It’s been a week since we launched our game. We never imagined welcoming so many players to Mars! It’s been overwhelming and inspiring to see all of you sharing your colonies, experiences, and feedback. Thank you to all of our players for coming on this journey with us!
We’ve been hard at work prioritizing our post launch plans and implementing improvements. We hope that it shows: this is our third patch in seven days! The first two patches were hotfixes that immediately addressed issues our players reported. This patch is the first of many more to come that tackles the more complex bugs and complications being reported by our community.
Patch #3 Notes:
Version V1.0.0.0.5.9901.2020.12.2 Compatible with existing save games
Bugs Resolved
Fixed a lockout issue when the enemy base located in SA-1 was completely destroyed before the mission was assigned. (Early combat spoilers!)
Fixed a bug that made some enemy bases invincible. Carmine would erroneously insta-build, even right before defeat, causing the fight to be impossible. (Late combat spoilers!)
Fixed broken Tech Tree after placing invalid Research Outposts.
Cargo assignments for the different buildings and special projects will now time-out, allowing room for better assignments.
Fixed an issue where the Resource Allocation Matrix and High Priority combination was not correctly prioritizing resources.
Fixed single launch projects resetting on load.
Fixed Research Outpost bonus bug to be awarded only when completely full. There is now a sliding scale bonus.
Scanning the full planet will no longer crash the game.
Fixed an issue in Ultra-Wide resolutions: the Cognitive Test displayed incorrectly.
Fixed crash on PCs supporting Thai calendar.
Fixed several incorrect dialogs and strings.
Multiple launch projects will now self-renew upon completion.
Rebalancing
The Magnetic Dipole Shield now requires 15 launches.
Rebalanced Nitrogen import and aerobraking projects.
Black Polar Dust is no longer overpowered.
Polymers Factory II and III requirements have been updated to require steel instead of iron.
Crater Domes now have correct requirements and output values. (e.g. they award 300 RP)
Tent and Open Cities now require less water and food.
As always, please continue to report issues and share your ideas, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports.. We can’t respond to everything but we do read all of your posts! We hope that in time, you'll see how the community’s collective feedback guides and informs our development plans.
Future Plans
The game is out, but the work doesn’t stop! We plan on supporting Per Aspera for a long time to come. What does that support look like? We’ll continue working on patches that address reported issues, but later down the road we’ll also be implementing free game content updates. Everyone has already made a lot of excellent suggestions and we’re very excited about all of the possibilities!
That’s the future - what about our immediate plans? We’re working to release the next patch next week. After that the team is going to be taking some much needed time off in December to rest, recuperate, and enjoy the holidays. We’ll come back in the new year and continue working on regular patches to fix bugs, improve the user experience, and implement some QOL suggestions. For the end of January, we plan to release some new content and features.
Please remember to continue following the Code of Conduct and being respectful to each other during discussions! If things begin to cross the line, the mods will step in and lock the thread.
Ad Astra, Tlön Industries
Patch #2 Out Now - And a word on the future of Per Aspera
We're happy to present the second patch for Per Aspera - live now!
Since the launch on Thursday, we've been absolutely overwhelmed by all the response Per Aspera has been getting. We're constantly scouring the forums, reviews, streams, videos and chats taking in all your feedback and making lists on what to prioritize next. We're committed to Per Aspera for the long term and you can expect many more updates to the game going forward - from fixes and QoL improvements, to entirely new content.
First and foremost, we'll be working to address feedback regarding Balance and User Experience. This patch contains a few changes we think you'll like, but some improvements will take a little longer to implement. Please bare with us as we continue to patch the game over the coming days, weeks and months.
2020 has undoubtedly been a strange year. Launching a game is tough, launching one during a pandemic even more so. In spite of it all, we're incredibly proud of what the team has achieved and are eager to continue our work on Per Aspera.
Thank you so much for all your support.
Patch #2 - Version: V.1.0.0.0.5.9813.2020.12.2
Please note that some changes contain story spoilers; these are labelled as such.
Changelog
Increased the amount of Resource Veins on the planet. This should make it less likely to completely run out of certain resources.
You will now receive an alert when under attack by enemy assault drones.
