Comments on: Thoughts: FTL.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:15:59 +0000

In the version I played I got a new ship just by advancing to sector 5. That one was armed with an ion weapon and drone which gave me an advantage next playthrough and I got further, and so on. As fantastic as this game is though, it’s really only the beginning. The possibilities for improvement and extra features is enormous. Online multiplayer. Each jumped to system being a fully explorable solar system with its own randomly generated planets and events, more RPG like elements for the characters… onwards and upwards, faster than light.

By: Kidz

Kidz — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 17:59:46 +0000

I’m surprised you didn’t unlock any of the ships other than the Enterprise one you get for killing the boss. If you do some of the quests then you’ll end up unlocking quite a few of them.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:43:21 +0000

It;s probably best played as an occasional game, like minesweeper; the sessions are short enough that you can finish one in a single sitting, so it’s the sort of thing you have permanently installed on your computer to toy with every now and again. I don’t think it stands up that well to the kind of obsessive play I subject games to as that really accentuates its flaws (too random, too repetitive).

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:40:37 +0000

I’m fairly sure it’s fixed. You get X number of jumps before they turn up, and then they advance at a fixed rate. This is why it’s better to milk a sector of everything you can until the last possible moment rather than jumping out early for a time advantage that doesn’t exist.

By: Sandplasma

Sandplasma — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 04:01:36 +0000

I found it an ok game and played for about an hour..then a few hours later..for some unknown reason..I felt like playing again. So I did. and then again…and again..and now again. It grew on me really quick. Really having a good time with it.

By: aosher

aosher — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:19:44 +0000

Question: Does the rebel fleet advance at a fixed rate or a relative one? For example, if I jump out of a sector with the fleet just about to overtake me, will they arrive at the next sector quicker than they normally would, or at the same time regardless?

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:54:20 +0000

Yeah I do like that a game takes ninety minutes at most to smash your way through to the final system. You die a lot, but it’s surprisingly easy to swallow up until the end boss.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:52:35 +0000

I cut them some slack on the difficulty because they were never going to get an idea like this right first time (and Easy mode is basically normal up until the final boss), but the ship unlocks thing is rather baffling to me. Like, that’s not a new concept or anything; it’s the equivalent of class select in a proper roguelike, and limiting you to the Kestrel is like saying “Okay, you can play a Fighter and NOTHING ELSE.”

By: innokenti

innokenti — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:33:49 +0000

Yeah, it’s definitely on my list of things to try. I love the idea and do need to find the time to give it some attention!

By: Janek

Janek — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 20:30:21 +0000

Like any good Roguelike, I alternately love it and hate it. Absolutely agree about the ship unlocks, though – I had a peek at what to be looking out for and I’ve yet to encounter any of the events which lead to new ships.

I’ve actually found Easy to be just about the right balance of difficulty and risk vs reward with the bog standard Kestrel, up until the huge difficulty spike with the final boss. I’ve come mighty close to beating it a couple of times now, but always fallen apart at the crunch – which is a touch disconcerting considering I could be breezing through most encounters due to my careful choice of upgrades. Watching your ship go up in flames feels like a real kick to the teeth, as with most high-level Roguelike deaths, but especially if it’s due to extra special abilities (GOD DAMNED DRONE SWARM) that you can’t do anything about.

But yeah I think it’s almost great, could just do with a few small tweaks IMO.