Making a point about points

[zeek]

It all depends on the ship for me. If we're talking a ship that starts out in a hole like stealth ships that need shields ASAP then my score is usually lower and 5000 is in the top range. If we're talking Mantis B that just tears through enemies getting max scrap left and right then 6000 is expected on a good run. It all depends.

[Elhazzared]

Little bit off topic, but you brought up something that interests me. I think the game should have just used scrap earned as score, or perhaps the value of your assets at the end (all scrap on hand, all scrap put into upgrades, the scrap worth of weapons and drone schematics, etc.). Because if I were going to rate how good a run of someone's was, this is how I would do it.

I don't feel that scrap should equate to points because lets be honest. Then all it really boils down to is. Do you have a ship capable of teleporting from the beggining? If you do you're gonna earn more scrap and thus, earn more points.

I feel it should be objective based. Say, X points for each blue option taken in dialoge. X extra points if you manage to unlock a ship (even if it was previously unlocked since it's a bonus for doing a rare mission). X points for going through nebulas. X points for going through homeworlds. X points for getting to the end of the level with the enemy fleet close on your tail (you get less points if the enemy fleet is too far behind and less if the enemy has already gotten to the exit becon). Lose X points if you let a rebel fighter flee to warn the fleet. Gain X points for having a fully upgraded and fully powered system (doesn't works on systems that do not require power). Then you can add dynamic ones like, gain X points if you go through a dangerous location. However if you have advanced sensors to pick up dangerous locations they cease to give you points at the end of the sector by not going through dangerous locations.

This way feels much better for me to get a real score.

[shadowcrust]

Your scoring system sounds quite complicated and is also highly dependent on luck, I think it's fine to leave the straightforward system that is in place. Only thing that may be changed is giving points for defeating Elite Fighters - if you do that, then all the people yammering how pointless the scores are because it's so easy to get an infinite score would be silenced and comparing scores may become a popular pastime again.

[shadowcrust]

While we're at it, giving no points and (usually) less scrap for accepting surrender gives a wrong incentive to the player to maim and kill everything. Would be nice if accepting surrender would give you 150% points, and still less scrap, so you can decide if you want to increase points or scrap (which also adds to points). Also, it would add to realism if not only hull damage would trigger surrender pleas, but also if you kill the second-to-last crew member.

[itg]

Anyone had a chance to play hard mode yet? In my limited sample of 3 wins on hard so far, I've noticed that my scores are no higher than I would expect to get in normal mode. So far, I've got 2 wins in the 5600 neighborhood (Kestrels B and C), and then a bit over 6300 with the Mantis B (2x scrap arm helped a lot). Evidently the combo of tougher AE mechanics and reduced scrap from hard mode roughly cancel out the scoring boost for me. What have the rest of you observed?

[Ghaleon]

wow all you people talking about scoring 6k+. I can't help but think you guys have easy-mode luck =\.

Honestly, assuming the player
1: explores as many beacons as possible (in my case I risk tanking ASB hits on the exit beacon if It means I can explore some more beyond that beforehand),
2: never flees from a battle, and
3: never lets the enemy surrender (though I will if they are offering me a glaive beam or burst 2 or something!).
4: Board kills everything asap, and get scrap recovery arm soon if available ( admit I don't get them if I only see one by sector 5 or so, I know it's still worth score at that point but I imagine it wont really pay itself off very well, and not until very late

Score becomes nothing more than a symbol of how lucky you are getting profitable events/kills. The higher your score, the easier the game was treating you, and vice versa..
My best scoring game ever on a full clear meeting all the requirements I listed was just 5.6k, and I felt LUCKY AS FUU with all the wealth-inducing events I got. IIRC I was even able to afford max rank weapons AND engines AND transporter/cloak... I think I completely ignored drone bays though, I often do.

But yeah, what 5th said, I think the lower your score in a complete game, the more intense it was. You don't score low cuz you did bad, score simply indicates how mean the game was IMO=P.

[itg]

High scores aren't so much about luck (although that is a factor, of course) as they are about hitting as many beacons as possible and choosing the right sectors. I noticed my scores getting a lot higher as I started to favor hostile and nebula sectors, or when my green sectors had large nebulae in them. They got higher still when I started regularly taking beacons past the exit and fighting back through the rebels to get to the exit. The fact that this is much riskier in hard mode contributes to my lower scores there.

For what it's worth, some of my high scores were non-boarding runs with no scrap arm, so it's not like that's necessary.

And also for what it's worth, I agree that high scores don't mean much. A low-scoring game is usually more exciting (although I've had some pretty rough ships that actually scored well, especially since hard mode), and an extremely low-scoring game would definitely take more skill.

[Ghaleon]

Err visiting all possible beacons was my #1 listed assumption i mentioned.
That said while i agree hostile sectors are probably more profitable. Im not sure about nebulas. Non-nebula sectors may have nebulas to allow you more beacon exploration, but you never get those extra jumps in a nebula without a random lucky event.

[itg]

Err visiting all possible beacons was my #1 listed assumption i mentioned.

I know, I just wanted to emphasize that I think that's important for getting a high score. Didn't mean to imply an omission on your part.

Do you hit as many beacons as possible in sector 8 before fighting the flagship (I'm assuming yes)? The scrap rewards are so high that any one encounter could be worth 100 points or more. A good sector 8 performance is the difference between a good score and a top 5 score, in my experience.

Oh yeah, and what difficulty to you play on? Obviously hard mode gets the biggest multiplier, but in my experience, scores on normal are usually higher, and I honestly have no idea what high scores look like on easy mode.

[shadowcrust]

Anyone had a chance to play hard mode yet? In my limited sample of 3 wins on hard so far, I've noticed that my scores are no higher than I would expect to get in normal mode. So far, I've got 2 wins in the 5600 neighborhood (Kestrels B and C), and then a bit over 6300 with the Mantis B (2x scrap arm helped a lot). Evidently the combo of tougher AE mechanics and reduced scrap from hard mode roughly cancel out the scoring boost for me. What have the rest of you observed?

My Hard mode scores on AE are way lower than my Normal mode scores on FTL Classic so far. Less beacons to visit, less ships to destroy, less opportunities to get a teleporter, much less scrap overall. Just had my third win after four runs (have I mentioned Hard mode is too easy?), and only scored 4303 points with the Osprey. Previously, getting more than 2500 scrap was normal on Normal, now I get around 1450 scrap on average.