Potential features to be added.

[grnman 10]

Hmm, that should have been fixed already. Are you using the main branch or the development build?

Main branch.

[jollysam 10]

Just a few of my ideas:

- How about a Search and Rescue multiplayer mission? One player could play the sole survivor of a crashed rover; he's in the middle of nowhere, his suit is running out of oxygen, and the winds are getting up. He needs to find somewhere to shelter himself, maybe put out a flare. The job of the other players is to go out and find their downed comrade, and bring him back to base before he suffocates. Maybe there could be several teams out trying to find the survivor; the winner would be the team who finds and brings him back first.

- The ability to import our own logo for our space company; which shows up on our suits and vehicles. Players love doing that kind of thing in games; it makes it feel more like 'our' stuff. Whole websites run comfortably providing such things.

I'm looking forward to buying this game, rough edges and all. But I hope it doesn't spend much longer in 'Early Access', players can get burned out on that kind of thing. I don't want the multiplayer lobbies to be empty by the time the final update comes.

[dram 14]

- How about a Search and Rescue multiplayer mission? One player could play the sole survivor of a crashed rover; he's in the middle of nowhere, his suit is running out of oxygen, and the winds are getting up. He needs to find somewhere to shelter himself, maybe put out a flare. The job of the other players is to go out and find their downed comrade, and bring him back to base before he suffocates. Maybe there could be several teams out trying to find the survivor; the winner would be the team who finds and brings him back first.

That actually sounds really interesting. I think in general a "set-piece" multiplayer mode may be quite interesting, where players can occupy individual roles rather than respawn. Would not be too difficult to do either, definitely will keep this in mind.

- The ability to import our own logo for our space company; which shows up on our suits and vehicles. Players love doing that kind of thing in games; it makes it feel more like 'our' stuff. Whole websites run comfortably providing such things.

This would be nice yeah, and it would be possible, but would require a lot of time and modification. It is something I've always wanted as well, and is on the todo list but with very low priority.

I'm looking forward to buying this game, rough edges and all. But I hope it doesn't spend much longer in 'Early Access', players can get burned out on that kind of thing. I don't want the multiplayer lobbies to be empty by the time the final update comes.

Don't worry, Take On Mars is leaving Early Access in the first quarter of next year :) This is a certainty.

[jollysam 10]

That actually sounds really interesting. I think in general a "set-piece" multiplayer mode may be quite interesting, where players can occupy individual roles rather than respawn. Would not be too difficult to do either, definitely will keep this in mind.

This would be nice yeah, and it would be possible, but would require a lot of time and modification. It is something I've always wanted as well, and is on the todo list but with very low priority.

Thanks, glad you like the ideas. :)

I have a question; how moddable is Take on Mars? Can we expect to see a lot of user-made content/modifications like the ARMA 2 games? Or would it be pretty difficult to modify?

Edited December 15, 2014 by JollySam

[dram 14]

I have a question; how moddable is Take on Mars? Can we expect to see a lot of user-made content/modifications like the ARMA 2 games? Or would it be pretty difficult to modify?

Apart from parts of the main menu and the multiplayer base code (not for the entities themselves, but the packet handling), everything is written in script and may be modified. This includes the character, vehicles, spawn system, multiplayer modes, etc. Essentially the entire game :)

[jollysam 10]

Apart from parts of the main menu and the multiplayer base code (not for the entities themselves, but the packet handling), everything is written in script and may be modified. This includes the character, vehicles, spawn system, multiplayer modes, etc. Essentially the entire game :)

Yes I guess that was a pretty dumb question, seeing as a mod screen is the first thing I see when I boot up the game:p. Whoops...

I know you guys probably know this already, but if you set the physics simulation to the lowest setting (60Hz, I think), the Russian rover in the very first mission can't detach from the lander. It gets stuck inside it and can't move. Just a minor thing though.

Edited December 16, 2014 by JollySam

[dragon01 902]

Don't worry, Take On Mars is leaving Early Access in the first quarter of next year :) This is a certainty.

Isn't it a bit early, though? I have some concerns I'd like to share. Aside from the obvious (missing experiment reports, broken rocket/light FX when moving fast, manned missions not integrated into campaign), there are a few things I noticed.

1. Mast seems too costly for the benefit it gives. Being able to rotate cameras on a rover is nice, but there are only two of them and much of the imaging can be done using a fixed camera. It's a very expensive addition for what it does. I think it shouldn't cost as much. Same goes for the advanced version.

2. No ability to disable/configure "gamepad", meaning my shiny HOTAS set actually hinders gameplay rather than be of any use. More control customization is definitely needed.

