MARS — OPENING MISSION STARTER GUIDE
A colony-building game for Windows, in development
https://marscolony.app/
Updated: 7 October 2026

This guide describes the current opening robotic mission. It is not a game download.

1. PLAN ON EARTH
Select a landing region and configure the equipment manifest. Check mass, volume and fleet cost before confirming. Every ship carries the same manifest, limited to 100 tonnes and 400 cubic metres per ship.

2. ARRIVE ON MARS
Confirm the mission, then use Jump to arrival to advance the scheduled 180-day transfer. Deploy the self-powered unloader and unload the startup battery and folded charger before entering colony operations.

3. BUILD YOUR FIRST GRID
Place solar kits near the charging hub. Stay within utility range and keep footprints clear of the ship and other modules. Press R to rotate a kit; press Escape to cancel placement. Each project reserves a real imported kit.

4. PUT THE ROBOTS TO WORK
Construction needs a compatible assembly robot and cargo carrier. The opening build dispatches one construction job at a time. Low-charge robots return to charging; each hub has four bays and extra demand queues.

5. PREPARE FOR NIGHT
Add maintenance and communications near the grid. Solar must recharge daily demand. Before sunset, inspect Power and shelter idle robots to pause optional construction. Preserve the 60 kWh reserve for essential heating, telemetry and recovery.

6. SAVE YOUR PROGRESS
F5 saves and F9 loads the selected manual slot. Settings has three manual slots and rotating autosaves. Loading pauses the simulation. Saves and screenshots are under:
%USERPROFILE%/AppData/LocalLow/Mars Project/MARS/

CONTROLS
WASD — move camera
Q/E — orbit camera
Mouse wheel — zoom
R — rotate placement
Escape — cancel placement
Space — pause
1/2/4 — simulation speed
F5/F9 — save/load
F12 — screenshot

PHOTO MODE
Preview day, dusk or night while production is paused. Preview lighting does not change operational resources. The Power panel controls the actual grid.

WHAT IS STILL PLANNED
Human arrivals, extraction, industry, tourism and the million-resident campaign are future milestones. The site labels concept art separately from genuine current-build captures.

HELP
https://marscolony.app/#support
https://marscolony.app/contact.html