There are a number of unlockable ships and extras but what FTL really needs is double the budget and/or a steady stream of patches and downloadable content.īased on how the game works at the moment that’s something we’d certainly be willing to fund, and we’re pretty sure none of the game’s original supporters will be disappointed either. The random encounters do inevitably start to repeat, until you get to the point where you’ve seen them all and the game’s ability to surprise you starts to fade.
Although they’re just as equally likely to teleport crew onto your ship and zap you from the inside out.įTL is a fantastically addictive and rewarding game but it’s not without its issues. The computer is remarkably intelligent about how it will conduct itself in a fight and enemies will even try to escape or give in if things turn against them. Lasers have to be of sufficient power to cut through shields but missiles don’t – but then you can only carry a limited number of those. Opening the airlocks to vent fires out into space is another common tactic, but one that tends to have a predictable effect on the crew’s oxygen supply.Įnemy ships have a similar layout of rooms and as long your sensors are working combat revolves around targeting the most important ones, and making sure any damage you take is quickly repaired. You start with only a crew of three though and so again have to constantly shuttle them between rooms (including the infirmary if they get hurt). You also have to keep an eye on your crew as well, since their presence in a room can improve the efficiency of whatever is stationed there – from shields to weapons.
#Ftl faster than light read text install#
In the first couple of sectors you generally won’t run into anyone too far above your own power level and so there’s plenty of chances to earn scrap to either buy new equipment and weapons (or remote control drones), or internally upgrade your own systems with a simple role-playing style customisation system.Īlthough you can install as many systems as you can afford they all have to be powered by a single reservoir of power and shunting it about, switching off non-critical equipment, is a key strategy. You can try to stack the odds in your favour though and unlike most roguelikes the game’s difficultly curve is welcomingly slow. Some sectors are more dangerous than others, depending on what kind of alien lives there, but since the encounters are random there are no guarantees. Moving between areas in each sector is as simple as pointing and clicking on a map, and when you reach the exit of each one you’re then given a simple binary choice of which path to take next. So as result the game arguably has the best visuals possible: your imagination. Even with $200,000 there was no way a game with this sort of scope was going to look as amazing as the imagery the spartan visuals and lurid descriptions inspire in your head. The graphics are terrible and not even the ship designs are very interesting – not only could the game have been done on a ZX Spectrum but we could almost imagine it looking better too.Īnd yet as so often with retro-looking games this actually helps the atmosphere.
The plan of your ship is pretty much the only screen in the entire game, with a static image of space behind it and a picture of any other nearby ships to the right. Whether it’s helping a stranded civilian ship or fighting slavers each encounter is described merely in text form, like an old text adventure.
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