Until they start launching those boarding drones at you. Then you're screwed.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
FTL |OT| Stories of the Space Oregon Trail
- Thread starter Toma
- Start date
Until they start launching those boarding drones at you. Then you're screwed.
whalleywhat
Member
I've made it through tons of boards where I've been way outmatched, and it's just through lots and lots of micromanagement. I hardly ever use the 'drain the oxygen' tactic, because you need to invest a lot in doors and it's still not very effective imo. Use healing, cycle through units, make the tough choices about which systems to leave unmanned, let the boarders attack one of your systems for a while if you need to leave and heal. Boarders usually won't follow you if you leave a room, but if they do you can lead them into the healing room where you're nearly invincible (if you only have a sliver of health you could still be in trouble.) Boarding drones are dicks though. They take a long time to kill, and they usually punch a hole in your hull when they land.
whalleywhat
Member
Well, 'every boarding is a death sentence' and 'six Mantis' are two different things
The moment anyone boards I just move everyone to the furthest point from them and then open all the doors except the ones to my crew. The boarders sit there and shoot at whatever room they're in until they die of oxygen loss. Usually it's the cloak which means I'll have destroyed their ship before they'd even suffocated.
Seraphis Cain
bad gameplay lol
Man, I'm just having a bad night tonight. :lol Seems like every encounter I get into my ship catches fire or the hull gets breached or something. This wasn't happening last night, heh. But hey, that's the nature of rogues. Sometimes the RNG just hates you.
MrDanger88
Member
Yeah guys so Stealth A is a terrible ship. It requires so much luck it isn't even funny
Just started.
Farthest I've made it was the 4th system. Somewhere in the second system I tried teleporting two of the crew onto a smuggler ship. It didn't go well. My pilot got out of there. In the next system I got a blue option to teleport some guys and one of them joined up. But the ships in the 4th/Zoltan system had shields/drones I couldn't do anything against. Fun stuff.
Farthest I've made it was the 4th system. Somewhere in the second system I tried teleporting two of the crew onto a smuggler ship. It didn't go well. My pilot got out of there. In the next system I got a blue option to teleport some guys and one of them joined up. But the ships in the 4th/Zoltan system had shields/drones I couldn't do anything against. Fun stuff.
Majukun
Member
bought it yesterday.
this evening i have almost finished it,but i got too confident on my ship (that until that point was doing really good,with a full crew , great equipment,stealth cloack,sensor,teleporter) and i've decided to help a ship before entering the last sector..the battle was fierce and i've won,but i damaged the ship and i needed to go to the store for repair..then i miscalculated the number of jumps and got caught by the rebel army..another great battle,won but 4 members of my crew died and the ship was severely damaged...against the boss i had no chance and got blasted.
only thing i don't like about the game is that it's mostly luck..sometimes you have tons of scraps,missiles,drones and fuel and you manage to build a pretty cool ship,sometimes you are always at the edge of bankrupt,no matter what you do....same for the various random events,there's no "right choice",sometimes do something pays off,sometimes it damage your ship or kills one of your crew.
anyway,anyone can lead me to a guide to how unlock all the ships?i have only 3 ships right now.
this evening i have almost finished it,but i got too confident on my ship (that until that point was doing really good,with a full crew , great equipment,stealth cloack,sensor,teleporter) and i've decided to help a ship before entering the last sector..the battle was fierce and i've won,but i damaged the ship and i needed to go to the store for repair..then i miscalculated the number of jumps and got caught by the rebel army..another great battle,won but 4 members of my crew died and the ship was severely damaged...against the boss i had no chance and got blasted.
only thing i don't like about the game is that it's mostly luck..sometimes you have tons of scraps,missiles,drones and fuel and you manage to build a pretty cool ship,sometimes you are always at the edge of bankrupt,no matter what you do....same for the various random events,there's no "right choice",sometimes do something pays off,sometimes it damage your ship or kills one of your crew.
anyway,anyone can lead me to a guide to how unlock all the ships?i have only 3 ships right now.
Funky Functionality
Member
Jesus. I am hopelessly addicted to this game. Love that it can be played in relatively quick sessions. So damned good.
ZedIndyLil
Member
Sometimes GAF has steered me into a solar flare, but not this time. Terrific game, deserves all the love it has received.
I do have a little problem with the endgame, though, at least story-wise. Not really fair to make the poor little ship that has trudged across the galaxy to be the one to fight the fricking enemy flagship Still haven't beaten that sucker. Of course it makes sense for gameplay, as you're supposed to do multiple playthroughs.