Reduced the amount of assault drones sent in early waves.
Autosaves are now separate for Campaign and Sandbox modes.
Reduced the risk of buildings catching on fire due to high oxygen levels in the atmosphere
Fixed several dialogue issues.
Fixed an issue where disabling V-sync would cap the FPS.
We love our players. Please continue to give us your ideas, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports. We want this game to be the best it can be and we can only do that with your help. While we can't respond to every comment, please know that we are listening and working. We hope that in time, you'll see how the community’s collective feedback guides and informs our development plans. Until next time!
Today has been surreal. After years of working on our ambitious game, we finally released it to the world?! We've been blown away by the support and interest. More importantly, thanks to community reports, we were able to swiftly identify several bugs and issues. After a quick launch celebration, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
We're honored to present the first, but certainly not the last, "patch notes" for Per Aspera!
Fixes & Changes
Fix for Ultra Wide Resolutions
Improved Localization and fonts
Special Project widget now informs if there are no spaceports available
Rebalance for Aspera difficulty (amped the initial resources a bit)
We love our players. Please continue to give us your ideas, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports. We want this game to be the best it can be and we can only do that with your help. While we can't respond to every comment, please know that we are listening and working. We hope that in time, you'll see how the community’s collective feedback guides and informs our development plans. Until next time!
Ad Astra, Tlön Industries
Welcome home to Mars: Per Aspera is out now!
Per Aspera is out now! 🚀
Welcome to your new home... Mars! Per Aspera, our massive narrative-driven planetary simulator that combines hard sci-fi, base building, & theoretical science is out now!
Are you ready to begin your mission? Humanity's failed attempts litter the surface of Mars... but this time there is no room for human error. You are AMI, the world's first autonomous Artificial Consciousness tasked with transforming Humanity into an interplanetary species. Your prime directive is to terraform Mars. Get ready to terraform Mars and transform humanity in our massive, planet-sized narrative-driven simulator!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0naJKWGp4c
Terraform Mars and Transform Humanity
Conquer the Red Planet and transform it into a verdant paradise using a unique combination of hard science fiction and base building. As your colony grows, launch special projects inspired by real-world theoretical science to ensure humanity's second home has a future. Tailor your terraforming plan with bleeding-edge research: implement aerobraking, build space mirror arrays, import greenhouse gases from Earth, and even consider going nuclear on the Martian ice caps.
Carve Your Own Path
The difficult decisions you must make will have planet-wide consequences. See the world through the eyes of an infant AI as they traverse a complicated ocean of self-discovery that shapes the fate of the human race. Navigate your ever-evolving programming to adapt and evolve.
Your colonists look to you for their continued survival. Uncover a looming menace that threatens to see you fail and protect your new home.
Our Deluxe Edition is available now
The deluxe edition is currently 21% off! In addition to the game, this edition includes three amazing extras:
Our addictive OST, a perfect Martian soundtrack by the IGF-winning Tomas Batista,
The Audiobook, featuring the commanding performance of our all-star cast including Troy Baker, Phil LaMarr, Laila Berzins, Yong Yea, Lynsey Murrell, and Nneka Okoye.
A stunning digital Srtbook that features the gorgeous art from the game
We’ve put our hearts and souls into Per Aspera and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon: we'll be supporting the game for a long time to come with future patches, updates, and more! Your feedback is crucial to us. Please share your ideas, feedback, and suggestions with us over in the Feedback & Suggestions sub-forum!
Found an issue? Per Aspera is a massive game. We’ve worked on this project for years now and we’ve done our best to put out a polished game that has minimal issues. We’ll be closely monitoring all of our communications for reported problems we can fix. If you find any bugs or issues during the course of your journey on Mars, please consider reporting the details of the problem in our sub-forum here!
Phil LaMarr stars as Lt. Carlos Calderón!
Meet the analytical Carlos Calderón! Lieutenant Calderón is the International Space Agency’s Chief Technologist. The prolific and legendary Phil LaMarr stars as Carlos Calderón in Per Aspera!
