Crew Equipment

[ComboBreaker]

Greetings.I had a few ideas while I was playing this wonderful game.I shared them with my friend and he agreeded that they would make FTL even more deep and strategical.

First of all,current boarding fighting is extremely bland.The only factors that do influence on it are :
-Skill of individual fighter or race traits
-Lack or presense of MedBay
-Reinforced doors.

After playing both boarding and usual,"smash the hull" styles,I've understood how bland boarding is.Equipment could fix this sitiuation.Fireproof suits,oxygen masks for airless rooms,Exoskeletons for durability,personal teleporters that can teleport you out even when main teleporter is offline,flamethrowers,door cutters/weilders,booby traps that are installed on doors/systems,medical equipment,sabotauge bomb with a timer...List goes on.
Only a single piece of equipment can be given to an individual,and some races cant use some equipment(A rockman with a flamethrower or a Mantis with exoskeleton would be simply broken).

Equipment could present interesting tactics and challenges,like troops with oxygen masks overtaking oxygen station and holding it,saboteur bomb and door weilder holding a specific room to blow it up.

[thenightgaunt]

If doable that would be pretty awesome.

[Baby Fark McGee-zax]

In true fashion of the game, there has to be a random chance that the flamethrower will explode and cover your friendlies in flames, or the sabotage bomb prematurely detonates on your own ship.

Still, great idea.

[Life Star]

In true fashion of the game, there has to be a random chance that the flamethrower will explode and cover your friendlies in flames, or the sabotage bomb prematurely detonates on your own ship.

Still, great idea.

Your additions make the idea even greater

[Vost]

I think it would be entirely possible to do something like that within the game's structure, as additional "augmentations" that would apply to the crew instead of the ship.

The problem with the crew equipment idea (which I agree could be very cool and add a really interesting dimension to gameplay) is that it removes a lot of the focus from ship-to-ship combat and strategy. As it is, boarding is only another possible strategy, one more weapon in your arsenal (though it is not without risk even to the experienced player). To put crew-level mechanics effectively on par with ship-level combat would in some ways make it a different game.

I do agree that, at present, crew combat is very limited, but consider its role in the larger context. (I wouldn't mind having a boarding craft, though.)

[F1R3_F1R3]

someone needs to make this a mod

[crankdawg]

I think it would be entirely possible to do something like that within the game's structure, as additional "augmentations" that would apply to the crew instead of the ship.

The problem with the crew equipment idea (which I agree could be very cool and add a really interesting dimension to gameplay) is that it removes a lot of the focus from ship-to-ship combat and strategy. As it is, boarding is only another possible strategy, one more weapon in your arsenal (though it is not without risk even to the experienced player). To put crew-level mechanics effectively on par with ship-level combat would in some ways make it a different game.

I do agree that, at present, crew combat is very limited, but consider its role in the larger context. (I wouldn't mind having a boarding craft, though.)

I would agree with this. There could be an extra augment slot for crew equipment and then you would have to chose whether to make your crew not dependent on air (you could shut off the O2 generator and make boarding your craft impossible) or fire resistant or do more damage, etc. However, you could only have one and apply it to the whole crew. It would certainly add a new layer of choice to the mix. Do go defensive and protect your crew with the augment or take an offensive or utilitarian rout to make them better at a particular action at the risk of being more vulnerable.

This could also open up new blue choices in events. For instance, when the diseased colony event come around, O2 masks could make normal crew immune to the virus.

I like this idea.

[ComboBreaker]

This could also open up new blue choices in events. For instance, when the diseased colony event come around, O2 masks could make normal crew immune to the virus.

I like this idea.

...Or better yet,burn giant spiders with a flamethrower!Get on burning scientific station with a fireproof suit to extinguish fire "rockman style"!Teleport someone with a saboteur bomb on the misfunctioning security planet system!

These would not give as many rewards as you would achieve using race traits or special weaponry,but still be 100% success actions.

I'd say,one piece of equipment per person,not for the whole team.At least half of the available equipment should be usable for non-boarding actions.Equipment should be rare,have limited ammo/durability(refilled at shops for scrap),so you'd think twice who really needs it.We got one O2 mask...Am I giving it to a repairman,so he'll be able to fix Oxygen station even in the most dire situation,or am I giving it to a boarder leader?

**Imagine saboteur bomb that makes systems do opposite actions they were suppoused to do for a while,like antipersonal drone attacking it's owners,antimissile drone turning into a level 1 antiship drone(nasty),oxygen station sucking oxygen out of the ship etc...

[GraveSalad]

To add a bit more strategy how about allowing only humans to have augs? They would finally have value and it would prevent combos such as a rock man being immune to fire with a flamethrower causing him to be a wrecking crew if sent to the ship.

[Donavan]

I like the idea of only humans to be able to use augments. After all in a lot of sci fi games alien races have special abilities and humans are crap. They make up for it with a vast array of machines/Gadgets/Gizmos that allow them to fill roles that other races normally would.