Mars Attracts News

[p]Mars Attracts will be hitting Early Access in less than 24 hours, and we can’t wait! [/p][p][/p][h3]Why Early Access?
[/h3][p]One question we get asked a lot is why we are making use of Early Access on Steam for our game. And what will Early Access look like for Mars Attracts? [/p][p][/p][p]As we progress through Early Access we’ll be adding new content – we still have a number of maps and human enclosure types that we’re fine tuning and we’ll be rolling those out as we go. 
[/p][p]There will be more missions, buildings, characters, and a much deeper story that really dives into the twisted world that really only gets hinted at in the original Mars Attacks cards.[/p][p][/p][p]We’ll also be adding depth to just about all of the gameplay systems, allowing the player to unlock even more control of every aspect of their parks. [/p][p]
But in truth – when it comes to changes like these, even I don’t know what we’re doing yet! And that’s the main reason we’re doing Early Access. [/p][p][/p][p]For our first game This Means Warp a lot of the ideas that improved the game actually came from player feedback. [/p][p][/p][p]So we like to keep our roadmap super flexible in order to better integrate this kind of feedback as we go. [/p][p][/p][p]Early Access lets more players have their say earlier in the development cycle. As a result we have much more time to actually use this feedback to shape the game’s fundamentals, instead of focussing on fixes and add-ons to an essentially finished product. [/p][p][/p][p]And if you’re interested in the game we’re making, we hope you’ll join us on this journey. [/p][p]
You can join us on Discord, where you’ll have the chance to chat directly to the dev team, pitch your own wacky ideas, or simply just complain about the latest bugs we’ve missed. [/p][p]
We're super excited to hear what you think![/p][p][/p][p]Love,[/p][p][/p][p]Bernard & the Outlier team[/p]

[p]Mars Attracts will be hitting Early Access on Monday! 🤯[/p][p]
If you’ve already seen the game’s demo you may be pretty familiar with the concept - imprisoning humans for the entertainment of your Martian guests - but there are a whole load of new and reworked features that we will be unveiling for the first time with Early Access release. [/p][p][/p][h3]Free Range Humans [/h3][p]
In Early Access we’ll have five distinct human enclosures - Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Viking, Feudal Japan and the American Frontier. [/p][p][/p][p]Each of these has its own distinct visual style, unique decor items to collect, and a special hero character that can be unlocked.[/p][p][/p][p]In addition, the Supporter's Edition features an exclusive Space Age habitat, featuring a host of new buildings and a very special hero character![/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][h3]Moody Guests[/h3][p]
To keep your guests happy you’ll also have access to a section of rides and amenities. This is a management game after all, and getting those systems working just right has been a big focus for us since our demo teased a few of these systems out. [/p][p][/p][p]You’ll need to keep your food and drinks stalls stocked, your rides in good repair and your trash cans empty. You’ll also have to manage pricing to ensure you are turning a profit, and cater your park to the specific needs of the guests at any given time. [/p][p][/p][p]For some this will mean happy humans and a chilled cultural experience. For others this will mean death defying rides and humans subjected to all manner of cruel tortures and experiments. [/p][p][/p][h3]More Maps and Missions [/h3][p]
Our selection of maps now includes an arena in the heart of a Martian city, an underground mine and mountaintop research centre.  [/p][p][/p][p]Populating these maps will be a range of special Martian characters. These mad scientists and sinister bureaucrats will guide you through the game, but they’ll also offer you unique missions which can be completed to earn their favour. [/p][h3][/h3][h3]Reworked Expeditions[/h3][p]
For such a central system, the way you actually acquire humans for your Martian park has gone through several iterations across development. [/p][p][/p][p]In our early prototypes, all you had to do was click a button in a menu and acquired humans would be beamed into the park. This was too simple, so for the demo we added the option to mount expeditions to Earth in order to capture humans to put on display. [/p][p][/p][p]For our Early Access build we’ve expanded this substantially, adding far more options to the scale and type of expeditions you can perform. In addition, human decor is now also acquired through expeditions, so if you want to keep your guests happy you should probably pick up a few beds, toilets and televisions while you’ve visiting Earth.  [/p][p]
[/p][p]Mars Attracts will enter Early Access on September 15, and we can’t wait to see what people make of it![/p]

