency (ESA), are present at the show with their own space-themed booth in Hall 10.2! 🙌🏻

During the show, ESA will be hosting daily competitions for guests to participate in and potentially win Mars Horizon and ESA prizes! 🚀

Keep your eye out on ESA’s social channels for further information and be sure to check them out on the show floor.

Mars Horizon 2 Developers Collaborate with University of Edinburgh

Hi Aurochnauts! 👨🏻‍🚀

As we mentioned back in May’s Mission Briefing, the Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life team have been working in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh’s Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences students to ensure the game is as authentic as possible.

The university recently published an article exploring the partnership and you can read about more insights from both the university and the Mars Horizon 2 team here.

If you are looking to see what’s involved in the Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences course at the University of Edinburgh, then check out their website: https://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/

Thanks again to the University of Edinburgh for all their help so far!

We also recently visited the university and will have more to share about that soon! 👀 Watch this space.

🚀Mission Briefing 👩‍🚀Mars Horizon 2 Developer Update #5

[h2]Hi Aurochnauts! 👩‍🚀[/h2]

It's time for the July Mission Briefing: Developer Update for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life with our latest update on what we've been up to 🚀

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 in July? 👩‍🚀[/h2]

The Mars Horizon team continues it's lightspeed journey on the search for life.

July has seen many improvements to the surface gameplay. Many payload actions have had their associated VFX passes applied, this gives each payload action its own unique flavour.

World space tooltips have been added into the game which is a massive leap forwards information communication. Having these UI elements is crucial for Mars Horizon to keep the player informed on all of the interconnected resources and their various uses during play.

We are committed to providing as authentic a space exploration experience as possible. To this end, the production and design team continue to reach out to various institutions to get expert insight on our game design decision. Finding life in Mars Horizon 2 will echo expert opinions on the nature of life in the solar system.

The team has also been making time to take part in events, keep an eye out for our talk at TactiCon to hear first hand from one of our designers and coders, as well as one of our partners for the game.

- Matt Holmes, Producer for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life

[h2]🚀 Listen to our talk at TactiCon 2024! 🚀[/h2]

Tacticon is a celebration of the incredible world of strategy games with discounted games, exclusive demos, and talks and panels with strategy developers! This years event ran from 18th - 22nd July across Steam, including a full list of talks and panels.

As part of the event we did a talk on Space Exploration in Strategy games. Our talk was hosted by our Lead Marketing Manager Will Flanagan and he was joined by guests Claudia Thomas, one of the designers for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life as well as Freddie Jones, one of our associate programmers on the game. They were also joined by special guest Dr Sean McMahon, senior academic and researcher in astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh and one of our partners on Mars Horizon 2.

Check out our talk to learn how we've worked with Sean and his team to make space exploration fun but still authentic in our game🚀

Watch our talk over on the Official TactiCon Channel

[h2]👩🏻‍🚀 Congratulations to the Ariane 6 team! 👩🏻‍🚀[/h2]

A huge congratulations to our partners for Mars Horizon and Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life, the European Space Agency (ESA), on their successful launch recently of the Ariane 6 on 9th July!
Get an overview of the Ariane 6 on ESA's website where you can learn all about the rocket's features and planned missions. Also, make sure to check out some incredible shots of the launch over on the official ESA twitter.

We were extra excited to see the Ariane 6 launch since the Ariane 5 is featured in 2 of our games! The heavy launcher bowed out last July after nearly three decades of service but was an important and impressive rocket during its service. Check out this video to see the Ariane 5 appearing in Mars Horizon 1.

You can also see the Ariane 5 appearing in our card game Mars Horizon: Blast Off!, which was a spin off of our game Mars Horizon.

[h2]📖 From the Archives 📖[/h2]
Back during the development of Mars Horizon 1 we did a stream with the Robotic Exploration Program Manager from the UK Space Agency Paul Smith. You can watch the full stream over on our YouTube channel.

Paul's work focuses on the robotic exploration of Mars and the Moon. He talks to us about the future of Space Travel, colonising other planets, growing plants in space and 2001 Space Odyssey whilst we play Mars Horizon!

Catch up on our Space Exploration in Strategy games talk from TactiCon 👩‍🚀

Hi Aurochnauts! 👩‍🚀

Last week we took part in TactiCon 2024, a Steam festival celebrating strategy games which included demos, sales, as well as panels and talks by devs.

As part of the event we did a talk with one of our partners for Mars Horizon 2: The Search for life, which went behind the scenes on the game and looked at how we are making it authentic from the ground up.

Our talk was led by our Lead Marketing Manager Will Flanagan with guests Claudia Thomas, Game Designer, and Freddie Jones, Associate Programmer, on Mars Horizon 2.

Our Special guest for this talk was Dr Sean McMahon, senior academic and researcher in astrobiology from the University of Edinburgh who has been advising us on real life science as we design the game.

The talk went live last Saturday during the Steam event, but if you misssed it you can catch up over on the official TactiCon YouTube channel!

Watch our talk on Space Exploration in Strategy games

A huge thanks again to Sean, and the rest of his group at the UK Centre for Astrobiology for partnering with us to make Mars Horizon 2: The Search for life authentic to the realities of Space exploration!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2281620/Mars_Horizon_2_The_Search_for_Life/