Surviving Mars: Relaunched News

[p][/p][p]Hello Colonists![/p][p]We’re beyond excited to announce that Surviving Mars: Relaunched will touch down on November 10th![/p][p][/p][p]Surviving Mars: Relaunched brings the award-winning city builder back, remastered and more stunning than ever. Experience the brand-new political system the Martian Assembly, all previous expansions included, upgraded visuals and refined UI. Whether you are returning or landing for the first time, life on the Red Planet has never looked better![/p][p][/p][p]Would you like to know more? Check out our Feature Highlights on YouTube![/p][p][/p][h3]Join our Prime Mission with Surviving Mars: Relaunched - Ultimate Edition. [/h3][p]Wondering what is next? We are happy to announce our first expansion pass, available at release with the Ultimate Edition. Alongside the complete base game, you’ll gain access to the ‘Prime Mission’ expansion pass - including a new mission sponsor and two new expansions redefining life on Mars! [/p][p][/p][p]Instant Unlock - Interplanetary Codex (New Mission Sponsor)[/p][p]Politics has always been part of human nature. Now, it’s part of Martian nature too. Your influence and negotiation will shape the destiny of your colony. With this new Mission Sponsor, you will supercharge the political process and get access to a new building - The Law Office.[/p][p][/p][p]Coming 2026 -  Feeding the Future and Machine Utopia[/p][p]Next year Feeding the Future expands on food and production systems with deeper management, new ingredients, and meals that will help colonist well-being. Later, Machine Utopia replaces human labor with powerful machines. Forging a colony built on electricity and steel, not sweat, marking a new era for Mars.[/p][p][/p][p]More information will come![/p][p][/p][h3]What’s New in Surviving Mars: Relaunched[/h3]

• [p]Remastered visuals & UI: Experience Mars with new stunning details with upgraded visuals and improved environmental effects. A refreshed UI offers smoother colony management and modernized navigation.[/p]
• [p]Martian Assembly: Shape the future of your colony through a brand-new political system. Pass laws, manage the colony’s needs, and steer your citizens toward prosperity or independence from Earth.[/p]
• [p]Includes all past DLCs: Enjoy all past DLCs, many of which have received major reworks and improvements.[/p]
• [p]Rebuilt: Surviving Mars: Relaunched has been rebuilt, bringing better performance, improved stability, and better mod support and tools.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Mark your calendars, dust off your domes, and prepare your rockets because Mars awaits!
Wishlist now and be among the first to step foot on the red planet again! 🚀[/p][p][/p][p]See you on Mars.
The Surviving Mars: Relaunched Team[/p][p]
[/p]

[p]Hello again! I'm Lyubo the lead designer of Surviving Mars: Relaunched and I'm here to talk about the endgame of your colonies. [/p][p][/p][p]Surviving Mars at its core is a sandbox game and does not have a clear final objective and you are free to pursue your own goals. However, during the years, we have added challenges for those who have mastered the game.[/p][p][/p][p]Let's talk about the more obvious goals at the end of the game - scanning all sectors and exhausting the tech tree. At the end of the game, you will be able to unlock many breakthrough technologies through scanning. One thing we changed is that now, when exploring anomalies, you have a choice of three possible breakthroughs that can be unlocked. These technologies will greatly change the way you play the game and will offer unique bonuses.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Apart from that, at the end of the tech tree you will unlock a lot of Wonder buildings that solve some the problems you have had since sol 1 of your colony. Tired of searching for new concrete deposits? Build an Excavator or melt waste rock produced in your other mines to make it into concrete. Need metal (both normal and rare)? Build a Mohole Mine. Need additional research to finalize the tech tree? The Omega telescope is your friend (it also unlocks more of those sweet breakthroughs). Need a huge dome? The Geoscape dome is your solution (or if you have terraformed Mars, the Capital City is an excellent choice as well). [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Each of these wonders solves a huge problem you may have had up until this point and make your colony that much better. But there are new ways to solve problems as well - some of the final laws offer you new ways to solve problems as well. There is a set of laws that will allow you to never run out of exotic minerals (if you also have an Asteroid Catcher to keep those pesky asteroids in orbit). [/p][p]

