Occupy Mars: The Game News

[h2]Hello, Martians![/h2]

[h2]Kickstarter Progress[/h2]

Thanks to your overwhelming support on Kickstarter we’ve already reached 9 of our stretch goals!
This will serve as our roadmap for the development of updates after Early Access release. 🚀

[h3]Click here to go to Kickstarter page and read the full description ➡️[/h3]

[h2]Beta Update[/h2]

We've also updated the Beta to version v0.99.9.3 which contains a lot of fixes and improvements.
For now it's available on the public_testing branch on Steam. To enable it go to the game's preferences on Steam and select the BETAS tab:



[h3]Beta Update Changelog[/h3]
v0.99.5.0 -> v0.99.9.3

Bug Fixes:

• problem with saving the game if HDR option in Windows is enabled
  
• problem with feedback reporter (player can now send report using F4 button in a game)
  
• several various problems with loading saves
  
• problem with duplicating items while uppgrading them on the workbench
  
• problem with loading game if player had uppgraded tool before
  
• problem with broken animations of sitting
  
• problem with ECU uppgrade settings loss after loading save
  
• problem with connecting starting capsule to batteries and breaking game as a result
  
• problem with possibility to leave base through door in capsule adapter
  
• problem with rover damaging hangar while driving in
  
• several broken textures
  
• problem with scrolling in Character Creator
  
• several problems with sleeping in the rover
  
• flickering ghosts of the buildings
  
• problem with nbo button selected when tablet is opened
  
• problems with blocked interaction with the bed
  
• problem with planting withered animations breaking animations of the player
  
• problem with tablet opening breaking animation of changing a tool resulting in player stuck on the screen
  
• problem with picking up fully grown plants that are withered
  
• problem with game crashing when player pauses during tornado effect
  
• problem with disappearing fuses from the buildings
  
• problem with duplicating tools during the uppgrade
  
• several problems with rover catapulting player or rover being thrown in the air
  
• problem with game blocked when player is hit by the rover
  
• problem with ores not loaded completely to the tipper
  
• problem with game broken after CO2 scrubber is blown up
  
• problems with multiplying items via spamming interactions
  
• problem with blocked inputs(character cant move nor see in any direction) after loading game
  
• problems with workshop loosing access to electricity after building greenhouse
  
• problem with spamming messages on hud
  
• problem with capsule lever not working
  
• problem with one of rock types disappearing completely after initial drill
  
• problems with building panels not interactable
  
• problems with cables hanging in the air
  
• problems with drill/welder not unlocked after researching the technology
  
• problem with game blocked on workbench after pressing ESC
  
• problem with spectral detector not showing correct parameters of analyzed rock
  
• blocker in tutorial 2 that made impossible to finish tutorial
  
• game freeze in tutorial 3 after changing rover mode
  
• fixed movement blocker at the beginning of tutorial 4
  

New features:

• added water spots next to Cerberus starting point
  
• added possibility to fill CO2 bottles in the CO2 scrubber
  
• differentiated Hydroponic Shelves between greenhouse and workshop
  
• Fullscreen windowed mode will stay on the second monitor if player has one
  

Known issues:

• rover door can be opened partially and blocked in that position if player instantly after clicking on the door uses hotbar to pull out any tool. That can be reversed by doing the same thing
  
• when player puts partially crushed rock in the tipper sometimes it doesnt crumble. In that case try to grab it and put it again in different spot in tipper
  
• player can see "holes" in the map in places when two parts of the map are connected. Saving and reloading fixes problem
  
• some weather effect can affect player even if he is inside a base
  
• abandoned bases may disappear and appear after loading the game
  
• there might still be problems with rover extensions and/or skill points in tech tree
  
• in some PC configurations players can experience significant drop of FPS in FPP mode
  
• inability to skip sleeping in some rare cases
  
• seed machine can sometimes duplicate seed tanks
  
• some parts of abandoned bases don't disappear when base is scrapped
  

Important notes

• there are several smaller but non game breaking bugs in the tutorials, there will be different tutorials in the full Early Access build so please don't report bugs regarding those,
  
• there are several non critical bugs that do not break the game but may cause inconvenience for the players, both of those categories will be fixed for EA,
  
• if you are playing on save from previous version building connectors will need to be removed and replaced due to the fix to stop you going outside through them,
  
• as we introduce new tutorials and campaign mode we have to shift focus from the beta version to prepare the build for Early Access,
  
• this may be the last Beta build unless a hotfix for critical bugs will be needed (if they occur), but our main focus right now will be on preparing the Full EA Build.
  

