YAY managed to beat that gooddamn rebel flagship (umm well on EASY <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> but at least without return to repair (i guess trying to get that tough lil ship award while in end-boss fight is slightly negligent)

used the basic Kestrel layout

but was lucky to be able to buy

burst laser 3 - and the weapon reloader, shield recharger, and the scrap+10% (but that was disposed after 3 jumps for a weapon-pre-ignition upgrade)

also wasted scrap to get the full arsenal achievement

my final loadout was:

teleport bomb that can damage system - burst laser 1 + 2 + 3 and one beam attack drone

a full crew but only 2 shields

first strike on shields, then cloaking, it dies usually after the 4th barrage

going in with just one missille and 2 beam weapons wont get you far at the 2nd stage - with their defense drone not even one of the missilles hit it.

The 3rd and 4th stage were not as hard (for me) as the 2nd stage.

This game caught me off guard with how great it is. Screenshots simply do not do it justice. There's quite a lot of action and strategy that I wouldn't have guessed if I hadn't played it. And it definitely has that wonderful roguelike feel to it. This is what Weird Worlds should have been.

Obviously a lot of love went into making FTL. It's very polished and the art styles and music are pleasant.

It's just a shame there is no demo. I'm a firm believer in "try before you buy", so I did just that. I PayPal'd a copy immediately after downloading it from you-know-where.

Anyway, great job with this excellent little game. I'm so glad I decided to give it a chance and I hope more people do as well.

Free update well early next year also on Ipad, wonder when or if they will be doing FTL2?. http://www.ftlgame.com/?page_id=106

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 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.

 

I died so many times in this game that I lost count. Still, I feel like giving it a try again cause maybe ... just maybe ... I won't get killed again.

Me too and I expect more dying when the update is released.

Bit more about the update http://www.ftlgame.com/?p=621 and detail about the old/new race.

Gameplay

Individuals of the Lanius race do not require life support to live – they can survive in deep space unaided. In fact, their unique composition reacts strongly to artificial environments causing them to drain the oxygen within any compartment they inhabit. This is no doubt one reason they have had difficulty with diplomatic relations.

Additional Features

Other than new alien race, here are some more previously unannounced features:

Lanius Ship: New player ship with its own achievements and alternate layout.

Type C Ship Layouts: 8 of the original ships will have a third layout that capitalizes on the new content.  With the Lanius ship, that makes for a total of ten new starting ship designs.

Backup Battery Subsystem: Subsystem that can provide temporary reactor power in a pinch.

New Drones: Expanded drone options includes: the Shield Drone that generates a green super shield for your ship, the Anti-Combat Drone that shoots down enemy combat drones, and the Ion Intruder that blasts into the enemy ship and randomly ionizes systems while stunning and distracting crew.

Gameplay Refinements: Doors and Sensors can be manned to increase effectiveness; you can now rename crew mid-game; each race has a small variety of colors which allows for easier visual recognition;

And more to come: We’re still balancing and polishing the features that are being added. Be sure to keep an eye out for additional content announcements!

FTL: Advanced Edition Recap:

• It will contain a ton of new content and improvements: although the larger additions can be disabled if you prefer FTL “vanilla.”
• This large update is free for those who already own the game on Windows, Mac, or Linux.
• FTL is also coming to iPad; it will be the full version of the game including the new “Advanced Edition” content.
• FTL on iPad will have to be purchased separately from the PC version.
• An exact date for release has not been decided but we are aiming for early 2014.

 

Some news about the expansion to FTL http://www.ftlgame.com/?p=647

We’ve been quiet for the last couple of months, but rest assured that’s only because we’re hard at work trying to finish both the expansion and the iPad port. We still do not have a date for when everything will be complete, but we’ll be sure to tell everyone once we do. Until then, we thought we’d share some more details about the new ship systems that you’ll be installing on your Kestrel sometime in the relatively near future.

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

New Systems & Subsystems:  

The system limits for each player ship will remain the same, with only 8 systems installed at one time. You will have to prioritize which systems you feel work best for your current strategy, and mixing and matching the new and the old creates a lot of fun combinations.  The following are the new systems and subsystems.

Clone Bay

Previously unannounced, the Clone Bay is an alternative to the Medbay. Whenever a crew member dies, a clone is generated to replace them at the cost of losing some of their skills. Without the Medbay, your crew will not be able to heal in the traditional way, although the Clone Bay will heal all crew slightly every jump.  All Type C ships will come installed with a Clone Bay, or you can replace your Medbay from stores for a cost.