I do have a little problem with the endgame, though, at least story-wise. Not really fair to make the poor little ship that has trudged across the galaxy to be the one to fight the fricking enemy flagship
Still haven't beaten that sucker. Of course it makes sense for gameplay, as you're supposed to do multiple playthroughs.platypotamus
Member
Sometimes GAF has steered me into a solar flare, but not this time. Terrific game, deserves all the love it has received.
I do have a little problem with the endgame, though, at least story-wise. Not really fair to make the poor little ship that has trudged across the galaxy to be the one to fight the fricking enemy flagship
Yeah, the bastard got me again today. Thought I had him for sure, had a stupidly decked out ship. Guess I should have replaced my fire beam with a bomb or missile, that might have done it.
It's a lesson in risk management. Don't take unnecessary risks and you'll find yourself making it pretty far on each run.
You're right in that sometimes you have very little chance of winning. However, over time, I've really found that I've been able to significantly maximize how much I can get out of the hand which I'm dealt.
Majukun
Member
if you don't take risk you don't get resources,if you don't take resources you can't upgrade your ship and you'll get blasted in one of the later sectors or the boss...if you just want to go as far as possible,you can play it safe..but if you want to finish the game you can't,and it's where luck comes to play...the only way to get a little control is to get the advanced scan so that you can at least tell what sector is a direct battle and what not,but even then you're never really in control,and you still need the luck to get that upgrade in a random event or to have enough scraps to buy it (if it even show up in a shop)
another thing i'm pissed off about is that the way you unlock certains ships it's too damn specific..you have to be at the right place,at the right time,with the right equipment and do the right thing..and counting that most of this game is random,you have a very slim chance to unlock a new ship other then the engi one or the zortan one (i hope i got the names right)
anyway,counting how much i'm playing the game,the pros definitely outweight the cons
I recommend checking out some mods for this game. You can install more than one by using grognaks mod manager,which makes installing mods pretty painless.
For example the highres background images and the new names + new events mod.
I am using both and it works flawlessly.
For example the highres background images and the new names + new events mod.
I am using both and it works flawlessly.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't take risks. You're completely correct in that you must take risks in order to succeed. However, you don't need to take every risk.
You need to estimate how much you MIGHT get vs. how much you will LIKELY lose. If I'm doing well, I rarely go for any event which seems like it could be costly.
Majukun
Member
the fact is that you are never really doing well enough in this game.
the boss is such a gargantuan beast that you need every possible crew members,every possible shield bar,every possible weapon every single scrap and upgrade...i managed to get to the last boss 2 times,and i've barely scratched that ship.
plus,to be effective in the last sectors,your crew must practice a lot ,and so you're incentived to get in every battle possible,specially if you have a "boarding team",that needs to combat constantly to get really good
and again,i know that it's all for a "greater good",and that this game is good as it is,but if i need to rely on my luck,i'll never beat this damn game.
nakedsushi
Member
Yes! I finally beat it (on easy). Surprisingly, didn't have to use cloaking or board the boss ship at all. Got 1 defense drone. I maxed out on engine and got 3 shields. Mostly spent the rest of my upgrades on weapons. Ended up with 3 blasters and 1 missile and that did the trick.
Majukun
Member
does upgrading the teleport room make possible to teleport more than 2 crew members at the time?Enemies can beam up to 4 guys on your ship,but you can't,so you have both numeric disavantage (enemy crews are usually composed by more then 2 guys) and no home advantage (sickbay) when boarding..that means that boarding it's mostly ineffective or just a really long process when you have to beam in and out your members more than one time...
toddhunter
Member
The amount of people you can beam is determined by the size of the room. There is a ship with a four space teleporter, but otherwise you are doing it in teams of two.
Upgrading just means you can get in and out quicker and makes multiple teams more viable. I tend to upgrade once, which gives more than enough breathing space to get people back safely if needed.
Funky Functionality
Member
Not so fast my friend!
Why does your "normal" flagship have so many fewer systems than the ones the rest of us encountered on Normal? Is it random as well??
