Surviving Mars adds creative mode, announces 'hardcore survivalist' update

Surviving Mars developer Haemimont Games "made a straight honest to god mistake" by overlooking tutorials, company CEO Gabriel Dobrev told us at PDXCon this year. Since then, Dobrev and his team have steadily tweaked the city-builder in tune with player feedback. It's now announced two free updates to this end: Da Vinci and Sagan.

Da Vinci rolls out today, and is otherwise known as 'Creative Mode'. Built with "stress-reducing features", such as buildings that require no maintenance, a starting budget of $100 trillion and immortal colonists, Da Vinci is designed to grant players "more creative liberties".

The flip side of this, due in September, is the Sagan update. And it sounds pretty brutal.

"The 'Sagan' update, for the explorer who felt that surviving the inhospitable desert of Mars was simply too easy, will launch for all platforms in September," explains publisher Paradox via email. "Including 30 major challenges to overcome, this update adds a new level of difficulty for the hardcore survivalist who’s ready to take a running start at everything the red planet can throw at them.

"Whether you like to stop and smell the barren wastelands of Mars or are raring to discover new ways to doom your dome, Surviving Mars’ upcoming updates will have adventures for every kind of player."

Both updates are free-of-charge, adds Paradox. Da Vinci's patch notes can be read in full this way—which outline some pretty extensive balance adjustments.