FTL Captain's Edition 1.308/Inf 1.301b/EL 1.308

[R4V3-0N]

Yea, and also for people like me, who is new to modding, has this stupid windows 8 that hides information from me and also can format files differently or folders etc.

I can't really access mod/game files efficiently or effectively.
I am using some loop holes so I can do my modding but it's proving harder and harder as I try to change my weapons and/or drones.

[The Captain]

Playing 1.062f, a few times when speaking to my Human crewmember, I got "CE_CONVERSATION_HUMAN" as the result. Also I saw an option at a store to buy "illigalized goods" (I think that was the spelling? - not a word, though) - should just be "illegal." And a few uses of the contraction "it's" instead of possessive "its."

Playing the Vortex, with the AI Avatar Generator, I accepted the surrender of a slaver, and I think I got an avatar instead of a slave. I didn't check right away, but after I jumped, I found one in the cockpit, and wondered where I got it. I know it wasn't from an empty beacon with the option to pay 10 scrap to generate one, so I figured it was from the surrender. (BTW, interesting augment, and right ship for it [I hate the ship, but wanted to try this aug] - I made two avatars before selling, and they lasted till I beat the boss - one even had a few kills.)

Re: Adjudicator Ion Field - does it not always come up as an option? There were a few instances where I had dialogue boxes before combat, then right before battle, the option to use it didn't come up like usual.

[PaladinGreco]

I've run into a few strange events myself.

This is a direct quote from one event:

You receive a service iffer from a nearby public ship-yard. They are serve the federation fleet for free during the evacuation. You ship is patched up and you check the local offers.

It should probably read like this instead:

You receive a repair service offer from a nearby public ship-yard. They currently serve the federation fleet for free during the evacuation. While your ship is patched up, you check the local shops.

I also ran into several events where where the word "Militias" was used to describe the people and ships of the Militia. It should just be "Militia" or "____ of the Militia" or "Militia _____". Militia is both singular and plural when talking about portions of, people of, and material of the organization. Militias would imply multiple, unassociated organizations.

All of the above events occurred in a contested sector.

Also, I visited an Engi Drone Habor today in an Engi sector. I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be a Harbor, but when you're crewed by crazy people, spelling can be excused. :'D

I've also gotten AI Avatars from slavers. I think that's normal?

[The Captain]

I've also gotten AI Avatars from slavers. I think that's normal?

I also got a real crewman from slavers. I don't think avatars should be an option, since slavers wouldn't have any.

[PaladinGreco]

I, and other players in this thread, have given AI Avatars to slavers and bounty hunters. The game seems ok with this. I'm pretty sure the game simply treats all races, except Crystal outside of a Crystal sector, as equal opportunity.

On the other hand, you can look at it like this: You/the slavers, just swindled one another by handing over a hologram instead of a live being. That or the slavers might be in possession of a Hologram Generator Augment, and they make their money selling AI Avatars they produce (oh, look, an event flavor idea). That would suggest a higher level of sophistication; maybe a ring run by rogue Engis (I see enough pirate Engis; don't look at me like that), or Zoltan, or something like that. At any rate, I can see it being possible. These are just my thoughts.

...That being said, given what an AI Avatar is, there could be many arguments to make them immune to a lot of the events that take place in the game. I've had AI Avatars die of disease, of all things, because I didn't have an advanced med bay. That is slightly wonky. Blue Text Event Option Here! Send in the Avatars, they're immune to disease. Or should be.

I also just ran into this oddball event where both of the white options are the same. Even if this is vanilla, would it be possible to change this to be less... But Thou Must? ...ish.

[SUPERM3TROID]

I love all the additions to this game like the trading and more unique enemies and weapons but I feel that the beginning really needs to be toned down. Enemies are completely overpowered in relation to the player. Fighting ships that can shoot 5 lasers at a time, or have multibomb weapons in addition to zoltan shields, missle drones, etc means most ships will barely defeat them and some are downright impossible and results in many immediate deaths on the first beacon. I want to like this mod, but it needs some more balance to prevent instakills before you have a chance to do anything at all.

[The Captain]

Crew is much harder to get in CE, so I think you should get real beings, unless it's a specific event where you get an avatar. If you've got the generator, you can pay for avatars if you want.

[PaladinGreco]

That's true, crew is much harder to acquire in CE.

