Surviving Mars Complete Guide (55 Sections) | AntMag

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Welcome to Mars, Commander! In Haemimont Games' Surviving Mars, you're tasked with building and managing humanity's first self-sustaining colony on the Red Planet. This isn't just about placing buildings; it's a deep city-builder where you'll balance resource extraction, life support, and the unique challenges of a hostile alien world. From your initial landing site to sprawling, specialized domes, every decision matters as you strive to keep your colonists alive and thriving against all odds.

This guide is your essential companion to mastering the Martian frontier. We'll walk you through everything from the crucial early-game setup and intricate resource management to tackling the game's many mysteries and optimizing your dome specializations. Whether you're aiming for those tricky Steam Achievements or simply want to ensure your colony doesn't succumb to the harsh Martian environment, we've got the strategies you need to succeed.

Getting Started

Learn the essential controls, basic mechanics, resource management, and environmental factors to successfully establish and sustain your colony in Surviving Mars.

Sections in this chapter (3)

Initial Setup & Sponsor Selection

Learn how to navigate the initial setup and choose the best sponsor for your Surviving Mars colony. This guide covers essential early-game decisions to ensure your survival on the Red Planet.

User Interface (UI) Overview — Surviving Mars Guide

Learn the essential User Interface (UI) elements in Surviving Mars. Master controls, HUD, map exploration, resource management, and building for a successful Martian colony.

Difficulty Settings & Game Modes

Navigate Surviving Mars difficulty settings and game modes. Choose the best options for your Martian colonization journey and ensure a successful playthrough.

Initial Setup & Sponsor Selection

This guide section focuses on the crucial initial steps of setting up your colony in Surviving Mars, including the selection of a sponsor. These early decisions significantly impact your chances of survival and long-term success on the Red Planet.

Walkthrough

1
Sponsor Selection: Choose a sponsor that aligns with your preferred playstyle and offers the starting bonuses that best suit your strategy. Consider factors like initial resources, research bonuses, or unique starting conditions.
2
Initial Landing Site: Carefully select your landing zone, taking into account proximity to vital resources like water, metals, and rare metals. The terrain and potential hazards should also be assessed.
3
First Buildings: Prioritize the construction of essential structures such as the Drone Hub, RC Rover, and basic life support facilities. Ensure these are placed within range of your landing craft for initial resource transfer.
4
Resource Gathering: Immediately begin establishing resource extraction operations. Drones will be crucial for mining surface deposits and transporting materials to your construction sites and storage depots.
5
Power Generation: Secure a reliable power source early on. Solar panels are a good initial option, but consider the need for more robust solutions as your colony expands.

Tips

Pay close attention to the starting resources and unique benefits offered by each sponsor.
Scout the surrounding area with your initial rover to identify resource deposits and potential building locations.
Keep an eye on your drone battery levels and ensure they have access to recharge stations.
Manage your initial budget carefully, as resources are scarce in the early game.
Researching basic technologies that improve resource gathering or construction efficiency can provide a significant early advantage.

User Interface (UI) Overview — Surviving Mars Guide

Learn the essential User Interface (UI) elements in Surviving Mars. Master controls, HUD, map exploration, resource management, and building for a successful Martian colony.

Sections in this chapter (1)

Controls & Keybindings — Surviving Mars Guide

Learn Surviving Mars controls and keybindings for efficient colony management. Optimize your camera, building, and resource management actions.

Controls & Keybindings — Surviving Mars Guide

Mastering the controls in Surviving Mars is crucial for efficient colony management and rapid expansion. While the game offers a robust default setup, understanding each keybinding and its function will significantly improve your gameplay experience. This section details the essential controls for PC players, covering camera movement, building, resource management, and various utility functions.

