Surviving Mars is a challenging but rewarding game. If you've mastered the art of building a colony and want to add an extra challenge, the Green Planet DLC expansion introduces terraforming mechanics. As your colony grows, you'll be able to make Mars inhabitable and eventually ♛let your colonists wander freely outside the Domes.

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Terraforming takes a very long time, so planning ahead is important. In this guide, we'll explore how to utilize the different terraforming parameters and examine how you can bring fields, forests, and lakes to the surface of Mars.

Terraforming Parameters

surviving mars lake with domes

If your game has terraforming rules enabled (you can turn them on or off before starting a new campaign) you'll see the four terraforming parameters at the top of your screen, underneath your resource totals. Each is rated with a percentage from zero to one hundred, with zero being Mars' pre-colonization conditions and one hundred being Earthlike. To fully transform Mars into a world habitable by humans, you'll need to get all four parameters to one hundred percent.

Parameter

Description

Increased By

Atmosphere

Represents the thickness and composition of Mars' atmosphere.

  • Building and maintaining Carbonate Processors.
    • As the Atmosphere rating increases, small quantities of Atmosphere will begin to outgas from the planet. Build more Carbonate Processors or the Magnetic Field Generator to counter this loss.

Temperature

Represents the average global temper🌊ature on Mars.

  • Building and maintaining GHG Factories.
  • Building and maintaining Core Heat Convectors.

Water

Represents the amount of liquid water on Mars' surface.

  • Building and maintaining Artificial Lakes (when Temperature is high enough - see below)
  • Sending rockets to capture ice asteroids.

Vegetation

Represents the amount of sustainable plant life on Mars' surface.

  • Building and maintaining Forestation Plants.
  • Grass, bushes, and trees will naturally spread seeds once planted, contributing further to Vegetation.

Terraforming Effects

Parameters

Effect

  • Temperature 25
  • Liquid surface water - constructed Lakes will begin contributing to Water parameter.
  • Having an operational Lake after this point will earn the Now We Need Ducks accolade.
  • Temperature 20
  • Water 10
  • Allows planting of Grass through Forestation Plants.
  • Atmosphere 25
  • Temperature 25
  • Toxic Rain disasters will occasionally happen, reducing soil quality and slowing the spread of Vegetation.
  • Toxic Rains can damage crops in Open Farms.
  • Temperature 30
  • Water 20
  • Allows planting of Bushes through Forestation Plants.
  • Vegetation 30, 60, and 90
  • Vegetation Boom temporarily increases the rate at which plants spread across the surface.
  • Temperature 35
  • Water35
  • Allows planting of Pine Trees through Forestation Plants.
  • Planting a tree on Mars unlocks the Fear My Botany Powers! accolade.
  • Atmosphere 40
  • Temperature 40
  • Water 10
  • Each rainfall has a chance of not being toxic if the parameters to end the Toxic Rains have not yet been met.
  • After the Toxic Rains are gone, clean rain will continue to occur.
  • The first clean rainfall will unlock the Tears Of Joy accolade.
  • Temperature 50
  • Cold Waves will no longer occur.
  • Atmosphere 50
  • Dust Storms will no longer occur.
  • Unlocks the Skies Of Blue accolade.
  • Atmosphere 55
  • Temperature 55
  • Water 5
  • Toxic Rains will no longer occur.
  • Unlocks the Detox accolade.
  • Temperature 75
  • Water 75
  • Allows planting of Mixed (Deciduous) Trees through Forestation Plants.
  • 80 Atmosphere
  • Meteor Storms will no longer occur.
  • 95 Atmosphere
  • 50 Temperature
  • Mars' atmosphere becomes breathable, allowing colonists to live, work, and travel freely outside the Domes.
  • 100 Atmosphere
  • 100 Temperature
  • 100 Vegetation
  • 100 Water
  • Unlocks the Creator Of Worlds accolade.

Terraforming Buildings

surviving mars GHG Factory Carbonate Processor

With terraforming rules active, your colony will have access to the Terraforming Tech Tree which contains several unique buildings. They're usually quite expensive to build and maintain, so be sure you're ready before you build one.

Building

Required Technology

Build Cost

Maintenance

Consumption

Effect

GHG Factory

Greenhouse Mars

  • 15 Concrete
  • 15 Metal
  • 15 Machine Parts
  • 2 Machine Parts
  • 10 Power
  • 1 Fuel
  • Increases Temperature by 0.05 per Sol.