[h2]Steam Base Builder Fest[/h2]

Occupy Mars: The Game participates in Steam Base Builder Fest together with the Free Prologue version.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1310520/Occupy_Mars_Prologue_2020/

On this occasion, we’d like to thank all of you who have been supporting us so far! This wouldn’t have been possible without your help. We’re not slowing down and we can’t wait until the day we can leave the Early Access version of the game in your hands!

If you’re not a part of our Discord community yet and you’d like to talk to other fans of the game, take a look at our Discord server!




Best Regards,
Occupy Mars Team

[h2]Are we there yet? [/h2]



[h3]Yes, we are! [/h3]
Thanks to all our amazing backers, Occupy Mars: The Game Kickstarter campaign has been funded in less than a day! Polished Early Access stretch goal has been unlocked!

Thank you so much, we’re overwhelmed with all the support we have received! The funds gathered so far will help us cover costs of promoting the game prior to its Early Access release and make it possible to give you an even better game on the launch day!

Currently, there are over 650 Mars enthusiasts supporting our project! We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We’re now sending out Beta keys to all backers who have “Instant Steam Access to Occupy Mars Beta” included among their pledge rewards. We are still improving the Beta and the next Beta build update should be ready in a few days, it will be automatically updated on Steam.

[h3]Let’s keep going! Can we reach the next two stretch goals?[/h3]



We’d also like to thank each and every one of you who spreads the word about the game. It’s also in big part thanks to you that we were able to reach the first goal!

Let’s make this game amazing together!

Click here to go to Kickstarter page

You can rewatch Kickstarter launch stream on Twitch, YouTube and Steam.

If you’d like to talk about the game or Kickstarter, reach out to us in discussion thread or visit our Discord server.



Best Regards,
Occupy Mars Team

[h2]Dear Martians![/h2]

We’re excited to announce that today – 17 January – we’re launching a Kickstarter campaign for Occupy Mars: The Game!

[h3]Click here to go to Kickstarter page[/h3]

Kickstarter staff has recognized our love and effort poured into the project and awarded the campaign with Project We Love badge! ❤️

As you know, we’ve been working on the game for a long time. The last few months have been particularly intense as we launched the Beta and our amazing community has been helping us with finding and squashing bugs – all to bring you the most polished Early Access version possible! :)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Now that this stage of development is nearing its completion, we need to make sure the game reaches as many players and aspiring Martians as possible. This is the main purpose of our Kickstarter and the funds we gather from this campaign will be used for promoting the game prior to its release in Early Access.

This is where you all come in! Your support has carried us this far and on this last lap, we ask for your help one more time! Give the campaign your support and spread the news wherever you can! By choosing an appropriate pledge on Kickstarter, you can get access to the Beta along with the Early Access version of the game right on the day of its release. If you have any friends who might be interested in the game, let them know about it as well!

[h3]Join us during a celebratory stream, happening now on our Twitch channel![/h3]

Our campaign will last for 31 days. Early Access release date will follow soon after the campaign’s end. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the discussion thread and if you’d like to talk about the game or Kickstarter, drop by our Discord server.



Best Regards,
Occupy Mars Team

[h2]Hello, Martians![/h2]

Welcome to our 50th Monthly Devlog! We have just released the long-awaited Beta Update v0.99.2 which includes big changes such as:

[h3]New Interaction System[/h3]

An important rework of the interaction system has been completed and playtesters can now check it out. It was a very important milestone on our roadmap to Early Access, which should address one of the most frequently reported issues - to make the controls more responsive and more user friendly.



The most important thing you should know about the New Interaction System is that now:

* pressing 1x LMB = picks up an item to your hand, and then:
--- the second time you press LMB = it will collect the item from your hand into your inventory
--- if you are holding any tool then of course the LMB will intuitively use that tool
--- press 2x LMB quickly (or hold CTRL+LMB) to take the item from the ground directly to your inventory (no more hold and wait!)

* pressing 1x RMB = stop using tool or drop other item from your hand on the ground
--- you also need to press RMB to cancel any action such as sitting in the Vehicle or Workbench
--- keep in mind that the ESC button will no longer work to cancel actions because we've introduced...