[/p][p]Sooner or later, your sponsor will no longer be as beneficial as they were in the beginning. As the colony grows, you will get a different set of challenges to complete that eventually lead to Independence. But what does Independence mean?[/p][p][/p][p]Surviving Mars: Relaunched is not a military game. You cannot force a conflict to gain your independence so we opted for a more bureaucratic approach to Independence (as outlined by real-life events like Brexit). When your colony is stable and large enough and you have completed the goals set by your own people, you will be able to proclaim Independence from your sponsor through a law. [/p][p][/p][p]Simply enacting a law does not make you independent. Your sponsor will be most displeased and will immediately penalize you for your audacity by limiting imports and rockets, withholding research and applicants. Since they cannot force you to remain with them, they will first ask for most of their Mission Goals to be completed and then will start a new colony on Mars (which you will be able to see in the planetary view). [/p][p][/p][p]The sponsor will then ask you to essentially buy your independence (much like Haiti did when revolting against the French). The cost will be very high but can be lowered by sending resources to the new sponsor colony. The cost and how much it can be reduced are based on the sponsor - some will have a very high price that can be reduced greatly while others will not bargain and the price will remain fixed.[/p][p][/p][p]In order to pay for your independence, you may turn to the other colonies on Mars and enact the Black Market law that will allow you to trade resources for funding. With the decreased export prices this may be the solution that finally gets you free from your sponsor.[/p][p][/p][p]Once you have bought your freedom, you become free of your sponsor. This unlocks new techs on dealing with the Independence, as well as new Mission goals. These techs and goals will allow your colony to fully deal with the absence of a sponsor but will take a lot of work to accomplish. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If politics are not your thing, you may turn to loftier goals like terraforming Mars. There are four parameters you must improve in order to make Mars green - Temperature, Atmosphere, Water, and Vegetation. Each parameter is increased in its own way - you need to plant seeds to improve vegetation, for example, but you have to convert waste rocks into CO2 and create a working magnetic field for Mars to have an atmosphere.
[/p][p][/p][p]Terraforming is a long process and there are some goals that once reached will change how the planet functions - in order to have water on Mars at all, the temperature needs to be high enough for it not to be in a permanently frozen state. There is a new law that will allow you to benefit from each completed terraforming goal. 
[/p][p][/p][p]At the end of the day (or at the end of the sol), terraforming is hard and you will need to start planet-wide projects like building a space mirror or melting the polar caps give the terraforming parameters that final push. Once the planet is green enough, however, you will be able to open the domes and even build a Capital City.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Making a colony is hard but making one underground is even harder. With the changes to the underground, bigger underground colonies are now possible. With the new laws, you will be also be able to exploit the caverns below the surface like never before - unlimited water and deposits, for example. 
[/p][p]Some factions like the Preservation Movement do not like the surface of Mars blemished by human hands and will push you to move your colonists underground. Having a sizeable population of mole people may also be a colony goal that leads to Independence.[/p][p][/p][p]No matter how hard we try, we are sure that you will eventually overcome every hurdle that we throw at you. Even the hardest of goals will get crushed by determined players. We expanded our modding tools to allow you to create more interesting content that challenges in ways we could not even envision in our wildest dreams.[/p][p][/p][p]Everyone's imagination stretches in different directions. We can't wait and see what kind of challenges our community will come up with.[/p][p]

[/p][p]This is the final dev diary for now. I cannot  wait for Surviving Mars: Relaunched to be released and see your perspective on the changes and additions we have made. We have great plans for this game. I hope with your help we can make this game the ultimate Mars experience. [/p][p]
[/p][p]See you soon![/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]
[/p]

[p]Hello all,[/p][p]I'm Lyubo - the lead designer of Surviving Mars: Relaunched. I've been absent as a writer of these diaries but I am returning for the one where everything is new.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Politics of Mars[/h2][p]How would a political system look on Mars? I had a lot of time to think on the subject but, I also wanted politics not to become the core of the game or change its soul. I decided on these pillars:[/p]