Anyway, I got all three ship-specific achievements with the Kestrel last night in one run, which shamefully ended prematurely in Sector 6 due to some personnel mismanagement. That unlocked the B-layout Kestrel, and with that ship, on my first try, I made it to Sector 8 for the very first time... only to be annihilated by the flagship. Oh well, it was a moral victory. Got the achievement for never using drones on that run as well. This has been a long and hard-fought struggle as I've never once played the game on easy. GOTY material as far as I'm concerned.
platypotamus
Member
No but the Flagship
has multiple stages, and in the second/third stage has less weapons. Don't be fooled into thinking those stages are easier because of this, though
Majukun
Member
drones are really not worth the effort
if you start with a ship which doesn't already have them,you need to
1)find a shop which is selling the relative system and buy it
2)buy the energy for the system
3)buy the schematics for the drones
4)hope you'll find enough drones pieces around the map
with all that scrap you can buy some kick ass weaponry instead,or upgrade your ship
if you start with a ship which doesn't already have them,you need to
1)find a shop which is selling the relative system and buy it
2)buy the energy for the system
3)buy the schematics for the drones
4)hope you'll find enough drones pieces around the map
with all that scrap you can buy some kick ass weaponry instead,or upgrade your ship
What he said. Luck always helps too, had a nice weapon mix and the drone .
Is it really a spoiler at this point? I think there is some randomization too though, I remember on that normal run I didn't have as huge on onslaught of drones like I had in previous encounters in the second stage of the flagship.
I purchased a boarding drone on a winning run with Kestrel, which doesn't start with a drone system. It was really useful! I picked up the schematic in a random event, then purchased a drone system down the line because I had lots of drone components. My general FTL strategy is to adapt my strategies and decisions to the hand I'm dealt. It's been successful so far, so I wouldn't make such blanket statements about what's worth it and what's not.
Majukun
Member
Adapting is the only way to deal with this game,you are not doing something special.
i was just saying that to run a decent drone system you need too many circumstances,and if you are not that lucky but still feels like building a drone armada,you have to spend so much money,while improving your weaponry is much less demanding
Playing this for the past couple of days and loving it. Only complaint is that time seems to melt when I'm playing it.
Made it to the boss on Easy, but two encounters before getting to the ship took me from 20 missiles to 2. Took him down to about 25% despite that before dying.
Agree with a lot of what people have said about it being about luck. Sometimes you seem to just get a ton of scraps and extra crew members, sometimes you don't.
Made it to the boss on Easy, but two encounters before getting to the ship took me from 20 missiles to 2. Took him down to about 25% despite that before dying.
Agree with a lot of what people have said about it being about luck. Sometimes you seem to just get a ton of scraps and extra crew members, sometimes you don't.
Funky Functionality
Member
Mother of Jesus.
platypotamus
Member
Wasn't meaning to imply that I was! I just dislike the attitude that if you don't get X, Y, Z, then it's going to be a shit run.
For sure. I just don't want people getting the impression that they shouldn't go with drones, especially if presented with an opportunity to do so.
Majukun
Member
never said that.
i've only said that there are more cheap and equally effective alternatives to the drones,that IMHO should have been a little balanced...
I just bought this game tonight. It's wonderful.
I got it on GOG.com pretty late, so I told myself I'd just do the tutorial maybe before quitting, but I ended up playing for almost two hours.
My first run was going well through the first two sectors (playing on easy) until right near the second sector exit I got jumped by a rebel ship right in the midst of constant solar flares. Honestly, things went to shit so fast that it's hard to remember what exactly happened. Basically the result was the constant solar flares setting almost every single room ablaze, and so at the end my repair drone was out of commission, and my two remaining crew members couldn't quite make it to the bridge so I could jump the fuck outta there.
My second game I got taken out by an attack drone. I don't know why I didn't notice it right away zooming around and fucking up my ship. By the time I took out their drone control system I had already lost two crew members and my door control system was shot to hell so I couldn't open any doors to put out fires. Like the first run, it went real bad real quick :lol
I'm already in love with this game. Something neat I've noticed is all the little unexpected things that can happen on a run. Like in the second sector, I happened upon a lone escape pod from some other ship.
Definitely didn't see that coming.
I got it on GOG.com pretty late, so I told myself I'd just do the tutorial maybe before quitting, but I ended up playing for almost two hours.
My first run was going well through the first two sectors (playing on easy) until right near the second sector exit I got jumped by a rebel ship right in the midst of constant solar flares. Honestly, things went to shit so fast that it's hard to remember what exactly happened. Basically the result was the constant solar flares setting almost every single room ablaze, and so at the end my repair drone was out of commission, and my two remaining crew members couldn't quite make it to the bridge so I could jump the fuck outta there.
My second game I got taken out by an attack drone. I don't know why I didn't notice it right away zooming around and fucking up my ship. By the time I took out their drone control system I had already lost two crew members and my door control system was shot to hell so I couldn't open any doors to put out fires. Like the first run, it went real bad real quick :lol
I'm already in love with this game. Something neat I've noticed is all the little unexpected things that can happen on a run. Like in the second sector, I happened upon a lone escape pod from some other ship.
