My thoughts on improvements or in sequel(prays)

[Vexov]

Hello, I am Vexov.. and im a FTL addict.

First, SEQUEL PLEASE!!, second i turned off the caps now so please relax.

I have come across and poked around in the mods and mods still in work, im aware of that infinite space mod, new color scheme for ships or detail even memorable ships from other space shows/games.


1) As everyone would like, the Auto fire setting for individual weapons. Im thinking even a auto-pause when individual weapon is ready(I know, its not a biggie).

2) Survival mode/free mode, I did come across that working in progress mod: infinite space?, but if the dev's can dish out something awsome that would be .. awsome
Here you can be whatever you want, no campaign scripts, you also get some sort of fame system that builds depending on your actions so you can be I.D as a pirate, goodie-two-shoes, merc. So if you become a pirate chances to run into sector military is higher, and pirates will offer deals to you. Depending, you could engage multi ships in a single battle much later on when you become famous enough, if they do expand the game so ships can get a whole lot meanier. I guessing there isn't much luck on that, atleast till a sequel, so Infinite Space mod will just have be it, not that the mod sounds crappy at all.

3) Maybe dev's could just patch the game with some of the work ppl have done on mods that just improve the game.. like that mod that did all the work on the weapons.(not that i can't handle it myself).

4) Missiles and bombs, too cheap?, i would say yes as all you can do is pray they miss?, how about i let my guns shot them down?, all it takes is not retarded AI's whom will always target vital systems and your done, praying on the random chance to come across the drone system and a defense drone comes from it or can be bought later is painful. Nothing like a good game turning to death because a SINGLE missile system is knocking all systems out faster then you can repair them: 1/2 done repairs and OMG another knocked out!.
Maybe missles could be cheaper to buy, but missiles only have a "CHANCE to get pass shields, then you can add in more launchers like the pegasus(Maybe even allow targeting for each missile?). Bombs, shields up = fail, dunno what else other then shield up = chance to fail to pen through the shields.. (maybe full chance to get past shields when you have a teleporter?)

5) Shops, coming across the unlucky random shopping can be such a game ender, dozen a shops later and still nothing you "NEED!!!", I dunno if shops should just have everything for sale.. or atleast put up 2 of everything(2 weapons)(2 augments)(2 systems)(2 crew)(you sell missiles/drones, also add in scraping them but not as much value as selling). I really do feel something should be done thoe, instead of absolute luck you can now build the ship you want (x4 MKII burst?) Artilery weapon... depending what would be exceptable chance to the shop

Of course, im not expecting much, seems like we will just be relying on the modders, and they're doing a awsome job of course and thankful they share.

What I really would love as everyone else im sure is a SEQUEL!!(haha, caps went back on!), go ahead and put in the score and campaign, maybe allow yourself to compare scores with friends(legit ships only) .. or even all FTP captains!, but make sure to add in some sort of infite space mode, and that can constantly be added to if need be, so space is really infinite and the threat of paril will always rear its head as you voyage into the dark suprise box of space
I do like the appeal of the game, when first playing it (and still) its like it brings you back to the days of SNES... the BEST DAYS, but they could easily keep thoes tunes and bring out even greater visuals.. hell it doesn't even have to get all 3D and realistic. I have come across the mod that does change the BG, but the ships don't exactly fit in.

Well thanks for reading, argee/flame/ignore/disagree/kick your dog in a rage of: "FFS, he isn't entitled to anything" then tell me.... as if im not aware??.

[UltraMantis]

Hello Vexov, welcome to the FTL Addicts Anonymous. Er.. the forum.

Good to hear that you are having a problem turning the game off, especially since you know that it can be quite harsh and unforgiving. And missiles are especially unforgiving, but making them weaker would take some of the fear away. And you should be affraid Well jokes aside there IS something you can do about missiles.

Two things in fact. Spend a lot of scrap upgrading your engines. Better engines = better evasion, better evasion also makes your crews piloting and engine skills improve faster, leading to even better evasion. Evasion works just as well with other weapons so it's usually a good idea to have great engines. You can also recharge your FTL drive and run away faster.

Other ways to deny missiles is with Defense drones. They can also shoot down incoming boarding drones and keep you safe from meteor storms. A powerfull drone system isn't cheap but it helps keep you alive.

