THE HEAT
The Solar Railway
First release: 23 Apr 2024
Location: Mercury's equator, near Calvino (3.99°S, 56.03°W)
The first planet from the Sun. No air, no water. The temperature is 430°C in the daytime. Stay in shadows to survive. Welcome to Mercury.
The Solar Railway is the first mission of Mercury Rising — Part One, and the player's first introduction to UAC facilities on Mercury, demons, and the protagonist. The mission title is THE HEAT.
Overview
The player awakens in a freight wagon, falling out of a sarcophagus to find himself surrounded by the living dead. After taking them out, he learns that a demonic invasion is underway on Mercury, and that The Solar Railway facility has been overrun by Hellspawn. Time to do what he does best.
Gallery
In-game screenshots from this map — tap any image to view it full screen.
Characters
- Marcus Caseon
- William Banks
- K. Lee-Creel
- Tim Willits
Collectibles
Minifigures
- Marcus Caseon
- William Banks
- K. Lee-Creel
Praetor Tokens
- Don Ivan Punchatz
- Donald M. Murray
- Andy Stratton
Books & dossiers
- The Solar Railway: Introduction I
- The Solar Railway: Introduction II
- Mercury Info Sheets: Orbit and Rotation
- Mercury Info Sheets: A Solar Day
- Operation Oversight
PDAs
- William Banks
- K. Lee-Creel
- Tim Willits
- Lorenz Harringson
- Sean Archibecque
- Mario O. Leskovach
- Joshua Richardson
- Andy Stratton
Development notes
Development of the campaign did not start with The Solar Railway — it was the second map built, made possible by knowledge gained from the previous one. The map is relatively short and quick to complete; its complexity comes from the first implementation of the SnapMap “elevator effect”: while the elevator door is closed, the foreground module is rearranged so each floor appears without leaving the module. The first elevator on the map (to the Main Control Room) operates between three floors this way.
Essentially, in the few seconds after the elevator door closes (while the elevator is ‘moving’), the content of the foreground module is rearranged — items belonging to the previous floor are hidden, and the visuals of the next floor are displayed — depending on the value of a variable.