Mars: Gusev Crater
Welcome to Mars!
On 4 January 2004, NASA succesfully landed the Mars Exploration Rover MER-A Spirit in the Gusev Crater on the surface of Mars. On 22 March 2010, all contact with Spirit was lost.
On 18 February 2021 at 20:55 UTC, NASA successfully landed Perseverance, nicknamed Percy, on the surface of Mars. In honour Percy’s successfull landing, and in memory of Spirit, this map contains a real terrain replication of the Gusev Crater, Spirit’s landing site.
WARNING: This is not a regular map. There is no water.
I’m not kidding, there isn’t a single water spawn on this map. You must find a way around this, just like the future colonists in the upcoming missions to settle Mars.
Music suggestion: Quantum Sonics radiochannel from Surviving Mars Deluxe Edition. Which I listened to whilst making this map.
Details:
– A large open crater on Mars
– Real Mars terrain, data courtesy of NASA. Aside from concessions required due to the game’s limitations and basic gameplay elements, the terrain is completely based on the heightmaps supplied by NASA.
– Available connections: Highway, Rail, Plane. Highway and Rail are underground until the starting tile.
– Starting tile is located in what is very roughly thought to be the Spirit’s landing location (very roughly, as the game is not very lenient in where you want the tile grid to go, and technology then wasn’t as accurate as today. In contrast, Percy landed entirely autonomously, chose her own landing site, and transmitted her exact location back home. We even have actual videos of the landing!)
– NO WATER.
– Available resources: A tiny bit of ore. Need anything else? Terraform it!
– Boreal map with custom map theme.
– No trees (duh)
– The main 25 tiles cover pretty much the entire crater.
If you want to play it in a different environment (For instance, as a lunar landscape, or as a terraformed planet), you can use the Environment Changer (+ Improved Theme Selection) mod.
Is the map to scale?
No. The game’s map is limited to 17,2 by 17,2 kilometers. Gusev Crater has a diameter of 160 kilometers. You can see it from space, it’s that big. (see screenshots)
Why is there no water?
Because we still haven’t found actual liquid water on Mars.
If you need help, water towers don’t need water, you can use Extra Landscaping Tools to place waterspawns, or you can use the Eco sewage cleaners in the Green Cities DLC to convert sewage from the pipes into clean water and make your own lakes the gameplay-way.
Why is there no detailing of any kind? I’ve seen your screenshots of cities!
I’m sorry, have you seen Mars lately?
Why are there no trees?
There are no trees on Mars.
Not until you terraform it, anyway.
Why are there no rocks? Mars is covered in rocks!
Game limits. I tried adding rocks, by the time I was about 1/3rd of the way done, I had hit both the Building and Prop limits. I could’ve turned them into PO, but that would’ve made PO a mandatory mod.
Why is there no Spirit rover prop on the map?
Because there isn’t one in the workshop. Sadly. And my Blender skills current extend to turning a cube into a sphere.
Why did you choose Gusev Crater, and not Jezero (Percy’s landing site)?
Because Gusev is more interesting in terms of terrain. It’s a giant crater, where as the Jezero Delta is mostly just flat and a bit hilly.
Used for screenshots: Reshade, Relight, Ultimate Eyecandy.
If you run into any problems or have any questions, please let me know.
And of course all comments, likes and favs are much appreciated! I’d love to see the city you build on it! 🙂