[p]There are now just a few days to go before Mars Attracts hits Early Access on September 15. 🤯
[/p][p]As you can probably imagine things are very busy here at Outlier HQ as we prepare the final touches to the game![/p][p] [/p][p]We’re mostly focussed on polishing up bugs and making sure that the version of the game that drops on day one is as good as it possibly can be. [/p][p]
One issue that keeps cropping up is staff members failing to complete the tasks they’ve been assigned. Our Janitors in particular have developed a nasty habit of simply ignoring serious issues in the park, picking up stray pieces of litter while buildings fall down all around them. Right now we’re in the process of giving these lazy sods a good stern talking to, in order to remind them that they actually have a job to do.[/p][p][/p][p]As with many systems in the game, we’ve gone through many iterations and no doubt Early Access will see even more substantial overhauls, as we will very much be taking our cues from player feedback for what to work on next. [/p][p][/p][p]But as of right now, we can’t wait for the chance to share it with you![/p][p][/p][p]Mars Attracts will enter Early Access on September 15. We look forward to hearing what you think of it. [/p][p]
Love,[/p][p][/p][p]Bernard & the Outlier team[/p]

[p]The time is almost upon us! We're delighted to reveal Mars Attracts will be launching into Early Access on September 16th! 🥳[/p][p][/p][p]To announce the date we also dropped a brand new trailer:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]Community feedback has played a major role in shaping development of Mars Attracts, and we aim to keep this going throughout Early Access.[/p][p][/p][p]Early Access for Mars Attracts is expected to last about nine months, with development following a player-guided approach.[/p][p][/p][p]We welcome feedback on new features and tweaks to existing elements through our very friendly Discord, with this input  playing a major role in shaping our development roadmap.[/p][p][/p][p]We can’t wait to hear what you think about the game![/p][p][/p][p]Love,[/p][p]Outlier[/p]

[p]We have just arrived back from an intense week in Cologne, and wanted to thank everyone who stopped by our Gamescom booth! The amount of enthusiasm for the game was really inspiring, and we had a great time chatting to people about Mars Attracts.[/p][p][/p][h3]Common questions from the show floor[/h3][p]Q: Is it actually an official Mars Attacks game? How did you get the license?[/p][p]A: Yes! Here's a video detailing exactly how it happened[/p][p][/p][p]Q: How much did Martin (the Martian) cost?[/p][p]A: $400. Interestingly he came from the US with his box covered in TSA stickers. I bet they had a good chuckle opening that crate to find a Martian peering out! Last year I was stopped at Irish customs and asked what was in the box. I replied "an Alien" and the customs officer said "oh ok then, through you go!". Ireland... 🤷🍀[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Q: Can we buy a t-shirt?[/p][p]A: Nope - the Mars Attracts t-shirts are incredibly popular, but unfortunately for the moment we're not able to sell merch. Let's see how Early Access goes and we might revisit this![/p][p][/p][p]Q: How long have you been working on the game?[/p][p]A: Just over 3 years! We made a "3 years in 3 minutes" devlog recently about the progress to date [/p][p][/p][p]Q: When is the game coming out?[/p][p]A: Very soon! Stay tuned for an Early Access date reveal next week.[/p][p][/p][h3]Press coverage[/h3][p]The game was also featured in The Irish Times, with a fantastic write-up about our Gamescom presence and how the Irish gaming scene is developing.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We're now getting back into the swing of things and will have lots to share very soon. In the meantime, thanks for supporting the game and we're excited to be fast approaching launch![/p][p][/p][p]With love,[/p][p][/p][p]Paul & the Outlier team[/p]