I just downloaded Sketchup, and, once I figured it out, I'm loving it!! Here's a picture of my first project:

yes, the body looks like a canteen bottle. xD It needs some body work, engines, knitpicking, smoothing, and some sort of cab, but what do you think for a first try? Don't worry, Seb, I'm not much of a threat to your glory :P Also, the beast is almost 850 feet wingspan, is that way too big to use as a map, or can it be scaled? And, can I have a summary of how to turn it into a map when I'm happy with it? Thanks ;)

~Alex

 

So who's in?

***RATE THIS VEHICLE***

 

 

 

How do I use Whirld Preview 100215? All I get is stars floating off into space. Has anyone ever been able to play/test their world using that release version?

 

For all my projects I am working on, I used 100212. However, I want to use animations in my projects now, and I haven't been able to get 100215 to work. (You cannot use 100212 for animations)

 

Does anyone have an answer to this question?

 

Thanks,

TechieTotoro

The Not So Distant Future...

"Shuttle prepped for launch, and the buggies are loaded."

"Great, Jay. We'll be right there." Flynn turned to the rest of his team. "Our job's easy. We go in, we make sure the tach-com is working properly, change the settings to accept our transmissions, and get out. Questions?"

"What about that thing that's out there?" Ariel Johnson asked. Flynn groaned mentally. All it took was one rumor... Still, it didn't matter. He was almost certain that there wasn't anything tangible there. Dust, a sensor glitch, nothing major.

"We don't know if there is anything there. It might have been a problem with the sensors. However, we will be going in with our shield down so we can use our maximum scanning capacity. So Jay, fly carefully."

"Got it." No more questions materialized, and the group climbed aboard the shuttle.

"I wonder how Jackal and Spitfire are doing," Flynn said.

***

On the surface, Spiridon Brand was not happy. "What do they expect us to find, footprints? Tire tracks? I'm a geologist, not a tracker. Besides, this isn't Luna. Winds, dust, and lightning, not an unchanging landscape that stays the same for years!"

"You think that you're out of your depth? I'm an archaeologist! I'm better at finding entire civilizations that have been dead for millenia than at finding a nomadic, living group."

"Just venting a bit," Spiridon assured him.

"Same here," Jackal replied. "Besides, we know where they found the grass, so we've got a starting place at least."

"Pity we couldn't take a hovercraft or the jet. We could use the extra speed."

"We'll get there soon. Besides, the hover fields would have wreaked havoc with any tracks that were there."

"True." Silence held for the remainder of the brief journey to the field. The grass there was brown, seemingly dead. "Well, they wouldn't have stayed here," Spiridon sighed.

"Hold on, I'll grab a sample of it," Jackal said. He climbed out of his buggy and cut a blade off. He placed it in a sample jar, then held it up to the light. Suddenly, he saw something glint green on the horizon. "Spitfire, you see that?"

"What?"

"Horizon line, green, reflective." Spiridon squinted.

"I see it. It's out of sensor range."

"Go have a look. Shields up, though, minimum strength. I'll look around here." Spitfire's buggy took off with a cloud of dust behind it.

"I'll check back when I can get a reading."

"Good luck." Jackal looked around and sighed. "You'd think they'd have left a HELP or something."

*** 

"We'll enter Phobos orbit in three minutes."

"Thanks Jay." Flynn switched over to the group comm. "Alright, comm check, everyone."

"The Dude, ready."

"Supercheese, prepared."

"Tigerstorm, accounted for."

"Flyclub, all set. Jay, you hear all that?"

"This is Solar Flare, I hear you loud and clear." Flynn laughed quietly to himself. Call-signs were good reminders of how individual people were.

"What do the sensors say, Jay?"

"Just normal debris. Nothing that would explain what I saw."

"I'll check the sensors when we get back to base. Last thing we need is..." A warning buzzer cut him off.

"I've got something! Starboard side, just coming around the moon!" Everyone rushed to the nearest window. As the shield plates slid back, all gaped at the enormous shape, looming over the satellite's horizon.

***

"Mission log, day 35..."

"Pause playback." The computer obeyed a bleary-eyed Glast's command.

"What is it, Tess?"

