Take On Mars - Expedition One (Manned Mission)

[dram 14]

Hello everyone,

I am very pleased to announce the latest news for Take On Mars, the big announcement we've been wanting to let you know about for some time now - the manned mission addition to the game.

Firstly to clarify, this is not an additional DLC or paid content, but is part of the already existing Take On Mars game. This means if you have already bought it, you will get it for free. The manned mission, titled "Expedition One" will be the second chapter to the Space Program, the first being the robotic phase. The content will be added progressively through the Early Access program of the game. The first update being due in a couple of weeks.

Here is the full press release:

Bohemia Interactive, an award-winning video games developer based in the Czech Republic, today announce their plan to launch the first ever manned mission to Mars. The project, which uses 'Expedition One' as its working title, is part of the studio’s effort to explore the red planet and – ultimately – establish a human colony on Mars. While the first space shuttle is scheduled to depart as early as April this year, Bohemia Interactive is still actively recruiting for people to join its marsonauts training program.

Expedition One, a content update for Bohemia Interactive’s new sim game Take On™ Mars, enables volunteers to explore Mars from the most intimate of perspectives; through their own eyes. Participants will be tasked with performing a multitude of scientific experiments, constructing habitats spanning from shelters to entire installations, and searching for viable sources of oxygen, water, and raw materials. Due to the limited amount of supplies the space shuttle can carry, one of the most significant challenges for the marsonauts will simply be surviving the harsh Martian environment. As such, participants will have to actively manage their oxygen levels, food stocks, grow plants, and operate drilling rigs in the search for new resources. Unpressurized and pressurized manned vehicles will be at their disposal to increase their mobility across the vast alien terrain.

"As a studio, we've always been obsessed with games that explore topics of human fascination", said Bohemia Interactive's CEO, Marek Spanel. "One of those is space exploration. Missions to Mars - from the past, present, and also some ambitious projects for the future - sparked our imagination about what it would be like to be the first human on Mars. We soon felt that this should be the endgame for the Take On Mars campaign."

With the arrival of the Expedition One content update, the campaign in Take On Mars will be divided into two chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the exploration of Mars via the Mars Rovers and Stationary Landers, while Chapter 2 is entirely dedicated to human exploration of the red planet. Those who would wish to embark on this exciting adventure right away will be able to skip the first chapter. However, this does mean that they will start out with fewer resources than those who completed part one of Take On Mars' Space Program campaign.

Highlights of the Expedition One mission include:

- Take the next giant leap for mankind and leave the first human footprints on the surface of Mars

- Drive unpressurized and pressurized manned vehicles to explore the new 8x8 km Cydonia terrain

- Build your own habitat spanning from shelters to entire installations via a unique construction system

- Live off the land by managing and extracting resources to build your base and keep you alive

- Establish the foundations of a human colony on the surface of another planet

Expedition One will be made available in the second quarter of 2014. To enroll for the manned mission, people can join Take On Mars’ Early Access program on Steam for the reduced price of 13.99 EUR/ 17.99 USD/ 11.99 GBP.

http://mars.takeonthegame.com/assets/img/post_images/tkom_expeditionone_screenshot_01.jpg (150 kB)

http://mars.takeonthegame.com/assets/img/post_images/tkom_expeditionone_screenshot_02.jpg (378 kB)

http://mars.takeonthegame.com/assets/img/post_images/tkom_expeditionone_screenshot_03.jpg (396 kB)

http://mars.takeonthegame.com/assets/img/post_images/tkom_expeditionone_screenshot_04.jpg (353 kB)

[felthat 1]

i hope it will be like carpenter's ghosts of mars

[Sandy* 10]

Any chance of multiplayer? It'd kinda feel natural now.

[dram 14]

On the note of multiplayer:

We are experimenting with multiplayer at the moment, though at this point it is most likely that it will not feature in the game. I hope that with further experimentation this changes.

[the-bean 10]

You guys are awesome. Hopefully having a manned aspect to the game will get you a few more well deserved sales.

[Maio 293]

Glorious :D I was waiting for this since the release.

[Dwarden 1125]

all Mars belongs to us ;)

[rfc 10]

I.am.impressed!

Not that you're actually on mars way before Nasa :) but that it will part of the game I already own. I.e. no DLC extra payment whatsoever.

Ok ok, I should know BIS already that well but still. BIS was and is one of the few shining stars on the developer field.

And a developer nowadays is nothing without it's community. So.

Thank you, all of you.

[Nicholas 5]

Awesome news! Can't wait!

