Mars Alive – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

June 17, 2019

Over 5 Games Coming This Week for PlayStation VR Including Vacation Simulator

Last weeks Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) had a few exciting updates when it came to virtual reality (VR) news but there was a noticeable absence when it came to Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and PlayStation VR. Well fear not, as the headset has a nice little lineup of titles coming this week.

Mini-Mech Mayhem

The popular headset has six videogames scheduled for release this week. For those after a beautiful fairytale there is Funomena’s Luna. An interactive, narrative-driven experience, the story focuses on a young bird enticed to eat the last piece of the waning Moon by mysterious Owl and is subsequently blown far from home. Players must untangle the bird’s memories, solving a sequence of celestial puzzles to unlock each level’s tree, plant and animal spirits. In doing so they can then plant and cultivate plants within terrariums, making them grow a flourish in a bid to bring life back to the moonless world.

For a more sci-fi vibe, there’s Mars Alive. Developed by Winking Entertainment, Mars Alive is a survival experience where you will have to monitor the status of your Oxygen, Food, Water and Temperature. You’ll be able to grow a variety of crops, controlling the temperature, humidity, and water alternately in the cabin as well as exploring the Martian landscape.

Mini-Mech Mayhem, on the other hand, is designed for some strategic multiplayer gaming. A comedy-infused tabletop battle experience, Mini-Mech Mayhem sees players take the form of robot avatars partnered with cute little mechs to battle opponents as a team. With both single-player and up to four-player online support, Mini-Mech Mayhem is very much like a colourful game of chess.

Slum Ball screenshot1

If you’re after something slightly different then there’s visual novel Project Lux by Spicy Tails. Originally due for release in 2018, Project Lux tells the tale of a court trial set in a futuristic world where most humans have cyberbrains. On trial is an agent who coordinates with artists to create data for cyberbrains which can interact with people’s emotions. The victim is a girl artist named Lux, and the jury has to investigate what really happened by reliving the memory data of the defendant.

Already out for European players and coming to North America this week is Slum Ball. The videogame is a photorealistic physics-based paddle ball game with a creative twist – instead of a regular wooden bat, the player has a shabby flip flop and rather than slugging a ball, the player gets a beverage can to use as a ball.

Last on the list is probably the best known out of all the videogames arriving this week, Owlchemy Labs’ Vacation Simulator. Launched for PC a couple of months ago, the title is a charming parody on taking time off from work. Set across three areas, a beach, forest and mountain, you’ll be able to engage in all sorts of activities to while away the hours.

All these titles will be available by Friday at the latest. For further PlayStation VR content updates, keep reading VRFocus.

June 6, 2019

Mars Alive Completes Kickstarter Campaign, On Course for Summer PlayStation VR Launch

At the start of May, Winking Entertainment began a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for a new virtual reality (VR) sci-fi adventure called Mars Alive. With a relatively small funding goal of HK$39,300 (around £3,800 GBP), the campaign was successful with the developer now confirming a launch will take place in a couple of weeks for PlayStation VR.

Mars Alive

Exclusive to Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) headset, Mars Alive is an open-world survival experience along similar lines to the movie The Martian. In the near future, you’re part of a plan to colonise Mars. A member of an 18 strong team, disaster strikes the colony and all but two survive. It’s then up to players to salvage what’s left of what’s remaining and try to uncover what happened.

Supplies such as oxygen tanks and food ingredients are scattered around but players will have to monitor the status of their Oxygen, Food, Water and Temperature if any of these drops to zero then their health will begin to decrease. Winking Entertainment has built a complete planting simulation system, allowing players to grow a variety of crops, controlling the temperature, humidity, and water alternately in the cabin. Players can choose to simply be a farmer on Mars, watering and fertilizing plants every day, turning their crops into meals and leaving the other tasks alone.

However, Mars Alive has multiple endings depending on how the videogame is played. These can only be uncovered by taking dangerous risks and going out to explore. As such the story will unfold and they’ll learn more about what’s going on on the planet.

Mars Alive

The studio does note on the Kickstarter page that while Mars Alive is currently supporting the PlayStation VR only, the team may consider platforms such as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in the future, once the initial release has taken place.

Winking Entertainment has released quite a few VR titles in the past, such as Unearthing Mars, Reborn: A Samurai Awakens, Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War, Paper Dolls, 18 Floors and The Walker, all with varying degrees of success. When the final launch details are available, VRFocus will let you know.

May 2, 2019

Dev Behind Unearthing Mars and Paper Dolls Begins Kickstarter Campaign for PlayStation VR Title Mars Alive

Chinese developer and publisher Winking Entertainment has quite the catalogue on PlayStation VR. Since the launch of the headset the studio has released titles such as Unearthing Mars, Reborn: A Samurai Awakens, Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War, Paper Dolls, 18 Floors and The Walker. It now wants to add another to that list in the form of Mars Alive, launching a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to help development.

Mars Alive - Space Hab

Developed by Future Tech over the last couple of years, Mars Alive is an open-world survival experience where players have to deal with the harsh reality of living on the red planet.

The story takes place in AD 2045. 18 volunteers were part of Project Monolith III a Mars Immigration plan. That was until a mysterious terrorist attack killed most of them, leaving only two survivors. With the colony destroyed players need to focus on uncovering the mystery behind the attack, whilst trying to stay alive.

Even though the colony was destroyed there’s plenty to salvage with survival supplies such as oxygen tanks and food ingredients left scattered around the facilities. Players will have to monitor the status of their Oxygen, Food, Water and Temperature, if any of these drops to zero then their health will begin to decrease.

Mars Alive - Crops

Due to the amount of time the studio has already spent on Mars Alive the campaign isn’t looking to raise colossal amounts of cash – unlike the recent Firmament campaign. The goal is to raise HK$39,300 (around £3,800 GBP) to help with the last stages of development such as bug fixing and asset polishing, plus localisation efforts including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Both Simplified & Traditional Chinese).

Funding tiers start from HK$39/$5 USD/£4, but to gain access to the videogame you’ll need to pledge HK$78/$10/£8 for the limited Early Access run. After that PlayStation VR owners will need to spend HK$117/$15/£11. The campaign will last a month, and even if it’s not successful Mars Alive will still be released, just a little later than the intended July 2019 window.

Head on over to the Kickstarter page for more info. As further details are released, VRFocus will keep you updated.