FTL: Faster Than Light

[TheMightyEthan]

I've been playing this game today and keeping a log of my attempts, then I came here to post it and learned there wasn't a thread! I know that some of you guys play it, so I'm making one.

 

Anyway, spoiler-tagged for length, but here are my first 5 attempts at this game:

 

 

First Mission - Voidwalker

 

Crew: Charles Hall, Sydney (Syd) Budington, George Tyson

 

-Sector 1-

 

Arranged crew - Hall at the helm, Syd on shields, Tyson in engine room

 

Recieved a distress call, going to assist

 

It's a trap, we're attacked but defeat them handily

 

Various battles, nothing serious, reach the exit easily

 

Gain a crew member, Berko, an Engi, from a damaged civilian ship

 

Jump to a Rockman-controlled sector because then I can follow civilian sectors for most of the rest of the journey

 

-Sector 2-

 

Gain another crew member, King, a Rockman, from a group of refugees I help to a planet

 

Get stuck with a mine, Syd killed trying to defuse it, hull at 75%

 

Get attacked by Rock ship, boarded, destroy the ship but Hall and Tyson killed fighting boarders, life support destroyed, have to vent numerous compartments, King and Berko barely get life support repairs finished before suffocating, hull down to 50%

 

Rather than continue to explore this sector, I'm moving on

 

At the exit encounter a pirate attack, bribe me to stay out of it, being in no shape to fight, I accept

 

I see there's a store, so I stop by there before leaving the sector. Glad I did, I hire Sem, a Human, and Adnan, a Rockman, back up to 4 crew. Don't know why these guys care to continue on with the mission, perhaps out of a sense of respect for their fallen rescuers.

 

-Sector 3-

 

Hopefully the Engi homeworlds are safer.

 

Encounter a Mantis ship attacking some civilians, get boarded again but my two Rockmen fight them off. Get some Stealth Weapons as thanks from the civilians, plus a whole bunch of scrap.

 

Visit store, repair hull to full. Not enough scrap left for much else, just fuel and missiles.

 

-Sector 4-

 

Another civilian sector.

 

Full of nebulas. Nebula combat is not fun.

 

A random transport fucks me up pretty bad. Should have let them run away.

 

Repair at a store. Wish I could afford to upgrade my weapons.

 

Find a planet under attack by pirates, I attack. Adnan killed by boarders.

 

Go hire more crew, Jolack (Mantis) and Liam (Human), and repair the ship. Now King is more or less dedicated security.

 

Attacked by pirates, defeat them easily.

 

I leave the sector because the rebels are catching up.

 

-Sector 5-

 

Slug-controlled nebula. I don't like nebulas, but my other option is three hostile sectors in a row, which is even worse.

 

Attacked by a slug ship. Their ion cannon was annoying, but they didn't put up too much of a fight.

 

Attacked by another, but again, not much of a fight. I upgrade my shields and reactor with the scrap they provide.

 

I stop by a store to repair and restock.

 

Meet a pirate who challenges me cause he's heard how badass I am. I win, though I almost lose King to vacuum while he's repairing the door system, since I'd vented a bunch of compartments to put out a fire.

 

I go to a store to repair and also get a reverse ion field.

 

-Sector 6-

 

I head to Engi space, hoping to stay in as safe an area as possible.

 

I answer a distress call. Are these ever not traps? The board me, which isn't too much trouble, but then they take out my weapons with their second shot. I got their shields down, but fat lot of good that's doing when I can't shoot. They eventually killed Berko, then got away. I should have accepted their offer of surrender. Now I'm at about 30% hull with a breach, but luckily it's in a non-critical room. And I've only got two scrap, so I can't even repair.

 

I encounter a military drone, and after destroying it come out with 88 scrap and an experimental bomb weapon. Hopefully that will be enough to take care of my repairs.

 

I head to the store to repair my ship and stock up on fuel and missiles. Sadly I have to sell the new bomb, but I didn't have the power for it anyway.

 

An Engi spontaneously surrenders to me, giving me scrap, fuel and ammo. That was nice.

 

I head to the next sector rather than pressing my luck.

 

-Sector 7-

 

Another slug nebula.

 

Ooh, this one has a path to the exit without going through the nebula. Nice.

 

Sold some drone parts for scrap, but I really need a store. Running low on fuel.

 

Attacked by that dread pirate again. If he surrenders this time I'm accepting. Couldn't hit the fucker because he kept cloaking, but I eventually got him to surrender. Got a bunch of scrap and a new laser out of the deal. Upgraded my reactor to be able to handle it. I'm at 25% hull, REALLY wish I knew where a store was.

