How a run's character is decided in Survive the Storm, and how that differs from vanilla. The short version: your sponsor is picked up front on the setup screen (one sponsor, or "Random") and the map starts with it - but the map's conditions and the commander and mystery identity are decided in-game. For the commander and mystery the setup screen picks which options are possible for the run (a multi-select "Possible ..." checklist), and the game later offers a random three from each checked pool to choose from. This page is the at-a-glance model; each concept has full documentation linked from the table.
Why this page exists: anyone (or any LLM) who knows vanilla will assume the sponsor, commander and mystery are each chosen up front on the setup screen and fixed before the map loads. In this mod that holds only for the sponsor (single-select, or Random, exactly like vanilla); the commander and mystery instead pick a pool of possible options on the setup screen, and the specific one is chosen in-game from that pool on set sols. Getting this wrong leads to confidently wrong statements. Read this before reasoning about how a run begins.
In vanilla you sit on a pre-game setup screen and pick the mission sponsor, the commander profile, the mystery, the game rules, then the colony site, then the rocket loadout - the run is fully specified before you ever see Mars.
In Survive the Storm that screen is reshaped: the Game Rules, colony-site and rocket-loadout rows are removed; the Sponsor row stays a single-select pick (one sponsor, or "Random"), so the map starts with your sponsor active; and the Commander and Mystery rows become multi-select "Possible ..." checklists (which options can appear this run), their specific identity emerging during play. You drop onto a random colony site, the map comes with a set of random Map conditions, and the commander and mystery are decided in-game on set sols from the pools you checked. This is the randomize pillar's run-identity half (each run starts differently); the removed Game Rules row is tracked under Cut features and the StS_StartupMenu file, and the checklist framework is StS_MissionPoolUI.
The sponsor is fixed up front on the setup screen; the rest resolve over the opening of a run:
The sponsor is set before the map loads; map conditions land at colony start; the Commander notification appears right away and is triggered by the player when ready; the Mystery event fires on sol 50. Each is documented in full elsewhere; this table is the summary and the single place that compares them.
| # | Concept | In vanilla | In Survive the Storm | When | Choices | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Map conditions | No equivalent (a run's map has no per-run modifiers). | Every colony gets six conditions, fixed for its life, shown in a pinned "Map Conditions" notification. Inspired by Against the Storm's map modifiers. | Automatic, at colony start. | Not a pick - rolled. Across all six conditions the colony always lands on exactly two medium and four extreme; Topography follows the map but counts toward that target. | Tested v2.9. | map-conditions.html |
| 2 | Sponsor | Picked on the setup screen; sets funding, starting rockets, research, prices, goals and perks. | Picked on the setup screen as a single-select row (one sponsor, or "Random", which the game resolves to a concrete sponsor on the spot), exactly like vanilla; Russia (Roscosmos) is not offered. The map starts with that sponsor active - its funding, starting rockets, research, prices, goals and perks apply the vanilla way at colony start. There is no in-game sponsor pick. The three rival colonies never include your own sponsor. | On the setup screen; active from sol 0. | Single-select (one sponsor, or Random). | Setup-screen single-select flow new in v2.230 (not yet retested); sponsor rebalance tested. | Code/StS_SponsorChoice.lua; sponsor rebalance; rivals |
| 3 | Commander | Picked on the setup screen; grants profile bonuses (funding, effects, techs, sometimes a rocket or a revealed deposit). | On the setup screen you check which commanders are possible ("Possible Commanders", all checked by default, Below and Beyond commanders hidden). No commander at start; the player clicks the "Select your Commander" notification, picks one of three drawn from the checked pool, and its bonuses apply live. | Pool at setup; pick player-triggered, right after the map loads. | 1 of 3, drawn from the checked Possible Commanders. | Tested v2.41 (setup pool); v2.26 choice. | Choose your Commander; commander rebalance |
| 4 | Mystery | Picked on the setup screen; a storyline that mostly unfolds later in the game. | On the setup screen you check which mysteries are possible ("Possible Mysteries", ones you have not finished are pre-checked). No mystery at start; on sol 50 an event offers three drawn from the checked pool, one per difficulty tier where the pool allows, and the chosen one starts live. | Pool at setup; pick on sol 50. | 1 of 3, drawn from the checked Possible Mysteries. | Tested v2.41. | Choose your Mystery |
The first three change how a run plays from the very start and are the point of the system: the map conditions set the physical run (fleet, travel, weather, funding edge, sensor towers, terrain cost), and the sponsor and commander set the colony's economy, tech head-start and perks.
The mystery is the least run-defining of the four, and the change that differs least from vanilla. In vanilla the mystery is chosen at setup but its storyline only unfolds later in the game anyway, so moving the choice to sol 50 shifts little about the opening - the main gain is that the player pre-selects which mysteries are possible (finished ones off by default) and then decides which of three to face on sol 50 rather than committing before the game begins. That is why the mystery choice fires last and is treated as the lowest-stakes of the four.
A few more parts of the same "you see the map first, then decide" direction, tracked on the index rather than here:
GetDescrEffects,
Lua/PreGameMission.lua:535-566). StS replaces that whole box with a
four-section campaign blurb (Randomized Setup, Randomized Map Conditions, Escalating
Difficulty, Balanced Gameplay) via one outermost wrap of GetDescrEffects,
so the per-pick effects list is never shown; tutorial and challenge runs keep the base text
(Code/StS_SetupEffectsText.lua).
Tested v2.44.This page summarizes and links; the proofs live in the linked pages and files. Map conditions: map-conditions.html and Code/StS_MapModifiers.lua. Sponsor: Code/StS_SponsorChoice.lua. Commander: Code/StS_CommanderChoice.lua. Mystery: Code/StS_MysteryChoice.lua. Loadout skip and first rocket: Code/StS_FirstRocketInGame.lua. Setup-screen rows: Code/StS_StartupMenu.lua.