FTL: A space based roguelike

[Mánagarmr]

I actually don't plan on really getting this game, since it doesn't seem like my cup of tea (though it looks amazing), but I'm curious about something. What actually happens if the rebels catch you? Is it a battle that you can't possibly win? Or, is it just an event-type death where the game's like "Well, you got shot by a hundred nukes, because the rebels found you, so game over."

Depending on the situation, you get paired up against a Rebel Elite Fighter (which is a rather tough bastard, probably impossible to kill in the first sector) and you have to fight it until your FTL recharges, or you kill it, and then jump out.

[Mánagarmr]

Added some gameplay to the OP.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Oh alright, that's actually pretty awesome. That's what I was expecting, but you never know with video games.
I do hope that later in the game you never actually get to really outmatch the rebels by a huge amount though. By then it's like "What's the worry?" Time limit loses all meaning that way.

[keith.lamothe]

I do hope that later in the game you never actually get to really outmatch the rebels by a huge amount though. By then it's like "What's the worry?" Time limit loses all meaning that way.

Believe me: this game. Never. Lets. Up.  You snooze, you die.

And even if the rebels were harmless, the fact that you get no reward from beating them (no time to salvage with their whole fleet right there) serves most of the purpose of a time limit.

[Aklyon]

The rebels are helpful in one (not helpful) way though:
Out of fuel? Rebels caught up to you? Beat them up, grab the fuel, and move one spot.

[LaughingThesaurus]

The game never letting up is a point in its favor as a roguelike, then, for sure.
...If you're out of fuel and just can't go anywhere, do you actually lose?

[KingIsaacLinksr]

The game never letting up is a point in its favor as a roguelike, then, for sure.
...If you're out of fuel and just can't go anywhere, do you actually lose?

No, the rebel fleet catches up to you and you can fight them for one unit of fuel. Not such a great thing to want though, as their ships are pretty tough and likely rip you apart.

[LaughingThesaurus]

So, anti-stranding failsafe, time pressure, and super death obstacle all in one? Is it just me or do roguelike designs always end up working out so efficiently?

[zespri]

No, the rebel fleet catches up to you and you can fight them for one unit of fuel.

Erhm... how do they catch up with you if you out of fuel and can't move??? I thought the only thing that progresses rebels is your movement?

[zespri]

BTW, the game is of course interesting, but to be honest, I was not expecting a game of two screens only: the sector screen with a bunch of jump points to get from and to and the ship screen with compartments of your and the enemy ship. The screens are analytical too, while there is a semblance of real-time (that can be paused) it's not an action game at all it's more of a puzzle.

So when I read the descriptions I was thinking of a space odyssey of some sort with a rogue-like twist, whereas this game genre better defined as a balancing puzzle with rules unknown until you discover them by trial and error.

[chemical_art]

Tried for first time, got to sector 7, enemy space pirate vaped my tactic of fleeing everything and rushing to exit every sector.

[zespri]

Tried for first time, got to sector 7, enemy space pirate vaped my tactic of fleeing everything and rushing to exit every sector.

If you could get away with this tactic to the end I'd say that there are design flaws in the game =) Anyway this way you can't be prepared for the end boss fight at all.

[zebramatt]

The Ion MkII (with weapons station manned) recharges so fast that my main challenge is making sure it doesn't waste time in the "charged but with no target" state (I haven't tried the autofire toggle because I don't know if it will retain my previous firing order or just pick enemy rooms at random). 

Wait, wait, wait. What? How have you gotten to this point without simply clicking the button to see what it does?? Your weapon of choice recharges in three seconds! That's literally how long it would have taken for you to discover this! What?


(Sorry for the vehemence of this reply but you genuinely just boggled my mind. You'd make an absolutely awful Mangalore. Or a really, really brilliant one.)

[Mánagarmr]

If you run out of fuel, you have two choices: activate your distress beacon or wait for rescue. This progresses time and you can see the rebel fleet approaching. Sometimes you are lucky and some friendly chap flies by that gives or sells you fuel, or a pirate tries to kill you, and you can steal his fuel when he's a smoldering wreck. Also, the vast majority of time nothing happens and the rebels just get closer. If there catch you have to fight the elite fighter and win (there's no option to run away). If you win you get 2 fuel, unless you board the ship and kill their crew, in which case your troops make it out with 3 or 4 fuel.

[zebramatt]

Just made it to the Rebel Flagship for the first time! What a monster. Nearly killed the damn thing though. That was quite a run...

I started with the Engi cuboid wosname - christened it The Kingfisher - and embarked with a 'borrowed' strategy of bulking out my crew with humans, mantis and rockmen, then getting a fully specced teleporter. Absolutely stomped the first four sectors before my first set back - I'd accidentally activated my assault drone out of habit while my main boarding was on the enemy ship. It made rather shorter work of them than I'd expected and I lost my two best fighters. OK, no great shakes, I meandered past two shops - got lucky - and managed to score another rockman and a mantis. Inexperienced but tough. Or so I thought.

See, then I wandered into the slug home nebula. Apart from losing my main boarding team, everything was going swimmingly - picked up an ion bomb to complement my ion blaster, a couple of defensive drones, plenty of augments, a full crew complement - until one fateful jump where those sneaky molluscs hacked my O2 systems. With eight crew and a boarding strategy which took a couple of minutes to play out effectively, that was Bad News. My green boarding team struggled to overcome the six slugs manning the other ship, so I had the bright idea of sending everyone over there to breathe their damn oxygen. Needless to say, I lost all hands bar the two I managed to 'port back and get to the medbay before they asphyxiated.

Despite all that, I managed to get the crew back up to five, change tack slightly with a more powerful assault drone, some engine and shield upgrades and blast doors, and make it all the way to Federation space. I even helped some Engi deliver plans for a stealth ship along the way, which I'm looking forward to trying out next time! And I almost had that Flagship down. Couple more shots and it would've been space dust. But alas, it proved too much for me!

Love this game!