 

Well fuck, got attacked by pirates and destroyed. That was anticlimactic.

 

Score 1708.

 

Second attempt - The New Hope

 

Crew: Han, Chewie, and Lando

 

-Sector 1-

 

Put Chewie on shields, Lando on weapons/engines, Han in the cockpit.

 

Encounter rebels on my first jump, and am boarded by one guy. They try to escape but I destroy them before they can, with minimal damage to my own ship.

 

Come across pirates attacking another ship. They bribe me to leave the alone, and I accept.

 

Encounter another battle and again, I stay out of it.

 

Encounter pirates in an asteroid belt. Don't want to stay here too long so I leave Lando in the engine room hoping I can get away before the asteroids hurt me too bad.

 

I jump as soon as I'm able, but it's not before the asteroids and I destroy the pirates.

 

At the exit I encounter a dormant drone. I accidentally activate it trying to download its data banks.

 

I jump to Engi space because that gives me a nice long run of civilian sectors.

 

-Sector 2-

 

I finally find a store and stock up on fuel and missiles, but sadly no crew to hire. I'd really like to be able to have someone on both engines and weapons.

 

Hah, must be my lucky day. I interrupt a Mantis conducting salvage ops and get a new Ion Cannon out of the deal.

 

I encounter a scout but deal with them easily. Suffer a couple of fires, but the only damaged system is the medbay, which I send Chewie to repair.

 

I go to a store and hire a Zoltan, Ken, to man the engines, as well as stock up on supplies.

 

-Sector 3-

 

Another civilian sector. I agree to aid a ship that needs navigational help. Easy money.

 

Ooh, just got a free weapon and some scrap to help me in my mission. Halbeard beam has shield pass through, which sounds nifty.

 

More pirates in an asteroid field. Let's test out the new gun.

 

The rebels are coming dangerously close to catching up to me.

 

I'm boarded in the nebula. I deal with the boarders but don't get much out of it.

 

The dudes I was escorting patch up my hull and then let me buy shit, which seems kind of lame but I was looking for a store so whatever. I stock up and head out.

 

Again at the exit I'm bribed to ignore a pirate. Whatever, not my fight. I'm out.

 

-Sector 4-

 

Zoltan Homeworlds. Sounds nice, I like my Zoltan buddy.

 

Encounter a ship that gives me charts of the area. Now I can avoid asteroids.

 

I encounter pirates and fight them to surrender with me at about 50% health. Then as I'm repairing my ship theirs suddenly blows up for some reason.

 

I hire a mantis for guard/repair duty, then repair my ship as much as possible, to about 90% health.

 

I get attacked by pirates, but win. Back down to about 2/3 health.

 

-Sector 5-

 

Engi homeworlds. I definitely like the Engi. My first stop is a store. I sell my Halbeard Beam, the charge time was too long. Use the money to repair my ship, refuel, and buy long range scanners.

 

I find a ship under attack, but stay out of it.

 

My next jump isn't so easy. It's a rebel ship attacking, and they round on me when they see I'm federation. I defeat the rebel ship easily, and the Engi's ask for supplies, but I don't have enough to spare.

 

The rebels are far behind me, so I decide to hang out in this region some more, given that I could use more scrap and the next sector is hostile.

 

Glad I did, some Engi's spontaneously surrender.

 

And then I interrupt some Mantis salvagers. Nice.

 

And then an abandoned mining station! Staying around was a good plan.

 

And then some scrap for participating in a study. I'm rollin now.

 

But the rebels beat me to the exit due to my lollygagging. Hopefully I can beat them. The board me and immediately take out my engines. I do repel the boarders easily enough.

 

And I'm destroyed.

 

Score: 995.

 

Mission 3 - Defiant

 

Crew: Warf, Dax, O'Brien

 

-Sector 1-

 

Put Warf on weapons, Dax in the cockpit and O'Brien on shields.

 

Find pirates attacking someone, of course I have to help. Out of gratitude the victim agrees to sell to me, and I hire a Mantis named Matt.

 

I encounter an automated ship, which I attack to get at its goodies. It doesn't put up much of a fight.

 

I find some wildcat miners trapped between rocks. I try to destroy the rocks to free them, but I accidentally hit a vein and destroy their ship.

 

I go by a store and stock up on fuel and missiles.

 

Find some Breach Bombs at the exit. Sound nice.

 

There's no friendly path this time around.