[h3]New Pause Menu[/h3]

After carefully analyzing your requests and after many discussions we decided to add the new ESC Menu.
- All the game settings, saves and control settings were moved from the Tablet to the new Pause Menu
- You can now press ESC at any time during the gameplay (except a few places) to open the Pause Menu which is separate from the Tablet functionality.



[h3]New Main Menu Experience[/h3]

Today we also have something special for you: the new main menu you know from our last weekly streams has been merged with the Beta branch so now you can admire it in its full glory. We've also uploaded a music video from it - a 4K artistic experience - you can watch it now on our YouTube channel:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
If you love it like we do, you can listen it on repeat here ➡️ https://pls.watch/#v=uOsiigPeF1I 😉

[h3]Beta Update Changelog[/h3]
v0.93.3 -> v0.99.2

New features:

• New Interaction System
  
• New Pause Menu
  
• New Main Menu Experience
  
• Added small 3D Printer in Landing Capsule
  
• Added small CO2 Scrubber in Landing Capsule
  
• Added text captions to voice notification system
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed Pump UI values going out of frame
  
• Fixed infinite lightning storm sometimes happening
  
• Fixed starting capsule light, power and oxygen
  
• Fixed battery building collider limitations
  
• Fixed the wind power of dust devils
  
• Fixed water tank changing color after detonation
  
• Fixed resetting vehicles in hangar
  
• Fixed hand-holding position of multiple objects
  
• Fixed 3D printing UI and dropdowns
  
• Fixed vehicles getting explosion damage
  
• Fixed Rover driving slower when full
  
• Fixed overwriting autosave/quicksave
  
• Fixed ores spawning in caves of Olympus Mons
  
• Fixed sleeping in landing capsule chairs
  
• Fixed meteor shower giving mechanics experience
  
• Fixed Air compressor Tool
  
• Fixed radiation Geiger sounds
  
• Fixed rocks loading on trailer during world shifting
  
• Fixed some player animations (jumping, crouching, interactions)
  
• Fixed postprocessing on screenshots of saved games
  
• Fixed saving loot items from destroyed bases
  
• Fixed saving player inside caves
  
• Fixed holding more than one item in hand
  
• Fixed dirt on Rover after sandstorm
  
• Fixed Rover trailer self detach
  
• Fixed damaging crusher after parking Rover on it
  
• Fixed Rover welder with/without container
  
• Fixed mouse acceleration setting save
  
• Fixed lightsource in HQ and other buildings
  
• Fixed saving game during repairing pcb board
  
• Fixed Well UI screen interaction
  
• Fixed battery capacity calculation after destroying battery upgrades
  
• Improved Heavy Rover wheels
  
• Improved DragBuilder interactions
  
• Improved interior lights in buildings
  
• Improved buildings Lobby, Cantina and others
  
• Improved graphics option (added TerrainPixelError)
  
• Improved player hands animations
  
• Improved text massage panel on the right
  
• Improved quality on lower graphics settings
  
• Improved small pickable rocks, more pickup types
  
• Optimization of GPU materials instancing on dynamic objects
  
• Balance Fix - Dust on solar panels disappeared too quickly
  
• Multiple translations improvements
  
• ...and more
  

Known Issues in this version:

• Composter is not working in this build.
  
• Once you dump rocks from the trailer into the crusher you need to save & load, otherwise you won't be able to load the trailer with rocks again.
  
• The New Interaction System should also work with gamepad controllers however we didn't have time to properly test it yet, let us know if there are any problems.
  
  

• Warning! Do not play with headphones as there are a few sounds which are too loud playing during the loading of the game as well as during the game when new terrain chunks with abandoned bases are generated.

• Warning! Before playing please reset your controls settings to default in main menu after updating to this version, otherwise new interactions may cause strange issues.

The above mentioned known issues will hopefully be fixed in the next 0.99.x build. Please let us know if you find any more issues.

[h3]100th Development Sprint![/h3]

Our plan currently is that builds up to version v0.99.x will be the last builds for the beta, and builds v0.100+ will go only to the main game Early Access branch so that we can focus on the main game release and make sure everything is polished there.

Build v0.100 is a great milestone - it means that we have completed over 100 2-week sprints while working on the game since the beginning. Looking back at those 5 years, it’s hard to imagine the amount of work we’ve put into it, we hope you will enjoy it. For the next build, we'll be focusing on the most important Tech Tree and Balance changes necessary before Early Access Release.

