FTL: Strong men also cry

[Eel O'Brian]

gotta have extra dudes to fight any boarders

you can open up all your airlocks and suffocate them, too

or kite them into the medbay and beat them while getting healed

[The Sceneman]

BEST way to avoid having an early boarder buttfucking is to upgrade your doors asap, then 'space' the baddies. Fully upgraded doors is always my first priority.

[Eel O'Brian]

that too

[pilonv1]

or kite them into the medbay and beat them while getting healed

I'm really cheap and don't like upgrading doors unless I have to so this is my favourite tactic. Death by lack of oxygen is next but you don't get the fighting bonus.

Watched someone on twitch last night juggling drones (defense/attack) and it was total moment. Love that after 40-50 hours I can still learn new tactics and strategy. Made it to the final boss with the slug ship on the weekend, bio beam is awesome fun but if you don't have a weapon to take down their attacks it's really hard.

[pilonv1]

Zoltan ships are fun with the shield, but having Zoltans for crew sucks.

[CajoleJuice]

Zoltan ships are fun with the shield, but having Zoltans for crew sucks.

fucking pussies

[pilonv1]

If you have a breach and your oxygen is out then you're fucked. Lousy Zoltans

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

still getting my ass kicked (on easy), but now at least I can somewhat reliably get to the final sector and get blown apart by the flagship.

have unlocked the Crystal, Engi, and Zoltan cruisers, and have advanced far with all of them, but I never seem to have sufficient firepower to whale on those high-end enemy ships like they do me.  Gosh dang, this game is awesome/cruel.

[pilonv1]

You have the Crystal ship? I've only ever seen the Crystal pod once.

[pilonv1]

No posts about the free update? Also iPad verison.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/11/12/bye-life-ftl-getting-free-avellone-penned-expansion/

FTL: Advanced Edition

We’ve been working hard over the summer and are excited to finally officially announce a free expansion, FTL: Advanced Edition! FTL: AE is a huge content addition that includes new weapons, drones, augments, systems, enemies, and more.  Here are some details on just a few of the additions visible in the trailer:

    Mind Control System: Temporarily turn enemies into allies. Force a boarder to repair the damage they just did, or have the enemy pilot sabotage their own helm.
    Hacking System: Lockdown and disrupt enemy systems. Unique effects for each system, ranging from forcing a teleporter remove boarders to making the medbay damage instead of heal.
    New Sector and Events: Our writer Tom Jubert (http://tom-jubert.blogspot.co.uk/) has returned along with special guest writer Chris Avellone (of Planescape fame), who managed to find some time for us between his work on Project Eternity and Wasteland 2. They’ve been helping us add a new sector and scatter new events throughout the rest of the game.
    New Weapons and Effects: Many new weapons that take advantage of new mechanics: overcharging to increase the number of volleys, stun effects to freeze crew, and area effect targeting, to name a few.
    And more systems, drones, augments, enemy ships, enemy layouts, and hostile environments. All of which we’ll be sure to talk about more in the coming weeks!

In addition to new content, we’ve continued to polish FTL and add some of the most requested small features. As a few examples: you’ll be able to save your crew positions and send them back to battle-stations, save and quit during combat, and find more items for purchase in stores.

For the purists out there, FTL vanilla will still be available. All of the new content can be disabled from within the hangar before starting a new game.
FTL on iPad

We’re also very excited to announce that FTL is coming to the iPad! We’ve redesigned the FTL interface to be optimal for touch devices. It plays beautifully on both the full size iPads (2nd generation or later) and the iPad minis. And of course it will include all of the new additions of the FTL: Advanced Edition expansion.

But many of you might be asking “What about Android (or Surface, etc.)!?” For now, the answer is that we hope to get it on all tablet devices but do not know for sure. When we first released FTL, we did so on three operating systems simultaneously and it was a gargantuan task for a two man studio to accomplish. Learning from the difficulties of the past, we’re trying to preserve our sanity by focusing on one system at a time. Expanding tablet support will be our next highest priority, but we don’t want to make any promises (or rejections) until we’re 100% sure of the outcome.

Similarly, some people might be asking “What about phones!?” Unfortunately, FTL will not be coming to phones. From repeated testing, we have determined that it’s just not possible to achieve the quality of gameplay we want on such limited screen space.
When?

We plan to simultaneously make the iPad version available for purchase and update the existing PC game early 2014!

[Rufus]

I still haven't unlocked the alternate design of the stealth ship.  :'(

[BobFromPikeCreek]

 

[Beezy]

free

[archnemesis]

Good on them for making it free. I still haven't explored all the content in the original game and I don't think I would have paid for an expansion.

[pilonv1]

FTL ‏@FTLgame 4m

Thanks @killercow! FTL on iPad is officially available in New Zealand! Release will be at ~midnight in each region

Today!

