Postby Eadmark » Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:00 pm
Velz, some excellent points. The devs have been crazy responsive to feedback and I know they welcome pretty much all criticism. They may not always change to fit, but I know it is taken into consideration. Some important things to remember about FTL though (some address concerns from other threads):
1) It's not NetHack in space - it's "roguelike" not rogue-clone. It has randomness, a tough learning curve, and permadeath. That's all they have in common. FTL is meant to have shorter play sessions, it is meant to allow you to use your imagination in fleshing out the plot. It is basic and simple on purpose. I like to imagine myself as a mercenary Mantis Captain delivering the information to the Federation in exchange for massive loot - half now, half upon delivery. And of course as any good Han Solo would I decide to join in the final battle.
2) You can beat the game with sweet drones, beat the game with sweet missiles/bombs, beat the game with sweet lasers/beams. There are not an infinite amount of combinations, but there a ton of different ways to approach the boss. That is what is so great about the unlockable ships - they push you towards these other play styles that you would never have tried out on your own. Before the Basilisk I would often lose to the boss unless I got just the right combination of laser weaponry- afterwards I became a mantis spamming lunatic! Sooo much fun.
3) It is not a slow thinking man's game - you would think this is the case from how long some of the combats take, and I admit to being frustrated originally by some of the weapon recharge times, and it really seams like a slow game if you just watch some Let's Plays. But it is all an illusion. This is the worlds first deceptively slow frantic-panic game. It is all about that beautiful moment when you FTL into a solar flare and are suddenly boarded by 4 Mantis and are dodging lasers from their mother ship. Then you FTL right out into a missile toting autoship. Woof. Spinning plates is right - and FTL hits that sweet spot of just the right amount of plates.
4) There is randomness, but this is a skill game - your tactics and decisions matter in FTL. If you are dying all the time (this is to everybody, not really Velz), I suggest playing on easy. I have about a 1/3 win to total plays ration right now and it is climbing and I'm certainly not the most skilled FTL player. For easy it is quite a bit higher, and with normal a bit lower - but 1/3 is the average. Why do I lose? Normally b/c I make a stupid mistake - kill a ship with my boarders on it, fail to notice that I haven't repowered my O2 in time, miscalculate how quickly the rebel armada is catching up, etc. Do I fail b/c of a bad run of luck? Yes. Frequently. I seem to ALWAYS end up facing solar flares and asteroid regions with the stealth ship prior to getting shields. Bugger. Of course, to offset that sometimes I have those incredible runs - stealth weapons, pre-igniter, scrap arm, 2 x burst IIs, and a breach 2 bomb, you know what I'm talking about. It all seems to even out in the long run, and the thing that separates the wins from the losses ends up being the player. All of that to say - yeah crazy learning curve, but doable.
I have logged over 365 hours in FTL (granted, most of it was before there was a save and quit feature so I just had to leave it running...) and have enjoyed every second. Do I like Binding of Isaac - yes, Dungeons of Dredmoor - yes, Dwarf Fortress - yes. FTL is not those games. I still like it. It provides the FUN I need and stimulates my imagination. I love it. I hope you can give it a chance without any ill-conceived comparisons.
Last edited by
Eadmark on Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.
