Zloth

I smell a... wumpus!?
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PC Gamer has been going gah gah over this game for months. Now it's finally out:

http://www.ftlgame.com/

Or you can get it on GOG or Steam.

So has anyone tried it out? Is it really that fun?

PC Gamer first look: http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/ftl-a-game-about-managing-a-spaceship-in-an-infinite-galaxy/
PC Gamer preview (by a different author): http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/ftl-preview/
and a guide: http://wordmercenary.org/2012/09/14/ftl-tips/ (which PC Gamer pointed out - like I said, they are REALLY going nuts over this thing)
 
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I picked it up because I've been playing a lot of Sword of the Stars recently and have a space simulator thing going. Also price is low enough to try out and support an indie. I've only played one mission to what I think is the final battle but I lost so game over for that ship. (Hint: if you send a landing party to another ship don't forget to beam them back before you send your last barrage at it or they wont be available for the final battle.)

I'd say its decent. Gameplay is pretty good for what it is - a rogue-like. Interface is reasonably smooth but I'd go through the tutorial to get the gist of it. Some of the fonts drives me a little nuts and I'd love to replace the retro 80s one. Graphics are bare bones but done well enough and better than most rogue-likes I've seen.

Its much simpler that I expected but thats not necessarily a negative. I can see picking it up to play though a run real quick but not sure it has staying power for me. I dont know that I'd recommend it unless you read the reviews and watch some videos and think its still cool.

That sounds a little negative and it is but its a good quality game. If you dont get it now then it would be a good one to pick up in something like humble bumble pack or steam sale.
 
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I've been enjoying the game a lot, but it's probably not for everyone. You have to be at least somewhat into the whole roguelike genre where you die a lot and try again. You unlock different ships over time which can add to replay value, and as you learn the game more you learn that there is a bit more complexity to all the weapons and subsystems then might be immediately apparent. Still it's a little simple compared to your average roguelike, but it is extremely different, and there is a ton of room for further development.
 
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I played around with it a bit. Got creamed my first time but had a lot of fun with my second play. I got pretty far but then a battle started out with a half dozen enemies on my ship. I won but I only had one guy left and he was the newest one on the ship! I almost made it through one more sector but got gready and ran into another boarding party when I just had two people on the ship.

However, I also got Dungeon Keeper 2 at the same time. That game is eating me up. (Hehehe, I *still* can't do squat in that "golf" game!)
 
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The more time I spend with this game the more I like it. It's simple but challenging, and I've yet to get beyond the 3rd sector.

Scrap is really hard to come by, and I never seem to be able to gather enough to substantially upgrade my ship. Is there anything in particular I should be saving up for in the early game? The drone system perhaps?
 
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Yeah, this is a fantastic little game!

"Is there anything in particular I should be saving up for in the early game?"

First up I'd get another reactor power so you can have your engines at full power for that extra 5% evasion.

Have a guy on bridge, guns and engine.

Upgrade your doors and sensor subsystems next then raise your medbay and oxygen to 2 power, which will require a few more reactor upgrades.

Your bridge and engine guys will get XP when you dodge so they kinda help each other level. You should be able to hit 45% evasion without much difficulty with a bit more scrap into engines.

In combat, take out their shields with a missile then attack the guns with your lasers.

When you get to sector 5 you'll unlock a ship with drones by default.
 
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I got this it and so far I like it.I just unlocked new ship and mechanic is quite different so I can't wait to unlock next.Also I think this is officially first finished game from post-Schafer kickstarter revolution.
 
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Yeah my first kickstarter purchase delivered, besides the poster for banner saga, and I'm pretty happy with it. Well worth the price of admission though you do have to like a game that's going to beat you up pretty badly the first couple times you take a shot at it at the very least.

I have run into some multi-part quest opportunities that came as somewhat of a suprise. I won't spoil the details but in the end I came away with a unique new crew member and another ship unlocked - and tons of scrap along the way. Very very tough boss fight though.

Its been getting reviews that range from pretty good to very impressive so far:
Inc Gamers 8/10
Flesh Eating Zipper 8/10
Gamespy 4.5/5
Bit Gamer 90%
Space Game Junkie- Scoreless but extremely positive

Today at least, FTL is among the top 10 most played games on steam and peaked at over 17k users playing concurrently. So it looks like its selling decently in addition to those who received it by pledge as this over twice the number of pledges on kickstarter.

A good first kickstarter to have been part of really - got what I paid for with only a slight delay in the project and the ultimate product was both enjoyable and is showing to be financially successful beyond the kickstarter itself. I doubt they'll all turn out this way though.
 