"Tom, use your head. We've skimming through over 800 hours of footage for the past 5 hours, and have found no references to secrecy, covert operations, or even who bluffed who at the weekly poker game!" Babage ran through his best options. A: become defensive, and irritate an already annoyed coworker; B: Become silent and ponder philosophy while Glast calmed down; or C: accede to the demands of both their tired brains for sleep. C seemed the best of all.

"Alright, then. We can come back to this later. You go get some sleep, I'll just watch this last log entry and turn in for the night." The prospect of sleep visibly calmed Glast.

"Okay. See you in the morning." As Glast stood and stretched, Babage resumed the playback.

"Orders came through today. We're to build a bunker, a safe-room beneath the base. Why this is being insisted upon seems evident, but the reactors have been stable since we brought them online. However, the orders were signed by Aubrey. We're also to keep this off the records, and not mention it in our logs, communications, or supply sheets. I'm not sure why so much secrecy is required, but I'm nervous now that something's happened with one of the test reactors on Earth. If these things are oversized bombs, I see the need for a bunker. But why the covert nature?" Tom turned. Glast had stopped with her hand on the door pad.

"There's something fishy about this. If they weren't supposed to mention these orders, why is this here?" An information request showed why. LOG, DAY 35, ERASED FROM PRIMARY MEMORY. TRANSFERED TO MISSION RECORDING DEVICE/BLACK BOX PRIOR TO ERASURE. "But Aubrey didn't know about the bunker! How could he have given the orders?" Glast's frustration was obvious, but Babage's thoughts turned to the less so.

"Perhaps he did know. Glast, we need to talk to Aubrey. Privately."

"You can't be thinking that..."

"'The simplest explanation is most likely the correct one.'"

"Tom, Occam's Razor does not mean that Aubrey is lying to everyone!"

"Even so, we have to make sure. And, on that thought, we should bring our CMO with us." Babage locked the files, then headed for sickbay, Glast following worriedly. 

***

"What is it?" Johnson gasped. The station was at least 1,000 times the size of their shuttle. Kestrel tapped a few controls, and a partial tri-d of the station appeared.

"There's no registry beacon, so it's not one of ours. Anyone recognize it?"

"I think so," Flynn said. "Run a comparison between this and any large spacecraft lost in the last 20 years." Images scrolled over the screen. Finally, one matched. "Voyager 3!" Flynn was astounded. "I worked on that station as an intern! The first exploratory space station...and so far, the last."

"Wait, so that thing is from Earth?" Dustin Brown was skeptical. "Then why isn't it common knowledge? Something that size could not have been built in orbit without someone noticing."

"Geostationary orbit over Antarctica," Flynn explained. "NASA was skeptical about it. It was revolutionary, and as such, prototypical. Automated robotic maintenance systems, full size flight section, high speed shuttles that could break the sound barrier without a sound..."

"So it was expensive. Why is it here though?" Dustin demanded.

"The maintenance systems malfunctioned, and began damaging parts of the ship. They were equipped with heat shields, and if they had made it to Earth..." No explanation was necessary.

"Why'd they send it to Mars?"

"They didn't. It was launched towards the sun, but contact was lost shortly after it passed Mercury."

"Well, guess we know where it wound up now," Brown said drily. "Should we ignore it?" Flynn turned to Kestrel.

"Jay, are you reading an atmosphere?" The scans came back quickly.

"Oxy-nitro, well within Earth normal. 1G as well." Flynn nodded in thought.

"What are you reading on the relay station?"

"Intact, operational. We don't even have to go down there, I can reset the permissions remotely."

"Alright then. Jay, you take care of the relay. Everyone else, suit up. We're going over there." As the rest of the group headed for the launch bay, Flynn opened a channel back to base. "Aubrey, you're not going to believe what we found."

***

As Flynn outlined what they had discovered, Falconer's expression grew more and more incredulous. "You're right, I don't believe it. Or at least, I wouldn't without those scans. Apart from you and me, only 30 people know about the scuttling of Voyager 3. Find out what brought it here, and then relay those findings back to me."

"No problem. Clubbaire out." As soon as the channel closed, Aubrey checked the status of the relay. The link was set. He typed in his password, and prepared to make a call to Mission Control. He was about to press the Connect button when his door chimed.