 

-Sector 2-

 

Civilian sector, which is nice because the next two are hostile.

 

Drone close to a sun. The drone doesn't damage me much, but the solar flares cause fires and take out life support, the combination of which claims Matt and Obrien. I'm down to Warf and Dax.

 

I stop by a store hoping to find more crew, but all I get is fuel and ammo.

 

I lose Dax to alien spiders. Warf is lonely.

 

I find pirates attacking a ship. They try to bribe me to leave them alone, but being who I am I can't do that. They may kill me, but I'll do my best.

 

Warf succumbs to fires while trying to fix life support.

 

Score: 345

 

Mission 4 - Serenity

 

Crew: Mal, Zoey, Wash

 

-Sector 1-

 

First jump I meet slavers. I'll just mosey on my way.

 

Then I get jumped by a rebel fighter in an asteroid belt.

 

They go down easy and then I jump out as soon as my drive's charged.

 

I'm asked to help control crowds during a viral outbreak, but I don't have enough men to risk losing one right now.

 

Stop by a store to repair, refuel and rearm.

 

I find a dormant drone, but I just scrap it.

 

Attacked by pirates. They're no threat.

 

-Sector 2-

 

I head to Engi space cause I like them.

 

Stop by a store for fuel.

 

I'm hired to damage some pirates, but not kill them.

 

I decide to aid a civilian ship under attack by a Mantis scout. No serious threat from them.

 

I hire an Engi name WaiShing.

 

At the exit I discover a deserted pirate ship.

 

-Sector 3-

 

Uncharted nebula, cause that's better than hostile space.

 

Another deserted pirate ship. Creepy.

 

Run into a rebel scout. It can cloak. Crap. Luckily I take out its cloak quickly, and it doesn't have shields.

 

I see a smuggler but I ignore them.

 

I run into a rebel scout. Yay. I manage to stay hidden in the nebula.

 

-Sector 4-

 

I head for a civilian sector. Hopefully I can find a store soon.

 

There's a lot of nebula here too.

 

Run into another scout. Can't hide from this one. Holy shit, they completely and utterly destroyed me.

 

Score: 569

 

Mission 5 - Titanic

 

Crew: Random

 

Maybe by picking a bad ship name and not naming my crew I'll have better luck.

 

-Sector 1-

 

First jump I meet a trader, but I can't afford his stuff.

 

A pirate attacks too close to a star. I'll jump as soon as I can. I jump with my ship still on fire. Hopefully nothing too bad is on the other side.

 

There's a rebel ship, but I avoid them and they jump away. I put out the fires and wait for oxygen to be restored before setting off again. I upgreade life support because I'm sick of this happening.

 

I'm threatened by slavers, but of course I won't send anyone. Let's see how this goes. They offer me a slave as tribute, which I accept.

 

I encounter a rebel ship attacking a federation transport. I rescue them, and they give me the location of a secret federation base in the next sector.

 

I go to a store to restock, then leave the sector.

 

-Sector 2-

 

Rebel controlled. It was either that or Mantis, and I figured if I'm gonna be killin peeps it might as well be rebels.

 

Fantastic, I jump into an ion storm and am attacked by a drone. I destroy the drone easily though, and jump away.

 

I get to the hidden base and find some salvage. Now if only there were a store, I'm low on fuel again.

 

Ask and ye shall recieve. I stock up and move on. They don't have much fuel, but I buy an automated reloader that improves weapon reload time by 15%. That should be handy.

 

I'm ambushed by pirates at a distress call. I didn't especially care to answer, but it was the most direct route to the exit and I'm still low on fuel.

 

At the exit I meet a mercenary and hire him to scout the sector. Was a waste of scrap, as apparently it meant this sector rather than the next one. Lame.

 

-Sector 3-

 

Zoltan sector.

 

An actual legitimate distress signal. A planet's defenses had turned against it, and I attempt to disable them, but am just damaged before I have to flee. Damn.

 

I destroy a mantis raider and get a little fuel, but what I really need is a store.

 

Take some more damage stupidly scanning an asteroid field.

 

Yay! A store! I buy some fuel and repair my ship.

 

-Sector 4-

 

Another Zoltan sector.

 

Abandoned pirate ship, nice.

 

Meet a rebel scout. Destroy them easily, but no fuel. It does reveal a store location though.

 

I hire an Engi, buy some fuel, buy long range scanners and do some repairs.

 

Get boarded, my Rockman is killed.

 

Then I find another Engi trapped on a plant, and he joins my crew, so that's neat.

