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FTL: a game about managing a spaceship in an infinite galaxy

J

Jintor

Member
Arrrrrrrgh I got to sector 6 and somehow managed to take damage from an asteroid field despite only sending in a defence drone to help. I thought the whole point was that I wouldn't risk my own neck! Arrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhh!

Weird that the Volton or energy-making crew guys seem to lock you into whatever is Hotkey 1 when you select them. The way it assigns their power bar for weapons is weird.
 
M

Mazre

Member
sangreal said:
there is a crew capacity limit?
Click to expand...

8 members, slots are visible on the crew screen.

New UI elements are nice, definitely nice to be able to check crew skills at a glance and you can even see when a station is manned by someone with a mastery.

Slugs are mean. Be wary if they offer to trade with you.

Edit: Decided to try streaming a bit.

http://www.livestream.com/mazregaming?t=325521

Edit2: All done for now. Managed a victory with the Torus. Woot!
 
J

Jintor

Member
I haven't even gotten to the final sector yet ;___;

Should I double down on, like, two aspects? Like drones + firepower, or invasion + firepower? Or is a balance the key?
 
M

Mazre

Member
Jintor said:
I haven't even gotten to the final sector yet ;___;

Should I double down on, like, two aspects? Like drones + firepower, or invasion + firepower? Or is a balance the key?
Click to expand...

Tough question to answer, I can't really say that I ever focus on one single aspect (there's just enough randomization to make focusing troublesome) but I don't try to do everything.

For instance, on my victory I had max shields, 5 weapon energy, 4 drone energy, 2 cloaking, 5 engine, 7 crew and no teleporter. I suppose early on focus is good, you want to get through battles unscathed, less spent on repairs means more upgrades.

One thing that is important is specializing your crew, having a double star crew member grants a huge bonus to their respective systems. (Recharge on weapons/shields, evasion for engines, jump time for pilot?)
 
R

Rayme

Member
Spent this last week on vacation with two coworkers and our families. Every night, after all the kids and spouses were asleep, the three of us would stay up way, way, way too late playing this game together.

Wednesday night (our 4th night playing?) we finished off the boss in the stock ship (repair arm + 2-damage-per-room beam + cloaking FTW). Those ~3 hours are one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. We were strategizing, arguing, theorizing, and nail biting throughout. So good.

At the end,
on the boss's last round, we were THRILLED when they tried to board us, because we were goddamn experts at murdering boarders. Vent the ship, run into medical, etc, etc.

My biggest regret is not putting more into the kickstarter when it was running, but I'm thankful that I found out about it at all (and got into this beta).

Now, how much money will it take for an iOS version to happen? My life will be over.
 
J

Jintor

Member
God fucking damnit. I was on top of the world, just booted into sector six, had a ion cannon 2, hull smasher 3 and all the power in the world to power it, level 5 shields, crew full of levelled-up engies... nothing could get past my shields and anything that did my amazing pilot and awesome engines would dodge.

Ran into a Rebel Rigger with two constantly-attacking drones, three shields, and two boarding parties who set my entire ship on fire and absolutely destroyed me in seconds.

FML

*restarts*
 
E

Emitan

Member
Jintor said:
God fucking damnit. I was on top of the world, just booted into sector six, had a ion cannon 2, hull smasher 3 and all the power in the world to power it, level 5 shields, crew full of levelled-up engies... nothing could get past my shields and anything that did my amazing pilot and awesome engines would dodge.

Ran into a Rebel Rigger with two constantly-attacking drones, three shields, and two boarding parties who set my entire ship on fire and absolutely destroyed me in seconds.

FML

*restarts*
Click to expand...

I remember this time when... oh.

tumblr_lsb0syRh381qchjgt.gif
 
F

fallengorn

Bitches love smiley faces
fallengorn said:
Same here. It's actually easier than the base ship. With an engi ship you can pretty much coast through the first few sectors. By the time you hit enemies with level 2/3 shields you should've been able to get better weapons... hopefully for free. You also want to make sure to pick up non-Engi crew members for when you get boarded.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to retract my previous statement. I guess I was really lucky the first few times using the engi ship. Got my ass kicked hard.