"Come in." Glast, Babage, and Futureboy walked in. "Did you find something?" Falconer asked.

"We did," Babage said. "Before we tell you what we found, we have to make sure of something."

"Alright, what?" Futureboy stepped forward.

"If you would place your hand on this pad?" Falconer did so. "What is your name," Futureboy asked.

"Aubrey Falconer."

"What is 6 times 7?"

"42." Falconer was perplexed now. "Is there a reason for this?"

"Please," Babage insisted. "This will only take a minute."

"Now," Futureboy continued, "were you aware of the existence of the bunker before we arrived on Mars?"

"No." Glast cleared her throat, then spoke.

"Did you sign orders requiring the construction of the bunker, and all secrecy associated with it?"

"No! Now what is going on?" Futureboy took back the pad.

"He's not lying," he confirmed.

"Thanks Doc," Babage said. "Now, Aubrey, what we found was that Thompson recorded a log entry in which he stated that the orders to build the bunker were signed by you. He erased it from main memory, but the recorder kept it."

"I never signed anything of the sort!" Anger was clearly present on Falconer's face. "Bring up the entry here. I want the Director to see this, and I expect an explanation."

***

As Spiridon approached the green glint, he noticed something about it. "Rob, that green thing's airborne."

"Any reading yet?"

"No." He closed to within 100 meters. "Metallic, but I'm getting life-signs as well! And there's another one on the ground!"

"What are they?"

"The one on the ground's human! I don't recognize the other one, but something is very strange about this! I'll try a call." The external speaker's focused towards the life-signs. "Hello!" The effect was almost immediate. The green thing dove to the ground, leveled out, and started running. The human broke into a run as well. "Rob, they're running!"

"Call them again!"

"No use, they're too far away already!" Suddenly, the life-signs disappeared. "They're gone!"

"What? No, that's impossible!"

"Nevertheless, they were there one second and gone the next!" Andrews sighed.

"That was probably our best lead. Let's head back to base, theirs nothing else here. I just hope we can figure out what that was from the recordings."

 

***

"The secondary airlock's located next to the bridge. We'll go in through there, and head for the flight recorders here, here, and here." The areas Flynn indicated flashed on everyone's screens. "One here, on the bridge. One here, in the hangar bay. And one here, on the lowest level." Everyone picked up on the ominous tone in his voice on the last location.

"What's in the lower level?" Johnson asked.  Flynn sighed.

"We managed to confine the Autonomous Maintenance System to the lower levels. No access to the power core, the airlocks, or the propulsions systems. However, it's power source was nuclear. If it failed to shut down with the rest of the station, it's still active."

"How bad can an automated cleaning service be?" Dustin's skepticism irritated Flynn.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. But if you hear something unusual, head the other way"

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're here," Kestrel said from the bridge.

"Great. Wait here. If we go silent for more than ten minutes, broadcast this code to this area."

"What's it do?"

"Overloads the core." Surprised noises issued from everyone. "If anyone wants to stay here, that's fine." No one opted out. "Alright then, here we go." The shuttle's ramp came down, and 4 buggies drove onto the ledge of Voyager 3's airlock.

*** 

Kestrel watched as the small group maneuvered through the lock. Apart from the expected energy readings of the lock's motors, nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary. That is, if a rogue space station could be called ordinary. He blinked. The next time he glanced at the monitors, something had appeared. "Flynn, I'm picking up a metal object and life signs in the hangar bay! It just appeared!"

"What do you mean just appeared?"

"Just that! It wasn't there one second, and was there the next!"

"We'll check it out. Thanks Jay." Kestrel copied the sensor records from the past minute and sent them to the base. Maybe someone there could figure out what had happened.

***

"What is going on here?" The Director of NASA was visibly taken aback by Falconer's anger.

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Daniel, I have just learned that a secret bunker was built without my knowledge under Planitia Base, and apparently authorized by me. Since I know I didn't sign anything similar, I'm rather curious as to why the heck my signature is on a document that I've never seen!"

"I've never heard of anything like this either! Plans, records, nothing says anything about that! So you can stop pointing fingers, because we're both in the dark!" Falconer was still fuming, but his rage was dissapating. 

