Hey everyone! This has been the biggest update since the first campaign was put together. I wanted reaching the end of Phase 1 to feel like the start of a new challenge, not the end of the road, so this patch adds Prestige, new worlds to settle, and a little more reason to chase those daily contracts.
Prestige Is Here
After finishing Phase 1, you can now choose to Prestige and begin a new colony. Your old colony is wrapped up, but each new run lets you pick lasting bonuses that shape how you play. You might lean into faster construction, cheaper surveying, deeper deposits, stronger connected production, bigger market capacity, or the ability to fill awkward gaps between your build zones.
Prestige runs do get a little tougher, but the goal is to give you new ways to solve familiar problems rather than simply make the numbers larger. You can still keep playing your current colony if you are not ready to start over.
Two New Worlds to Settle
Your first Prestige also unlocks two alternative maps. Each has its own terrain and rules, so the same colony plan will not work everywhere:
- Tempest Barrens has frequent, punishing dust storms. Outposts are cheaper and deposits are more plentiful, but Battery Banks work much harder. It is a good place to test a power-focused colony.
- Deep Frontier makes exploration cheap and the market more generous, but expanding your infrastructure costs more. It is built for players who like planning around big resource finds and careful growth.
You can check a map's effects from the Colony menu at any time. It now shows your explored area, active map rules, and the Prestige bonuses powering your current run.
Daily Leaderboard Rewards
The daily Contract Leaderboard now pays out rewards to the top 25 commanders when the standings close. Open the game after the reset and any reward waiting for you will be delivered automatically. First place earns 25 Cores, with rewards continuing down through 25th place, so there is now something to play for beyond seeing your name near the top.
I also added all-time Contract Points and Prestige leaderboards, alongside the daily standings, for anyone who wants a longer-term measure of their progress.
A Few Useful Polish Passes
I have also been smoothing out the parts of colony management that get busier as your map grows. The Building Finder is now organized by category, Battery Banks get more efficient when built together, and the Battery Bank itself is a bit cheaper to set up. Master Builder's gap-filling prices have also come down, so that prestige perk is more practical in a real colony.
There are more maps, perks, and late-game goals I want to build from here. For now, I hope this gives you a fresh reason to head back to Mars. Happy colonizing!