Per Aspera News

Sonna is the second leader of the Martian colonies and the daughter of Elya Valentine! Sonna finds herself suddenly stepping up as Mars's second leader and the pressure of succeeding her mother pushes her to the limits. Nneka Okoye brings the passionate Sonna to life in our game. Nneka is a talented actor who recently starred in Beyond a Steel Sky.

"I'm first generation Mars born. I've never been to Earth but I feel like humanity doesn't belong anywhere else but here." -Sonna Valentine

Sonna Valentine belongs to the first generation of colonists who were born on Mars! Sonna has spent her entire life on Mars, confined to its small living quarters. She's the child of the colony's leader Elya Valentine. Sonna is a spirited woman who grew up watching her mother's dedication to the well-being of the colonies. She was inspired to help and pursued a career in the medical field. Sonna begins her career as a nurse in a Martian hospital.

"They've been playing us this whole time. Everything's been one big experiment. And it's been costing us lives." -Sonna Valentine

Sonna is simultaneously honored and burdened by taking her mother's place as the leader of the colonists. Sonna faces a lot of pressure to follow in her mother's footsteps. Initially some of the colonists believe she is too young and innocent to be in charge. Sonna quickly proves them wrong by quickly establishing her political power and facing the colony's challenges head on.



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Among the colonists who have left Earth for an intrepid life on Mars are the world’s best scientists, engineers, and doctors. Once your first colonists arrive, they will immediately get to work doing what they do best: research. Your colonist’s discoveries and inventions will go a long way towards helping to transform Mars into a new home for humanity.

But as the world’s first super-intelligent Artificial Consciousness, you may be wondering... why would AMI even need colonists to perform research? The ISA built this in as a fail-safe mechanism in order to prevent AMI from reaching the Singularity. In short, it’s a symbiotic relationship: you need the colonists and the colonists need you.

The beginning of the Technology Tree in-game.

The tech tree is where you can direct your colonist’s efforts and select new upgrades for your colony. As you complete projects and discover new technology, your base will be able to grow to new heights by utilizing bleeding-edge sciences. Build a hyperloop to transport materials and workers across the planet at lightning speeds, discover new ways to provide efficient power, and much more!

A newly completed hyperloop for optimal interplanet transport.

It’s difficult to predict where the world will actually be in 100 years. We’ve dug through a myriad of talks and papers to get a sense of where we’re heading according the leading experts. “Physics of the Future” by Dr. Michio Kaku was particularly interesting to read! Here's one quote from the book: “‎By 2100, our destiny is to become like the gods we once worshipped and feared. But our tools will not be magic wands and potions but the science of computers, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and most of all, the quantum theory.”

The Perseverance in 2020...

Humanity has gazed upon Mars in fascination and wonder across the ages. The surface of the Red Planet is covered with those past forgotten missions. As your colony grows, you’ll find old friends like the Perseverance and Pathfinder! We’ve included all of the present-day Martian missions in the game and placed them using their projected destinations. We’ve also imagined future missions that we've added into the game.

...And the Perseverance much, much later! Building a Research Outpost on the Perseverance’s location in-game!

This isn’t the first time the mission to colonize Mars has been attempted… but you can use those past failures to prepare for a better future. Once you discover a past mission or failed colony, you can build a research outpost that allows your colonists to survey the area. Research outposts boost your colony’s science production and may also uncover just the thing you need for a scientific breakthrough! After completing their survey, your researchers will send along a report that tells you what exactly they found in the ruins. Discover forgotten secrets, learn from the past, and secure your colony’s future.



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Dr. Elya Valentine is the inaugural Leader of the Martian colonies! You'll be working closely alongside her as you fulfill your prime directive: to terraform Mars for human colonization. Lynsey Murrell brings Elya's voice to life in our game! Lynsey was a joy to work with and an accomplished actor who we know you'll be hearing in many games to come... including the upcoming Baldur's Gate!



Dr. Elya Valentine was unanimously elected first Leader of the colonies by her peers. Not one for "stuffy titles" or bureaucracy, she prefers for AMI to call her Elya. She gained her Ph.D in Social Psychology and spent her undergraduate years studying Social Studies. Her background allows her to assert authority, remain calm, and deal with the complex circumstances regarding Mars, the International Space Agency, and AMI's personality.

"We'll be making history with this mission. If things proceed according to plan, who knows how far ahead we'll bring humanity." -Elya Valentine

Elya and her crew spent two years living in Antarctica to prepare for the Martian mission. She takes her elected position seriously and honors its duties. She protects the colony's civilian interests at any cost: keeping her people safe and building a better future for them are Elya's top priorities. Elya knows that for this mission to succeed and for humanity to survive as a species beyond Earth, they must find a way to conquer the Red Planet.

"I mean, we're living in sealed bubbles and depending on technology that could fail at any minute. What's riskier than that?" -Elya Valentine



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Are you ready to begin your mission? Humanity's failed attempts litter the surface of Mars... but this time there is no room for human error. You are AMI, the world's first autonomous Artificial Consciousness tasked with transforming Humanity into an interplanetary species. Your prime directive is to terraform Mars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEUfKNWEEA&feature=youtu.be





Conquer the Red Planet and transform it into a verdant paradise using a unique combination of hard science fiction and base building. As your colony grows, launch special projects inspired by real-world theoretical science to ensure humanity's second home has a future. Tailor your terraforming plan with bleeding-edge research: implement aerobraking, build space mirror arrays, import greenhouse gases from Earth, and even consider going nuclear to melt the Martian ice caps.





The difficult decisions you must make will have planet-wide consequences. See the world through the eyes of an infant AI as they traverse a complicated ocean of self-discovery that shapes the fate of the human race. Navigate your ever-evolving programming to adapt and evolve. Your colonists look to you for their continued survival.





This isn't the first time this mission has been attempted. Unravel the mysteries of Mars' forgotten past and uncover a looming menace that threatens to see you fail at any cost. Will you learn from Humanity's past mistakes?



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