"Fine. Sorry. So, where do we go from here?" The Director pondered for a moment.

"Your tach-com's working at full capacity, right?"

"Yes..."

"And you have Zach aboard, right?"

"Yes...why?"

"Talk to him about remote access. Bring him onboard. If there are any files about this, on Earth or Mars, he'll find them." The director tapped a few keys. "Tell him to use the Ares Beta code on what I just sent him. He'll know what to do."

"Thanks." A window flashed at the side of the screen. "Something new here. Thanks for the help."

"No problem. I owe you for handling the Planitia Disaster."

"My department, my responsibility. And keep this quiet, but from what we're finding here, it's looking more and more as if the Disaster wasn't that disastrous." 

"Please, no cryptic statements. That's the last thing that John left us with: just another mystery. Tell me when you know more. NASA out." The link shrank and died. Falconer paused for a moment to think. No one knew anything about this, an impossibility in this day and age. Something was very strange. He glanced at the link. Communique from Brand and Andrews. Tagline: Analysis. With two taps, he forwarded it to Glast's department. More pressing matter were at hand.

"Computer, locate Zachary Zam."

***

"I don't understand it," Spiridon said. "The one was human! Why'd they run away? The only humans on Mars were in the first mission, right?" 

"Maybe it was a Martian," Jackal said. 

"Martians aren't real!" 

"But according to the theory of exogenesis..."

"Which remains unproven..."

"Life could have arrived on Earth from another source."

"And you're suggesting that the life on Mars would look exactly like a human to the scanners?"

"Well, you did say that one was green..."

"That doesn't prove anything!"

"Well, we do know that life off of Earth exists!"

"How?"

Jackal waved the vial of grass at Spiridon. The geologist was quite peeved. "Grass does not a human being make."

"Just saying..."

"I heard. We'll know more once the Analysis department gets through with the tapes."

"And this. Race you to the cloud?"

"Alright!"

The two buggies tore away across the Martian plane. There sensors were cycled down as power was shunted to the motors. An unfortunate design flaw. On a ridge to the South, two sets of eyes watched them.

***

"They're buggies look different than the old ones," the human commented. His shorter companion nodded. "Wonder who they are." Shrug. "Sorry about your mike again. Maybe you shouldn't have landed so hard." Shrug. "Well, we should head back and tell everyone. Though I don't think he'll want us to go out on hikes anymore." Nod. The pair started climbing down. "Did you really have to send us up here?" Nod. "Guess I'll have to wait until we get back to find out why." Nod. "Oh well. Wonder what's for dinner."

***

Flynn groaned quietly to himself. This mission had turned into anything but simple, and they'd already done what they'd come here to do. Part of him wanted to just get everyone back onboard the transport shuttle, lift off, and blow this entire thing to smithereens behind them. But the new life-sign had changed that. They had to check that out at least. "Supercheese, get the recorder from the bridge and head back to the ship. Dude, you, Tigerstorm, and I will head to the hangar bay and investigate." Acknowledgements were made, and the four buggies split into two groups. "Jay, once Ariel gets back, I want you two to start prepping a quarantine bay. We'll need it if we're bringing whoever's over here back."

"Got it Flynn."

The distance to the bay from the airlock was shorter than Flynn remembered. There, amidst the rows of experimental saucer-craft and prototype transports, was a silver capsule. "The life signs are definitely coming from here," Dustin reported.

"Any sign of a comm system?"

"None."

"Orion, take care of the recorder here. Once you have it, get back to the ship."

"Sure you won't need help?"

"I'm sure." As the Dude headed into the recorder alcove, Flynn popped the canopy of his buggy. He walked over to the capsule.

"Life-signs are stable, right?"

"Yes. They indicate a sleep state."

"Okay, here goes nothing." Flynn tapped on the side of the capsule.

"They're awake!" Dustin shouted. Flynn jumped back as a hatch slid open on the capsule. A rush of air blew out into the bay, as the pressure equalized. Then, a suited figure stepped out. It started talking. Flynn could hear a voice in his suit's speakers.  