I've been trying out the Federation ship the last few runs. It's pretty easy the first two sectors, but if you don't have the right weapons by the third, it becomes rage inducing.
 
M

Mazre

Member
There's a very special feeling when you ruin a near perfect run in the final sector, as you let your expert boarding squad die one room away from med bay because you weren't paying attention to the health levels during an 02 repair job. ; ;

Was attempting to see if I could defeat the final ship by killing it's crew, ended up in a stalemate with 1 enemy crew member and my final rockman, with no missiles to disable their medbay. The strategy, assuming the ship doesn't just warp away to round 2 on the crew death, seems to be sound though. Further, with an actual boarding party instead of the left overs of my crew, it would be easy to put a serious hurt on the enemy.
 
B

Borman

Member
Ive actually managed to beat it twice now, in the past day. Worked up a good strategy, and a lot of luck both times in getting the right weapons.

I think I have a extra beta key, Ill have to check. Just have to be sure it doesn't give away my retail copy heh
 
M

Mazre

Member
New beta build:

http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=658&sid=78ccbb30177a70db0cc395ca0e34e0f7

Changelog v 0.12.6.8

Features:
-Save & Quit - Temporary save is available when quitting outside of combat/danger situations.
-Confirm prompt for jumping when player has crew on the enemy ship
-Three more music tracks
-Rock Alien Sector with many new events
-More random quest / distress / general events throughout the sectors

Tuning:
-More specific skill descriptions on mouseover in left crew boxes
-Biobeams charge time drastically reduced
-Lower requirements for the shield skill
-Boss systems / super power timings + strengths are tweaked

Bugs:
-Crewmember names will no longer repeat
-Double Augmentation dupe is fixed
-Hacking/ion effects should properly disappear after all events now
-Game should suspend when minimized, saving your CPU and help with minimize related crashes as well
-You can now correctly dismiss crewmembers that are currently on another ship
-Simultaneously fired weapons will correctly update the crew weapon skill
-Crew (player or enemy) should no longer take bad orders from boarder drones
-Should no longer be able to die mid-jump, which resulted in your explosion after the next event
-Fixed: Teleport button would sometimes activate/deactivate in the wrong situations
-"Misses" where projectiles hit the wrong room should theoretically no longer happen
-Event where you choose which alien to attack should function now
-Numerous small event scripting / text errors
Click to expand...

Hooray for temp save, and new events.
 
F

fallengorn

Bitches love smiley faces
Sweet.

Wish there was a random event based on if boarders are still on your ship when you blow up the enemy. It might be weird for them to suddenly join their crew, but it's also weird that they're still fighting you when they have nowhere to go to.
 
F

fallout

Member
-Confirm prompt for jumping when player has crew on the enemy ship

Man, that's burned me a couple of times. Nice to see it added.
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
I like the idea, but not the presentation. I really wish a game like this existed but maybe with less emphasis on making sure something happens. Something more procedural and realistic, with still a bit of surprises like alien life, but keeping that rare:)
 
M

mike23

Member
Glad to see that they added the save function. I haven't looked closely, but I'll probably try to write a save game loader for myself for multiple saves. Watch the save directory, copy it out after it's done saving, and copy it back later if I die. Should work unless they do something crazy.
 
M

Mazre

Member
KO Traveling Hobo said:
I need this in my life. Does it seem like they'll keep to the August release date in the FAQ?
Click to expand...

They only missed their beta date by a couple of weeks so an August/September release certainly seems feasible. Game is very stable and most of their work appears focused on UI improvements and content additions at present.
 
F

fallout

Member
mike23 said:
Glad to see that they added the save function. I haven't looked closely, but I'll probably try to write a save game loader for myself for multiple saves. Watch the save directory, copy it out after it's done saving, and copy it back later if I die. Should work unless they do something crazy.
Click to expand...
Save scumming really ruins games like this. I personally wouldn't recommend it.
 
J

Jintor

Member
So anybody else still plugging away at the beta? I've racked up like 28 hours... and still haven't made it past sector 6... I just can't multitask ship teleportation assaults.
 
M

mike23

Member
Jintor said:
So anybody else still plugging away at the beta? I've racked up like 28 hours... and still haven't made it past sector 6... I just can't multitask ship teleportation assaults.
Click to expand...

