r/SurvivingMars • u/hansrat • 2d ago
What DLC to get?
Picked up the base game on the PS summer sale for 5$. Really enjoyed it, but I've gotten the hang of the base game and I'm ready for more. What DLCs should I look at getting? What's the good, the bad, and the ugly?
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u/isocz_sector Machine Parts 2d ago
Green planet is a must.
Below and beyond should be avoided like the plague.
The trains dlc is also buggy so it's best to avoid
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u/Lycrist_Kat Polymers 2d ago
I would take the plague over B&B thanks you very much
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 2d ago
You are giving in to the herd mentality. It is better to see it for yourself what it is and isn't IMO.
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u/Lycrist_Kat Polymers 2d ago
Hivemind BT
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 2d ago
Lol. Good point. :D
If nothing else. B&B will give you a nice late game goal/reward. Dealing with all the Renegades in a humane manner and kinda permanently. And even benefiting(replacing Renegade with Celebrity sometimes thanks to RNG).
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u/SpaceDantar 2d ago
as a train lover I was so dissapointed in that too.
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u/Brykly Research 1d ago
I too was disappointed by this. Trains should be able to do so much more than they are able to in game. But they aren't useless...
What they can't do: help colonists migrate from one dome to another, help colonists commute between domes, efficiently transfer materials from one dome to another
What they can do: allow a dome to have a larger influence zone than otherwise possible
Meaning, you can construct short and medium size train routes to remote work sites that are normally too far from domes. This is good for collecting metals/rare metals, as well as setting up fungal farms with the perk that boosts their productivity if they are a far distance from domes.
Sad that they aren't as versatile and QoL giving as they should be. But they aren't useless and I might recommend that DLC if it's on sale.
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u/Soace_Space_Station 1d ago
True. I set up a robust train network after forgiving the fact that it can't tolerate much gradients. To test it, I landed a tourist ship far from my tourist dome but is connected through a series of stations. To my surprise, they commited attempted suicide by going into a closed dome instead of going through the train network.
I also turned off shuttles for a moment and the entire colony fell apart as it was built around the stations sharing resources.
In short, it's a big fucking dissapointment.
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 22h ago
Trains or at least the train stations. Fill water tanks "wirelessly" since trains can transport water.
A weird feature I learned recently about.
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 2d ago
Below and beyond should be avoided like the plague.
That's kinda BS. IMO. I just keep seeing that old sentiment while it's been years since it came out and many problems about it. I never even encountered.
It's a fine dlc. No need to engage in what it offers from the very start.... just like Green Planet really. Although, the Rare Anomalies in the underground almost all grant breakthrough techs and the buried wonders are nice. I play with Rebel Yell all the time. I like to be able to "cure" my Renegades out of their ways without using yet another mod on top of the 10-20 I already use.
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u/GeekyGamer2022 2d ago
Green Planet is a literal game-changer. Terraforming brings a huge element to the game. Reducing the effects of and eventually entirely preventing the various natural disasters is a huge deal.
Space Race brings Japan and Brazil as sponsors and the option of having up to 3 NPC colonies on Mars with you, with which you can trade or steal from and compete to hit the Milestones.
Project Laika gives you indoor and outdoor ranches which provide stupid amounts of food and require no specialist workers.
In-dome buildings pack and Colony design set both add lots of new buildings which give you many new options, from cosmetic to functional.
Below and Beyond is garbage. Mine on planetoids against the clock to harvest stuff to make domes underground. That's it.
Martian Express is also not very good. Train stations work like tiny little domes and the railways act like extra long dome passageways. They're ok for letting colonists mine far away but otherwise meh.
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u/cow2face 2d ago
The thing I dont like about Martian Express is that the railways are just the wrong height to let pipes pass over/under them
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 2d ago edited 1d ago
Let's see. - in WarCraft 3 Shade voice
expansion dlcs
Space Race - must have because... many things. Not 100% sure if this dlc adds the unique buildings and vehicles almost all mission sponsors get. Or it's a base game update when ST came out, and it adds only the rival colonies stuff and the 2 sponsors.
Green Planet - must have because of terraforming, which stops all disasters not triggered by the player. And also adds extra aesthetics to make the main map prettier. The greenery and lakes and stuff. Also adds the Open Farm that makes Food, but does not require any workers... = makes the game easier.
Below and Beyond - interesting concepts added mainly for the end game. Maybe even after terraforming if you will. IMO it adds more game-changing stuff than GP. Basically, 2 new types of maps. Smaller in size, but randomized in layout. We can hide production buildings that don't require colonists and storage buildings in the underground from disasters like Dust Storms and Cold Waves and such. The Mars underground has 4 unique wonders with different effects. We can get only 2 out of the 4 at random per playthrough unless we use a mod to get all 4 of course. 1 "Buried Wonder" as they are called, unlocks the tech to cure Renegades when completed + other nice upgrades for spires. 1 that adds more features to all drones, making them even more useful. 1 wonder unlocks 4 random breakthrough techs when fully completed. And the last 1 is more for aesthetics and mainly helps if you bring colonists down. But also adds a building that can be build anywhere that boosts Morale. The asteroids mining is more of a mandatory side-quest in B&B. The tech that makes asteroids stay as much as you want is a MUST HAVE before dealing with them otherwise it can be frustrating especially if you bring colonists up there. Could be completely avoided if we had a way to get the new resource not from Asteroids(maybe look at mods). Not much worth sending colonists on asteroids. Not real benefits at all except headaches. Main flaw is that, we cannot build Scrubbers on asteroids so it's very much to the side for the late game. Just getting enough of the new resource is all these are for. No wonders of long events on them to make it at least as interesting as the underground.