Camera & Navigation

Effective camera control allows you to survey your Martian landscape, identify optimal building sites, and monitor your colonists' activities. These controls are fundamental to all aspects of the game:

W, A, S, D: Pan Camera. These keys move your camera view across the Martian surface. Think of them as your eyes on the ground, allowing you to explore new areas or quickly shift focus to a developing situation.
Q, E: Rotate Camera. Use these to rotate your perspective around a central point. This is particularly useful when planning complex layouts or inspecting the aesthetics of your colony from different angles.
Mouse Wheel Up/Down: Zoom In/Out. Crucial for switching between a strategic overview of your entire colony and a detailed inspection of individual buildings or colonists. Zooming in can help you spot issues like low drone battery or a struggling colonist.
Middle Mouse Button (Hold & Drag): Free Camera Pan. This offers a more fluid way to pan the camera, especially when combined with rotation. It allows for quick, intuitive adjustments to your viewpoint.
Home Key: Center Camera on Command Center. Instantly snaps your camera back to your primary Command Center, a vital shortcut for returning to your operational hub after exploring distant areas.
End Key: Center Camera on Last Alert. When an event or anomaly occurs, pressing 'End' will immediately take you to the location of the most recent alert, allowing for swift response to crises or opportunities.

Building & Management

These keybindings streamline the process of constructing your colony, managing resources, and interacting with your Martian infrastructure.

Left Mouse Button: Select/Place Building/Interact. This is your primary interaction key. Click to select units, buildings, or colonists, place structures from the build menu, or confirm actions within UI elements.
Right Mouse Button: Deselect/Cancel. Use this to deselect a currently chosen unit or building, or to cancel a pending action, such as placing a building or selecting a research project.
R: Rotate Building (before placement). Before confirming a building's placement, press 'R' to rotate it. This is essential for optimizing dome layouts, aligning solar panels for maximum efficiency, or simply for aesthetic purposes.
F: Toggle Overlay (e.g., Power, Water, Oxygen). Pressing 'F' cycles through various information overlays, such as power grids, water pipes, and oxygen lines. This is invaluable for identifying bottlenecks, breaks, or areas needing expansion in your infrastructure.
P: Pause Game. Crucial for strategic planning. Pausing allows you to issue multiple commands, analyze situations, and make decisions without the pressure of real-time progression.
Spacebar: Toggle Time Speed (Normal, Fast, Fastest). Adjust the flow of time to suit your needs. Speed up during periods of waiting for resources or construction, and slow down or pause during critical events or complex building phases.
Tab: Cycle Through Domes/Units. Quickly switch between your various domes or selected units. This is a time-saver when managing multiple settlements or tracking specific vehicles.
Ctrl + Click: Multi-Select Units. Hold 'Ctrl' and click on multiple units (e.g., Rovers, Drones) to select them simultaneously, allowing you to issue group commands.
Shift + Click: Add to Selection/Queue Actions. Use 'Shift' with 'Left Click' to add individual units to an existing selection. When building, 'Shift + Click' can also queue multiple identical buildings for construction.

Utility & Information

Accessing vital information and game menus quickly is key to successful long-term survival.

Esc: Open Main Menu/Close Current Window. This key serves two primary functions: opening the main game menu (where you can save, load, or adjust settings) and closing any currently open in-game windows or menus.
F1-F12: Quick Access to Information Panels. While specific assignments can vary or be customized, generally these function keys are mapped to various information panels like Research, Colony Overview, Resource Management, and Diplomacy. Familiarize yourself with these to quickly pull up relevant data.
M: Toggle Map View. Switches between the standard 3D view and a strategic 2D map of Mars, showing resource deposits, anomalies, and overall colony spread.
I: Toggle Info Panel for Selected Unit/Building. When a unit or building is selected, pressing 'I' will toggle its detailed information panel, showing stats, current tasks, and any associated issues.

Remember, these are the default keybindings. You can customize many of these settings within the game's "Options" menu under "Controls" to better suit your personal playstyle. Experiment with different layouts to find what works best for your Martian colonization efforts!