Subset Games Forum

I assume the rebels catching up to you means the scripted events are overwritten. Other than guaranteeing a fight at every beacon, does this change anything?

evoblade wrote:I assume the rebels catching up to you means the scripted events are overwritten. Other than guaranteeing a fight at every beacon, does this change anything?

No, nothing except fighting a rebel elite fighter, and making you only get 1 fuel as reward. (Neither of which are hardcoded.)

Yeah I discovered the 1 scrap thing last night. That's a real kick in the junk. Not getting any scrap from pointless fights seems to be the primary motivation to not get caught by the rebel fleet.

I'd attempted to up the ante a bit with "Turning the Tide," but some of my ideas proved impossible to implement - like spawning a much harder Destroyer or cruiser ship if you defeated the fighter. Other events simply ended up proving unbalanced, and I eventually called it quits on the project.

Captains Edition does tread some of the same waters, albeit differently, but however you slice it, the risk/reward factor of the rebel fleet is severely lacking in the default game.

There can be no 'risk/reward' equation to fighting elites in vanilla FTL; being able to hang around sectors endlessly and gain scrap from fighting the rebel fleet over and over would completely unbalance the game, as players could max out a ships systems by the end of sector 1.

Making the best of the resources you get from a limited number of chances (beacons) is the essence of the game, though if it could be balanced, occasional opportunities to go up against an uber-powerful cruiser/battleship for some reward when the fleet catches you could be fun (or end your game in a hurry)

The Rebel Fleet is the equivalent of a 'food clock' in oldschool roguelikes - a reason to push forward rather than sit back and farm.

It is definitely worth fighting them on occasion, though - there are many sector layouts which allow you to get 1 or even 2 extra beacons by fighting the elites once, and with a good setup (e.g., cloaking) you can often incur no damage before jumping away. (Keep in mind if you're doing this that the exit beacon itself is a good beacon you want to hit if possible, unless it's in a nebula. So generally look to hit the exit, hit the 1-2 extra beacons right of the exit, then go back to the exit to fight the Elites once.)