My first goal is to get more missions available. So i start researching the following technologies

- Small Lander
- Low-Gain
- Environmental Analysis Station (EAS)

Optional you can also research the Multi-Zoom Camera which I will do. With it you can zoom in on objects that would be to far away for the standard cam.



I want to have the Small Lander right in the beginning because he is somewhat mobile and can finish more than just one mission. Besides that, isn't it a pitty to bomb mars with useless probes? ;-)


It takes about 3 days to research all this stuff.

startbudget: 3000K
after research: 1495K

One important thing before landing vehicles is to check the weatherconditions. A Lander, for example, gets very unmaneuverable when there is to much wind. It also needs more fuel for maneuvering to the landingspot. If unlucky it could even crash against a rockwall ... or loose a leg



Next point is the time of day at the landingzone. Not very important for a probe but you actually want to see something when driving your Rover. And it gets really dark on Mars.

So my first mission will be to send one Probe to each of the 4 sectors for first reconnaisence before launching any Lander.

You can recognize Probemission at those big striped circles around a missionmarker. Those mark the area where you must be in to complete the attached mission. Actually its enough to just hit the zone at one outer edge to be able to complete it. This might help in further missionplanning.

1. Victoria Crater

I'm starting with a launch of a Basic-Probe (BP) in the upper left corner of the map. The 3 missions in the center of Victoria Crater i will keep for a Lander.



Would be suicidal to drop a Lander now. Always check weatherwarnings.



Let's go on dropping Probes in the other sectors ....

1 BP in Lyot Crater



Kaiser Crater will get a Probe with EAS (P-EAS) as the landingsite is on a mountain and a rover could have problems climbing it.



Pretty rough weather here. Leaving my probe with a broken camera.



Next and last Probe will be another P-EAS on Gale Crater



This EAS Sample earned a nice amount of money



Startbudget: 1495K
end of Probemissions: 2257K

Those probes dont earn much money. So lets build a Small Lander in the Lab adding ...

- one battery
- Low-Gain
- one Multi-Zoom Camera
- EAS

... and call it SL-EAS



Good weatherconditions in Victoria Crater



Those three missions in the center will be for the lander



The Multi-Zoom Camera delivers good pictures



Collecting an EAS sample. You can use an EAS 10 times. Then the probecontainer is full.



... already finished 2 missions
Assigning a new mission to the Lander on the Map (key "M")



... and off we go, hold Spacebar and click on "Fly to Waypoint



You can see your remaining fuel in the lower right corner



Collected another EAS sample, took some pics and i wonder if i can finish this one last mission with the remaining fuel.



Pretty close. The Lander makes an emergency landing



But ... still managed to get in the missionzone



5 missions with this one Lander. Let's do the same in the remaining 3 sectors. I will finish the left over missions with the rover.



Leaving the Lander behind as Marsjunk

Budget after this mission: 3877K



Tips:

- sometimes the lander comes down pretty harsh and might loose the camera.
- try not to land the lander in rough terrain as it will have problems to land. If the terrain is not plain enough, he can fall over and might get another piece of marsjunk a bit to early.
- try to start missions on higher terrain as the lander uses less fuel if flying downhills.
- Watch the radius of missions as it is enough to land at the edge of the missionzone to be able to finish it. Sometimes the lander grounds just a few meters to far away from it, so you might wonder why you cant complete misisons.
- After landing you are often able to take some extra pictures. I always check the HUD for those small arrows (left side of screen on the picture)



Lyot Crater

I chose a bad landingspot here. Cost me extra fuel.



... if i planned better i might have got this last mission as well.



Not enough fuel for this last mission in Kaiser Crater too.



This landingspot is just crazy here in Gale Crater. Better theres no wind blowing or your Lander pulverizes ;-)



About time to get something more mobile ...



Budget after finishing the Landermissions: 7739K

So those landers are nice but not very efficient. But earned me enough cash to do some more research

- Small Rover
- Soil Analysis Probe (Probe)
- Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)
- Environmental Monitoring Station (EMS)
- Thermal Generator, small

If you like to continue using the lander you need to research the "Robotic Arm-Small Lander" as you need it to operate the Soil Analysis Probe. Pitty enough there is no such arm for the small rover so i will skip those missions and wait till i have the medium rover.

You could also research the Zero-G probe and start exploring Deinos or even the asteroid belt.
But I stay with the rover.

In place of the Thermal Generator you could also research Solarcell and Solar-Array. But those need two slots and one of those i need for my build.

Budget after research: 3499K

Lets build the Small Rover and equip it with:

- Thermall Generator
- Multi-Zoom Camera, front
- EAS (can take max. 10 samples)
- EMS (takes samples automatically)
- APXS (back)
(Batteries and Low-Gain are not required for this vehicle)

I call it SR-EASM-APXS



If you prefer solar energy you need to remove the EAS or EMS as the solarcell uses one of those slots. In this case i would switch for the EAS and make it somekind of mobile weatherstation.
Because of the solarcells it will be usable until it breaks. The thermal generator only works for about 2 years (says the description). BTW. it's a beta and it doesnt matter if your bettries are empty. You still can drive the rover.

Keep in mind that you can use EAS only for 10 samples. EMS and APXS only measure temperature, airpressure and radiation so they dont have a samplecontainer.

One downside is, that you need to repositon your rover in order to take fotos as the cam is fixed.

And now there's a lot to do for the rover. All those crosses mark Main- and side missions. This bright cross marks your main mission those darker ones are sidemissions that you can acomplish with the connected vehicle and equipment. This bright red cross marks an extra pictur mission for example. If you are irritated by all those markers, you can change the settings in you HUD by clicking on "MIS" and then on "To Tasks". Now there is only one marker that shows the main mission.



Selecting the tool view lets you check for available APXS, EAS and EMS missions. Which tool you need to accomplish the mission is shown at the missionmarker.



Watch out driving downhills. This rover is better driving uphills.

If there is a storm coming up, try to hide your vehicle behind a big rock. The wind is pretty harsh and often destroys components of your ride.

I guess by completing missions with the rover will help you to not get bankrupt.

Hope this small guide helped a bit and was somewhat enjoyable to read.