You’ve likely heard Phil LaMarr from his numerous game and animation credits. He is perhaps best known as the voices of Samurai Jack, Static Shock, Hermes in Futurama, and the Green Lantern in Justice League and Injustice. We’re honored to have Phil on board to bring Carlos to life! Phil’s performance is nothing short of amazing and we’re so excited for everyone to meet Carlos soon.
"There is no room for error and no room for personal ego." -Lt. Calderón
Carlos developed an affinity for mathematics and building from an early age. After voluntarily enrolling into the U.S Air Force, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He worked at Langley Air Force Base first as a civil engineer and then as the chief of engineering management. In that role he led a team of 2,000 people located all across the world.
"Our partners have invested millions on this mission. We've got commercial obligations to fulfill." -Lt. Calderón
The International Space Agency (ISA) recruited Lt. Calderón once they began their Mars space programs. At the ISA, he manages the administration and logistics of the mission. Although not a scientific expert himself, his analytical personality means that he excels at his role. His pragmatism has helped him swiftly move up the corporate ladder.
Per Aspera launches TOMORROW!
Per Aspera releases this Thursday! The game will be available Dec. 3rd at 9am PST sharp and will cost $29.99 USD.
As your colony grows and your reach expands, you'll discover looming menances and mysterious combatants. You'll need to defend your colonists by researching military tech and building an army of assault drones. In this blog and in the video below, we reveal a quick overview of the combat in Per Aspera!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3sQl2I7_vw
Enemy assault drone forces beginning to congregate at two drone hives!
Once you uncover an enemy base, you'll need to pause your terraforming efforts and redirect your energy towards managing this new threat. These forces may seem puny to begin with, but without any defenses of your own, they'll make short work of your base. To avoid watching your colonists' and base's demise, you can begin researching a new branch in the technology tree: Military.
The beginning of the Military technology tree.
The Military technology tree has several different paths and upgrades available for you to prioritize. You can focus on increasing your production by prioritizing research into more efficient assault drone factories. You can build better defensives by researching improved drone hives or building better shields for your assault drones. You can also increase your overall drone capacity or augment your assault drones' weapons and speed.
A group of one hundred assault drones stationed in their drone hive, vigilantly protecting our colony.
Whichever route you decide, you'll need to get started by building at least two crucial buildings. First, you'll need to build an assault drone factory to produce your units. Next, you'll need to construct a hive. The drone hives serve two purposes: they house your assault drones and also serve as a defensive bastion for your surrounding buildings.
Our combined forces handily crushing the enemy drones and destroying their solar farms.
After you've finished manufacturing your assault drones, you're nearly ready to begin the attack. Gather together your forces and decide on a strategy. Will you focus on crushing the enemy's power sources or prioritize nullifying their assault drones? Do you prefer to play defensively or love sabotaging the enemy's production with quick, decisive skirmishes?
The combat lens demonstrating where our force's current targets are and whether there are any approaching enemy drones.
The combat lens is key to prioritizing and identifying threats. Whether you're staging your forces before an attack or making tough decisions during the heat of the battle, you'll want to frequently consult this lens. Using the combat lens can help you quickly establish where your forces are stationed or where they're currently en route to. The combat lens can also help you locate your enemy's forces and even see if they're on the move.
Slowly removing all traces of the enemy.
Once the enemy's drone forces have been forcibly deactivated, you may be tempted to leave. That would be a mistake, however -- you'd find that the enemy base will begin to repair and rebuild the damage done. It's important to clear out the rest of the base whenever possible to prevent them from building back up. Once the enemy has been completely eradicated, you'll be able to move your own colony in and claim those precious resources as your own!
Per Aspera releases in TWO days!
It feels unreal to type this... but Per Aspera releases this Thursday! The game will be available Dec. 3rd at 9am PST sharp and will cost $29.99 USD. We're excited to share this game with all of you and watch how you terraform Mars. Thank you for your support and see you on Thursday. 🤩
The quest to terraform Mars for human habitation will be complex and difficult. Remember that this isn’t the first time this mission has been attempted! As you explore Mars, you’ll discover countless failed attempts scattered throughout the surface of the Red Planet. We’ve divided the terraforming process into five distinct stages, each with their own unique challenges, innovative projects, and rewards:
Sublimating the dry ice poles
Creating an atmosphere
Ecopoiesis
Green Mars
Breathable Atmosphere
Once you establish your base and welcome your first colonists to their new home, you’ll need to begin the first stage of the terraforming process: melting the poles. Why is that the beginning of your journey to terraform a new home? Mars’s ice poles contain an immense amount of CO₂. Releasing these gases are necessary to warm the climate: they’ll trap heat and trigger a runaway greenhouse effect!