[brob]

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Thought the bump would be about the DLC. :'(

[pilonv1]

It is, same day as IPad version

[BobFromPikeCreek]

 

[The Sceneman]

The DLC is out?!



the penis is loose tonight

[pilonv1]

PC seems to be later tonight

[G The Resurrected]

Do not play this on an Ipad 2. Holy fuck I regret my purchase it is not well optimized for that Ipad. It's damn near unplayable. Is the Android version still down the pipe?

[archnemesis]

I was getting 650+ FPS in the PC version so I hope my iPad Air will at least be able to push out 60 FPS.

[The Sceneman]

PC seems to be later tonight

yup not on Steam yet 

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Where's my DLC? 

[archie4208]

Where's my DLC? 

Patch just hit.

[The Sceneman]

Where's my DLC? 

Patch just hit.

Unfortunately I'm just about to head to work  :'(

[Stoney Mason]

I never actually played this before. I bought it along time ago on steam but just never got around to actually installing and playing before this evening. Very fun and I haven't even turned on the advanced edition stuff.

They really had a sense of what they were going for here versus say Star Command which wanted to be so much more but then couldn't fulfill even the modest ambitions it was reduced to.

[The Sceneman]

I never actually played this before.

[The Sceneman]

Had a brief run over the updated version and holy shit even just the tweaks I saw were great.

- you can save crew locations and quickly send your guys back to their stations

- you can now man the sub-systems (including doors ), so like now if you have an extra dude doing shit all (happens often) you can get a free door/sensor upgrade
 or whatever

- you can now unlock additional ships by completing the game with the other ones in the ship list (which is now ordered accordingly) and there are new 'C' loadouts - you have to get to sector 8 with the B loadout to unlock them. Theres also a new ship, but the crystal ship is probably still as elusive as ever.

Utterly fantastic additions as I was just bitching to my roommate and fellow FTL fan (before I checked out the patch) that all the extra vessels were so luck based with their unlocks. Not anymore!

[magus]

back when FTL was released i really couldn't get into it, i tought the first few sectors were incredibly boring (missile -> shield, laser -> weapons... wait for weapon to recharge... missile -> shield,laser -> weapons) it takes a while to reach halfway through the game before you can find an enemy that can do anything interessing (in the slugs that try to take you down by disabling your other stuff) and the pool of event incredibly small (i had the "you find a crashed ship and find a robot alien inside" happening to me twice in a single game) not to mention a good chunk of them boils down to "risk a crew member for a small chance of some extra XP"

does this update address anything of these? as i said before it would be great if there was a turbo mode just to get through the first sector faster,back when i played the game it felt i spent most of the time watching bar recharge in the first sectors than doing any roguelike like thinking mostly because you don't have many option in what you can do beside deciding how to allocate your XP as there are no consumable or equipment with special effect of any sort

[The Sceneman]

well you boiled the game down pretty well, you either dig the spaceship management shit or you don't .

Also the complaints of the game being boring for the first few sectors isn't a thing if you're playing on normal - you have to be on your toes the whole time as you can get fucked in sector 1 if you aren't careful. But yes I agree the events were limited and were often a bad coin flip of losing a crew member. The update purportedly adds more events but I haven't played it yet really.

Oh, the update added a hard mode, for people who really really hate themselves

[pilonv1]

There's a heap of new events, some written by Chris Avellone. Plus they added mind control and hacking and some other stuff. If you have it on PC the update is free

[Stoney Mason]

My god, I feel like an idiot for never having played this. It scratches every itch I didn't know needed to be scratched.

God damn I hate it when an indie game makes me gush. 

[pilonv1]

I think I've forgotten how to play this because I'm struggling to get past the third sector again

[Rufus]

I play without music because I listen to podcasts on the side. :V

Played a game earlier and got back into the swing of things pretty quickly. Unlocked version C of the Kestrel. Apparently you have to beat the game with A or B variants to unlock C? I used B, anyway.

If you can get your hand on the gatling laser (?), get it. The cooldown is reduced with every shot, so eventually it just keep firing. It's amazing. Running two of those puppies with some missles or a hull laser would be really effective.

[Stoney Mason]

My god, I feel like an idiot for never having played this. It scratches every itch I didn't know needed to be scratched.

God damn I hate it when an indie game makes me gush. 

Isn't it fucking amazing? The way it produces desperation, mystery, anticipation is what makes it a great game. Real talk, I think it's one of my favorite from 'last gen'.

And that SOUNDTRACK!

Yeah it has a lot going for it. It's rare that I play a game that makes me smile as I appreciate the craft of the game design and the emotions its able to evoke.

It reminds of the games I grew up playing on the Atari ST. When a game could be anything. That's the best compliment I can give it. It feels like an old game but that's only because games are so different than what they use to be. Games use to be like this. And it was nice.

[a slime appears]

Anyone have the PC and iPad version?

I hear the iPad is the best way to play but I dunno if I want to pay $10 just for convenience.

