I’ve played both. Surviving Mars is definitely a more leisurely pace. I was able to beat the learning scenarios in OTC (some tool multiple tries) and did OK in one campaign game I played at a lower difficulty level. I didn’t find it unfair. It’s just hard to keep my eye on everything, especially what my competitor is building. I tend to focus a lot of just my area.
I don’t think it had the ability to pause and give orders when I played, but I think it did have that added afterwards - not sure though.
They really aren’t the same kind of game. It may be worth giving OTC another try and start with those learning scenarios. I think it was the 4th or 5th one that was very hard for me.
OTC is very hard to pin down but it’s not a city builder or supply chain game. In fact, playing it like a supply chain game is one of the best ways to get flattened instantly, as noted up thread. Trying to produce all the things you need is not good strategy here.
OTC is a total gem of a game that seems criminally underrated imho. It’s one of a kind.
Surviving Mars is great too - less unique in that it’s a city builder with a mars skin. The latest terraforming DLC adds quite a lot to that and as a science geek I do enjoy it. But OTC has a special place in my heart as something off the beaten track.
Yeah, I can’t heap enough praise onto OTC. It takes the RTS genre and imaginatively reinterprets it into a boardgame-esque economic game. Then it wraps it in a tight, thematic, package and even has a great AI. It’s not super wide (which can lead to it feeling a bit repetitive - I couldn’t play it endlessly) but it’s very deep.
And the ‘wideness’ is exactly what the expansions are addressing.
Thanks for this, it’s helpful. I’d largely come to the idea of running on cash and not trying to supply all my own needs on my own, but this helps crystalize why that’s a sound idea and might cause me to lean into it more.
Are you aware of any good help resources for the game? I feel like if I could just get a handle on the fundamentals I could find my own way from there, but it’s so unique that I haven’t got a good foothold.
There used to be classes on the OTC discord channel. A bunch of the top players there were ultra helpful. One of them, Blues, is the guy who did the amazing advanced tutorial DLC.
I wonder if that’s still a thing, but I bet you’d be very welcome there if you dropped by.
Also the game comes bundled with a super helpful PDF. I’ve read it a few times over my learning period.
Edit: hmmm. It seems the GOG version hasn’t been updated in a year and some other DLC was also never added to the platform? That’s mightily disappointing…
Maybe @SorenJohnson can confirm whether GOG is getting the DLC, and further updates?