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Some of the alternate layout unlocks are very fun as well, I particularly thought that the Engi second layout was pretty funny. The Zoltan 2nd layout is pretty cool as well, and teaches you some new combo strategies. I haven't made any progress towards unlocking the 2nd federation one though.

At some point I may have to try to unlock some of the other ships. Engi and Zoltan were pretty easy to unlock, but I have no clue how to get any others.
 
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Some of the alternate layout unlocks are very fun as well, I particularly thought that the Engi second layout was pretty funny. The Zoltan 2nd layout is pretty cool as well, and teaches you some new combo strategies. I haven't made any progress towards unlocking the 2nd federation one though.

At some point I may have to try to unlock some of the other ships. Engi and Zoltan were pretty easy to unlock, but I have no clue how to get any others.

I've found that some of them are tied to specific quests more likely to spawn in regions controlled by that species; one in particular requires their home-sector.
 
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My first upgrades go to the shields and energy. GOT to get two bars of shielding!
 
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Boy, am I crap at it, though. I made it 5 or so sectors once but usually get destroyed in 3 or so.

+1. Maybe I just stink at roguelikes, but I'm actually finding normal difficulty a bit frustrating. Everytime I start to feel like I'm finally getting stronger, I encounter something that wipes me out.

My biggest issue is that I always seem to be spending too much scrap on fuel, missiles, and hull repair to be able to save up and get the good stuff. I also wish I had more time for exploration before having to flee from the rebel fleet.
 
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+1. Maybe I just stink at roguelikes, but I'm actually finding normal difficulty a bit frustrating. Everytime I start to feel like I'm finally getting stronger, I encounter something that wipes me out.

My biggest issue is that I always seem to be spending too much scrap on fuel, missiles, and hull repair to be able to save up and get the good stuff. I also wish I had more time for exploration before having to flee from the rebel fleet.

yeah don't be ashamed to try easy. it's an unforgiving game so easy isn't entirely a cop-out difficulty level. you can always try it out until you unlock some other ships/layouts that may work better for you too.
 
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yeah don't be ashamed to try easy. it's an unforgiving game so easy isn't entirely a cop-out difficulty level. you can always try it out until you unlock some other ships/layouts that may work better for you too.

Do you know what the differences are between normal and easy? I can't seem to find a description anywhere. I'm guessing the rebel fleet advances slower, but I'm wondering what else is different.
 
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Do you know what the differences are between normal and easy? I can't seem to find a description anywhere. I'm guessing the rebel fleet advances slower, but I'm wondering what else is different.

Rebel fleet advances slower but I also noticed I get boarded less frequently and encounter fewer straight-up combat encounters as opposed to ones which provide options to bargain/slip by.
 
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I didn't notice before, but hovering the mouse pointer over the difficulty levels actually gives a description. I'm going to switch to Easy until I get the hang of it. My biggest complaint is how much of a factor luck is on normal difficulty, but I guess fans of roguelikes are already used to that.

Going to take a break and play something else for awhile first though. This is definitely not a game for people with short tempers. I broke a keyboard today after getting killed within the first few jumps 5 games in a row. :)
 
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I still cant kill that final boss but with the amount of missiles he fires having 60% evasion is about your only chance, I reckon.

I've only played on normal and don't intend on trying easy.

This is definitely not a game for people with short tempers. I broke a keyboard today after getting killed within the first few jumps 5 games in a row.

lol maybe you should stick to minecraft, noob! :p

Just remember, regarding my previous tips, having stuff upgraded will give you additional dialogue options. Sensors comes up very often, for example.
 
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I finally beat the final boss using the baseline engi cruiser. I had a level 2 defence drone up and running which helped a lot with the missles. I've noticed that you get a level 1 defence drone for free any time you buy a drone upgrade, so that's something to keep in mind for non engi ships.

Beating the boss unlocked a new ship, which looks pretty cool. But now that I've won, I think I may have gotten enough FTL for now. I've definitely gotten my money's worth in playtime as is.
 
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Getting a little better… I've reached the 2nd to last sector several times now.

This game is extremely addictive. Every time I think I've had enough, I find myself booting it back up again a short while later.

Anyone making extensive use of the crew teleporter? So far my guys seemed to get wiped out pretty quick whenever I try to board an enemy ship. Any tricks to that? What happens if you manage to eliminate all of the enemy crew?

*Edit* I just got to the final battle and thought I had won, but the Rebel flagship jumped away when I got its hull down to zero health, and then my crew died from the damage I substained during the battle. I had three shields + a level 2 defense drone and he still did crazy damage.
 
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