July Devlog: Foundations, Smarter Selection, and Dynamic Power for Hostile Mars

July was a month for groundwork—literally and figuratively. While much of our focus was on core building systems, the art team continued to shape the world’s industrial identity. Here’s what’s new and in progress on Mars:

🏗️ Foundations: Laying the Groundwork

The placement system got a major upgrade this month, making building both smarter and more flexible:

• Adaptive Snapping: Buildings now snap more intelligently to their surroundings, speeding up construction and reducing headaches.

• AddedBuild StagesWe introduced clearer build stages, from request to “ghost” preview, so you always know what’s being placed.

• Automatic Dependency Placement: The headline feature: foundations! Now, panels must connect to a foundation to be considered grounded. Foundations also help fill terrain gaps that don’t match the grid—perfect for smoothing out rough ground.

• Yes, you can pour concrete over the whole world (if you want to).

🟦 Selection: Precision Returns

Selection tools are back and better than before:

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  The new system provides much clearer visual feedback when selecting and deleting objects.

• While it currently supports deleting buildings, future updates will add multi-object editing, blueprints, and batch settings (imagine setting the recipe on 100 machines at once).

• Copy-paste is on the roadmap!

⚡ Powered Panels: Dynamic Power Grids

Expanding your base’s power network just got easier and more robust:

• The power grid system now uses the new building system to dynamically define panel connections.

• This means you can add panels of any shape—half walls, diagonal floors, and more—and they’ll intuitively propagate power through your structures.

• We’re looking forward to seeing what creative bases and power networks players build with these new tools.

🎨 Art: Facilities, Repairs, and Mars Transit

The art team’s been deep into facility and transport exploration:

• Damaged vs. Repaired Facilities: New concept art shows facilities in both their ruined and restored states, helping set the visual tone for player-driven progress.

  Steam post image Steam post image

  Transport Concepts: From mining convoys to futuristic cargo haulers, new transport designs are helping us imagine how resources move across Mars.

• Facility Exploration: These visuals capture the difference between an abandoned outpost and one brought back to life—one of the core themes of Hostile Mars.

🔭 Looking Ahead

Every piece of groundwork this month supports bigger ideas on the horizon—from creative base layouts to smarter automation and evolving world art. Thank you for following along, sharing feedback, and helping us build Mars one panel at a time.

And yes, part of our team is in Sweden—so if progress seemed a little slower, just know July is practically a national month off over there. We promise they’ll be back (and full of cinnamon buns) soon!

– The Hostile Mars Team