• [p]Politics are a means to an end - a manifestation of the will of the people. As such, the factions and politics on Mars should strictly reflect the needs of the colonists and not try to mimic Earth's politics.[/p]
• [p]The new systems should not lead to a game over as that would change the flow too drastically[/p]
• [p]The political system should be important but not obtrusive[/p]

[p]These pillars were actually very hard and pushed me in directions I did not expect to go so let's see how things played out.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Earth Council[/h2][p]What would politics look like in a colony with less than 10 people in it? People in small groups tend to get along without the need to make long and tedious meetings and would probably prefer to handle new obstacles as they come rather than through a codified system of laws.[/p][p][/p][p]But we also wanted politics to be a part of the game even for new colonies and new players. As a solution, we created the Earth Council - a political system more related to Earth than to the colony but with the intent of pushing the colony off the ground and propelling it on its way.[/p][p][/p][p]The Council is made up of the founding faction you have chosen as a player (more on the factions later on), your sponsor, and the sponsors of the rival colonies on Mars. These are the early decision makers that will shape the early politics of your colony.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Council convenes every 2 sols to decide on the next action - voting on a law, or preparing one. There are some laws that are available from the get-go and do not need preparation so that the Council can make an impact straight from the first session.[/p][p][/p][p]The sponsor factions will be pleased by actions that align with their agenda for Mars (as stated in their mission goals). They are mostly benevolent and will be open to most laws without heavy negotiations (promises you make to them in return for full or partial support).[/p][p][/p][p]If you are uncertain at any point what law to try to enact or prepare, you can always leave it to the factions in the Council and open the floor to their suggestions. They will appreciate it.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Word Of the Law[/h2][p]Laws are a way to change the rules of the game (hopefully) in your favour. Some laws, like deregulating the rocket speed standards, are direct and make rockets faster (at the cost of some Research Points in upkeep so the rockets do not blow up). Other laws have different options based on how you want to play the game - your sponsor wants Mars explored, what additional reward will you demand from them in return - funding, research points, or applicants?[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Be wary that your sponsor will eventually get tired of you passing laws that ask for additional rewards and you will have a tougher time enacting more laws from the Sponsor relations category.[/p][p][/p][p]As a teaser, here are the names of the rest of the other law categories with one law as an example:[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Sponsor Relations - Basic Diplomacy (pick what rewards to receive from the Earth Embassy building)[/p]
• [p]Economy & Industry - Production focus (factories producing a picked resource will have better performance)[/p]
• [p]Research & Ecology - Research focus (techs from a picked tech tree will cost less Research Points)[/p]
• [p]Tech Deregulation - Drone Hub Efficiency (Drone Hubs will be able to operate additional Drones)[/p]
• [p]Society - Mars Appreciation (Dome bonuses from Vistas and Research sites will increase)[/p]
• [p]Permits & Efficiency - Building codes (building costs in Concrete and Metals will be reduced)[/p]

