dram

Hey guys, this week there have been no development builds, this is due to the nature of the changes, which would render the game unplayable. We hoped to have the changes complete by today, but unfortunately time was against us. The build has been moved to monday, and will feature the following major changes: - New dune field location (Lyot Crater) - Overhauled landing systems for medium and small rovers - Improved performance in locations - Vehicles tweaked to allow them to go to 'sleep' in terms of physics calculations - Major fix in spawning of vehicles, where rotated parts were not supported - Due to the fix above, unfolding solar panels have been implemented as well as a mast for the small rover lander - All vehicles now enter the atmosphere in the descent module, which parachutes to the ground - During the descent, you have a view from inside the descent module - Additional 3rd person camera mode - Solar Panels take into account the incident light angle - Workbench now supports packed files and has been vastly improved. This also allows you to load up a packed map and 'save as' to another location where you may modify it as your own location Plus many further fixes and improvements. We apologize for the delay in updates, but we would not do so unless we were absolutely sure it was the only way to avoid ruining your experience with the sim. Also, upcoming is an overhaul to the campaign system, making it much more sandbox and open, removing the linear missions and making it realistic exploration style. However, there is one major disadvantage to this: FROM MONDAY UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH (at latest) THERE WILL BE MAJOR CAMPAIGN CHANGES - THIS MEANS YOUR SAVE GAMES WILL BECOME INVALID!!!! I understand it is unpleasant, but it will certainly be worth it, due to the following changes occurring during this month. We will try to make efforts to keep compatibility, but it is certain that at the start of next month, there will be no backward compatibility of saves. - Tech Tree (research individual items like in RTS games, so you determine the tech level you are on) - Global Objectives (fulfill major goals such as assessing the geological history of Mars as well as water distribution and present and past presence of life, and so on. These objectives are progressively completed via individual missions, which contribute to completing these overall goals) - Mars Encyclopedia (real facts about Mars will progressively be unlocked by completing missions, so at the end of the space program you will have a full encyclopedia on Mars)

Cheers! Hmm, this line tells me there is a problem with the ccsettings.xml. Could you try deleting the G:\Steam\userdata\YOUR STEAM ID\244030\local\ folder? (though, this will delete your saves as well). It will hopefully help. There must be something amiss. If that fails, try uninstalling the game, deleting this folder as well: G:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Take On Mars\ Then installing the game again. IFileSystemWin32::RequestPage->ReadFile failed with >GetLastError 87

Yes it will be implemented (optional), and vehicle programming is planned.

Steam Trading Cards released! Today we released Steam Trading Cards for Take On Mars. By playing the game and collecting Trading Cards, people can obtain various pieces of artwork - which can be crafted into badges, drop loot in the form of profile skins, or even offer rewards such as Steam discount vouchers. Furthermore, on October 3rd, we intend to release a major new update for Take On Mars. Titled as the Deimos content pack, this free update adds two brand new locations for you to explore, a new Zero-G Probe vehicle for zero-gravity environment, plus new features such as ‘Dynamic Mission Generation’, a revamped ‘Part Failure System’ and the expanded ‘Dynamic Weather System’. The price of Take On Mars will also be increased to 13.99 EUR/ 17.99 USD/ 11.99 GBP on October 3rd. The game is currently available as an Early Access title on Steam and Store.bistudio.com for 9.99 EUR/ 12.99 USD/ 8.99 GBP. http://www.bistudio.com/images/stories/tkom/tkom_trading_cards_large.jpg (399 kB)

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)

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 ---------- Thanks guys! :)

Actually this is on the "nice to have" list. The models are complete but the functionality needs to be written. Essentially it will be sent like a vehicle - a platform closed up in an airbag landing system. This platform holds 3 rockets, each capable of returning the sample to Earth. To get the samples, you will use the DRAM (ironic name indeed) which is the Deep Rock Analysis Multitool. This has a drill at the front which will drill into a rock, insert a very small explosive charge. Afterwards it will detonate, breaking a few pieces off the surface of the rock. Then, using the DRAM you will pick it up (using its 'fingers') and then trek to your nearest sample return rocket system, put it into the rocket, and send it to Earth. Quite an ambitious system obviously, hence why it is incomplete. But it is something that should get implemented eventually.

