Surviving Mars, the newest title from Tropico developers Haemimont Games, was recently released on Steam and built up a large community swiftly. The game sees players trying to establish a human colony on Mars, working towards survival, expansion and eventually prosperity. Part city builder, part survival game, Surviving Mars couples the challenges of constructing a sustainable and well-planned settlement and community with the hardships of an inhospitable world.
Surviving Mars is challenging, and not without its flaws. However, it does have Steam Workshop support going for it, which led rise to an active modding community banging out modifications to improve or alter the game in various ways. Here are some of the best creations the players have put together.
Surviving Mars Mods - Better Zoom Distance
Download From Steam Workshop
Created by: Wolvyreen
Yet another simple, yet necessary “fix” instead of being a mod, this makes it possible to zoom way further out than the game lets you by default, letting you observe a much larger area. There isn’t much to say about it beyond that. It makes things a whole lot more convenient, comfortable, and basically has no drawbacks.
Surviving Mars Mods - Trace's Content Restoration
Download From Steam Workshop
Created by: Trace Projectile
This is the first cut content restoration mod the game has, and it already made a bunch of disabled or cut content available once more. The majority of the mod enables in-game models which are present in the game files, but disabled for some reason. The files also contained half-finished models, or assets missing elements which Trace Projectile substituted and then re-enabled, and finally there is also entirely original content created by Trace based on references to content which doesn’t have any assets at all.
Surviving Mars Mods - Mod Config Reborn
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Created by: SkiRich/Waywocket
It was only a matter of time until someone cooked up a mod menu for this game, considering how lively the modding community is. Mod Config creates an in-game menu that allows players to set options for their installed mods, enable and disable them, and receive a notification when the effects of a given mod are applied.
Surviving Mars Mods - Geothermal Power Plant
Download From Steam Workshop
Created by: Silva
The Geothermal Power Plant Mod expands Surviving Mars’ roster of available means of generating power for your colony. In order for the plant to function, you’ll need water and up to 3 Geologists to fill its available slots. Aside from generating power, the plant also heats up a small area around it.
Surviving Mars Mods - Career A.I
Download From Steam Workshop
Created by: SkiRich
The Career A.I. Mod aims to make filling up jobs with appropriate personnel easier. Using it, colonists will always look for employment appropriate to their specialization first, before taking a job of a different specialization. Similarly, colonists that have yet to specialize in anything will seek non-specialized workplaces. The mod goes much deeper than that, also influencing colonists to migrate to other domes in order to maximize productivity wherever needed. If you’re having issues with colonists stubbornly taking up jobs they’re not fit for, it’s worth giving the Career A.I. Mod a shot.
Surviving Mars Mods - AutoGather Transport Mod
Download From Steam Workshop
Created by: akarnokd
Micromanaging your RC Transports in Surviving Mars can become rather tedious after a while, especially when you have other things to take care of around your colony or just want to admire your hard work for a while. The AutoGather Transport Mod enables RC Transports to automatically gather polymers, metal or waste rock and take it to the nearest depot/storage or to a custom location. Handy.
Surviving Mars Mods - Rotate All Buildings
Download From Steam Workshop
Created by: ChoGGi
By default, certain buildings in Surviving Mars – like Large Wind Turbines – cannot be rotated, leading to some rather awkward placement, should you need them in spots where space isn’t freely available. The Rotate All Buildings mod removes that restriction, letting you freely rotate every building in the game.
Surviving Mars Mods - Automated Tourism Mod
Download From Steam Workshop
Created by: SkiRich
Tourists can be a great source for money in Surviving Mars, but constantly having to look after them can become a bit of a hassle. The Automated Tourism Mod makes your life easier in this regard, letting you designate rockets to automatically transport tourists between Earth and Mars. Aside from handling the transport of tourists, the mod also shows you various statistics, making it easy to keep track of how profitable the endeavor is for your colony.
Non-essential Surviving Mars Mods
If there are any great Surviving Mars mods we’ve missed, feel free to mention them in the comments below. As the community puts out newer and newer modifications for the game, this list will be expanded.
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