39 Days to Mars (tuxdb.com)

Hello, Recently, the 39 Days to Mars page over at speedrun.com got a visual overhaul and two new speedrun records. To celebrate, and to help anyone who might be tempted to give it a shot, I thought I'd outline some handy tips and strategies for speedrunning the game.
For the uninitiated, speedrunning is the act of getting from the start of the game to the end of the game as quickly as possible. In 39 Days to Mars there are two ways to do this: Fail and No Fail. No Fail is simply playing the game normally, but if you want to go even faster, things start to get silly. For the best time, there's four interesting behaviours in the game that you need to exploit: [olist]

The game tries to make sure you never get stuck. For the first couple of times you have trouble, it gives you auto-hints, but if you fail a puzzle on the ship three times, it will let you skip it and move on to the next puzzle.

Cancelling out of a puzzle by pressing back and selecting 'Give up' counts as a failure.

If you fail a puzzle, Albert doesn't drink the tea or eat the scone.

You can place an uneaten/drunk tea or scone back on the table beside the respective fireplaces, and pick them up later. [/olist]

So, a speed-run strategy comes out of this! The timer starts when the start icon is completely filled in with black. First off, play the introduction as quickly as possible. There's no shortcuts here. The first time the tea or scones puzzle comes up, you need to make it. The combinations change each time, so if you end up with a complicated scone, you can cancel out and restart the puzzle to try for a better one. Once you've got the tea or the scone, you can start the puzzle - and promptly "Give Up" three times in a row, as quickly as you can. After three failures, wait in the ship for 4-5 seconds until the days continue to count down and the next part of the ship explodes! (The only exception is the coal puzzle that I find is fastest to just complete.) If you were holding tea, and the next part requires a scone, replace the tea ready to pick up again later. If you're holding a scone, vice versa.

Failing sections like this is usually quicker than solving the puzzles, so do this as often as you can. The only exception is fighting the Kraken - make sure you win, because ending up in the stomach is slower. Once you're off the ship and on your way down to mars in the descent capsule, crash headfirst into all the asteroids to explode and end up on the surface as quickly as possible.

If you manage this in under 30 minutes, you'll get the Cutty Sark achievement (less than 1% of people have this one!). As I write this, the fastest co-op speedrun is 24 minutes and 6 seconds. If you beat that, you'll have a world record! I hope this was a fun and interesting read, and if you're tempted to try yourself, head over to speedrun.com for more details. Happy Sailing (and running), Philip

[ 2021-03-27 09:36:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

39 Days to Mars

It's Anecdotal Developer

It's Anecdotal Publisher

2018-04-25 Release

Indie Singleplayer Coop Tags

Game News Posts: 15

🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🎮 Full Controller Support

Very Positive (220 reviews)

http://www.itsanecdotal.com/39days

Steam Store

The Game includes VR Support

Public Linux Depots:

39 Days to Mars Linux Content [692.58 M]

39 Days to Mars is a co-operative steampunk puzzle-adventure game.

Step into the shoes of Sir Albert Wickes and The Right Honourable Clarence Baxter, two 19th century explorers who have chosen to pilot the HMS Fearful on its maiden voyage to Mars.

When the steam engine runs out of coal, the ship's cat shreds the navigation chart, and the tea gets cold, it becomes clear that interstellar transportation isn't a walk in the park. It will take the talents of two players working together on the problems that arise to get to Mars in one piece.

LOCAL CO-OP

39 Days to Mars is a two player co-operative game.

The HMS Fearful is a masterpiece of unreliable engineering, therefore Albert and Baxter will need all the help they can get. Nothing can be done without the effort of both players, who have important roles to play in the adventure.

SINGLEPLAYER AI

If you don't want to play with your friends, the ship's computer-controlled cat will keep you company.

BITE-SIZED ADVENTURES

The mix of action and thoughtful puzzles make it perfect for playing in short sessions. The entire adventure fits comfortably into an evening.

ATMOSPHERIC

Be drawn into the world of Albert and Baxter by the unique illustrated artwork. 39 Days to Mars has a rich sound-scape and a beautiful piano score that is punctuated only by the occasional disaster.

The HMS Fearful embarks for Mars soon!

MINIMAL SETUPOS: Ubuntu 16 or higher
Processor: 1.7 GHz Core 2 DuoMemory: 2 GB RAM
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: 256 MB VRAM
Storage: 650 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Gamepad(s) recommended

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