I almost forgot the cloaking system. It adds 60% to your current evasion and can make you impossible to hit.

Shops can be a huge pain because they rarely sell exactly what you need. Part of playing FTL is to allways try and make the best of what you have. There are no guarantees that you will find the system you have been saving up scrap for. No guarantee that picking up a powerfull weapon will mean having enough power to use it. No guarantee... you get the idea. It's best to roll with the punches, and learn from previous failures.

Getting decent shields/engines early is very important. Later it becomes very important to improve offense so that you can kill faster than you are being killed. You will probably lose more games than you will win, but each of those wins will be in a ship with a different set of upgrades and weapons. That's part of the fun and misery of FTL.

[Vexov]

Hello Vexov, welcome to the FTL Addicts Anonymous. Er.. the forum.

Good to hear that you are having a problem turning the game off, especially since you know that it can be quite harsh and unforgiving. And missiles are especially unforgiving, but making them weaker would take some of the fear away. And you should be affraid Well jokes aside there IS something you can do about missiles.

Two things in fact. Spend a lot of scrap upgrading your engines. Better engines = better evasion, better evasion also makes your crews piloting and engine skills improve faster, leading to even better evasion. Evasion works just as well with other weapons so it's usually a good idea to have great engines. You can also recharge your FTL drive and run away faster.

Other ways to deny missiles is with Defense drones. They can also shoot down incoming boarding drones and keep you safe from meteor storms. A powerfull drone system isn't cheap but it helps keep you alive.

I almost forgot the cloaking system. It adds 60% to your current evasion and can make you impossible to hit.

Shops can be a huge pain because they rarely sell exactly what you need. Part of playing FTL is to allways try and make the best of what you have. There are no guarantees that you will find the system you have been saving up scrap for. No guarantee that picking up a powerfull weapon will mean having enough power to use it. No guarantee... you get the idea. It's best to roll with the punches, and learn from previous failures.

Getting decent shields/engines early is very important. Later it becomes very important to improve offense so that you can kill faster than you are being killed. You will probably lose more games than you will win, but each of those wins will be in a ship with a different set of upgrades and weapons. That's part of the fun and misery of FTL.

Well, can't argue with any of that, I certainly don't want to reduce any of the paril and fear the game brings.
I do feel thoe atleast the shops could offer always 1 of each(a random of course), and shops that would normaly offer 3 different items will still do so.

[UltraMantis]

I think with all similar suggestions, that the best outcome would be separating the difficulties into Easy, Normal and Hard. That way everybody could be happy with less frustrating playthroughs being possible and a more challenging game allways being there when you're in the mood for a challenge.

Of course i don't expect it happening overnight but it would be nice to have eventually.

[ZiMMy]

I think with all similar suggestions, that the best outcome would be separating the difficulties into Easy, Normal and Hard. That way everybody could be happy with less frustrating playthroughs being possible and a more challenging game allways being there when you're in the mood for a challenge.

Of course i don't expect it happening overnight but it would be nice to have eventually.

Yeah, that'll be cool. But "easy" shouldn't be litteraly easy, btw.

[Vexov]

I think the only way to see many of the stuff ppl have been trying to do and would like to see, is just with a mod friendly sequel. Im finding the game just too random.. its just too much based off of luck, it does take some experience do know what you can do and suceed with. It really comes down to a lucky-playthrough, ppl can argue but its clear you can go through and not get anything you "need" or even not able to reach mid playthrough, im not talking about meeting a terrible end at some crazy weapon and drone equided ship in a astroid field; im talking about no defense drones, or mix of issues of not being able to cut through enemy shields let alone the end boss. I don't expect any change, but there should be somthing to elimate on the whole "beating your head off a wall until you suceed" and claim it some great strategy.

I just finished a playthrough, 4990 or something, I pretty much tore ever ship i encounterd and they could hardly touch me unless a missle got past my drone some how (I guess it shot a incoming burst shot) all the scraps i could use, maxed out many systems, but didn't come across any weapons i needed to pound the shields down. Oh and I got by with killing all their crew, I had a glaive and some beam weapon that did 2 damage,, a small bomb, but it ended up in a dead lock at the end-boss... I ran out of missile, and my small bomb didn't have the punch it needed so i can raid the ship(it was a dead lock cause i teleported and knock out their weapon systems, only i could attack). So i let my crew die.. nothing i could do.
I also missed i think 1 ship in the slug homeworld to start that mission(well next time).

