"Mars Horizon" & "Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager" games

[IncompetentSpacer]

Being bit empty for ideas for what to do in KSP but still keen on space related games , I tested two games that are both related to space programs (although not in a way KSP is)  - the focus is the management of such programs - but both of them have chosen very different approach .  This is my take on those two games so that other forum users may get idea on what to play next OR what to avoid.

TLDR version:

Both games are good in their own way imho but do your research to see whether this is something for you. These games are space program management games with Mars Horizon being more user friendly and easier to get into with a more lightweight approach to the matter, while Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager is more management simulation oriented and bit harder to get in with far less hand holding.

 

 

Mars Horizon

 

Reading reviews on this game, it is often compared to KSP to explain what type of the game this is - which I found to be a bit lazy writing since it is like comparing horses to radish on account that they are both carbon based life forms...

The game itself is a space program management game, where you pick your space agency (NASA, ESA, Soviet, Chinese, etc...) starting in 1957 and have as the ultimate goal to achieve crewed landing at Mars. To achieve that you must accomplish so-called milestones (first satellite, EVA, landing on moon, etc...) which will be unlocked mostly through mission research. You are competing with AI led space agencies for being first to achieve these milestones and rewards they give - being second, third, etc reduces the reward you get for doing this. 

On more practical terms this means that you are managing the space program directly - you are in charge of base building, research of rockets, missions and buildings, very simplified rocket design and finally also launch dates. All of these activities are financed through research points (unlocked through rewards for missions and milestones) and monthly money income which is increased through public support for your program (mainly) which again is increased through successfully completing missions and achieving milestones . Simply put - the better you are at your job, the easier it gets.

Since if you are reading this, this being KSP forum and all, you will be perhaps interested in how the rocket design and piloting of such designs is implemented. Nothing at all as in KSP....

You are basically setting up pre-designed two parts rocket, consisting of a booster and upper stage which you have unlocked through research. The rockets you create cannot be used outside of the missions AND the piloting is being done through puzzle mini games (which can be skipped, but I did not because of the extra resources you  get if you are very successful).

 

What I think:

The game is extremely easy to get in, with a very good UI and can be surprisingly challenging on higher difficulties  - in a good way.  Competition with rival agencies really spiced up this game - I launched in the middle of storm, suffered electric errors which increased difficulty in the subsequent puzzle game, all in order to beat NASA's mission to the moon. Easy is really Easy in this game, so I recommend to play in higher difficulties.

But if you are playing chiefly KSP because you are enjoying building your own designs and are looking to  scratch this scratch - this game is not for you.

 

Gameplay (I am not affiliated with this guy, he was the first result in youtube)

 

Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager

If you know what Slitherin stands for or BARIS is a game you played in 90s, you don't need to read further. And probably you know already about BASPM.

For the rest of you this game is in same venue as Mars Horizon except being limited to the race to the moon as end objective, where this is just intermediary goal for Mars Horizon . Both games share many concepts but differ in implementation.

Just as in Mars Horizon you are in charge of base building (technically here you are just upgrading buildings), research (much more complicated than in Mars Horizon) and deciding on which program to focus on. The biggest difference is the complexity of manpower management - recruitment and training of astronauts (each having several skillets) , researchers (which have 5 areas of expertise) and mission controllers (again - several area of expertise). People don't get productive at their job the day you hire them and they are not 100% experts in their field. This means that all you employees will sooner or later need additional training/education to become better at their job and all of this takes time. If you want to be landing on moon in 1969, you better lay groundwork for it in 1954. And finances are much tighter here in the beginning compared to the Mars Horizon.

BASPM is a much more complex game where you really need  to plan years ahead. In this game I first checked out the moon landing mission and then worked my way back to the first Sputnik mission (played as soviet). Notepad (electronic or paper) is a recommended secondary tool. My experience with project planning IRL helped here - it made game definitely easier.

Research is organized around programs and rockets and unlike Mars Horizon, the launch dates are organized abstractly. However you have directly hand in picking the team/crew that is organizing and expediting the launch of the rocket/misision. 

And unlike Mars Horizon there is no a puzzle game here but rather you are observing entire mission from sort of a mission control overview where you can see how the mission progresses through rendering of trajectory and videos/animations showing events.  If things go bad (and often they did for me) you can call in extra teams to help or use your own crew to try to solve them.

Both Mars Horizon and BASPM have really interesting ingame encyclopedia which are good reads.

What I think:

User hostile GUI, not greatest graphics out ther, hard to understood details of the game and generally very punishing game if you commit some early mistakes in your career may be discouraging for many. I restarted 4 times so I could correct early mistakes (I run also three saves with end of season time stamp, beginning of new season, current save). That said, the sense of accomplishment here is much greater than in Mars Horizon (and I am no fan of puzzles). If you are fan of Slitherine as publisher, you know what you are in for - both the bad and good. If you have no idea what I just wrote, do yourself a favor and watch a gameplay video before buying this game. Me? - I will now do a replay as director of NASA.

Gameplay (again, not affiliated to the  guy).

 

 

Edited November 29, 2020 by IncompetentSpacer

[Cydonian Monk]

I've played the snot out of BASPM, and really like it. A well researched game with a somewhat painful UI. It's an older game now, maybe 5 years old? Really wish it was more amenable to mods or user-added missions. The late parts of the game are very empty. Perfect example of a game that could've been improved with some community access. The "Tiger Teams" nonsense they added is hot garbage though, and breaks mission game flow in a bad way. I know some of that was inherited from BARIS, but that doesn't mean it's a good mechanism. It's occasionally on sale on Steam but hasn't been updated in years.

I've played Mars Horizon (both months ago with the prelaunch demo and here recently after release), probably 30 hours or so in total. While the UI looks nice, is reasonably well organized, and the game as a whole has great artwork, I absolutely despise the math minigame. I also get the distinct impression the game designer has a poor working knowledge of space exploration, and at times lacks even the most basic concept of orbital mechanics. Neither of those directly affect the game, but they do detract from the feel it. Lots of things in it just feel _off_. (Ex: As USSR you've unlocked Buran as a launch vehicle, but can't use it as a payload. So you end up doing silly things like launching a Vostok capsule in the cargo bay and then do the mission from the Vostok.) Don't get me wrong though - it's a decent enough game for the money, and reasonably entertaining. I have to turn off the screen warping "failure" animations in the accessibility menu every time I launch the game though, because the game refuses to remember the setting and the animations themselves give me a migraine (which is the first time in my life anything like that has bothered me).   

Neither of these games are anything like KSP though. I've really never understood seeing those comparisons in reviews of them. Or maybe some folks see the campaign side of KSP as something more than a poorly bolted-on mess? KSP is only barely functional as a strategy/resource game while being a great builder and flight/space simulator. Those other two games are legit strategy resource management sims with zero flight simulator bits.

Edited November 29, 2020 by Cydonian Monk

[IncompetentSpacer]

23 hours ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Neither of these games are anything like KSP though. I've really never understood seeing those comparisons in reviews of them. Or maybe some folks see the campaign side of KSP as something more than a poorly bolted-on mess? KSP is only barely functional as a strategy/resource game while being a great builder and flight/space simulator. Those other two games are legit strategy resource management sims with zero flight simulator bits.

I think it has to do that they (and KSP) belong to their own genre of games and your average game journalist cant put those in nice fitting categories they are used to. 

Mars Horizon and BASPM are clearly their own category and KSP falls in another one.  But to reviewers all of them have rockets in them.

On related note, BASPM has been updated now and then - last time in august last year.  But yes both Slithering and developer company have moved on to something else.