Take On Mars - Update 3 "Deimos" released!

[dram 14]

In support of Take On Mars’ early access development, Bohemia Interactive today released the anticipated Deimos content update. Featuring two new locations and the Zero-G Probe vehicle, the content update also implements new features such as dynamic mission generation and a spectacular new weather system.

As implied by the name of the content update, one of the new locations brings players to Deimos, one of Mars’ two known moons. Here, Rover operators can explore three massive craters - each with a diameter of about one kilometer. The second new location inserts players into deep space, on an asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.

“The new locations let you experience movement in a zero gravity environment, adding a new dimension to Take On Mars' already vast aspect of robotic vehicle simulation. This also gives you the opportunity to witness an amazing ballet of asteroids in the Asteroid Belt location. Fellow space enthusiasts will also be excited to learn that the Martian weather systems are also newly present in the game, affecting your vehicles in a realistic manner. All in all, while the real Mars Curiosity keeps making discoveries, Take On Mars keeps pushing forward, improving accordingly with the great feedback we have been receiving from fellow players.†-- Dram (Martin Melicharek, Project Lead)

Besides the two new locations, the Deimos content update also adds the Zero-G Probe: a remote vehicle designed for zero-gravity environments, which makes it better suited for Deimos' gravitational pull of -0.0039m/s^2 than regular Rovers and Landers. Furthermore, the new ‘Dynamic Mission Generation’ feature dynamically creates photo, exploration and analysis tasks around the player’s location, whereas the new weather conditions now also include sandstorms and strong winds - providing great visual effects and additional gameplay depth.

http://dramthethief.com/uploaded/Deimos1.jpg (420 kB)

http://dramthethief.com/uploaded/AsteroidBelt1.jpg (310 kB)

http://dramthethief.com/uploaded/AsteroidBelt2.jpg (261 kB)

http://dramthethief.com/uploaded/Weather1.jpg (239 kB)

http://dramthethief.com/uploaded/WeatherTransition.jpg (615 kB)

[OlympusMons 10]

I say this only because so much of the game strives for realism, but the asteroids in the asteroid belt are actually very far apart. You would not really have to be constantly maneuvering to avoid them. Not necessarily saying you should change it, but just making that observation.

Also are/will dustdevils be a feature? I don't think they are actually much of a danger to crafts, but it would look neat!

Awesome job though! Can't wait to try some of these new features.

[Mlstwalker 10]

Development is really moving along at a pace. Great work!

[Thales 45]

I say this only because so much of the game strives for realism, but the asteroids in the asteroid belt are actually very far apart. You would not really have to be constantly maneuvering to avoid them. Not necessarily saying you should change it, but just making that observation.

Yes, we are aware of that and there was a great discussion on adding this map and how it should look. In the end we agreed it will be more satisfying experience if we use unrealistically dense field of asteroids where players have to maneuver more. Thanks to early access we can change or adjust that if players won't like actual state (but we hope you will like it in the form we show :)).

[ivanwfr 10]

It may be only me but I think that the current automatic thrust compensation bursts have two features/annoyances:

1 - As I don't know what this is supposed to accomplish, I find it's currently a mess: If it's an attempt to counteract the whole user activation in order to get the probe to a complete stop, well, that could come handy after some attitude adjustment. But what is it supposed to do when you are appliyng more than 20 sec thrust and expect the probe to keep a steady pace for some time?

2 - And more to the point, isn't it the purpose of a simulator not to be easy on the user. At least, I'd like it to be an optional auto assist or even better, some "user-adjustable-parameters". It could kick in only for user action not sustained more than 1-2 sec, ... or not.

That's only what came to mind when I discovered this update after having accomplished zero-grav missions the hard way. At that time, you had to grasp the technique with no assistance. Generally speaking, I prefer when users are not considered in need of assistance so that they won't get frustrated by having failed a few times at trying to master some difficult move. Even Nintendo chose not to make it easy with Mario. TKOM should not care for easy stuff.

[purepassion 22]

Congratulations to the whole team for this release! :) Thank you very much

[ProfTournesol 956]

That's wonderful, thanks a lot :)

[dram 14]

It may be only me but I think that the current automatic thrust compensation bursts have two features/annoyances:

1 - As I don't know what this is supposed to accomplish, I find it's currently a mess: If it's an attempt to counteract the whole user activation in order to get the probe to a complete stop, well, that could come handy after some attitude adjustment. But what is it supposed to do when you are appliyng more than 20 sec thrust and expect the probe to keep a steady pace for some time?

2 - And more to the point, isn't it the purpose of a simulator not to be easy on the user. At least, I'd like it to be an optional auto assist or even better, some "user-adjustable-parameters". It could kick in only for user action not sustained more than 1-2 sec, ... or not.

That's only what came to mind when I discovered this update after having accomplished zero-grav missions the hard way. At that time, you had to grasp the technique with no assistance. Generally speaking, I prefer when users are not considered in need of assistance so that they won't get frustrated by having failed a few times at trying to master some difficult move. Even Nintendo chose not to make it easy with Mario. TKOM should not care for easy stuff.

Hold the space bar to open the Radial Menu, and select Cancel Kill Rotation and Cancel Kill Translation - we put it to default on to make it more comforting for players who are not used to simulators such as Orbiter (which I love).

---------- Post added at 22:43 ---------- Previous post was at 22:42 ----------

Congratulations to the whole team for this release! :) Thank you very much

That's wonderful, thanks a lot :)

Thanks guys! :)