Not that hard to multitask when you can pause it every half second to think ;p
 
F

fallout

Member
Jintor said:
I always play while listening to podcasts or watching something so it kills my attention span...
Click to expand...
I tried listening to podcasts while playing, but found that too often, I would not be listening to the podcast at all. Besides, I really like the FTL music.
 
B

bistromathics

facing a bright new dawn
Is there any estimated release date? Or any hint at one? Looked around on the internet but couldn't find anything. I've been playing Binding of Isaac a lot but really want to do this with space ships. Wish they had some kind of slacker backer thing for the beta, but I guess that could upset some of the OG donators.

edit:

They only missed their beta date by a couple of weeks so an August/September release certainly seems feasible. Game is very stable and most of their work appears focused on UI improvements and content additions at present.
Click to expand...

Missed that bit of info. Thanks
 
M

Mazre

Member
New info for upcoming beta build:
http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=708
Hello everyone!

I know it's been a while since we had an update so we wanted to let you know where we're standing. We started adding a number of the final features after the last build and decided to get them all working in one big go rather than giving you largely unfinished content. Among lots of other changes, our next update will include:

- The Rock & Zoltan player ships!
- A new unlockable coloring/layout for each player ship!
- 49 Achievements!

Yay, lots 'o stuff!
We should be able to finish this all up and get the new build on Steam before the end of the next week.

Bye for now!
Click to expand...
 
E

Emitan

Member
DavidTennantInTheRain.gif


They're really doing a great job on this game judging by the patch notes. Jintor you better write about this game!
 
M

Mazre

Member
http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=716

Hey everyone! Big update that we've been working on for a little over two weeks now. This bring us close to the final state of the game. I hope you all enjoy it.

Also, if you post bugs make sure to mention if you're using Windows or Mac from now on. And please try to keep all bug reports to our official tracking site here: https://getsatisfaction.com/ftlgame . It's much more likely that we'll be able to keep track of and properly fix bugs if they are submitted there. Thanks!

Features:

-Mac OS X Beta is LIVE on Steam. Requires an Intel Mac, version 10.5.8 or above
-New playable ship (Zoltan) and alternative layouts/skins for *every* playable ship (unlocked with Achievements described below)
-40+ Achievements along with Achievement UI (within the STATS screen)
-About half are "ship specific" achievements (3 per ship) that you must be using the ship in order to earn it.
-Complete 2 out of 3 of a ship's achievements and you will unlock an additional layout/skin for that ship.
-Achievements use our own UI for now, we hope to integrate with Steam but our current focus was to make sure they weren't only available to Steam users
-Note: Federation Cruiser only has 2 achievements currently. This is not a bug, we're just not done
-New Sector type - Zoltan Space
-The Federation Cruiser now has a unique system that works similarly to the boss artillery weapons. It's a static, auto-fire weapon that exists separately from your normal weapon system - but prevents you from getting Cloaking
-The Top Score UI will track best scores for each ship type and layout separately, as well as maintain an overall top 5 (within the STATS screen)
-Stat window will show your last run stats if you open it from within the Gameover/Victory window.
-5 Crew "Hall of Fame" added to the stats screen for outstanding previous crewmembers
-New track from Ben Prunty
-More information added to the system tooltips (describing any possible status effect)
-Stealth Ship Hull Armor augment replaced by a System Plating augment that absorbs System damage instead of Hull


Tuning:

(Editted to try to make this more clear what I'm saying, the formatting isn't working)

EASY difficulty changes to hopefully make it more similar to normal in terms of scrap scarcity, but maintain an easier difficulty level with further reduced enemies:
1. All enemies will be easier, especially sector 1.
2. Scrap bonus is reduced slightly

Boss "Energy Shield" changes to make it easier for all builds to defeat:
1. Ion weapons do double damage
2. Bombs will teleport just outside of the shield and damage it
3. Beams will damage it
4. Damage numbers will appear when damaging the super shield to make all of this more clear


