Units in Surviving Mars Surviving Mars Guide & Walkthrough
Last update: 20 March 2018
In this chapter you will learn why managing your units, especially the remote ones is very important.
Rockets
You can use rockets to import Earth supplies and transport colonists. Rockets are re-usable vehicles - refuel them to deliver rare metals back to Earth and increase the project funding. Until your colony becomes self-sufficient, you will use rockets quite often.
RC Rover
A remote vehicle which can transport drones to remote locations. RC Rover is battery charged but you can also charge it at any part of the power cable. This vehicle can be very useful when you want to build new facilities in an area which cannot be reached by your Drone Hub. It can also serve as support for your Drone Hub.
Drones
Drones are the main workforce of your colony. They transport resources extracted from surface deposits, build and maintain buildings, and repair damaged facilities and vehicles. They can work all by themselves. They can function only within the reach of your Drone Hub. You can give them orders or assign priorities to certain buildings. This way, they will get to work much faster. They use batteries and need to be charged often - this takes place inside RC Rovers, at Recharge Stations and Drone Hubs. Dust can immobilize your drones.
RC Transporter
Its role is to transport goods. RC Transporter is useful for transporting resources which are located beyond your drones' reach. These vehicles can use fixed transport routes and offer a steady flow of random or specific resources. They can extract resources from the surface (metals and polymers), which makes it possible to exploit deposits located far away. RC transporters use batteries and can charge at any part of the power cable. An optional but a very useful vehicle, especially when you don't have access to metal deposits located deep beneath the earth.
RC Explorer
The vehicle transports modern research apparatus which can be used to analyze anomalies. This is the only vehicle that can analyze them. RC explorers use batteries and can charge at any part of the power cable. Necessary if you want to speed up your technology research.
Shuttle
Building a shuttle is a good way to quickly transport resources and colonist between distant domes. Extremely useful when building a dome far away from your colony.
Colonists
There are many "types" of colonists in Surviving Mars. Every colonist has different perks, education, and origin. You need them to develop your colony. Take good care of them and make sure that their morale stays high.
Find more about colonists in chapter "Colonists".