AE is released now, obviously. So unless anyone would prefer to start a new thread we could turn this one into the actual AE R&D thread to gather and discuss all the new things that are possible. Up to you.
Original Post:
Unexpected but great: FTL gets an official expansion, FTL Advanced Edition. The developers say it will be released in early 2014.
It says on the main page that more infos on the expansion will be released in the next weeks, but I guess speculation about FTL AE and it's impact on modding are going to happen, so we can have a thread for this. I'll start off with a analysis of the trailer, mainly from a modding perspective. I'm only a boring human, so I'll likely miss some stuff and this is all speculation of course. Looking forward to hear your opinion on the trailer and the revealed contend.
The reveal video can be found here
The pictures used in this post where provided by Jep. Thanks!
So, let's FTL-jump right in shall we?
0:01 Great music in the background. The new soundtrack gets it's own announcement scene later in the video.
0:03 And that old familiar sound...
0:06 Nice to see all those ships from a different perspective.
0:08 "The Rebel Fleet has found you!" Classic Kestrel VS Rebel Elite Fighter battle, but with a lot of new weapons on the Kestrel. The weapons names are revealed later in that shot. If the weapon mounts on the Kestrel haven't changed they are as follows:
"Chain L" (Time +1) - The thing than looks like a massive dual laser, mounted left of the cockpit.
"Flak" - The massive cannon thing right of the cockpit.
"Ion Stunner" - The ion weapon with yellow glow.
0:09 Does that Mantis look less green than usual? Various crew skins available in AE? Well, we can hope for it...
0:14 Fire all weapons!
0:15 The Flak seems to fire what looks like scrap metal. It depletes shields and damages multiple rooms for one damage, but it was not shown how it is targeted. Area affect targeting is a confirmed feature for AE so this might be what happens here. Also, this weapon might use scrap as ammunition, which would be a great tag to have for modding. Note that shields now have a little recharge bar.
0:17 The Chain L just fires two laser shots. Probably has some other mechanic associated with it, else there would be no need for having a new weapon like this.
0:18 We don't see much of the Ion Stunner Impact, but it seems to deal ion damage. Stun effects on crew are also a confirmed feature, likely it does that as well. Neat!
Charge I. does not fire, but It might be an overcharge ion weapon (overcharging weapons is a confirmed feature)
0:19 Out of nowhere, the Kestrel gets blasted by a room-sized energy ball. And the thing actually shoots right through the ship! (projectile approaches from behind, disappears behind the ship and then bursts through a room, causing 3 damage and hull beach) The enemy Elite Fighter has no new weapons, so it seems like the Fleet has learned some new tricks. The "Pos - Danger" sign in the upper right corner also indicates that.
I really hope this weapon effect can be put on ship weapons as well, the visual feel is great.
0.22 New subsystems. The visual effect of that external spider drone thing . Again, I hope this can be used for other stuff. Hard to say how much this is hard-coded.
The drone seems to ionize the room and also effect (lock?) it's doors. The effect seem to be already active before it attaches, so it's not clear if the drone thing actually cause it, but it's colour coding surely suggests it. Later parts of the video suggest this thing is related to hacking systems.
0.25 "Meanwhile, in the Kestrel" - Rebels board the computer room. This system is probably for hacking (confirmed feature).
0.28 Mind-controlling Rebels, well, why not? (another confirmed new system) No infos on how this will play out, but It was mentioned that it will be usable on enemy ships as well. I guess the fun starts when enemies use all this stuff against you.
The mantis in this part looks regular green again.
0:35 New drones and equipment. That very smooth looking drone seems to board like boarding drones (indicated by the breach), but then just sits around and waits till someone comes and to hit it, which causes it to ionize and stun. Seems like really annoying thing.
And look, multicoloured Rockmen on the enemy ships. I hope we are free to select all those skins for the player crew, maybe they are unlockable, or just generally available. This also indicates that modders might have more space for implementing new crew skins.
0:43 Yes, the new soundtrack is awesome!
0:46 Another look at a Kestrel with new loadout. It gets a "Charge L" - Seems to be the laser equivalent to the Charge Ion, but does not get the bubbles under it's name.
The Kestrel also gets a "Shield" drone. Not clear what it does, but there is a "Shield up!" icon left of the ship when it's shield gets depleted. Might be related.
0:48 And look at that. Sensors and doors can be manned now, so your crew can have more stuff to do. The "manned" icon is different for this stations, maybe they don't have crew experience associated with them? Drone control still can't be manned though.
And there is this ominous system in the upper right room in the middle of the ship. Oh wait, that should be the medbay, shouldn't it? You have changed, medbay, I just don't understand you any more... The icon seem to show two humans. Ships rest room? Can you force enemy surrender by damaging it?
0:50 Ah, the obligatory quick-shots at the end of a trailer, to show that we approach the grand finale. This time the Torus with another Charge L, showing four bubbles under it's name. Possible charge indicator then?
It also features an active shield drone. We cant see it's shield bubble display, or any green bar, but the green shield colour could suggest that the drone emits some kind of one time supper shield, Zoltan-like. Also, the Torus seems to retain it's normal medbay.
0:51 Very short shot and no new weapons on the ship, but it is revealed that the new boarding drone is named "Intruder Drone" (drone is visible in the last frame).
0:52 Another super short shot with no new weapons, but the players weapon system is ionized with purple ion and there is the spider drone thing attached to the weapon room. The enemy is a "Federation Outrunner" (?) equiped with a hacking system, so the attachable spider drone might actually be the thing that allows hacking?
0:53 Nothing new here. Note that none of the enemies was equipped with new weapons till now. Probably not added to the lists yet. Also there where no new enemy hull designs shown yet.
1:00 FTL on I pad. Great for the people who where waiting for this.
1.05 Final title screen with debris in the background. Then some ships fly by, their silhouette don't seem to match any vanilla ship and the last thing that darkens the screen looks like it has a head. To me, this definitely looks like it's hinting a new faction. A new sector (abandoned sector) has been confirmed, this ships might be related.
