5 ms·
Quite a well designed rougelite especially for its time. You are able to win the vast majority of games and yet the game usually FEELS challenging the majority
by faeriechangling 4y ago
Quite a well designed rougelite especially for its time. You are able to win the vast majority of games and yet the game usually FEELS challenging the majority of the time. If you minmax it there's a few too many situations where stalling for extended periods of time is the optimal strategy, but even this can be remedied in quite a few cases using cheat engine to speed things up when you achieve a "known win" scenario. Once you master hard, playing hard without pause can extend the replay value further.
The best part of the game is the soundtrack. On twitch the FTL soundtrack has to be getting more playtime on broadcasts of other games than on broadcasts of FTL itself. It's great atmospheric space themed music.
- sebzim4500 4y agoI haven't played FTL in years. What do you mean by "stalling" exactly? Do you mean visiting as many nodes in each region as possible and leaving just before the rebels catch you? Or waiting for the opposing crew to run out of oxygen?
- masklinn 4y agoOne strategy I remember was that if you got the right build against some foes you were literally invincible and could have low enough damage that you wouldn't destroy the enemy. So you could use that to level up your crew to all locations, which was a pretty big gain, especially early on and before / without clone bay (with a clone bay your dupes are expendable and lose skill, so getting them to level 2 is less valuable).
- sebzim4500 4y agoAh right, I do remember that actually. IIRC you could leave the game running in an asteroid field to level up evasion/shields until they patched it.
- whaleofatw2022 4y agoAnother tactic that comes to mind... My Shrike minmaxing strategy typically involves o2 depletion to whack enemy ships out and get maximum rewards. But it does frequently require a lot of waiting.
- hutzlibu 4y agoBording is more fun and faster with the mantis/crystal. Or burning them out (optional with rock bording party)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- unixhero 4y agoNo criticism intended. But genuinely: What makes FTL a roguelike game?
- coopierez 4y agoPerma-death, with a procedurally generated world, combined with a clear destination / goal (to get to the next system). One can beeline straight for the goal or risk more time exploring for the prospect of a greater reward. It matches the "2010s Indie" definition of a roguelike.
- kruuuder 4y agoProcedurally generated content and permadeath are two core concepts of roguelikes. Games that use these concepts are also called roguelites (with a 't'). Binding of Isaac and Spelunky are two other examples of roguelites.
- unixhero 4y agoThe two may be jeg ingredients. But there must be something missing. It can't only be death as in death and procedurally generated worlds.
- kruuuder 4y agoWell, that's not my definition, but certainly one that's widely used. I have seen quite a few heated discussions about what should be called a roguelike though. :)
- faeriechangling 4y agoI used the term rougelite instead of rougelike. This is explicitly to distinguish it from games like rouge and nethack. FTL has some elements of these games, procedurally generated levels, permadeath, exploration, PvE, RPG elements, crushing difficulty, but not others. Thus rougelite. Anyways trying to define what qualifies what a "rougelike" is has started countless semantic slapfights (which is why I tried to use the cop-out word rougelite). Please consult a rougelike alignment chart to know where you stand in the great holy war over the definition of the word "rougelike" [1]. Nowadays most gamers think of indie games like dead cells, hades, enter the dungeon, darkest dungeon, crypt of the necrodancer, and ftl when they think "rougelike" and those games are all tagged with "rougelike" on steam and twitch. [1] https://i.imgur.com/ZLDp5rU.png https://i.imgur.com/ZLDp5rU.png
- rikthevik 4y agoSpeaking of the soundtrack, Ben Prunty has done a lot of fantastic work! https://twitter.com/benprunty https://twitter.com/benprunty
- aidenn0 4y agoI still haven't mastered hard. I can win on hard with crystals, but not with any other ship (though I've come close with the 4 square teleporter mantis ship). Any non boarding strategy seems non tenable right now for me
- hutzlibu 4y agoIt is a matter of luck(and patience). And the right augments, you cannot plan for, but rather have to adopt when you find them. For example a drone recovery arm will make me buy it, even if I do not have a drone control system yet. Hull repair is also a must buy(if you can save up drones), and so is weapon preigniter. With them, it becomes managable, even on hard - with luck. If I don't have any luck, I can also die on easy.
- aidenn0 4y agoOn easy, I have to get really bad luck to die; there is just so much scrap, I can buy whatever I want whenever I want.
- hutzlibu 4y ago"I have to get really bad luck to die" Or a moment of not paying attention and then suddenly your shields are all down and destroyed and before you know it that was it. But I haven't played easy in a while ..
- chii 4y ago> It is a matter of luck but also valuation of spending and damage. Apparently, good players can win about 70% or so of the time on hard, because the game is designed such that the amount of leeway/mistakes you're allowed to make is near zero (but not zero).
- SaltyBackendGuy 4y agoI listen to the soundtrack while working. It's truly amazing.
- yojo 4y agoI have the same feeling about the Fez OST. Fez was good. The soundtrack was great.