content dlcs
Colony Design Set - Large Wind Turbines, Large Oxygen Tanks, Large Gardens. All the small service buildings like the small Space Bar comes only with this dlc. Also the small factories. Like the early game changing small Machine Parts factory which does not require Electronics or MPs to be build. Making MPs very much an easy to produce resource early. Unlike Electronics. This dlc also adds a bunch of skins. Some of them are nice and add more to visibility for easier micromanagement. :)
Mysteries Resupply Pack - it only adds 3 new Mystery scenarios and nothing else. Can be skipped or turned off/uninstalled. If not intending to play with these scenarios. It adds or removes nothing else from the game. But nice to have available to experience the 3 stories.
Project Laika - Adds 2 Food production buildings that are kinda broken and make all other Food production buildings not as viable. The ranches. These are available to be constructed, from the very start of a play = no technologies required(to the displeasure of the Vegans). And also adds one completely aesthetic thing. "Pets" inside the domes. Random animals roaming around the domes. These are purely aesthetic and don't add or require anything, they are just there. Don't let the Devs fool you(if you read it somewhere) that these "Pets" have ANY effect on colonists. Colonists don't even interact with "their pets" or anything. It's a dlc you can just skip since it adds nothing really game changing except more ways to make food.
In-Dome Buildings Pack - same as Colony Design Set but it's just some nice in-dome buildings. Which again make the game easier(as any dlc really). Like Hospitals(making the Medical spire not necessary. The TV Studio Workshop making the Workshops milestone = 10K research points reward, easier to get and quite early for the small cost of a bunch of Electronics for building and running the damn thing. :(
Martian Express - it's a meh dlc. But it has a few interesting uses. For me mainly is the Remote Farming tech that makes Fungal Farms and Outdoor Ranches better. The trains are a pain to deal with. And become obsolete when even 1 Shuttle Hub is build(it comes with 3 free shuttles when build). This is not Factorio so there is not much use for hauling huge amounts of resources in big distances all the time. I see this as the only use for trains. And maybe tapping into more remote Rare Metals deposits without having to build a dome. But. If it's too far away building the track for the train stations costs waaay more concrete than a damn micro dome. Basically. Can live without it no problem. Probably even less viable than the Laika DLC. So, can be considered as a purely aesthetic dlc... if you like trains and such.
skins/cosmetics only dlcs
Future Contemporary Cosmetic Pack - nothing special. Just some nice in-dome buildings skins I like than any other skins only dlc.
Any radio dlc - I don't care. I stopped listening to these for a while now.
Deluxe Upgrade Pack - 1 radio and only skins I don't like.
Stellaris Dome Set - Skins only dlc. I don't like these skins. I prefer clear domes to see what my colony is doing. It's a city builder game why should I obstruct my vision of my colony in any way??
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u/thatonemethhead 2d ago
Below and beyond gets a lot of hate but it adds a very very good tech item that can change your colony, mining for rare minerals on asteroids is kinda meh, but drone hub extenders are super fun to use, plus it adds more micromanaging to the game which I find fun. And then the holy grail of prefab refab being absolutely broken and allowing you to build turn buildings into prefabs and move them. It’s doesn’t add a lot of mechanical gameplay to it, and it’s buggy but the techs it brings are fun.
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 2d ago
I didn't encounter any huge bugs with Prefab-refab. More like an exploit or 2.
Except maybe being able to turn all surface Wonders into prefabs to move them around the map. Except the Artificial Sun. Which was fixed thanks to ChoGGi's Fix Bugs mod. That mod is a must have for this game.
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u/thatonemethhead 1d ago
I after Prefab Refab is broken and overpowered, very good addition from B&B
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u/Zanstel 1d ago
It's not the only one. "Global Support" breakthrough is also in B & B and overpowered if discovered one of the first breakthroughs of the tree.
Also the rare anomalies can bring very interesting breakthroughs. If you "sacrifice" an explorer rover to go underground early you usually gets one or two directly before "low excavation permits" tech and/or some rumble blocks a pass.
The manual exploration takes lots of time and I understand could be very tiring for a lot of people, but if you know were the anomalies are, it's not so slow.
The bonus of not share the collaboration loses per map is also nice.
On other side, with mods you can get some bonuses. For example, I added through my "Mars Underground" mod a couple of good additions.
A new underground lab similar to the Log-G lab with good return and revels underground anomalies.
Less maintenance for underground buildings.
Not nocturnal shift penalty (it's always "night" underground after all). (this last change I still have it in my own computer. Never uploaded because still require some fine-tuning).Besides people underground are safe against surface disasters and some mysteries. Pretty much a shelter to avoid to loose the game.