A ring of greenhouse gas factories and biodomes working to terraform Mars!
Once the poles are sublimated, the next step is to create an atmosphere that increases pressure and aids rising temperatures. There will be many different ways to accomplish this: one example is by building greenhouse gas factories that free the CO₂ trapped in Mars’s regolith.
J.M Graham’s mountain model for ecosynthesis on Mars.
The next three stages involve introducing oxygen into the environment and eventually balancing the planet’s overall CO₂ and O₂ levels. “Planetary Ecosynthesis as Ecological Succession.” by J.M Graham explains these stages elegantly by comparing ecosynthesis to a mountain descent. “The present climate of Mars can be compared to a very high mountain on Earth, one higher than any real mountain that exists in fact. The prebiotic stage of ecosynthesis employs planetary engineering techniques to bring the climate of Mars at some latitudes into the range of that in the terrestrial Dry Valleys of Antarctica. At that point the introduction of the first microbial ecosystems can begin. Continued modification of the planetary climate will permit the introduction of a sequence of ecosystems from tundra through boreal forests to temperate ecosystems.”
An aquadome slowly propagating bioengineered cyanobacteria over time into an ocean.
In other words, once Mars’s climate becomes similar to an Earth polar desert, we can begin to introduce extremophile life forms. These microbial ecosystems will begin to slowly convert CO₂ into much needed oxygen. Present-day scientists are currently experimenting to see whether bioengineered extremophiles can survive on (and even modify!) Mars’s harsh environment. By creating a simulated engineered Martian environment, scientists tested five genera of cyanobacteria and three eubacterial strains. Based on preliminary results, some specific extremophiles can survive! You can read more in this absolutely fascinating paper: “Extremophiles for ecopoiesis: desirable traits for and survivability of pioneer Martian organisms” by Thomas, Boling, Boston, Campbell, McSpadden, McWilliams, and Todd.
An airship full of colonists travelling to a Martian research outpost over a blue lake!
By building aquadomes and biodomes in Per Aspera, you’ll begin to spawn cyanobacteria, lichens, and green algae across Mars. Eventually as you progress further down the proverbial mountain, continue to research innovative biotech, and get closer to fulfilling the dream of a habitable Mars, your planet will be able to support more advanced lifeforms. Your biodomes and aquadomes will then begin to introduce genetically modified plants and eventually even animals!
This is fine.
In the final stages of terraforming, it will be incredibly important to control your levels of oxygen, limit your CO₂ to 5% or lower, and to introduce nitrogen into your atmosphere. All of these carefully combined will allow humans and animals to naturally breathe on Mars sans any gear! While simple in theory, this balance will be tricky to achieve. If you allow your oxygen levels to surpass 30%, you may personally discover that high levels of oxygen are incredibly flammable. Work quickly to get it under control or run the risk of watching your colony burn down.
Another important part of this stage is reducing radiation. Once your space elevator is complete, you’ll be able to launch a special project designed to tackle this problem: the magnetic dipole shield. Launching this large dipole in L1 (between Mars and the sun) leaves Mars in a safe magnetotail and stops the stripping of the atmosphere. You can learn more in the talk “A Future Mars Environment for Science and Exploration” which begins at the 1 hour and 36 minute mark.
Meet the daring and ambitious Nian Zhen voiced by the amazing Yong Yea! Yong Yea is a prolific actor who you may know from Warframe: Proteus, Rune II, and many other titles. Yong Yea plays the businessman Nian Zhen.
One of the richest men in the world, Nian is beloved and has many fans. He captivates hearts and minds with his innovative business practices and generous philanthropy. Nian gave away a large portion of his wealth in order to provide nutrition and health assistance to those suffering from the great famine back on Earth.