-Pike Beam and Hull Beam power requirements are now 2 instead of 3
-Text Input in the hangar works more as you would expect (arrows move the carat, holding a key will repeat that key, numbers are valid, and numpad keys function)
-Provided an escape event for if you get caught with your entire crew on the enemy ship and your teleporter is broken
-Numpad will work for all number input
-Tooltips appear faster and function more like you'd expect (mouse movement won't immediately disable)
-Less ambiguous Engi race description
-"Victory" marker is properly displayed in the top score screen on ships that you've won with

Bugs:

-Crash in certain restart / new game situations fixed
-Crash Fix: Rare crash on some enemy ship escapes
-Fixed: Sector number on the score screen would be incorrect if you had saved and resumed the game.
-Fixed: Boarding drones could stack on room locations when disabled
-Rock Armor and System Plating will properly block beam weapons
-Battle Drones will no longer paralyzed with fear in situations with too many boarders.
-Fixed: Super Shield would not draw properly if shield system was damaged/destroyed
Click to expand...

Additionally in the project update email:
It's looking like an early to mid September launch of FTL!
Click to expand...
Demo/Trailer and final release date announcement in the coming weeks.

Edit: Federation cruiser definitely feels weaker in early game now. Rail gun is very strong but takes a long time to charge and can't be aimed. 4 x single laser has been replaced with a burst laser mk 2. So instead of 4 shots every 10 seconds it's now 3 every 12, and without the ability to simultaneously target multiple systems. New music is nice too, they've really added a nice variety over the course of development.
 
J

Jintor

Member
I really love the music mixing, the way the bass kicks into high gear whenever trouble starts. This game is fucking amazing.
 
M

Mazre

Member
New build notes. Getting close it looks like. Also new music. Huzzah!

http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=770

In terms of download size, this is a pretty big update because Ben "remastered" the music to be the final version for everything. The soundtrack is officially done, and in this reviewers opinion it is absolutely brilliant. The final stage music is especially epic.

The majority of the update is mostly tuning/bug fixes. Other than the secret alien race/sector, which is almost done, we will be making very limited changes in the next few weeks as we lead up to the release in September.

Have fun everyone!

Changelog v 0.12.8.13

Features:

-Three more songs added to the soundtrack
-Soundtrack will only play tracks in the sector types they were intended to be in
-3rd Achievement for the Federation Cruiser
-New playable ship (Rock Cruiser) with unlock event, achievements and alternate layout.
-New sounds for mantis shooting, ion weapons, alien deaths, achievements, crew level up, low crew health and more.

Tuning:

-Defense Drone Mark II shots travel twice as fast (making it easier to intercept lasers), and will attempt to prioritize missiles/asteroids over lasers
-Exploit fixed: Ship Repair drones are destroyed on powerdown to prevent Drone Recover Arm exploit
-Boarding Drones can no longer penetrate the Zoltan Super Shield
-Even with a broken teleporter, surrendering ships will remove their boarding parties
-Teleporter won't ionize/cooldown if your teleport command doesn't actually accomplish anything
-Boss screen shows a "boss jump" countdown to make it clear how soon you must engage him. You can engage him within the base if he's in the final stage.
-Noether and Torus starting layouts changed
-All ships you come across while out of fuel will drop fuel if destroyed
-Beacon flags (Store/Quest/Distress) are removed if that beacon will become a fleet location after the jump.
-Zoltan pirate ships in sector one on Easy will no longer have an active Energy Shield

Bugs:

-Possible fix to Phase 2 Boss freeze
-Achievements "Full Arsenal" and "Givin' Her All She's Got" fixed to not award at boss arrival
-Shots should always hit the correct room
-Ships that jump away will stay gone after Save & Quit now
-Running out of fuel in a nebula won't make the nebula disappear anymore
-Ships can no longer surrender mid-jump animation
-Fixed incorrect retroactive achievement rewards for sector progress
-Fleet events in nebulas at the exit beacon will properly disrupt sensors
-Fixed: Sound related MacOS crash
-Fixed: Text input crash
-Fixed: Zoltan bug when weapons were ioned allowed you to power weapons from the reactor by reordering
-Piloted evasions crew hall of fame was capping out at 30, now fixed
-Various grammar/language fixes
Click to expand...
 
F

flowsnake

Member
I can't wait to buy it. I just need to decide between Steam and GOG, I get the feeling there will be enough updates to make Steam worthwhile.
 
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