Dear Terraformers,
Good things come to those who wait: the Draft Update is now available for beta testing with a new mode, bug fixes and quality of life changes!
Read below to discover the changes and how to access them:
1] Draft Variant 2] Game State 3] Awards & Milestones Competitors 4] Bug fixes 5] Miscellaneous 6] How to join the Beta
Draft Variant
After listening to the wants and needs of the community , we are happy to announce that the third official variant has been implemented and is available as an option for local and online games. It allows players to affect which cards other players get access to, and increases your ability to pursue a certain strategy, or predict which parameter will rise first.
During the Research phase each player drafts four cards to buy from instead of just drawing four to buy from. Each player first gets four cards and chooses one to draft and put aside. Each player then passes the three other cards to the following player. You now set aside one of them and pass the rest to the left. You repeat this until all cards drawn have been drafted.
You now examine the four cards you’ve set aside (drafted) and choose which to buy (3 M€ each) and which to discard.
Drafting is not used during the first generation since the first Research phase is skipped. The Draft Variant adds some extra game time and is not recommended for players new to Terraforming Mars.
Game State
This new feature, available at any step of the game, allows you to pause your current action and check the information you need before making your decision.
For instance, you're at the end of the Research phase and need to select which cards to buy. Simply press the button View game state to switch to the main screen, view the surface of Mars and open any window you need (your Tags for instance).
Awards & Milestones Competitors
A mouseover on any Award or Milestone will display the compared performance of all players.
Bug fixes
All blocker bugs have been addressed in this update. We will continue ironing out the game and monitoring the forum for your reports in the next months.
- Fixed: The AI may stop playing in a local game, often at the research phase.
- Fixed: After an Online opponent forfeits, the replacing AI repeats the same move and the replay then doubles that move.
- Fixed: AI doesn't sub in when players disconnect in Online games with AI Sub option ON.
- Fixed: Cards purchased in previous Research Phases appear pre-selected when using Sell Patent; blocker may occur when leaving and resuming such a game.
- Fixed: The End Turn button remains on-screen during a local game replay when auto end-turn is enabled.
- Fixed: Player is wrongly able to draw a card when using Search For Life (005).
- Fixed: Nitrogen-Rich Asteroid (037) plant production is only triggered when the user has three plant tags or more
- Fixed: Noctis City (017) can't be played when no more cities can be placed on the board.
- Fixed: Heat UI element can become invisible during a game session.
- Fixed: Land Claim (066) is wrongly counted as a tile.
- Fixed: Mining Area (064) and Mining Rights (067) are missing visuals for production when using Robotic Workforce (card 086).
- Fixed: Missing minus symbol in front of the temperature in the requirement text on Extreme-Cold Fungus (134) in French
Miscellaneous
- The Tutorials are now available from the main menu instead of from the Options menu.
- Among the feedback we've received is the suggestion to add faster animations. Note that this option is already available in the Settings!
How to join the Beta
In the Library tab of your Steam client, browse the left-side list and right-click on Terraforming Mars. Select Properties.
In the new window, visit the Betas tab. In the drop-down menu, select betatest - Draft Update beta test and close the window. Steam will download the update.
Note that this beta is limited in its duration. We hope that you enjoy the new features and bugfixes and we're very interested in your feedback. Please share it in this forum thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/800270/discussions/0/1742228532897548826/
If you wish to opt-out of the beta and continue playing Terraforming Mars with the live version, follow the below steps:
1- Opt out of the beta on Steam.
a. Go into Terraforming Mars’ properties
b. Select the “Beta” tab
c. Select the “NONE – Opt out of all beta programs” option
2- Delete the content of this folder:
C:\Users\\AppData\LocalLow\LuckyHammers\Terraforming Mars
Make sure that you check all files have been deleted, some of them are set as “hidden” and will need to be revealed to be deleted.
If you experience any bugs, please send a description, your save and/or screenshots with the Contacts Us button on this page: https://asmodee.helpshift.com/a/terraforming-mars
Happy drafting and terraforming!