"Flynn, glad to see that someone was on the receiving end. Odd, that seemed to take a bit longer than expected." The figure looked around. "Funny...why'd you drag these old things out of storage to meet me?" 

The familiar way in which this person greeted him was a surprise to the engineer. "Who are you, exactly?"

"Don't joke, Flynn. It's me, Seb..." The voice trailed off. "My name...what's my name? Why can't I remember the rest of my name?" Puzzled, the figure seemed to peer at them more closely. "You're look younger than I remember... you too Dustin. Who else is here?" 

"Just Jay, Orion, and Ariel." Flynn carefully only gave first names. Whoever this was, something was very strange.

"Ariel? But he's... back on Earth... oh my..." The figure collapsed. Flynn rushed forward in alarm.

"Dustin, life signs!"

"Heart rate's up, but slowing. He's unconscious."

"This is just getting stranger and stranger...Dustin, take him back to the ship. Once Orion's done, I'll head for the last recorder."

"No way. If what's down there is as bad as you say it is, you'll need two people at least!" 

"This isn't up for debate. We don't know what's wrong with him, and we need to keep casualties at a minimum, if there are to be any."

"At least have Orion stand guard at the entrance! If you need help, everyone else will be too far away." 

Flynn sighed. "Fine. But only if he agrees."

Wilson agreed readily, to Flynn's dismay. Still, some back up would be nice. Dustin placed the prone Seb into the rear seat of his vehicle, and then started to head out. "Wait," Flynn said. Dustin paused. "If you can, push this pod back to the ship too. It might be important." Dustin complied. As the silver device was rolled off, Flynn climbed back into his buggy. He sealed the canopy, and, with Wilson tailing him, headed for the access elevator to the lowest level. He was not looking forward to this.

***

Still writing.

Sincerely,

Picard

 

Music is from the Disney Film The Black Hole. Thanks to Macdane for teaching me how to add music.

 

PS: I welcome creative, thoughtful critique.

 

     please comment,

Darkmatter

 

Some of you spend a lot of time browsing the forums, so I thought I would share a few tricks.

 

Keystrokes for safari/  firefox:

 

 

There are some more on this page: http://www.dori.com/safariShortcuts.html

 

When composing new comments etc. you can use the spellchecker by using CTRL+Click on a word.

 

I know there are a dozens of neat tricks I haven't mentioned, but this should get you started. :O)

 

Live long and prosper! *V*

 

-MD

 

 

RULES!

 

1. must be a related to the Mars.

 

and ya thats it!!!

 

heres mine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found a reliable master server.  Its very reliable.   So reliable, you will be amazed!!!  (scroll down)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAHAHAAH!!!!  

 

 

 

Now its YOUR TURN!!!

 

 

i was thinking about the game while listening to some awesome music when i came with an idea....

even though it was problobly asked for before so im going to spice it up

 

we should make a movie!! like we could record ourselves doing specific things like looking out the window of the sky monster and drive into the "launching pads" or like haveing a HIGH SPEED chase with like a jet chaseing a buggy or buggy vs. buggy and like the buggy thats CHASEING is shooting at the buggy fleeing! that scene would be prefered on the dudes level's valley( i forgot the name of level) AND IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE FIGHTING/ACTION! so you cant say its against the rules of the forum and game so there.ha. :P

 
EDIT: we COULD make some hars explorer installment series movies...just an idea

 

WELL! that sums it up! see you all ingame!!!!!

 

 

Greetings everyone!

 

As Syn3h draws nearer to reality, I am fine tuning the last versions of Mars Explorer.

 

2.22 includes the most rock solid networking ever (which is far from perfect due to fundamental flaws in Unity which they have now acknowledged), many bugfixes and refinements, better buggy and hovercraft handling, an installer for the native windows app, and much more.

 

If you are experiencing any issues with the browser or dashboard versions of Mars Explorer, please try downloading a native Mac or Windows app. There are some known issues with Unity's webplayer that I am working with them on at the moment.

 

My next milestone will be the release of the Whirld 3 library - which will revolutionize world design. After that, a complete rewrite of the networking system is in order - which is a project of such magnitude that I want to ensure that we have Mars Explorer finely tuned in it's corrent state before embarking on this new venture.