[deadnome 10]

I.am.impressed!

Not that you're actually on mars way before Nasa :) but that it will part of the game I already own. I.e. no DLC extra payment whatsoever.

Ok ok, I should know BIS already that well but still. BIS was and is one of the few shining stars on the developer field.

And a developer nowadays is nothing without it's community. So.

Thank you, all of you.

I can only echo this post.

Thank you.

[dram 14]

You are all very welcome :) I look forward to feedback from you guys when we release the first part of this!

[Enkee 10]

I had an eye on this game, and since I've read the news I have decided to buy it. So now I'm a happy rover pilot ! Thanks for that fabulous game... simulator... tool. :D

[paajtor 10]

Great news, thx!

[tpw 2315]

I've just finished reading an amazing and technically detailed new book called "The Martian" by Andy Weir, about an astronaut trapped on Mars. Of course it immediately made me want to play Take on Mars some more. I might have to read it again when Expedition One is released. Thanks again for such a beautiful and refreshing game.

[zalifer 10]

Looking forward to more science!

[R0adki11 3949]

Wow a great announcement, if you manage to add multi-player in then it certainly be the icing on the Martian cake :)

[rundll.exe 12]

Nice! Maybe this convinced me to try the game finally. :)

[Fixxerdot 10]

Holy CRAP Guys! Thats bloody AWESOME :D Ca date when it will become available?

---------- Post added at 19:55 ---------- Previous post was at 19:32 ----------

This may sound completely crazy Dram, but could you add this to the Expedtion One? Its from Star Trek, and its called a tricorder:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XNPD380IpBQ/SAvoZ76LcNI/AAAAAAAAAgA/Y8BXv6vlap8/s400/P17_3_tricorder.jpg

A handheld portable scanner :) Measuring like atmoshphere, radiation, etc etc.

[dram 14]

Holy CRAP Guys! Thats bloody AWESOME :D Ca date when it will become available?

As the project is early access, the content will be added progressively. So expect an update soon with an early version of the human being and base building :)

This may sound completely crazy Dram, but could you add this to the Expedtion One? Its from Star Trek, and its called a tricorder:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XNPD380IpBQ/SAvoZ76LcNI/AAAAAAAAAgA/Y8BXv6vlap8/s400/P17_3_tricorder.jpg

A handheld portable scanner :) Measuring like atmoshphere, radiation, etc etc.

Heh, interesting, something similar is actually what we have planned.

[Fixxerdot 10]

I dont like that answer Dram, im not patient enough :P

Haha cool! Can you try make it look like a tricorder? It will be like Star Trek, exploring an uknown planet :D

[OlympusMons 10]

SUPER EXCITED to see this! Awesome!

Two questions.

1. Is there going to be a "Storyline" or will it just be some vague "Build a base, survive, grow, thrive" theme. Although I would like to see a story-driven game on Mars in general, I feel like the latter would be the best extension from ToM

2. Unrelated: It seems in ToM when I subscribe to developments, it does not allow me to get achievements. Is this a recent change? I'm pretty sure I used to get achievements while playing the development copy.

[dram 14]

Glad to hear it!

Expedition One will keep to the style of TKOM, so the storyline is mostly your own.

Hmm, did you start up in developer mode or normal mode? I'm not talking about build here, but in the loader itself, if you chose the play game with developer mode. In developer mode achievements are disabled.

[Trase 10]

"Alright. We've opened early access, got a lot of money, here's some locations, some rovers and landers... Oh and here's some probes, and a moon... Umm, here's asteroid belts and zero-g probes... Oh and we'll finish up a system where you can program rovers and leave them to their work soon... You know what? Screw it. Human characters, resources, colony construction go into the pile, too" - Bohemia Interactive development process. I don't remember the last time I saw an early access developer actually adding more content than he promised, rather than cancelling stuff. Big thanks! And my monthly question again: How is the rover programming coming along? Any ETA's on new improvements to it?

[astrospud 1]

Hi Dram, this module is looking sweet!

One question though; I try and manipulate objects, like the drill (want to see about assembling hab unit), but cannot grab anything (LMB). Wha tam I doing wrong?

Also (ok, two questions!) Spacebar doesn't make the marstronaught jump. is there a special keybind for that?

Cheers! :)

[Mlstwalker 10]

Astro, I had the same prob but Dram and the team are aware of it and are on the case. In the meantime he suggested hitting the "reset settings to default" button in the TKOM loader. That did the trick for me. Note: Instead of the left mouse button, you'll need to use the 'E' key to grab objects.