Dear Martians!
Today we'd like to tell you a little bit more about development progress for the Early Access build.
New Interior lightning
Some of you may have already noticed in our Kickstarter trailer that we've introduced improved interior lighting to the game. We haven't had a chance to mention it yet, but this change has made the game both more visually appealing and faster in terms of performance, as the previous lighting was quite demanding on the GPU. You can see some screenshots with the new lighting below:
New Inventory
In addition, we have revamped the player's inventory, equipment, and consumption systems to make them more integrated and user-friendly. Putting on and taking off the helmet will now be a breeze - simply drag and drop the helmet into the appropriate slot. The same change applies to water and oxygen bottles. In the early access build, players will be able to 3D print empty bottles and refill them with substances as needed. On Mars, every item will be valuable, so after use, the bottle will be refillable.
New Tutorials
The new tutorials in the game are not only redesigned to provide better introduction to the story, now they are also organized as a in-game virtual simulation which you will be able to revisit using different screens in the campaign mode. We've also added a special HUD tutorial where our Suit AI will guide you through the most important functions of your suit, helmet and visor.
European Rover Challenge 2023
Just like during previous years, this year we will join forces with European Rover Challenge once again for #ERC2023! The space & robotics event will take place on 15–17 September 2023 in Kielce, Poland and like every year, the highlight of the event will be #Rovers Robotics Competition!
The European Rover Challenge is an international space & robotics event combining competition of Martian rovers with scientific and technological shows. The main part of the project is an international robotics competition, where academic teams from around the world present their mobile robot designs, competing in competitions based on real ESA and NASA missions.
The competition takes place on the world’s largest artificial Martian track, that is directly derived from the surface of the Red Planet.
In 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 we partnered with the European Rover Challenge organized annually by the European Space Foundation. During the event, we organized an e-tournament of “Rover Mechanic Challenge” – a special version of our game “Rover Mechanic Simulator.”
In the previous edition of the ERC, we provided competition winners with additional rewards such as “Astronaut survival toolkits” and this year we will support them again.
See you on Mars!
Occupy Mars Team