↓ lol

[Huff]

Anyone else try this on a tablet yet? Hoping my ipad 4 can run it smoothly

[Stoney Mason]

Anyone have the PC and iPad version?

I hear the iPad is the best way to play but I dunno if I want to pay $10 just for convenience.

↓ lol

I have it on ipad. It seems to run fairly well on my ipad 3. I'm not sure I would say its the "best" way to play it, (I have fat fingers) but it is convenient to be able to play it on a tablet laying in bed. And its perfectly playable in that format.

[archnemesis]

I have both versions and I prefer playing it on my iPad Air.

[Stoney Mason]

Yeah things that are fiddly I always find better to use a mouse. I'm not saying its not playable on the ipad. I just prefer to quickly maneuver things with the mouse. Of course the game is mostly played in pause mode so its easy enough to correct things when you screw up.

[Shaka Khan]

I bought this for my iPad 3. Never touched the Steam version (derp). Can't stop playing. I'm being consumed.

[a slime appears]

Anyone have the PC and iPad version?

I hear the iPad is the best way to play but I dunno if I want to pay $10 just for convenience.

↓ lol

I have it on ipad. It seems to run fairly well on my ipad 3. I'm not sure I would say its the "best" way to play it, (I have fat fingers) but it is convenient to be able to play it on a tablet laying in bed. And its perfectly playable in that format.

Thanks for your input. I caved and went ahead and bought it for my iPad 3. I needed something to play on my flight to PAX, lol.

[Stoney Mason]

Cool. I'm just glad a game like that seems to be doing well on a platform like that. It's always nice when a core game is able to make some noise in the ios arena.

[Shaka Khan]

I'm finding it hard to transition from the touch screen to kb/m. I might have screwed myself by playing it on the iPad first.

Also, fuck this game. Had the perfect ship. Fucking intruders fucked up my game even though I had the right people, weapons, and defense. Soul crushing.

[Stoney Mason]

I just love how well everything can be going. And then it all turns to shit on a dime.

[Shaka Khan]

The Teleporter is the bane of my existence.

[The Sceneman]

I'm finding it hard to transition from the touch screen to kb/m. I might have screwed myself by playing it on the iPad first.

Also, fuck this game. Had the perfect ship. Fucking intruders fucked up my game even though I had the right people, weapons, and defense. Soul crushing.

If intruders ruined your game, you didn't have the perfect ship 

[Shaka Khan]

I mean, I had a strong crew and a level 3 + manned doors. A barrage of missiles takes my level 3 shield down, destroys my door and surveillance systems, then the fuckers go around fucking shit up. Still butthurt breh.

[Eel O'Brian]

Tried this again, just to see if the advanced edition stuff made it less of a slot machine. Nope. Got all the way to the flagship knowing I was going to get tore up because I didn't hit the right dice roll on merchants/loot. Game's still bullshit.

[Eel O'Brian]

Mind control is pretty cool, though

[CajoleJuice]

[The Sceneman]

I mean, I had a strong crew and a level 3 + manned doors. A barrage of missiles takes my level 3 shield down, destroys my door and surveillance systems, then the fuckers go around fucking shit up. Still butthurt breh.

Yeah I just razzin, reading my posts from back in 2012 I've been completely violated by the RNG on many occasions.

[pilonv1]

Was enjoying the new race ship last night until I ran into a flak cannon and died in about 3 shots.

[a slime appears]

Alright so I'm lazy as fuck and I don't want to read through this thread:

YO DUDES, WHAT ARE SOME HOT TIPS TO STAYING ALIVE?

[pilonv1]

Prioritise shields & defenses ASAP
Get some weapons that penetrate shields so you can disable their weapons
If you can't get better weapons, get a teleporter and kill the crew for maximum scrap

Also don't fight alien spiders

[Stoney Mason]

Honestly I just looked through old GAF threads to get some tips.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45775649&postcount=1191
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45834724&postcount=1221

I thought this was a nice little hot tip when fighting ion weapons.

Ion shots knock your shields out quickly, but you can prevent them from leaving you vulnerable to other weapons fire if you pause and cut power to your shields when you see one of the slow-moving balls of electricity heading your way, then restore power immediately after impact.

That's the sort of thing I'm dumb enough to never have figured out on my own. I was just trying to tank those shots like an idiot.


Honestly I kind of like researching things to see best of breed tips and tricks. It reminds me a little of Civilization in that aspect.

[Stoney Mason]

Prioritise shields & defenses ASAP
Get some weapons that penetrate shields so you can disable their weapons
If you can't get better weapons, get a teleporter and kill the crew for maximum scrap

Also don't fight alien spiders

My stumbling block so far is that generally the initial investment is so high in getting better weapon systems in place that I have a hard time prioritizing that along with keeping my hull in check and such.

[a slime appears]

pilonv1, Stoney Mason

You guys are awesome, thank you. I'm terrible at this game.