I pried it open and the alien inside "regarded me as a messenger of god" and demanded to join my crew, haha. So I had an alien manning the weapons room, so awesome.
This game is great, loving the game play and the battles, it's very similar to Flotilla, but more micro manage oriented, whereas Flotilla is more about macro managing your ships in a 3d space.
SO, my point, if you love FTL as much as I do, try out the demo for Flotilla. (Its soundtrack is made out of nothing but Chopin)
SO, my point, if you love FTL as much as I do, try out the demo for Flotilla. (Its soundtrack is made out of nothing but Chopin)
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Flotilla and FTL do have a lot in common, but Flotilla really, really exaggerates some of the problems with FTL. Namely how restrictive, brief, and repetitive playthroughs are. Much like FTL, there's a ton of potential already coded into the game, but it ends up being squandered by only having a single, short campaign.
The random events were much better though, iirc.
Just started playing this a couple of days ago, and it's really fun. I kind of put it off because I wasn't in the mindset for rogue-likes, but I finally launched it to play and lost about 4 hours. So far I've unlocked the Engi ship, and made it to the last sector in the Kestrel. You can easily make it to the last sector without getting any extra systems for the Kestrel except a few new weapons and some ship upgrades. Unfortunately on the sector before the final one I lost most of my crew so I was stuck fighting the rebels with 2 crew members. I'm honestly amazed at how quickly a situation can go from being good to disastrous, and the other way around.
Been looking at a few of the mods, and honestly I hope that FTL: Overdrive and FTL: Infinite Space get completed. Overdrive is a modding re-write to supposedly make modding easier, which just sounds good for everyone, and Infinity is a mod to try out making the game an endless playthrough of systems with no rebel fleet. Would definitely add some extra replay value to the game for me.
Been looking at a few of the mods, and honestly I hope that FTL: Overdrive and FTL: Infinite Space get completed. Overdrive is a modding re-write to supposedly make modding easier, which just sounds good for everyone, and Infinity is a mod to try out making the game an endless playthrough of systems with no rebel fleet. Would definitely add some extra replay value to the game for me.
Got to Sector 6 on my first playthrough. Some unoptimal scrap use is what got me wasted. Boarded, shields went down, then doors got busted. So sat and blasted while multiple rooms were on fire. I knew it was hopeless, but I tried to do as much damage as I could.
Edit: The music reminds me of Mass Effect 1's menu screen. Soooooo good.
Edit: The music reminds me of Mass Effect 1's menu screen. Soooooo good.
You just made me realize that I would love if someone modded in Mass Effect species and planets and whatnot.
Had my best run on normal two days ago, got to the third battle with the flagship but I only had like ten points of hull left and died very fast. Was a very lucky game, the very first jump was a very easy battle that gave me the weapons pre-igniter. It was a cakewalk from that point on, but goddamn does the ai on normal love to board my ship.
Haunted
Member
Brad Muir interview, talks FTL (and other things) at Indiecade 2012.
Includes a couple seconds of footage of the FTL panel at Indiecade. Really wish someone would've recorded that.
Includes a couple seconds of footage of the FTL panel at Indiecade. Really wish someone would've recorded that.
Nice, didn't realize all these mods existed, just picked up the game a couple days ago, although I've watched quite a few videos and twitch streams since the game initially came out, just never picked it up for some reason. Loving it so far. Anybody else regularly play the game with mods? Does it affect the built in achievements/unlocks if you play the game modded instead of vanilla?
Haven't beaten the game yet, got to the last boss but I had built myself too defensively and ran out of missiles at the end so was pretty much a stale mate and I had to give up. After several attempts with the Engi ship I went back to the Kestrel. Liking my chances for my current run with the Kestrel, got all 4 weapon bays being used including a blast laser, heavy ion, hull beam, and the artimus missile. Also was able to pick up cloaking with stealth weapons.
I wish there was a way to save the game without quitting. I'm fine with not being able to load a save, would just be nice to save periodically in case the game or computer were to crash.
whalleywhat
Member
Holy crap.
Still loving this a lot every time I boot it up, even though I haven't managed to beat it yet. Not even on easy =[
I unlocked a new ship, but I'm actually not sure if it's better than the default ship. Only has an ion blaster and an anti-ship drone for weapons. Guess I'll just have to figure out how to use it more effectively.
I unlocked a new ship, but I'm actually not sure if it's better than the default ship. Only has an ion blaster and an anti-ship drone for weapons. Guess I'll just have to figure out how to use it more effectively.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Not having to pay for the initial drone system is pretty great. Just make sure you get a weapon with some oomph sooner rather than later.