3. The aeroshell physics. It's a bit jarring in every aspect. Parachute behavior is the worst part. The way it works (no precision landings seem to be possible with it, landers have to fly a ridiculous distance, rovers just miss), the way it lands (it just stays there, rigid as ever), the way it doesn't jettison... Some things (Large Lander and Large Rover) clip through the aeroshell. When there's no wind, it doesn't fly off too far (it even landed on the Small Rover lander's solar panel once). It has no collision. Even with tons of instruments on site, we still don't have the slightest idea how the wind blows and how it will affect the descent. Better aiming should definitely be possible, and the aeroshell and chute should both dispose of themselves somehow.

4. For that matter, the landing platform for Small Rover is not customizable, despite being modeled in a way that implies it should be (slots and all). You get a Mast and a pair of color cameras regardless of your actual tech level. It just seems odd.

5. Limited base building parts. Some more 2x segments (not only the bay window) would make building much quicker. The wall slot isn't good for anything but a single big monitor (which is also useless, currently). I'd love to see more base parts.

6. NV/Thermal. This is a very jarring feature in an otherwise well thought-out system. On any camera, even a crappy cycloramic one, you can enable NV and have an ArmA-style night view. Or thermal imaging, for that matter. I'd love to see this completely revised. A new NV camera (two tiers, ideally), which would allow nighttime B/W photos to be taken. Color photo assignments should be impossible to fulfill at night. Thermal imaging camera should be a separate part, too, with it's own photo areas that would have to be photographed via TI (and a hefty price tag and power drain. Those things need to be actively cooled). Also, it's currently perfectly acceptable to send back pitch black nighttime photos of what you're supposed to take high-detail color images of. :) Or images that are completely out of focus (indeed, manual focus should be a thing as well). Those thing should matter when trying to get photo assignments done. The target area should be visible and in focus for a picture to count. This would also make Mast much more useful, in that taking pictures with a fixed cam could become harder if criteria were tightened.

7. Power system. Right now you can drive around on batteries for half the mission. Almost nothing consumes power (only robotics, and then only when moving). This should change. Even a lander without either solar panels or RTG shouldn't work (right now, solars on a lander are kind of pointless). Basic batteries should be just enough not to let the vehicle shut down during the night, chemical ones could allow it to (briefly) operate instruments or cameras, but that's it. For serious night roving, RTGs should be a must. BTW, I'd be glad if notification spam when driving under solar power at low battery level was fixed (it happens either at 25% or 50%, if you don't have enough light to keep driving, but have chemical batteries. They keep it exactly at 25%, which causes a notification every frame or so).

There are also some minor things. For example, the LEM on the Moon still has its ascent stage attached. I find it rather unlikely, seeing as it blasted off when Apollo 17 guys left. :) Or the VTOL, which looks rather out of place, it's a very odd sci-fi design in a hard science game. I once got a minor assignment to micro-image atmosphere, which probably shouldn't happen as well. Sometimes, after taking on a side assignment, all other areas of interest would flicker between two instrument names (though the color of the name will still indicate the correct one to use). Perhaps another good idea would be to have some sort of difficulty panel, for example with the ability to disable external view or adjust mission reward/cost modifiers.

I'm not sure if any of those were already suggested (the bugs I reported are likely known). I played Take on Mars for quite a while now, and I love it. :) There's still a lot of room for improvement, though. I'm not sure if it can all be done in 3 months or so.

Edited December 16, 2014 by Dragon01

[dram 14]

Hi Dragon01,

I understand your concerns, however Take On Mars has been in development for 2.5 years now. In fact, 1.5 years in Early Access. We added so much more then we originally planned, but must put a dot point somewhere. Of course, bugs are bugs, and don't worry, bugs found in the game after release will of course be dealt with.

Regarding joystick mapping, that has been on the todo list for a long time now. It will be added, rest assured. I do not want my shiny Saitek sitting around for nothing either :)

Building segments are not finalized, and more will be added. I too have felt the need for 2x1 sections of many things as well, so those will be added.

NV/Thermal are a certain issue. Technical limitations prevent thermal being on while other cameras do not have it on, the scene needs to have a unified sky preset which is overridden by thermal, hence it affects all cameras. That said, the plan is to have it only in the manned section or with an additional technology. There are of course many alternatives, and something will be done about it. In fact, 3rd person is also something that should be hindered depending on difficulty.

Power is not complete, and yes it will be added too. It was fairly low on the priorities list but is steadily moving up.

The LEM ascent stage is a thing I've heard from almost everyone by now haha! The moon map, including the lunar lander, are incomplete :) The idea is to break the model up into the 2 stages, so that modders can use it to make a landing vehicle if they wish.

[dragon01 902]

TBH, if thermal vision has such problems, I'd rather see it gone. It adds almost nothing and TI cameras weren't on any actual rovers/landers (they're heavy, need cooling and there's little scientific value in using them). As a TI googles/visor mode, perhaps, but it's not on rover cameras. It'd be a shame to ditch it completely, seeing as it basically works, but its utility is very limited here.