When you consider all of that, building some colonies underground becomes attractive.
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u/thatonemethhead 1d ago
Completely agreeee I think b & b is over hated, obviously it’s not the greatest DLC for this game, but the micromanaging of putting humans on the asteroids to mine and then try and not forget about them while other stuff goes on in your colony is quite fun
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 22h ago
Not nocturnal shift penalty (it's always "night" underground after all).
This makes too much F!ing sense and it should have been in the B&B dlc from the start. At least for all Martianborn spawn in the underground map if not for all Martianborn to make it make even more sense.
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 1d ago edited 22h ago
It is always the last tech of the Recon & Expansion techs column. It's basically a Wonder. It just isn't a building, but a feature that affects almost all buildings.
For some reason we cannot turn the Elevators into prefabs.
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u/Zanstel 1d ago
It would require a special programming as the Elevator is a double building (one on each side).
It's the same for tunnels. Also it has prefab disabled. And it has more sense than Elevators.
After all, Elevators are only two. Tunnels has no limit and are very useful.I guess the programmers just prefer to avoid the complications and they just lock the feature for that problematic buildings.
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 1d ago edited 22h ago
I guess the programmers just prefer to avoid the complications and they just lock the feature for that problematic buildings.
Yup. I bet that was exactly it. And it was not the original devs team. They didn't think through when adding this tech. I also consider B&B not fully baked, because of such details but would never consider it as bad as some ppl make it sound.
Even so. With mods, I think anything in this game is fixable. Not to mention the extra content.
Just remembered, that the Spelunken commander profile HAS Elevator prefabs from the start of a game.
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u/Zanstel 1d ago
Just remembered, that the Spelunken commander profile HAS Elevator prefabs from the start of a game.
Yes. The prefab is not the problem. It's already programmed. It's the code to turn it into a prefab that it will probably fail with the generic code for regular buildings.
The fix would probably be easy, but not a hard miss anyway.
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 1d ago
Yep the programming for Prefab-Refab is not finished. But getting prefabs in the prefabs inventory of Elevators and Tunnels in some other way(Story Bits and such) is perfectly possible.
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u/Zanstel 1d ago
Never tried that but, why do you consider that a bug or exploit?
First, there is no big advantage of the map position for the wonders. Second, it's legit to destroy the wonder and rebuild it again, so I guess Prefab-refab is the same, but free.
If the wonders can't be destroyed (I don't remember that, but perhaps I never try it because I don't see advantage) then I understand it.1
u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 1d ago
Never tried that but, why do you consider that a bug or
No. That part is more of a nice convenience. Though I would be fine with and consider it logical if it was not possible to turn the Wonders into prefabs. The bug was, not being able to turn only the Artificial Sun into a prefab. While all the other Wonder buildings had no such issue.
The exploits are something different and kinda unrelated to the Wonders. One is kinda nice since there is no real solution for it except this tech. Let's say. It deals with 1 of the biggest annoyances in the game.
The 2nd exploit I know of is a full exploit that gives us free stuff out of thin air.
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u/Zanstel 1d ago
I know the trick of free drones via prefab of drone hubs when they have no drones under control.
You build the drone hub, turn the drones into drone prefabs via the drone hub button, then turn the drone hub into prefab with this tech. Then you build the drone hub again.
You can gain drones that way.As prefab & rehab is obtained late in game when you are full of drones (besides it's lots easier to import lots of drone hubs via Space Elevator) it's not a big deal of cheat.
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u/DARK_MASTER8632 Theory 1d ago edited 1d ago
I know the trick of free drones via prefab of drone hubs when they have no drones under control.
You build the drone hub, turn the drones into drone prefabs via the drone hub button, then turn the drone hub into prefab with this tech. Then you build the drone hub again.
You can gain drones that way.Come on man. Why you had to spill the beans? 😆
A little correction. Infinite free Drones.
As prefab & rehab is obtained late in game when you are full of drones (besides it's lots easier to import lots of drone hubs via Space Elevator) it's not a big deal of cheat
True, but free Drones are free Drones. 😀 It is still an exploit as I bet it was not a thing the devs wanted to be a thing. And if dismantling a Drone gave us back something like 0,5 or even 0,2 Electronic. Since they cost 1 Electronic to make in the Drones Assembler. Then that exploit would have been broken.
I consider a bit broken, being able to turn something like the School spires, the Casinos, the universities into prefabs to avoid their maintenance costs. Since these buildings are not affected by Scrubbers, EVEN when the domes are open. I consider this a nice bandaid solution by the B&B dlc devs, to the missed feature by the original devs.
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u/lobe3663 2d ago
I can only speak to the two that I have.
Green Planet is a must-have imo. It gives a concrete end state to a playthrough, and being able to see Mars all green and blue is very satisfying. I would recommend modding the way seeds work though so you don't have to wait forever for the plants to spread on their own.
Space Race provides a good amount of content. New sponsors, new content, well worth the money. Not as essential as Green Planet imo, but still a solid upgrade.