        

The goal of the Clone Bay was to really disrupt the core way you play the game.  You’ll be able to send crew off into dangerous situations without fear  of death. Giant alien spiders will no longer be the terrifying, unstoppable force that you’re used to, since the system can simply revive your crew after the event. But, if a stray missile takes out the system mid-clone, you’ll find death can still be quite permanent. And you probably shouldn’t let your crew ponder too long on the fate of their previous iterations.

 

 Hacking

Designing hacking for FTL was one of the most challenging aspects of the expansion. We’ve gone through many wildly different iterations, but are exceedingly happy with the final version.

At the cost of a drone part, the system allows you to launch a hacking drone that attaches to a chosen system on the enemy vessel. As a passive effect, that system’s doors will be blocked (delaying enemy crew) and you’ll be granted detailed vision of that system. You’ll also then be able to initiate a hacking pulse which affects each system slightly differently. Some examples:

      

      

• Weapons: The current charge status of the weapon will drain, delaying the weapons from firing.
• Shields: The shields will drain, giving you a brief moment to get your shots in.
• Drones: All currently active drones will be stunned for the duration of the pulse with a chance of being destroyed.
• Teleporter: Immediately force enemy boarders to teleport back to their own ship.

The different uses against different systems, along with the passive obstruction of doors, opens up a multitude of exciting tactical options.

 

 Mind Control

          

The Mind Control system temporarily turns a single enemy into an ally. Upgrading the system will increase the duration of the control as well as providing a health and combat boost to your new minion. You’ll be able to make a boarder temporarily man the weapon system, cause in-fighting on the enemy ship, or lock your teleporter onto your new ally to teleport him into an airless room back on your ship.  The caveat is that Mind Control requires vision of the crew to activate, and the telepathic Slugs are immune to its ability, making nebulae a dangerous choice for those who rely on it.

 

Backup Battery

Tired of not being able to power the entirety of your fully upgraded ship? Find Zoltans unreliable? Need a little extra power boost in Ion Storms? The Backup Battery makes sure you have the power you need… most of the time. When fully upgraded, the Backup Battery can provide 4 extra reactor bars for 30 seconds but it has a 25 second cooldown between uses. In addition, it takes up a new 4th subsystem slot so it does not use any additional room that would be used for other systems.

 

Miscellaneous Additions:

Visual Improvements: As we’ve mentioned before, along with the new content we’ll also putting in a host of minor tweaks and improvements to the game. One example would be the new and improved reward boxes, making event outcomes more clear:

Hard Mode: For our more masochistic fans, we’ve also added an additional Hard difficulty to the game. More challenging enemy generation, lower scrap rewards, and other small tweaks should help keep the game interesting for anyone who might be bored of Normal.

 

The clone bay among might improve the odds of surviving, would have liked to have had an option to turn off the pursuers and give you a chance to explore the game rather than hard mode.

 

would have liked to have had an option to turn off the pursuers and give you a chance to explore the game rather than hard mode.

I think there is a mod for that.

A release date.

Release Date!

The time has come! We will release both FTL for the iPad and the FTL: Advanced Edition expansion on April 3rd!

As a reminder, FTL: Advanced Edition is a free content expansion for FTL. All current (and future) customers will receive this update regardless of where they purchased it. Prior to release, we will post detailed instructions on how to get the update from whatever digital vendor you originally purchased FTL.

The iPad version of FTL will require an iPad version 2 or higher (iPad 1 is not supported) and will cost the same as the PC version, $10. It will be the complete game, including the new Advanced Edition content, and will not have any in-app purchases. We are proud to say that the iPad version is a true equivalent to the PC in the experience it provides, which is why we are price matching to the PC version.

A press kit for the iPad version is available HERE.

Thanks for reading. We’re super excited to be able to finally release both the expansion and the port. We hope you will all enjoy them as much as we enjoyed making them.

 

Nice 😎

Anyone taking a look at the update yet?.

Another one to download when I remember what the hell my GOG password was for their downloader

Ever wanted to play FTL on a C64, well now you can at http://csdb.dk/release/?id=131084

I have yet to play this game, I have it on steam. I have too many games on steam and too little time heh, but I least support the devs and buy the stuff I will play it eventually.