[h3]Kickstarter Status[/h3]

As we promised in our Previous Update, we’d like to let you know about the status of the upcoming Kickstarter campaign as soon as anything clarifies.

Just before Christmas we've learned that another Kickstarter campaign for a different game was started on the same partner account so we need to wait until it ends. We were surprised by this but, after talking to advisors experienced with Kickstarters they said it's a good thing because campaigns during Winter Holidays historically aren't as successful and that January is better time. So after talking it over, we’ve accepted this fact since this is better for the game as well.

So we can finally confirm that our Kickstarter campaign will launch on January 17th. That also means that Early Access release will come later than January 2023 (after the Kickstarter finishes). As for our talks with potential international publishers (mentioned in the last devlog) they are still ongoing so we'll keep you posted once we have some more information about it.

We’ve also made a small update to the game’s official page - added a countdown for Kickstarter Launch:



[h3]More beta invites[/h3]

Each new Beta build comes with new Beta invitations, so we're giving access to the Beta to more players. As we feel this update is particularly important, we’re now granting access to the Beta to additional 7 000 randomly chosen players from those registered in the Steam Playtest system. With this, 10 000 players should now have access to the Beta version! That's a lot!



To all of you who find Occupy Mars: The Game Playtest version in their Steam library – we hope you'll enjoy the game and please remember to give us your feedback!

[h3]Sharing your feedback[/h3]

A separate Sub-Forum on Steam called Beta Discussions was created for those who have access: LINK
After playing please also remember to fill our Beta Survey: LINK

We also have dedicated channel on our Discord server!



Sorry we were unable to post this before Christmas but all this clarified on the last moment and also some of us got sick (Flu Season), but now we are back at work with full speed! :)

Best Regards,
Occupy Mars Team

[h2]Dear Martians![/h2]

[h3]In this post we want to lay all our cards on the table with the hopes that it will clear up any confusion or misconceptions that may have arisen over time. Also we want to show you our plans and what's ahead.[/h3]

Our goal was always to make this game with the community and for the community and this goal hasn't changed since the beginning, however the road to get to this point was long and bumpy, and we weren't aware of many challenges related to building such a complex game when we first announced it.

Yes, the game was announced way too early.
Yes, we made mistakes in communicating with players.
Yes, the development took us way longer than we expected.
Yes, we've set ourselves deadlines in the past which we weren't able to meet.
Yes, we've overcomplicated a few mechanics and had to redo them many times.
Yes, we didn't have enough funding or experience when we started working on such an ambitious project.
Yes, we were naïve at the beginning. But we treated those stumbles as a learning experience and we never stopped working on the game.

[h2]Our story[/h2]

We started working on the game in 2017 and the first specific release date we've set for ourselves was in 2019, but then we started to find more bugs and we quickly realized that without any demo or beta version we don't know if players will enjoy our game at all. We decided that making a Demo (preferably in the form of a free-to-play prequel - The Prologue) is the best way to gauge the interest in the game and to gather feedback about the gameplay as well as performance on different machines.

Aside from a few issues to fix, releasing The Prologue in 2020 was a success - both in terms of gaining the community's interest and the percentage of positive reviews. Our plan at that time was to release the Early Access a few months after the Prologue with all the buildings available at the time unlocked and without translations other than English. But an overwhelming feedback from players and from investors made us realize that the expectations for this game are a lot higher and that with additional funding we were able to gather, we could not only add translations, but make this game a lot better overall - that's why we decided to postpone the 2020 Early Access release.

Then we focused on: updating the Prologue, making the workshop in-game bug reporting system, fixing reported issues and adding translations to the prologue. Later we switched our focus to upgrading the main game - especially the graphics, upgrading the engine version and re-making, among other things, new vehicle physics, detailed player creator and a new, more realistic terrain system. Basically the whole game was reworked to be better, more detailed and more realistic but it took more time than expected.

Fast forward to 2022 - a year of Occupy Mars: The Game Early Access release (as we initially planned). In the first quarter of this year we launched Beta Playtest Signups and over 30k people signed up to the Beta in less than a month. We can't select which of those people gets Beta Access, we can only select countries and type the number of people. After overwhelming feedback from the Prologue we knew that for the Beta we needed a slower approach. We prepared detailed feedback forms and started letting people in – a few hundred more with each build – in order to have time to read their feedback after each build and fix reported issues.