 

Enjoy,

 

-Aubrey

 

 

 

 

***RATE THIS VEHICLE***

 

 

 

Any help? I have no idea why this is happening.

 

>_>;

 

I have removed many of my old posts to avoid cluttering the site.

My stuff is still very much online though and you can reach it at the following locations:

 

 

 

 

All the best,

 

MacDane

 

Programs:  Google Sketchup, and this weird program called Pepakura Designer 3.

 

Open up the file you want in Google Sketchup.  Any version you have should work, as long as you have the ability to export it as a Google Sketchup 4 (.kmz) file.

 

 

Sorry if that photo is really big.  Anyways, the next thing you want to do is export the model as a GOOGLE SKETCHUP 4 (.kmz) file.  This can be done by going to File/Export/3d Model.

 

Now, you should be able to save the model as a .kmz file.  Start up the Pepakura program, and it should look like this.

 

Now, it's pretty self-explanatory.  Open up the .kmz file inside the program, wait until a picture of the model pops up, and simply press "Unfold."  It should look something like this.

 

 

As you can see, the program has taken GTR's model, unfolded it, and provided neat little tabs along the edges of the pieces.  Now, all you have to do is print, grab some scissors and glue, and enjoy!  I would show you the finished product, but unfortunately, the computer i'm using doesn't have a printer yet. 

 

Of course, this program has a few difficulties.  With the free shareware version, you have no way to save your creation without turning the file into a PDF or something like that.  There are tutorials out on the internet that can do that for you.

 

In conclusion, I hope this tutorial can help add a bit of depth to your models, and even though I can't print out the stuff I've unfolded, it's just as good sharing this knowledge with other people.

 

Best wishes,

-Galaxy

 

P.S. You might want to scale up your models a little bit before exporting them as a .kmz, so that the pieces aren't too small to handle when you print them out.

 

Our initial moderators are:

• TheDude
• Kruncher
• MacDane
• FlyClub
• Picard
• BabaG
• GTR34
• KillerDude
• SebfromNZ
• PointyBagels
• SuperCheese
• Spiffy
• Olim

 

While logged into their accounts, the afore enumerated users will be able to alter the status of any post on MarsXPLR.com just as if it was their own. Whenever they exercise this authority, their action will be added to the site's "Moderation Log", which should serve to alleviate any concerns of the system being abused:

 

 

 

In the coming days, I will make an effort to publish some moderation guidelines and other useful materials. In the mean time, please just use common sense.

 

The current list of moderators is nothing more than a wholly incomplete sampling of some of the wonderful martians who have long served as upstanding, exemplary members of our community (most of the time at least :). If any of the current moderators feel that more moderators are needed, they can nominate someone by sending me an email. If you are not a moderator now but would like to become one, please discuss it with a current moderator instead of bugging me directly.

 

I have received quite a few intriguing proposals for PlexPedia moderation systems over the last couple of days, and together, they all prompted me to design this one. Many thanks for your encouragement, and I will try to get back to you all personally as soon as possible! Please be sure to comment and let me know what you think about this system.

 

 

All the best,

 

-Aubrey

 

 

P.S. I will add a feature to moderate individual comments at my next available opportunity.

 

BTW, What happened to the United Planets Space Stations?

Here's a quick post to keep you up to date on the latest Martian tidings.

• 64 bit Safari (OS X Snow Leopard):
  Several performance and usability issues afflict Unity's latest webplayer runtime in Apple's latest browser - and the two which are harming Mars Explorer the most are a pathetic framerate when not in fullscreen mode, and a loss of cursor locking when the game is. I reported these issues to Unity over a month ago, and they have now fixed the cursor locking issue. I will be able to include their patch in Mars Explorer as soon as they releases the next Unity engine update. Unity's Mac webplayer engineer recently informed me that the framerate issue is actually Apple's fault, and that they are waiting for Apple to update Safari to resolve it. In essence: you will soon be able to maximize Mars Explorer in Safari to enjoy the game fully, but for now I recommend that everyone download a native Mars Explorer app or use FireFox.
  