 

-Sector 5-

 

Slug nebula.

 

Slug attack! They surrender and I let them go. I'm in no shape to slug this out. At about 60% health.

 

Another slug attack. They don't give up. They try to surrender, and I mean to accept but click the wrong option. 33% health and dropping. I suffer a hull breach, but luckily it's in an unused room.

 

Then I'm extorted out of 35 scrap. Amazing.

 

-Sector 6-

 

Pirate controlled. This doesn't look good.

 

I manage to make it through without incident, though I do have to accept a pirate bribe to ignore their activity. I also recover another Engi that was stranded, so that's handy. At the exit I see a store, so I make one extra jump to restock. I get repaired, and that's the most important thing.

 

-Sector 7-

 

Zoltan space.

 

I try to rescue a station that's on fire, but only manage to recover one survivor, a Zoltan.

 

I find a store and refuel. This luck can't last. I upgrade my reactor so I can have enough power for both weapons at once.

 

Mantis attack. And boarders. They flee though, and no one is killed. Another hull breach, again in an unused room, and some close calls, but ultimately I defeat them with no casualties. Approximately 60% hull integrity.

 

-Sector 8-

 

Yay, the fleet repairs and refuels me!

 

I'm about to engage the enemy capital ship. I'm scared.

 

I engage a scout, they just damage me and I gain nothing.

 

Engaging the flagship. It cloaks. I have no chance.

 

I was right.

 

Score: 1265

 

[jayc4life]

FTL suffers from the exact same problem that XCOM suffers from: if you name your characters/ship after people you know and love, you're gonna have a bad time. That being said, my best run was done with a ship named after Devolver Digital, with the starting crew named for Fork parker and the Hotline Miami devs. Still never finished it though, even on Easy. Brilliant game though, losing be damned.

[Vecha]

Love the gameplay...the randomness\luck can be frustrating.

[deanb]

Yeah, it kinda sucks that you can get your way through to the end, but be fucked because you've not come across a level 4 laser or whatever in your journey to beat the boss so you just have to give up at that point.

[TheMightyEthan]

I do find it amusing that my highest score was on my first attempt.

[Nexus]

^ My best ever result was the first run - I was so close to the end of the boss fight before getting destroyed. If I had survived that final volley I'd have won

[TheMightyEthan]

That last one I was just so starved for fuel the whole time that I couldn't run around collecting upgrades. I think my best one would have been Mission 4 if I hadn't gotten greedy and hung out exploring too long.

[Thursday Next]

I'm so gods damned hooked on this game. I keep telling myself I'll have one more go and that's it, but then I have to have just one more go after that. I'd love to have this on my phone or Vita so I could play on the move.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, with only slight tweaking of the control scheme this would be perfect for a phone.

[deanb]

Yeah given the style and gameplay I think they really dropped the ball in not supporting lower spec devices. Maybe as cash comes in they might port. At least to tablets I'd think.

[Thursday Next]

After being stuck with basic Alliance / Engi ship for ages I just unlocked Rock and Stealth ships in one play through. Still can't make past the Boss. Not even with a Glaive beam...

[deanb]

http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2013/03/27/gdc-2013-designing-without-a-pitch-ftl-postmortem/

 

A look back and making-of of FTL

[deanb]

http://benprunty.com/2013/07/11/a-guided-tour-through-the-ftl-soundtrack-analysis-of-themes/

 

If you know anything about music (I don't) then this might be of interest to you.

[Thursday Next]

Finally acquired the Crystal Cruiser A and B variant. Man I love this game. Shame there is nothing similar to hop to.

[Mr. GOH!]

Ooh, I want the crystal cruiser.

 

My current goal is to unlock the Zoltan B variant.

[Thursday Next]

Doing my first run in ages where I'm focussed on boarding enemies.Normally I'm all about weapons. It's amazing how much more (how many more?) resources you get by boarding.

[Saturnine Tenshi]

Guess you really need the Rockmen or Mantis ships to be efficient at that?

[deanb]

http://www.ftlgame.com/?p=598

 

FTL Advanced Edition.

 

As best I can tell it'll be an update, not DLC or what not.

 

(also it's coming to iPad)

[deanb]

http://www.ftlgame.com/?p=621

 

New race in the new update

[Thursday Next]

Cannot wait for this! FTL is so addictive.

[Baconrath]

I can't seem to get past sectors 5 or 6 without being boarded or just caught with my pants down. : /

[TheMightyEthan]

Yep, that's how that game goes.