The majority of people were still waiting for access mostly because translations for languages other than English were not ready and also because we realized we need to completely re-balance the Freeplay sandbox mode to allow more gradual progress of Technology Trees (not easily doable in the Early Access phase - doing so would make the gameplay completely different, and such an update would render all previous saves invalid, which we wanted to avoid). This turned out to be another daunting task which consumed many months of this year. Simultaneously our team grew and we divided our work into sub-teams (one focusing on the campaign mode which was not enabled in the beta, another one on the core functionality, another one on the initial Co-Op mode development etc).

Suddenly we are in Q4 and we were strongly advised (by people much more experienced in the gaming industry) against releasing in the "hottest AAA timeframe" which is around Christmas / last months of the year. Meanwhile we also had to prepare graphics materials and build pipelines in preparation to simultaneous launch on Steam, Epic and GOG. Therefore January 2023 became the new date for Early Access release.

[h2]The case of Publisher - do we have one or not after all? [/h2]
This story is also more complicated than it seems. Most people don't know that PlayWay is not a typical publisher. They help companies like ours at an early stage, they share their know-how but they don't "Publish" the game for us in the normal meaning of the word - we Publish it on our account with their guidance and advice, but we are still a small team without a marketing budget.

That being said, we don't rule out the possibility that we will look for another / external publishing partner because we are aware that without a marketing budget for advertising on release - all these years of development may go for nothing if not enough people know about the game.

We want to keep expanding this game after the Early Access release and add the Co-Op mode, but for that to happen the release needs to sustain us financially well enough so that we can keep the lights (and computers) on for the Mars team for the next 6-12 months. So while we aim for the January release, if we find a publisher who can support us, there is a possibility the game will get delayed to fulfill publisher's suggestions; otherwise we will be releasing the game ourselves according to plan - in January.

[h2]Beta Status[/h2]

The Beta is still ongoing, we are still working on translations and the rebalance changes mentioned above and we will open the beta to more players when it's feasible for us to do so. The game will be much better after those updates. The beta will be finally disabled the day before the Early Access launch. You can follow the beta changelogs here.



[h2]Upcoming Kickstarter[/h2]

We have prepared a Kickstarter Campaign to be launched very soon which will help spread the word about the upcoming release of our game. It will also help us determine the next steps. Depending on the unlocked campaign goals we will set the priorities of updates after Early Access release.

Preparing the Kickstarter campaign was also an opportunity to create unique perks and rewards that we want to make available to you as a thank you to our loyal community. Make sure to follow the Kickstarter Page to get notified on launch.



[h2]Roadmap[/h2]

That's not all, because we are working on a Detailed Roadmap [WIP] showing much more information about game's current state and what functionalities and mechanics we plan to add in the future.

This is only the first version of the roadmap, we want to update it together with you - our community, and it will definitely be updated after the Kickstarter campaign.



[h2]Weekly Streams[/h2]

Since March 2022, every Thursday evening (at 5pm CET) we are doing regular weekly streams (Chat & Pizza with developers) on our Twitch and Youtube channels where we are showing progress of the game and where curious ones can take a peek at the current state of the game. For example our last stream:
https://youtu.be/n43hHliMy2M?t=622
[h2]Monthly Devlogs[/h2]

We'd also like to remind you that the Monthly Devlogs are also a thing and we'll keep publishing them on Steam. The Devlogs are dedicated to Early Access content, and generally what's happening in the team, not only about the Beta. Scroll down to read them all here. For example our last devlog:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/758690/announcements/detail/3410939663290390665
[h2]Summary[/h2]

So this is our story, sorry for a longer devlog than usual.
As you can see it was rough - but we've made it so far and we have no intention of giving up now!

And now we are entering the final preparations for the January release.
We want all of you to enjoy this game and expand the Early Access together with us.

We aim to give you the best game we can, but we are aware and ready for the needs for improvements that might arise after our Early Access release. The game won't be perfect on release (that's what Early Access is for after all, to iron out such problems), but we want to focus on the future and be as open and transparent as we possibly can. We know we did a lot of things wrong, but this update is our first step towards repairing that.



Yours,
Occupy Mars Team

P.S. If you have any more questions for us, please leave them in the comments section. We'll answer them to the best of our abilities. :)