[p][/p][h2]What comes next?[/h2][p]The Earth Council is useful but limited. At some point, all law options may be exhausted and it is time for the colony to have its own political system. This is done by building the new Martian Assembly spire in one of your Domes.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]As soon as the Assembly is completed, the Earth Council is disbanded and new Martian factions will appear on the scene. But first it is time to pick a form of government - is the colony a boring old Liberal Democracy, a Theocracy, or even an Anarchistic Commune?[/p][p][/p][p]The choice of government will determine the early factions that will fill the Assembly (along with your founding faction), but also how the Assembly seats are apportioned - is it through representatives picked based on proportional support of the factions, or through voting per Dome (similar to the US electoral college), or maybe even a Single Party Assembly?[/p][p][/p][p]Then comes the role of the Assembly itself - does it get to decide what laws to vote on? Is it only there to applaud your wise decisions?[/p][p][/p][p]Finally, what is the treatment of political opponents as marked by the new detainment centres? Do we simply send all who oppose us back to Earth? Are they tolerated, or are they outlawed?[/p][p][/p][p]Each of these options can be changed through the Assembly (as a new Governance category is unlocked) at later points but for now this will be your political system. Each law category will have a lot of new laws unlocked that offer even more options (including that of a pure Dictatorship).[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]The Factions[/h2][p]Some sponsor factions like the Church of the New Ark continue their existence even when the Assembly is formed but for the most part, the factions that will take seats in it will be new. Here is a list of the factions with a short description:[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]Enlightenment Initiative - a progress-through-science faction that is not very keen on large domes and overpopulation[/p]
• [p]Flat Mars League - a reality show loving bunch that will focus on their needs and will not want to hear anything about globes[/p]
• [p]Free Love - a mostly reactionary faction that is sick of birth restrictions and wants child-friendly domes[/p]
• [p]Green Mars Coalition - a traditional green party that wants Mars terraformed[/p]
• [p]Green NOW - an anarchistic faction that focuses on Green policies and cannot stand nuclear power and mining[/p]
• [p]Helios Consortium - an elitist faction that is focused on luxuries provided and wealth[/p]
• [p]The Justice Movement - a reactionary movement that is sick of renegades and wants order[/p]
• [p]The Last Transmission Evangelicals - an offshoot of the Church of the New Ark that focuses on frugal living and abhors wasting of resources. They fear the fragility of the colony and will focus on disaster prevention.[/p]
• [p]Project Utopia - a liberal faction that is often accused of being out-of-touch with reality and the real needs of the colonists[/p]
• [p]Martian First - a faction of martianborn that wants a Mars independent from Earth[/p]
• [p]New Sol - far-left anarchist movement that is focused on every colonist having their needs serviced and are very anti-establishment[/p]
• [p]The Preservation Movement - a faction that feels that Mars is perfect as it is and want terraforming efforts stopped and no extractors or Domes on the surface of Mars[/p]
• [p]Prosperity for Mars - a capitalist faction that wants strong industry and exports as well as a modicum of luxury[/p]
• [p]Dominion of Mars - a conservative faction that will focus on order and will not mind a more autocratic approach to governing[/p]
• [p]The Workers Collective - a leftist movement that is focused on the rights and needs of the workers of Mars[/p]
• [p]The Church of The New Ark - a religious movement focused on increasing the population of Mars, as well as promoting moral values (especially regarding drinking and gambling).[/p]

[p][/p][p]You will probably meet around 3-5 of these factions in a single game (though it is possible for new factions to appear from time to time). Their demands will often clash, so you will need a lot of political acumen to keep them all in check.[/p][p][/p][h2]Political Crises and Faction Disasters[/h2][p]No matter how skilled you are, politics often feels like herding cats. If a faction is unhappy, it may radicalize (for example, the Green Mars Coalition may transform into Green Now), turn renegade, increase the global political tension, or even dissolve.[/p][p][/p][p]When many factions are unhappy, the global political tension rises and a political crisis may occur. During a political crisis, the Assembly (or Council) will temporarily take charge of the politics of Mars and revoke several of the most controversial laws before giving you back the reins of power. [/p][p][/p][p]If you are in a Dictatorship, this will never happen but too many renegades may topple your regime.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Dream Of Independence[/h2][p]Sooner or later, your sponsor will no longer be as beneficial as they were in the beginning of the mission. As the colony grows, you will get a different set of challenges to complete that eventually lead to Independence, but you will have to wait for the next Dev Diary to hear more about it. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Closing Statement[/h2][p]The politics of Mars are a complex new system that we made from scratch for Surviving Mars: Relaunched. It took many iterations and elbow grease to get it to where it is now and I really hope all of you will enjoy it. I tried to give you a (not-so-brief) overview of it but there are still many details that you will see on your own. [/p][p]
[/p][p]🚀 Follow us on our socials: [/p][p]Twitter/X: https://x.com/surviving_pdx[/p][p]Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingPDX/[/p][p]TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@surviving_mars_game[/p][p]Discord: https://discord.gg/pdx[/p][p][/p]

[p]It’s been a while, Commander!

Today, your definitely human assistant Lina will give you a glimpse into the mysteries and narrative adventures that await you on the Red Planet. While there are no new surprises in this department, we hope that you’ll enjoy (re)visiting our handcrafted stories, which add a bit of spice, humor, and/or fright into your colony building experience. Seasoned players of Surviving Mars (2018) can use this opportunity to freshen up on their knowledge of the Martian mysteries and events.