“I am willing to earn your trust, but it will be entirely up to you whether we become allies.” -Nian Zhen
Nian founded his first company in Taipei at only twenty-three years old with a couple of dollars in startup capital and a mere three workers. His first company provided bigger tech companies with plastic molding parts. Eventually, he opened his first 3D printing factory in Singapore and within a span of just twelve years became the main provider of 3D printing components for aerospace, military, and consumer product industries.
“All conquests have two sides. And I hope you’ll realize that we’re on the same side.” -Nian Zhen
In addition to his businesses and philanthropy, Nian leads the seven-person Operational Committee of The Eastern Coalition. TEC is composed of seven east asian countries. Nian’s personal motto is, “Taking initiative is much more effective than words.” With his huge amount of determination and courage, Nian will never stop implementing his ideas until he succeeds.
Once you get your base’s foundation established on Mars, your first order of business will be to begin interplanetary travel by building a spaceport! Once your spaceport is complete, you’ll no longer be restricted to building on the Martian ground… you’ll unlock the Orbital View! This view will allow AMI to undertake special space projects - the first special project begins the migration process and concludes with welcoming your first colonists. As your colony grows and your research uncovers new discoveries, new special projects will become available!
A few of the different projects in the orbital view!
Your number of operational spaceports determines how many projects you can work on at once. Some projects are ongoing -- for example, if you have the space for them, you can continue to welcome new colonists to Mars indefinitely by continuing the migration project. Other projects are limited to a single time such as repairing a damaged satellite... or crashing Deimos into Mars. Some things you can only do once; there's only one Deimos after all!
Building a new foothold by launching an additional landing site.
When you begin the game, you’ll have a single landing site and a small amount of materials to get your base started. You’ll begin in the Syrtis Major Planum and be restricted to Sector 4. But from humble beginnings come great things: eventually your colony will stretch across the entire planet and become a true ecumenopolis. In order to grow your colony, you’ll use special projects to expand AMI’s operational reach. By launching satellites, new sectors are unlocked and available for AMI to explore and build into. You can slowly snake along the planet and expand your colony into these new sectors… or you can launch a new foothold entirely by building an additional landing site!
Melting the poles to create an ocean... with nukes!
While these are the basic special projects, eventually you’ll be able to implement bleeding edge scientific advancements. Remember that your main directive is to terraform Mars; to transform it into a verdant paradise deserving of humanity’s second home. In order to accomplish that unbelievable feat, you may be tempted to resort to extreme measures that have never been seriously attempted before: like nuking the poles to create oceans, crashing Deimos into the surface of Mars, or building an orbital mirror array via a space elevator. You can also try less extreme options such as importing excess greenhouse gases from Earth or building a fleet of cargo ships to bring your colony ice from Europa or nitrogen from Titan.
We've begun sending out keys to our favorite streamers. They'll be exploring Mars and showing off the first five hours of our campaign mode! Here's a couple of the ones we've enjoyed so far:
Sonna is the second leader of the Martian colonies and the daughter of Elya Valentine! Sonna finds herself suddenly stepping up as Mars's second leader and the pressure of succeeding her mother pushes her to the limits. Nneka Okoye brings the passionate Sonna to life in our game. Nneka is a talented actor who recently starred in Beyond a Steel Sky.
"I'm first generation Mars born. I've never been to Earth but I feel like humanity doesn't belong anywhere else but here." -Sonna Valentine
Sonna Valentine belongs to the first generation of colonists who were born on Mars! Sonna has spent her entire life on Mars, confined to its small living quarters. She's the child of the colony's leader Elya Valentine. Sonna is a spirited woman who grew up watching her mother's dedication to the well-being of the colonies. She was inspired to help and pursued a career in the medical field. Sonna begins her career as a nurse in a Martian hospital.
"They've been playing us this whole time. Everything's been one big experiment. And it's been costing us lives." -Sonna Valentine
Sonna is simultaneously honored and burdened by taking her mother's place as the leader of the colonists. Sonna faces a lot of pressure to follow in her mother's footsteps. Initially some of the colonists believe she is too young and innocent to be in charge. Sonna quickly proves them wrong by quickly establishing her political power and facing the colony's challenges head on.
