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Dev Diary #1: Vision by Boian Spasov from Haemimont Games

Hi everyone!

My name is Boian Spasov, and I've been working as a designer at Haemimont Games for more than ten years now. I have been a long time avid reader of the Paradox dev diaries, so I feel very excited to write the first dev diary for Surviving Mars. We've been teamed up with Paradox on this project for a while, but it was very hush-hush until a few months ago, so it feels really good to finally be able to talk openly about our baby.

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The survival city builder in space​

Coming from the Tropico series we wanted to create something really different both in terms of theme and gameplay and I can confidently say that Surviving Mars ended up unique. Your task in Surviving Mars is to create a beautiful and functional colony on the surface of the red planet. The game is undoubtedly a city builder, but not your average city builder. It is an intimate experience focused on creating interconnected systems and testing them against the threats of the harsh environment.

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Abundant dangers​

Elon Musk famously said that he'd like to 'die on Mars, just not on impact.' We took this statement to heart and turned it into a game.

Colonizing the red planet is and should be a tall order, and many things can go wrong, and there are plenty of ways for your colonists to perish. Just not on impact.

You will test your budding colony against the real problems and dangers that a potential Mars colonization mission will face - environmental hazards, scarcity of materials, failing systems and lack of vital resources. More details will be coming in a future dev diary!


The red sandbox​

While all our previous city-builders created here at Haemimont are campaign-oriented, offering more of a "rollercoaster ride" kind of experience, we really wanted to focus on the sandbox potential of the genre this time. We strived to make Surviving Mars a game that inspires you to replay, experiment, try crazy stuff, fool around, set your own goals and come back to it for many months and years ahead!

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Science vs. fiction​

Surviving Mars was inspired by the old, idealistic sci-fi stories. You know the ones - from the time when the Galaxy was full of mystery and wonder, and humanity was striving to build a better future among the stars, instead of fighting its own inner demons. This lighthearted and somewhat nostalgic source of inspiration shines both in the game aesthetics and narrative.

We wanted to keep the science in the game plausible without diving into minutiae. Barring some purely fantastic elements that are best saved for a future dev diary, the scientific aspect in Surviving Mars is realistic, but the game is not thematically centered on science. It is about the dream of the first human settlement on another planet.

It is time to wrap this up. In this diary I talked about the high-level vision of the game, teasing some details here and there without going into specifics, but fear not - the juicy features will be disclosed in detail in future dev diaries. What would you like to hear about next?

As my parting gift, here is a video in which some of our key team members explore Mars... from Earth:

P.S. You can also read a juicy interview with Gabi and find out more about the game here.
 
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I find this all very promising, but I honestly I hope for some interesting gameplay that will have high replay value. So far, a lot of city builders have a strict order in which you have to build what. Cities: Skylines is fun, but isn't very deep so far as there's a lack of a challenge. The appeal of the visuals might soon fade if a lot looks the same, while you're stuck on a completely barren red planet. Gameplay wise, it will have to compete with highly successful games like Rimworld, which has a very "basic" artstyle, but extremely high dept with colonist interaction, threats from outside, resource management, event/environment management and natural decay/limited resources.

I hope I don't sound too negative here, but I've simply haven't seen a lot of gameplay yet and I honestly hope it will be fun to play. I get the feeling they are going for a highly scientific/realistic feel and I can applaud that. I just hope people will be motivated to build a second colony after they have established their first successful one.
 
Interesting read so far.

I am also looking forward to when it comes out.
 
Welcome Boian. Look forward to learning more about you and the project.
 
Darksaber501st said:
This looks like the kind of game I've been waiting for for a long time, so I will be eagerly following its development.



While I do want the game to have a sandbox mode and feel, I sincerely hope that you do have a campaign of some sort. I think there's just as many opportunities here for excellent gameplay in a detailed campaign as there are for sandbox. Actual settlement of Mars and the development of what could be called "self-sufficiency" would probably require multiple colonies, with each quite possibly being very different. Not every colony can be located on ground with water, mineral resources, or sufficient space, and I think modeling the development of actual, fully-functioning civilization on Mars would be a great subject for a campaign.
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Agreed, in fact, the campain on Tropico did not make much sense to me, since it was a small Island with only one city. Here we have an opportunity for a logical campain. Need more of ressource X? Here is your mission, go there and build an industrial city that will export material X.
It could even be a strategic decision, wich city do you build first? Where do you focus your attention.

I'm not againts sandbox game, I always end up going back to sim city once in a while. And campain only game are fun too, my first city builder was Sierra's Pharaoh wich I highly enjoyed.
 
SPAMbuca said:
I find this all very promising, but I honestly I hope for some interesting gameplay that will have high replay value. So far, a lot of city builders have a strict order in which you have to build what. Cities: Skylines is fun, but isn't very deep so far as there's a lack of a challenge. The appeal of the visuals might soon fade if a lot looks the same, while you're stuck on a completely barren red planet. Gameplay wise, it will have to compete with highly successful games like Rimworld, which has a very "basic" artstyle, but extremely high dept with colonist interaction, threats from outside, resource management, event/environment management and natural decay/limited resources.

I hope I don't sound too negative here, but I've simply haven't seen a lot of gameplay yet and I honestly hope it will be fun to play. I get the feeling they are going for a highly scientific/realistic feel and I can applaud that. I just hope people will be motivated to build a second colony after they have established their first successful one.
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Survival is a big part of the game, along with managing resources and dealing with all manner of things that I cannot say anything about right now - so I don't think you will be disappointed. I can't wait to see what you think once it comes out!
 
While I'm still sceptical about the graphics (which just looks to much like a rollercoaster simulator than a colonization of a harsh environment), I'm very excited that the Tropico team is working on that game! Tropico (1-5) is one of the best city builder games and brought so many new ideas to the genre. I'm very optimistic that this game will combine plain odd city building with a lot of fresh new ideas, too.
 
Actually, the slightly cartoonish graphical look is one of the things that appeals to me about this. Far better than going for hyper realism (and requiring a ridiculously high powered grahics engine to do it) - put the money into gameplay!
 
I don't see the connection between graphic/design style and hardware requirements. I just don't like the candy graphics. A more gloomy graphic style would be possible without increasing hardware requirements.
 
steveh11 said:
Actually, the slightly cartoonish graphical look is one of the things that appeals to me about this. Far better than going for hyper realism (and requiring a ridiculously high powered grahics engine to do it) - put the money into gameplay!
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For me it's the opposite. I'd prefer more "adult" graphics, but not necessary detailed one. For me on this point childish graphics means childish gameplay like it was in said Tropico. I'm pretty sure this game will be for kids, so not for me. My only hope it will be highly modable and someone will make total overhaul mod.
 
So this is going to be like Tropico in space meets Planetbase or in other words, a 3d version of Rimworld?
Sign me up then! :D
 
I saw screenshots in other thread about ship landing and drones exiting the said ship. I feel like first ever landing on Mars needs to be somewhat deep and climatic to put player in the right mood. I myself feel like I'll shed some tears if its done right cause of nostalgia from another game.
 
Sorry, but wind power on Mars is not realistic. The planet has only 100th the atmospheric density of Earth, nowhere near enough to drive large wind turbines.
 
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