While this is a video game and not reality, and in some cases the technology is borderline fantasy -- I would submit to Paradox company leadership that the next Surviving Mars iteration (if there is a follow-on game) should be designed to primarily portray Underground builds and expansions beneath the surface of Mars.
For those who aren't tracking this -- this is one of the reasons that Elon Musk's "Boring Company" was given so much focus toward improving the way they dig holes underground, because Musk and all of NASA have learned the hard reality over the years of Mars research for colonization, and that is - the majority of settlement and expansion needs to take place below the surface of Mars.
On Mars' surface, the weather is brutal, and our only materials that could survive longer term are metallic, and metals are heavier and more difficult to move in large quantities to Mars. Our Plastics and anything "Poly" simply will not work, will not last - not even half a lifetime, much less provide generational protection.
There is not a super-highway with delivery truck/cargo ships going to/from Mars all the time. Replacement is "not an option." You have to build and establish colonies right, the first time, and expansion must be built right the first time. There's very little room for error.
Just trying to ensure this concept is tabled that - the majority of "above ground" buildings or production facilities, depicted in games such as this, will instead need to be built and based underground in a real colonization scenario. Yes, there will be activities done on the surface - in limited scope and duration. You have to see the differences in average temperature projections from above surface day/night, vs surface day/night, vs sub-surface 5 meters day/night, vs sub-surface 10 meters day/night (and these become more/less consistent based on Mars latitudes also), and then you get much deeper into Mars sub-surface and the temperature ranges start to become more consistent all over the planet (at least, that's our going estimates). It's that "consistent temperature range" you want to operate in, because then you dig and build against more "known" environmental conditions surrounding the habitat.
Going into/up into a mountain range above the surface could be advantageous, because you'd get stratified layers of access out the side of the ridge/mountain for entry in/out of the in-ground facilities. Just look at a Cheyenne Mountain type build out as one example inside the USA. DPRK (North Korea) also uses this strategy for having mass storage of military equipment that they can roll in/out of a ridgeline base, with internal storage of equipment deep in the ridge. These are select examples, although there's not "air-lock" type stuff going on for much of the facilities on Earth, but must be in consideration for underground Mars facilities that humans would survive in.
In the end, this is "Surviving Mars" and this first version has failed to more accurately depict what it takes for humans to survive on that planet. Surface development and dwelling is pure fantasy.
For those who aren't tracking this -- this is one of the reasons that Elon Musk's "Boring Company" was given so much focus toward improving the way they dig holes underground, because Musk and all of NASA have learned the hard reality over the years of Mars research for colonization, and that is - the majority of settlement and expansion needs to take place below the surface of Mars.
On Mars' surface, the weather is brutal, and our only materials that could survive longer term are metallic, and metals are heavier and more difficult to move in large quantities to Mars. Our Plastics and anything "Poly" simply will not work, will not last - not even half a lifetime, much less provide generational protection.
There is not a super-highway with delivery truck/cargo ships going to/from Mars all the time. Replacement is "not an option." You have to build and establish colonies right, the first time, and expansion must be built right the first time. There's very little room for error.
Just trying to ensure this concept is tabled that - the majority of "above ground" buildings or production facilities, depicted in games such as this, will instead need to be built and based underground in a real colonization scenario. Yes, there will be activities done on the surface - in limited scope and duration. You have to see the differences in average temperature projections from above surface day/night, vs surface day/night, vs sub-surface 5 meters day/night, vs sub-surface 10 meters day/night (and these become more/less consistent based on Mars latitudes also), and then you get much deeper into Mars sub-surface and the temperature ranges start to become more consistent all over the planet (at least, that's our going estimates). It's that "consistent temperature range" you want to operate in, because then you dig and build against more "known" environmental conditions surrounding the habitat.
Going into/up into a mountain range above the surface could be advantageous, because you'd get stratified layers of access out the side of the ridge/mountain for entry in/out of the in-ground facilities. Just look at a Cheyenne Mountain type build out as one example inside the USA. DPRK (North Korea) also uses this strategy for having mass storage of military equipment that they can roll in/out of a ridgeline base, with internal storage of equipment deep in the ridge. These are select examples, although there's not "air-lock" type stuff going on for much of the facilities on Earth, but must be in consideration for underground Mars facilities that humans would survive in.
In the end, this is "Surviving Mars" and this first version has failed to more accurately depict what it takes for humans to survive on that planet. Surface development and dwelling is pure fantasy.
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