Cheers, will look into it tomorrow. I think I get what you are referring to now.

With today's update you should see green-blue explore targets around (slightly smaller in representation from standard explore targets) - these are the generic missions, and are generated around the vehicle on valid targets according to your instruments and cameras. When you enter one of the generated explore zones, you "confirm" the mission and the others get deleted. Once you complete that generated mission or drive over 200m from it, it will generate more missions. This continues on and on, allowing you to get, in essence, a never-ending flow of cash.

Not at the moment I'm afraid. But the HUD will change to support such resolutions, upcoming within a month or two.

I've still got my fingers crossed someone will Take On the task. :)

Hi, very glad you like the game :) Actually the stuff you mention is planned - you will be able to program the rover to perform actions, such as driving, turning, using the arm, analyzing and so on.

Yep :) Just one minor problem and that is that the probe does not slow down fast enough. So will get that fixed asap.

Hmm, sorry but I'm not quite sure I understood the problem from the images with all the ticks and crosses. Could you please explain what the problem is in each image? Sorry, just not catching on :) By the way, if you send me the contents of the particle in a code tag here, I will be able to directly view it here. Simply open it in a text editor and copy/past the entire contents.

Version 0.8.0229: 30th September 2013: - Added planetary body selection to the map - Added weather zone functionality, simulating wind with sound and particle effects - Added weather zones to all Mars locations - Added missions to Asteroid belt (WIP) - Added more rocks to Deimos - Improved colliders of Space rocket, Launch platform and ramp 27th September 2013: - Added more rocks to Deimos - Added missions to Asteroid belt (WIP) - Adjusted colliders on Small Rover, Large Rover and Large Lander - Added progress bar when downloading data from Steam - Added weather zone entities, which calculate weather effects based on the global weather value NOTE: Weather value not changed at the moment, so is always set to "sunny". Tomorrow's update will have this finalized.

Hi, yes, if you select SORT then they should order correctly, though it is slightly more intensive, so keep that in mind :) You'll find the checkbox right next to where you select the particle texture. If you need any more help, surely let me know!

Version 0.8.0223: 27th September 2013: - Added more rocks to Deimos - Added missions to Asteroid belt (WIP) - Adjusted colliders on Small Rover, Large Rover and Large Lander - Added progress bar when downloading data from Steam 26th September 2013: - Skip time now works also for Mars Yard 0000249 - Added more rocks to Deimos - Simplified Small Lander leg model - Simplified colliders of Robo Arm on Large Lander and Medium Rover 25th September 2013: - Added more rocks to Deimos - Added Deimos mission rewards and Zero-G probe price - Added deleting scenarios to the Scenarios menu - Fixed collision of Robo Arm with extended leg on Large Lander - Fixed frequent breaking of Solar Array on Medium Rover - Fixed Missions and Vehicles count on the map 0000264 - Fixed APXS targets in Mission ref. 7278 - Fixed constant sound of wind in Mission Control room - Fixed music and ambient sounds playing in background while playing Gravon in fullscreen - Fixed issue where missions could be generated too far away, making them be deleted the next frame - Increased size of airbag bounce collider, removing the possibility of inside parts colliding with the floor - Increased height of solar panels on the Medium Rover, fixing the issue of them constantly falling off 0000315

Yes :) Hold space bar for the radial menu, then select Kill Rotation to stop the rotation, and Kill Translation to stop movement. Life and sanity saving functions written by yours truly... which save my life and sanity.... mostly

