Zero Punctuation: FTL: Faster Than Light - Exploding Spaceships

[Alhazred]

I always thought FTL stood for 'fucking terrible luck', because it pretty adequately describes my experiences with the game.

I tend to have a marmite reaction to roguelikes; either I get past their brutal difficulty and ultimately master them (Binding of Isaac and Risk of Rain), or I run into an absolutely insurmountable brick wall of difficulty and end up disheartened (Spelunky and FTL).

 

[Amaror]

It kinda gives me an XCOM: Enemy Unknown vibe (except the random chance seems to be more hated on than praised in this video), albeit in a different genre. Also, two retro reviews and it's only May, 2014 must be dry right now!

The whole random chance annoyed me in the new xcom. Especially when you missed an alien with a shotgun from one square away. That stuff is just bullshit and leaves you open to be killed. Wasnt an issue in the original as you could surprise attack aliens if you found them first. Chance is fine, but it should be based on the skills you have eg a shotgun should hit from one square away 100%. In the end you just feel your losing because the computer decides it and your skills have nothing to do with it. Just unbalanced yet they sell it as this random unbalanced gameplay is a good thing. Loads of people love it though so i guess its just preference. Overall though, its great these types of games are out their giving new experiences.

It's not really a problem with the mechanic itself, as it is with the way the new xcom was build. In the OG you had 12 soldiers from the beginning and were getting more with better aircraft. That means, enemies getting lucky and you getting unlucky could still very well happen. But it wasn't such a big problem, because you only lost 1 guy out of 12. 1 guy out of 4 can easily ruin the entire battle for you, so the RNG is a much bigger problem.

 

[Gorrath]

Conversations about FTL always intrigue me. It's a fun and difficult game to be sure, but I often hear tales about losing to the flagship a lot and I always wonder how this is. I've never played the game on easy and have beaten it many times. The flagship's super weapons make it tough but I can't see regularly destroying rebel ships in sector 7 and having an insurmountable time beating the boss. It is much harder now with the zoltan shields on the third encounter, but I've still manhandled it a few times. I don't mean all of this as a "lol, n00bs" type post, I'm just curious as to why people find the final boss so damned hard.

 

[tzimize]

Faster Than Light: Yeah, It's Alright.

I never got into roguelikes (a bad Dwarf Fortress incident soured me on them), but FTL always seemed like the kind of game that might bring me into the fold. If this content patch is worth it, I might pick it up on steam.

Its absolutely brilliant. Its clocking in on 122 hours played on my steam account. When you get into it, a full run of the game takes about an hour. And its so much fun experimenting with the myriad of weapons, tactics and systems that it'll take you a good long while to run dry.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

This game was a huge waste! And Yatzhee said the critical line, but like every other indie lover, glanced over it. Its a game meant to be replayed over and over, but two hours is a lot of investment. YES! Why is no one angry about that?! Why is it a free-to-play game that's designed to be slow and painful is considered the lowest of the low in programming, but a indie game designed to be slow and painful is 'all about the journey' and 'you just don't get it'.
Same damn problem I had with Papers Please. I'm tired of people saying 'Its not about the game or having fun, its about the etc...'
Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.
FTL is not fun.
And I just checked my Steam. I've played FTL for 17 hours. And I've beat the game once and I've never unlocked something. Ever.
What a waste of my time.

 

[Gorrath]

This game was a huge waste! And Yatzhee said the critical line, but like every other indie lover, glanced over it. Its a game meant to be replayed over and over, but two hours is a lot of investment. YES! Why is no one angry about that?! Why is it a free-to-play game that's designed to be slow and painful is considered the lowest of the low in programming, but a indie game designed to be slow and painful is 'all about the journey' and 'you just don't get it'.
Same damn problem I had with Papers Please. I'm tired of people saying 'Its not about the game or having fun, its about the etc...'
Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.
FTL is not fun.
And I just checked my Steam. I've played FTL for 17 hours. And I've beat the game once and I've never unlocked something. Ever.
What a waste of my time.

There are people who say it isn't about the fun? FTL is meant to be difficult and replayable with it's myriad of combinations and chance. A free to play title which is designed to make you grind endlessly without offering variation and then offers you a way out of the dulldrum by spending cash is not really comparable. I get that FTL isn't your thing, but saying that it's somehow similar to many of the free to play genre makes no sense to me.