Forestation Plant

Martian Vegetation

  • 10 Metal
  • 5 Electronics
  • 1 Polymer
  • 10 Power
  • 1 Seed
  • Increases Vegetation by 0.01 per Sol.
  • Adds greenery to the surface over a wide area.
    • Higher-tier plants on the surface will naturally spread and add Vegetation on their own.
  • Cannot increase Vegetation past 40.

Lake (Various Sizes)

Lake Crafting

  • 10 / 20 / 30 / 50 Concrete
  • 5 Machine Parts
  • Varies based on total Water terraforming.
  • 0.5 / 1 / 1.5 / 2 Water
  • Consumption increases while the Lake is being filled.
  • Increases Water terraforming by 0.01 / 0.03 / 0.05 / 0.1 per Sol.
  • Increases nearby soil quality, allowing plants and Open Farms to grow more easily.

Carbonate Processor

Carbonate Processor

  • 200 Concrete
  • 50 Metal
  • 50 Machine Parts
  • 2 Machine Parts
  • 50 Power
  • 1 Waste Rock
  • Increases Atmosphere by 0.4 per Sol.

Open Farm

Domeless Farming

  • 15 Concrete
  • 5 Metal
  • 3 Machine Parts
  • 1 Metal
  • 1 Power
  • 10 Water
  • 1 Seed
  • Grows Food and Seeds without the need for Oxygen or Colonists.
  • Effectiveness is determined by local soil quality.

Core Heat Convector

Core Heat Convector

  • 150 Concrete
  • 100 Metal
  • 50 Polymer
  • 2 Polymer
  • 50 Power
  • 10 Water
  • Increases Temperature by 0.4 per Sol

Magnetic Field Generator

Magnetic Field Generator

  • 250 Metal
  • 50 Electronics
  • 10 Metal
  • 100 Power
  • Negates the loss of up to 0.2 Atmosphere per Sol.

The GHG Factory, Carbonate Processor, Core Heat Convector, and Magnetic Field Generator can all be Amplified after researching Terraforming Amplification. Like the upgrade of the same name for factories, this allows y🅰ou to enhance an existing building for a one-time Polymer cost, increasing both its output a𒁃nd its power consumption.

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Terraforming Strategy

surviving mars mid stage terraforming

Completely terrafo𓄧rming Mars can take hundreds of Sols and requires a massive investment of nearly every resource in the game. Just like the colony itself, your terraforming priorities will change and adapt as the game goes on. Here are some tip𝐆s to help you along.

Choosing A Sponsor And Commander

Unsurprisingly, the Terraforming Initiative is the mission sponsor that has the easiest time turning Mars green. Not only are they decently well-funded and equipped for frequent trips to and from Earth, but all Terraforming technologies require half as much research for them. Better y♐et, the Terrafor🐲ming Initiative starts with Forestation Plants unlocked and ignores the Power requirement for those buildings.

If you're really planning to focus on terraforming at the start of a run, consider choosing the Geo Engineer as your commander. They start off with some prefab terraforming buildings, allowing you to get started as soon as your power grid is up and running. The Hydro Engineer is also a strong choice, as the guaranteed water deposit at your landing zone can he♏lp with both survival andꦉ terraforming.

Start Small, But Start Early

In the early stages of the game, you need to focus on getting your colony to the point of self-sufficiency. Most of your resources will be put toward that goal, but with a little extra groundwork you can make the later stages of terraforming much smoother. Around the time that you're ready to bring in your first colonists, build at least one GHG Factory to get the ball rolling on the Temperature parameter. A single Refinery p🅰roduces 12 Fuel per Sol, so you should be able to run the GHG Factory alongside Polymer Factories and rocket refueling with little issue.

Whenever you bring a cargo shipment from Earth, try to make room for at least one batch of Seeds. This will allow you to build up a stockpile ahead of building your Forestation Plants. These buildings go through Seeds surprisingly fast, so until you can dedicate some Farms to seed crops you'll need to import from Earth to keep the process moving.

Designate A "Green Zone"

Terraforming doesn't require a lot of human labor, so you can build further from the Domes than you otherwise might. Pick a wide stretch of land that you can easily hook up to the grid and concentrate your Lakes there. This will enrich🐟 the soil, making it easier to seed Vegetation and run Open Farms in that area. As a bonus, if you have Tourism enabled𓂃 you can get extra funding by letting visitors tour this "Green Zone" in an RC Safari vehicle.

Survival Comes First

If you are running a deficit in electricity, water, or resources, don't be afraid to temporarily disable your terraforming buildings. This will slow the overall process but a few Sols here and there won't make too much difference. Without a functioning colony, terraforming becomes both impossible and pointless. See to your peoples' needs first - Mars has been red for 4.5 billion years or so, it can wait a little longer.

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