I would love to see some sort of easy ship editor for color selection, maybe even parterns, would be neat to add in own detail?(change how the metal's look, glows from windows, devices. (I know its too much, best too just make yourself a ship and use some the ship-mods.

I don't want the game easier, just less on the "keep rolling the dice until you get a 6(yay, successful playthrough)" of things. Working with what you get/find is one thing, but not getting anything to work with is another.

[UltraMantis]

Ahh, but surving several rolls of 1 feels pretty good. The outcome is still afected by decisions and risk more than by random nubers. In fact, having a lot of randomness prevents a mechanical, "perfect" strategy.

There are moments when the game just decides you've lived long enough and need to die Those can be frustrating, but it makes victories feel really satisfying.

[SleepyMage]

When a sequel hopefully comes, the majority of changes to interface, like individual autofire and extra hotkeys, are kind of obvious benefits.

As for the game play changes I can agree with missiles. You are guaranteed to run into ships with missiles while the enemy ships are not, so it does seem slightly uneven on that factor. You do have a ton more hull then enemy ships do, and that is one of the biggest balancing factors, but all the health in the world may not save you if they luckily manage to hit your core systems.

If the AI had a modicum of preferential targeting then it is highly unlikely that anybody would ever beat the game. Maybe if AI is made to be smarter then missiles can be altered to be less deadly as a balance.

Ha, I see someone else doesn't like dying by lack of weapons! I made a thread about that here but no one seems to agree with a change. I too would rather not see dice rolls say flat out that I win or lose because I didn't find the required equipment before the boss, unlike the majority of challenges that provide you a with percent chance to overcome them (at sometimes astronomically low odds but odds based on skill none the less). Tedious and absolute defeats are simply not fun in my opinion.

[Vexov]

When a sequel hopefully comes, the majority of changes to interface, like individual autofire and extra hotkeys, are kind of obvious benefits.

As for the game play changes I can agree with missiles. You are guaranteed to run into ships with missiles while the enemy ships are not, so it does seem slightly uneven on that factor. You do have a ton more hull then enemy ships do, and that is one of the biggest balancing factors, but all the health in the world may not save you if they luckily manage to hit your core systems.

If the AI had a modicum of preferential targeting then it is highly unlikely that anybody would ever beat the game. Maybe if AI is made to be smarter then missiles can be altered to be less deadly as a balance.

Ha, I see someone else doesn't like dying by lack of weapons! I made a thread about that here but no one seems to agree with a change. I too would rather not see dice rolls say flat out that I win or lose because I didn't find the required equipment before the boss, unlike the majority of challenges that provide you a with percent chance to overcome them (at sometimes astronomically low odds but odds based on skill none the less). Tedious and absolute defeats are simply not fun in my opinion.

Perhaps the game needs to be more of a struggle for scraps, but that would alter many ships amd rebalancing many things, I know the mantis ships are amazing at getting what they want(well any ship could be)

I agree wtih ya Ultramantis, and thoes are things i don't want to remove, all im looking for a just more chance to come across weapons and always a random weapon in shops.

[VanguardOfValor]

I love the random element in this game, so I have a hard time supporting changes that will make it more consistant. Part of what makes roguelike adventures like this fun is the fact that you will have to improvise every time you play. The run I recorded in the Engi Cruiser Type B was incredibly frustrating during the first few sectors because I was constantly right on the brink of death, but when I finally pulled through it felt amazing.

It's just like if you were playing Binding Of Isaac, and got the Epic Fetus on the fourth floor every game to compensate for the random item distribution. Not every game of Binding Of Isaac will give you the items you would want to succeed, but making do with what you get is part of the challenge.

I do agree it's frustrating to not find weapons and lose for that reason (I'm looking at you, Rock Cruiser Type A) but I feel that guaranteed weapon drops everywhere take a lot of that forced improvisation out of the game. In my Crystal Cruiser A run, I was actually forced to try a bunch of different things to try and compensate for the fact that the dice rolled against me (like accidentally killing my boarding party on their second or third mission...), and that certainly was a lot more interesting to me than just stomping every enemy with four burst laser mk. 2s that I got from every shop I found along the way.