I think that NV would be best implemented as a separate camera or two. Just a pair of early, primitive NV cameras (something between Basic and Terrain Imager) would do, but they would be the only ones with that capacity until the final tier. Navcam/hazcam need a night mode for night navigation, multizoom should have it, too (no point for Advanced Imager, since navcam has similar quality and NV has no color anyway). The NV capacity should be a separate tech, too. Manual focus isn't that important, but photo assignments being able to tell the time of day is, IMO.

Anyway, really looking forward to the updates. Especially to science reports and power system. I hope you can make it, 3 months for all that has to be done seems an awfully short time, and I wouldn't like it to gain a reputation as "released in an unfinished state" (sort of like ArmAIII ended up). Still, I suppose that as long as none of the bugs discovered in the EA phase persist in release, and as long as clearly unfinished stuff is finished, it should be fine. But if you won't make it in the first quarter, it might be better push the release back. KSP is in EA for even longer than Take On: Mars, and nobody has a problem with that. :)

Happy holidays, BTW. :) I hope you come up with some neat ideas for implementing what is left to do during that time.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Dragon01

[Demongornot 10]

A lot more than originally expected was added, that true, but, even if i really like the type of the new content, i'm very concern about this !

Of course this both for make player happy which is a nice move and also try to get more customers cause everyone can agree, even if this is a incredibly promising game, it only aim to a very limited kind of players and in a such small community i'm sure everyone can understand why you have prefer to create the manned scenario that early (their is also some technical reason cause we can't add everything we want after a certain state on a game for those who don't know) !

But my concern is about the fact that such a great effort to make things originally not planed such as the manned scenario was done even before some really critical others things, rover are left unfinished by now, even proper key binding was not done left, and even if you have already state that you will do it, well i actually have difficulty to imagine now that we will have great originally planed feature such as rover programming at 100%, NASA/JPL like software for rover programming, cartography, realistic delay and stuff like this !

Anyway, as a suggestion, since with the manned expedition Take On Mars have now getting into futuristic not-yet-done technology/missions, will it be possible to get the planned future rover ?

Such as this one http://www.wired.com/2010/09/auto-mars-rover/ Others rovers here : http://www.electronicsweekly.com/embedded-live/general/european-mars-rover-to-explore-embedded-live-2010-09/

Their is also the Sample Return mission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_sample_return_mission

But their is not only rover, their is also plane already planned : http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov/platform.html

And two new improvement that are important, the Orion capsule that have been very successfully tested recently by NASA which will lead the expedition to Mars !

A journey to Mars have two possible path, no return, which mean a single and huge ship that will in one piece land on Mars with everything needed, which is close to what the actual Manned Expedition on TOM actually do, but their is also a mission with return possibility which will be done with a huge ship that will stay on Orbit and a decent module that will have everything needed for several month/almost a year on Mars and an ascent stage but the majority of the ship will stay on orbit and it will probably look like this design : http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/spacexp/images/mars_cycler_intro_1280.jpg (not a official NASA design but visually realistic IMHO)

But the second important improvement is on Heatshield, two different technology are possible and almost vital for a manned Martial expedition !

Inflatable Heatshield which was actually tested http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_development/HIAD/irve3-success.html#.VJVq2CHAs a nice animation here

and more details here

and even more details here :

And the ADEPT heatshield : http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/orgs/exploration-tech/projects/adept.html also another info here http://gsfctechnology.gsfc.nasa.gov/Umbrella.html

And a video here that show way better how it work :

I would really like to see a combination of all those technology on Take On Mars !

Huge ship coming and doping the decent vehicle, see the reentry phase which is by far the best part, impressive, look cool and very important !

And in the game see inflatable or deployable heat shield, then land with habitable module that will inflate on the ground if the technology is unlocked, which will permit to improve living space, reducing weight and adding more and more advantages !

Both heatshield have advantages and should be at almost the same tech level but with different advantage each, but of course you can decide to make one of them having more advantage and getting higher on the tech tree, it will be nice to have configuration possibility of the living module we send on Mars, like the rover, assembling the decent module and pack it with what we want to, depending of returning or not mission, possibility to send better vehicle, like the actual ingame mobile lab but with for example inflatable lateral structure as habitation module that rest on foldable lateral structure which will permit to take more resources, have more experiments/lab/sensors on board and permit to stay longer on exploration mission with this vehicle etc...

When the planetary alignment are done, for the returning mission having them to leave Mars but the material and everything that was used on the ground, such as the mobile lab for example will stay on place and can be used by another team !

Resupply mission for both resources/consumables and upgraded/replacement equipment for long duration mission !

Also Mars plane, advanced rover with "deep" drilling capability : http://www.universetoday.com/104516/wheres-the-best-place-to-drill-for-history-on-mars/

And others stuff like this will be fun and nice to have !