  
• Chrome:
  Thanks to Google for releasing such an awesome browser, and The Dude for diligently requesting that I support it, I finally got around to tweaking ATIServer's authentication protocol a bit and you can now login to - and enjoy all the features of - MarsXPLR.com with Chrome! I am not sure if the Mars Explorer webplayer works correctly or not, as the current Mac Chrome release doesn't support browser plugins and the beta release has issues with the Unity plugin, but if any Windows Chrome users could reply, that would be fun to know.
  
  
• In-Game Advertising:
  
  Due to Mars Explorer's phenomenal growth of late, I am facing rather large bandwidth bills...
  Since I am not ready to transition to the Syn3h identity and release a paid version of the game, and I certainly don't want to abandon it, the decision for me to spice up the lobby with some nonobtrusive textual ads was a pretty easy one.
   
  The latest 2.22 webplayer version up now includes some special new technology I wrote to connect to AdBrite's OTX network and intersperse the lobby's server list with some nice looking text ads. The most compelling aspect of the advertising system I am implementing is that it provides a very easy and effective mechanism for anyone to bid directly on ad space inside Mars Explorer through a cpm or "dedicated airtime" approach, which should be a lot of fun!
   
  I have AdBrite's system set to deliver only the "family friendliest" ads, and I can manually override any ones that I don't deem wholly appropriate. The interest and relevance of the ads should increase over time as AdBrite starts to figure out what kinds of things Martians are interested in. The server list ads will be included in the native apps in the next release of Mars Explorer, which will probably be issued when Unity releases the next bugfix of their engine.

• Networking:
  
  I have resolved several issues with the dedicated server implementation, and it should now be working great! The only problem is that there are so many players out there that they rapidly overrun my server hardware when I run everyone's games through the dedicated server. If you want your games to be as smooth and reliable as possible, just enable the "Utilize Dedicated Server When Hosting Games" option in the lobby settings. As long as everyone doesn't use the option, we should be good to go for now :)
   
• Worlds:
  Many thanks to everyone who has submitted a new custom world to me! I am sorry I am in such a backlog right now. Please don't be disappointed if it takes a couple more weeks to get your world into the game...
  
  
• Whirld:
  The official Whirld 3 release is being delayed because I am in negotiations with Unity to allow me to set up an on-thy-fly Whirld bundling service to automatically package everyone's worlds. This is tricky, because creating the Whirld bundles requires that the build machine be equipped with a Pro Unity license. If Unity allows me to do it, everyone will be able to package their own worlds whenever they would like to! In the mean time, I plan to release an "unofficial" Whirld release within the next couple days to get everyone started preparing their worlds for Mars Explorer. I unfortunately don't have a timeline for the official release, but it will be worth the wait! On the subject of Unity world creation, here's an awesome extension to Unity's terrain system that is soon to be unveiled...
  
  
• Syn3h:
  I am making significant progress on Mars Explorer's successor! I am essentially building upon everything I have learned from Mars Explorer, and rewriting every bit of code to take it to a whole new level of performance and reliability - and more importantly - enable many incredible new things that we could only dream of before. Here's some of the new stuff which will be technically feasible:
  
  
  • Vastly more reliable and smoother networking, powered by my own networking system running on the Lidgren library
  • Fully iPhone and iPad compatible multiplayer action
  • Less crashes, much faster performance
  • Many more players in multiplayer games
  • Infinitely scalable, distributed, player hostable dedicated servers to ensure we never run out of capacity
  • Lots of other fun ideas that I just may get a chance to add: spherical worlds, dedicated racing and CTF modes, global chat, much smarter bots that may even be able to work with you as a team, etc etc.
    
    
• Etc:
  
  
  • Sorry if I haven't gotten back to you recently. I have quite a bit going on, including this rather exciting project to provide myself with a serviceable workstation so that I can continue to spend my time on the things I love, like Mars Explorer :)
    
    
  • Squabbling. If you are creating multiple accounts and sending mean PMs from them (Necon, as a hypothetical example), be warned: I will be temporarily banning people (week or so) who send mean PMs to other players. I am not forcing you to like other people - I am simply upholding the age old axiom that if you don't have anything nice to say, then is is best to say nothing. All that everyone needs to do is follow basic standards of civility - it's rather a pity that I even have to mention it...