[/p][h3]Putting the “but why” in “sci-fi”​[/h3][p]Introducing fantastic narratives in a sandbox city building experience – especially one that’s focused on colonizing a whole other planet with a mostly realistic approach – is not the easiest of tasks and one could argue that it’s not even the best fit for the game, but way back in 2016 we firmly decided that we wanted to include some flavor and explore the “fiction” part of the “science-fiction” genre. Thus, the mysteries were born, weaving a net of events that take you on a quest to explore the secrets of the Universe, face humanity’s shortcomings or battle with the unknown. [/p][p][/p][p]The twelve mysteries of Mars have three main goals:[/p]

• [p]to tell an interactive story;[/p]
• [p]to spice up the mid-late game;[/p]
• [p]to provide a unique challenge.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Each mystery – which you can specifically select while creating your game, leave to random chance or completely turn off – comes with its own set of distinctive visual and gameplay elements. You’ll see changes in the environment and experience new disasters, discover special anomalies and interact with alien objects, unlock new technologies and constructions. Some mysteries will take you on a deep narrative journey, while others will be a bit more pragmatic and present you with practical tasks, crucial for your survival.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p] You can experience only one mystery per playthrough and don’t expect it to present itself from the get-go – we’ve tried to make sure that you and your colonists are ready for the challenge. As much as anyone is ever ready for alien artifacts manifesting from thin air and forming cults around them… Spoiler alert! [/p][p][/p][p] A shameless plug of Lina’s favorite mysteries: Spheres and St. Elmo’s Fire. Try them and thank me later, okay? [/p][p][/p][h3]Tell me more​[/h3][p]But wait, that’s not all! In addition to the grand mysteries, spanning tens of Sols and fundamentally changing your playstyle, there are hundreds of one-time or short-chain events (526 events and event follow-ups, to be precise – trust me on the count, I’ve tested them all). Maybe a depressed genius will ask you for some time off, or you’ll walk into an unexpected party; maybe a colonist will come across a strange artifact in the red sands, or a rival colony will organize a rover race across the Arcadian plains. Whatever the situation, you’ll be in control of some decisions, which might have unexpected results.

[/p][p]Events are triggered based on specific circumstances in your colony and while you’re likely to see some of them recurring though your playthroughs, others will feel unique and rare. Event conditions can be as broad as “pass the founder stage” and as specific as having certain terraforming parameters at certain values and a colonist with this or that trait present in a Dome with these and those buildings in it. Try having a biorobot colonist who experiences a sanity breakdown. Or see what might happen when there’s a genius renegade in your colony, and you’ve built two or more Drone Hubs, and two or more Shuttle Hubs, and have over 1M Funding, and a rocket has landed on Mars. Or, if that’s not your cup of tea, you can disable all random events from the game rules when setting up your game (but then you won’t have the pleasure of encountering the Flat Mars Society and where’s the fun in that?!). [/p][p][/p][p] [/p][h3]To infinity and beyond!​[/h3][p][/p][p]With the addition of the Below and Beyond content, you get two more layers of maps to play on, as well as more mini mysteries, anomalies and events to experience in these new environments. Most notably, you will encounter two random buried wonders in the Martian Underground, which will take you on an ambitious journey to research and utilize them. Your colonists will also face different dilemmas and problems in the Underground and on the asteroids, which will require your attention and timely decisions. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]But wait, that’s not all (second edition)! There is one last element to the storytelling, which is as important as anything we’ve crafted over the years: it’s you! (I hope you’re not lactose intolerant because the cheese is strong in this one.) You are the ultimate narrator in the tale of colonizing Mars, of discovering its secrets and telling the stories of its colonists. And I’m very much looking forward to all your wild adventures and unexpected takes on the events in your colonies, the awesome mods we know our community is capable of creating, the fun videos and mind-boggling challenges that you will undertake. See you in the great unknown, Commander! [/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p]🚀 Follow us on our socials: [/p][p]Twitter/X: https://x.com/surviving_pdx[/p][p]Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingPDX/[/p][p]TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@surviving_mars_game[/p][p]Discord: https://discord.gg/pdx[/p][p][/p]