The most repeated event in sector 1 pre-mod was running into slaver ships. Not so anymore. Pre-mod, my record for hiring crew was 14 in a single run, but now I'm kinda lucky to have 3 new crew by sector 8, unless I pony up the scrap at shops that offer crew. I admit, I do that now, whereas I didn't before. CE has forced me to make use of a part of the game that vanilla basically made worthless because of how easy it was to run into crew acquisition events. On the other hand, I am consistently underpowered in every sector for the same reason. 40 scrap for a basic crewman may not seem like much, until you realize a base reward of 38 scrap is all you'll get for shooting down a Rebel Battlecruiser in a fleet action battle in a sector 6 contested zone, assuming it doesn't kill you.

The above is an observation, not a complaint. And the stated value for that battle is based on Normal Difficulty. :'D

EDIT: Testing concerning game rewards went as follows:

1: Capture ships if you need Fuel.
2: Accept surrender or blow them up if you need Missiles or Drones.
3A: Capture scrap rewards are better, except in some sectors and against some enemies. Rebel corvettes, destroyers, and cruisers do not offer appreciably better rewards for capturing them (contested sectors and rebel sectors) versus just blowing them away.
3B: Capture returns are diminishing as the game progresses.
4: Capture enemy transports for a good chance at special stuff. (I'm not suggesting piracy of civilians.)

Also, I was able to run through 3 entire sectors, starting with sector 3, with nothing but a Fire Focus Beam I picked up from a retreating feddie fleet in sector 2 and a Dual Laser 1 I started the game with for when the target had too many shields. That thing is scary powerful, like anti-crew missiles drones (I previously mistook these drones for absurdly quick anti-ship drones; silly me). This is how I was able to gather my data on capture rewards. Easily. :'D

I ran into a slug ship with an encased stealth system level 3, a cluster fire bomb launcher, a fire focus beam, an Effector, and a dual shot laser 2. It also has two hacking augments, since it turned my engines down to 1, and my oxygen off before letting me have it with the effector. It had no shield system at all, like the Nesasio, but it had 8 engine. Players without a beam weapon are simply dead if they run into this thing, because not a single shot fired at it hit, ever. I had a Pike Beam weapon, so I was fine since it didn't Effector my weapons.

That is a thing to look into. Hacker ships sometimes shut down two systems since combat augs were implemented. My observation is that it has always been slug ships and stations in slug nebulas only, and nowhere else. If this was intended, great. If not, I'm posting to let you know.

[aaaaaa50]

Also, I was able to run through 3 entire sectors, starting with sector 3, with nothing but a Fire Focus Beam I picked up from a retreating feddie fleet in sector 2 and a Dual Laser 1 I started the game with for when the target had too many shields. That thing is scary powerful, like anti-crew missiles drones (I previously mistook these drones for absurdly quick anti-ship drones; silly me). This is how I was able to gather my data on capture rewards. Easily. :'D

I think that one's my fault. I had an interesting story to tell about the origional version of the Fire Focus Beam. (From the data.dat it looks like Sleeper Service reduced the charge time.) I haven't played FTL much recently, so I haven't tried the new Fire Focus Beam, but it sounds like Sleeper Server took my thoughts into consideration... and made it totally OP.

[PaladinGreco]

Concerning Focus Fire Beams: IMO, if the charge time was 11 or 12-ish, it would be better. More than that, and it stops being able to start fires that you can keep going. I earned the "Some people just want to watch ships burn" achievement with just this one weapon, although it took a little time.

That being said, the same things that make the Focus Fire Beam amazing right now also make the Anti-Crew Missile Drone equally amazing. Compare it to an anti-ship drone 1 or any ion drone, and it comes out as a better pick almost every time. It's hard to compete with a 1 drone part + 1 power unit cost to get moderately fast system damage, fires, breaches, and crew damage. Just the low cost, speed, and system damage makes it nasty, while the rest is just bonus material. Now, it may not seem that dangerous alone... so just go ahead and picture an Auto-Terminator with 3 of them. I've been on the wrong end of that twice now. I've also been on the giving end of it. I took down a 5 shield layer final battle sector auto-assault that also featured maxed guns and engine using these, and a paltry 3 system power. All I had to do was cloak, wait for the drones to gut the poor auto-ship, and then put it out of its misery without fuss or bother. The same tactic absolutely ruined the FlagShip.

If I ever get another brace of 3 anti-crew missile drones, I'll take a screen cap or video clip of them making short work of every system the ship has.