Version 0.8.0219: 25th September 2013: - Added Deimos mission rewards and Zero-G probe price - Fixed collision of Robo Arm with extended leg on Large Lander - Fixed frequent breaking of Solar Array on Medium Rover - Fixed Missions and Vehicles count on the map 0000264 - Fixed APXS targets in Mission ref. 7278 - Fixed constant sound of wind in Mission Control room - Fixed music and ambient sounds playing in background while playing Gravon in fullscreen - Fixed issue where missions could be generated too far away, making them be deleted the next frame - Added more rocks to Deimos 24th September 2013: - Added sharing of scenarios on Steam - Added new Scenarios menu, which displays starting date, author, description, and so on - Added FAR indicator to photo targets when the frame is too small to be completed - Added Can Generate Mission option to vehicles created in the Editor (default false) - Fixed crash caused by disabling solidity of the vehicle for third person cam 0000319 - Fixed freeze when opening MIS tab after completing a mission - Fixed crash when starting a Scenario from the menu (tried to use the scenario as the world) - Fixed issue where Mars Yard always only used real local time - Fixed a potential issue with vehicle names in .scn files - Fixed issue where Mars Yard teleported the vehicle to the test position even outside of the Space Program - Added texts to Deimos missions - Added more rocks to Deimos

Ah, thought you meant it worked from this: :)

Excellent, glad it works :) Not at the moment, very soon though.

Yeah, a mistype in a certain part of the code resulted in a crash when loading scenarios. this is fixed, and also now you can share scenarios :)

Support for sharing Scenarios now available in the development build! Uploading as I type, today's development build (version 0.8.0218) features sharing of scenarios on Steam Workshop. This means it is not required to do so via addons but suffices to simply press the "Share on Steam" button in the Scenarios menu.

Hello everyone, this Friday (6th September 2013) expect to see Steam Workshop support added to the development branch. Though this will appear in the main branch at the start of next week, this will give you the chance to try it out as soon as it is available. Also worthy of note is the addition of our Workbench suite, used to create your own particles, locations, materials, and much more. With the Steam Workshop support comes the full support for 'addons' - modules that add vehicles, locations, models, textures, sounds, and so on, to the game. These can be enabled/disabled in the main menu of the game in the Addons menu. To help you guys get started on making your own addons, we will also release the official example addon, which adds an example location to the game, as well as a 4WD Buggy, complete with a machine gun. Rest assured, this is to simply show what the addons are capable of, and Take On Mars is not heading for "violent exploration". To briefly outline what the example addon will contain, here is a list of goodies: - "Example Crater" location, to show how additional locations are automatically added to the campaign (if their .loc file is defined) and how these locations may be used in the editor and for scenarios - 4WD Buggy vehicle, customizable in the Rover Lab, demonstrates how custom vehicles with varied functionality can be added to the game - Sounds for the Buggy and its mounted MG, engine and so on - Models for the Buggy, including the vehicle itself as well as the turrets - Materials for the Buggy, showing how custom materials and textures may be added Following shortly thereafter will be a couple of videos to help modders get into using the added Workbench suite, as well as a video detailing how configs work, what each sections does, and a video detailing what each part of the example addon does and how it was achieved. Hopefully we will see some spectacular addons coming up within the next few weeks. A lot to look forward to! Just to give a little tantalizing taste of the buggies to come in the example addon, here are a few screenshots: http://dramthethief.com/uploaded/Buggy1.jpg (129 kB) http://dramthethief.com/uploaded/Buggy2.jpg (199 kB) http://dramthethief.com/uploaded/Buggy3.jpg (161 kB)

Version 0.8.0218: 24th September 2013: - Added sharing of scenarios on Steam - Added new Scenarios menu, which displays starting date, author, description, and so on - Added FAR indicator to photo targets when the frame is too small to be completed - Added Can Generate Mission option to vehicles created in the Editor (default false) - Fixed crash caused by disabling solidity of the vehicle for third person cam 0000319 - Fixed freeze when opening MIS tab after completing a mission - Fixed crash when starting a Scenario from the menu (tried to use the scenario as the world) - Fixed issue where Mars Yard always only used real local time - Fixed a potential issue with vehicle names in .scn files - Fixed issue where Mars Yard teleported the vehicle to the test position even outside of the Space Program - Added texts to Deimos missions - Added more rocks to Deimos 23rd September 2013: - Added more rocks to Deimos - Added missions to Deimos (WIP) - Fixed major new issue where instruments and cameras could no longer complete science targets - Improved range of APXS to 10cm - Improved mission generation system