Having to wait 12 hours to do anything (unless you cough up $1.99) is slow and painful. How is running through a game that you can play at your leisure and only takes about an hour or so similar to that?

 

[Vivi22]

Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.
FTL is not fun.

Myself and thousands of others would disagree.

 

[Thanatos2k]

FTL is just such a good game.

Aww, I was wondering if he was going to mention how certain combos in the game are far far better then the rest of the game mechanics (for example, boarding the weapon rooms on the final enemy, but none of the other combos come to mind atm)

Far better to board the bridge to negate their evasion, and shoot the medbay as they flee to heal.

 

[Banzaiman]

I've only ever beat the flagship on easy, but that's without any mods. It really is OP, and you need to have defenses for absolutely every kind of tactic you can think of in order to completely defeat it.

The game is fun, but it's a specific fun. It's not the kind of game you play to win, it's the kind of game you just waste time in and enjoy those moments of accomplishment when you scrap an enemy ship to pieces. If you can get on the ridiculous discount, then it's worth it all the more. Just don't go into it expecting to power through to the end and win.

 

[Thanatos2k]

This game was a huge waste! And Yatzhee said the critical line, but like every other indie lover, glanced over it. Its a game meant to be replayed over and over, but two hours is a lot of investment. YES!

No?

Each play through takes an hour max. Most last 30 minutes or less before you know you're toast.

Why is no one angry about that?! Why is it a free-to-play game that's designed to be slow and painful is considered the lowest of the low in programming, but a indie game designed to be slow and painful is 'all about the journey' and 'you just don't get it'.
Same damn problem I had with Papers Please. I'm tired of people saying 'Its not about the game or having fun, its about the etc...'
Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.
FTL is not fun.

There are two types of games - fun games, and satisfying games.

FTL, like Dark Souls, is a satisfying game. When you beat the Rebel Flagship those 4 hours of trying and failing are all worthwhile.

So I guess you just missed the point of the game. You truly "just don't get it."

 

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

That Colbert picture has to be my new avatar!!!!

 

[gamegod25]

Ah yes rouge-like games, the digital equivalent to self flagellation using a whip powered by a slot machine. While they can be fun I get bored pretty quick, usually after the 50th time playing chicken with the brick wall.

 

[themilo504]

I disagree with the notion that its impossible to play FTL like a decent person and still win, you have less scrap but you typically get some other things to aid you, the hardest part is deciding if you allow pirates and slavers to surrender so that they can pirate and enslave another day, or blow them up adding another body to the uncomfortably fast growing pile.

 

[El Luck]

This game was a huge waste! And Yatzhee said the critical line, but like every other indie lover, glanced over it. Its a game meant to be replayed over and over, but two hours is a lot of investment. YES! Why is no one angry about that?! Why is it a free-to-play game that's designed to be slow and painful is considered the lowest of the low in programming, but a indie game designed to be slow and painful is 'all about the journey' and 'you just don't get it'.
Same damn problem I had with Papers Please. I'm tired of people saying 'Its not about the game or having fun, its about the etc...'
Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.
FTL is not fun.
And I just checked my Steam. I've played FTL for 17 hours. And I've beat the game once and I've never unlocked something. Ever.
What a waste of my time.

Wait, you've beat the game but you don't have any unlocks? you unlock a ship just for reaching the 5th sector.

Also you can go ahead and explain how a free to play game that deliberately slows down gameplay so that you have to pay to unlock stuff quicker is at all similar to this.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Fun fact, I've recently started playing the game with a program called "Poke" that allows me to get near unlimited scrap.
Yet, The Rebel Flagship can STILL kick my ass on fucking EASY if I don't take out the missiles first q-q

Still, I kinda wish there was an "Endless" mode, I know that there is a mod for it, but it repeats itself so much...

 

[themilo504]

It's not really a problem with the mechanic itself, as it is with the way the new xcom was build. In the OG you had 12 soldiers from the beginning and were getting more with better aircraft. That means, enemies getting lucky and you getting unlucky could still very well happen. But it wasn't such a big problem, because you only lost 1 guy out of 12. 1 guy out of 4 can easily ruin the entire battle for you, so the RNG is a much bigger problem.

the RNG was equally annoying in the original x com, mostly because reaction shots are a terribly designed mechanic.