[MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Discuss and distribute tools and methods for modding. Moderator - Grognak
The Hawk
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 1:28 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby The Hawk » Thu Feb 14, 2013 5:44 pm

WOOO! It's been a long time since I last checked this thread because new versions are out.

Sorry to bother you again, drktemplar, but... From what I see in the list of added/fixed content of the new versions, i don't any changes to help boarding. If at least it would be possible to nerf enemy ship's weapons and drones, but keep tough enemy crew only when using a boarding based ship (like the mantis cruiser), this would be great. Although, some people could simply start with the mantis cruiser to nerf the entire game as the player starts in the secret sector and never leaves it and you can't edit the starting sector without changing all the other sectors as well.

Leave your thoughts on this, if, of course, you don't mind doing so.

EDIT: I forgot something. If I create my own ships that is based on finding resources but not fighting (like 3 ftl recharge booster and max engines at start but no weapons, no drones, level 1 teleporter and 4 crewmembers at start), would that make the game easy or hard? I'll try it out ASAP.
DrkTemplar
Posts: 245
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:24 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby DrkTemplar » Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:03 pm

@The Hawk, If I remember correctly the issue you had was with the level 3 door system. The "high" level ships do use level 3 door systems, but not all of the ships in IS do. I don't completely understand your suggestion. If you are suggesting to dynamically change the enemy ships based on which ship the player chooses, I don't know of a way of doing that. The only way I can see making it "easier" for boarding is to reduce the level of the door systems on ships, or reduce the number of crew members on the enemy ships.

Just to clarify, I can change the ships that appear in the first sector (Civilian), and you do not start in the secret sector, you start in the Civilian one. I'll look at those ships, and if any of them have a level 3 door system, I'll go ahead and reduce it.

Your idea of a resource ship will likely be hard to play in IS. You will have to run from automated ships, which appear more in the Civilian sector, and will probably find yourself "running behind" by the time you hit Deep Space sector. It sounds like you want to play a ship that uses boarding as the only offense. I would suggest at least 6 crew members so that you can leave one in the pilot seat, and one in the engine room (for best evade). I would also start with the bordering drone. This would help with automated ships, and allow you to still be offensive when you need to keep your attack crew members on your ship to defend against enemy borders.
The Hawk
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 1:28 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby The Hawk » Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:59 pm

DrkTemplar wrote:@The Hawk, If I remember correctly the issue you had was with the level 3 door system. The "high" level ships do use level 3 door systems, but not all of the ships in IS do. I don't completely understand your suggestion. If you are suggesting to dynamically change the enemy ships based on which ship the player chooses, I don't know of a way of doing that. The only way I can see making it "easier" for boarding is to reduce the level of the door systems on ships, or reduce the number of crew members on the enemy ships.

Just to clarify, I can change the ships that appear in the first sector (Civilian), and you do not start in the secret sector, you start in the Civilian one. I'll look at those ships, and if any of them have a level 3 door system, I'll go ahead and reduce it.

Your idea of a resource ship will likely be hard to play in IS. You will have to run from automated ships, which appear more in the Civilian sector, and will probably find yourself "running behind" by the time you hit Deep Space sector. It sounds like you want to play a ship that uses boarding as the only offense. I would suggest at least 6 crew members so that you can leave one in the pilot seat, and one in the engine room (for best evade). I would also start with the bordering drone. This would help with automated ships, and allow you to still be offensive when you need to keep your attack crew members on your ship to defend against enemy borders.


i just had a silly idea to make a ship based on fleeing from combat with max engines and 3 ftl recharge boosters, which i thought (to balance the ship) would have been op to had weapons. I will literally make this ship and rely on event where some... lets say, federation loyalists give me free resources. i wont come and say this is impossible since the game isnt made to be played that way.... at least, i dont think so.

Im still sorry for bothering you again about boarding. I didnt quite remember that the door system was the problem, because for me, every fight was like the rebel flagship (take down medbay, beam my mantises in the medbay, be lucky that the flagship does not cloak when my mantises are injured... things that i never had to worry about in the vanilla game but for the final boss fight). However, now that i know how to creaete my own custom ships (with ftledit), i can now make a ship that would start completely op in the vanila game, but a starting ship for IS (Hence the name, infinite space, where it never ends. I like the challenge of the cruisers, though, and makes up for me needing to be there and do something, not just "warp, shoot, warp to next beacon" procedure. if thats not what you intended for your mod, well sorry, but this is the only mod that makes the game challenging enough, though playing until death, not final boss)
DrkTemplar
Posts: 245
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:24 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby DrkTemplar » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:09 pm

@The Hawk, Please do make the custom ship! Let us know how it goes. Do you only have troubles with the Cruiser ships? If that't the case, well they should be hard, that was the intent. If you still have issues building up with a pure boarding ship, than maybe reducing crew members, or lowering door system levels might help. However, once you reach Cruiser, Elite Cruiser, Battleship, and Stealth ship, they should be hard fights, similar to the end game boss of vanilla.
The Hawk
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 1:28 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby The Hawk » Fri Feb 15, 2013 3:02 am

drktemplar, i tried that weaponless ship and i didnt even bother to go through 3 beacons before i quit.
Thanks for approving my idea of a boarding ship, but my ship starts with weapons too: a basic laser and a breach bomb mark 2 for medbays. i do use a mod that removes the fleet pursuit, it could help for getting stuff in the civilian sector. i you'd prefer that i dont use this mod because it could false feedback of IS, tell me.

EDIT: i forgot i also had heal bomb (ill just sell it because i dont feel like designing another ship over again(i havent found a way to load my own ships through ftledit)). Also: my ship has 3 mantis pheromones, i LOVE movement speed in any way in any game regardless of it's augment slot occupation :mrgreen:
The Hawk
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 1:28 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby The Hawk » Fri Feb 15, 2013 3:14 am

i just thought of something. drktemplar, i'd like to send you a picture of what my ship look like at start, but i dont know how. can you please tell me?
The Hawk
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 1:28 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby The Hawk » Fri Feb 15, 2013 3:55 am

ho! i found a typo error. i encounterd a slug ship and they hailed: "We've taking your lives. Prepare to die!" should probably be "We're taking your lives."

EDIT: IVE GOT IT!!! THE PROBLEM WITH BOARDING! Too many goddamned automated ships! im at the second sector and ive encountered at least 12 auto-scouts or auto-assault. Yeah, i can deal with one of them every once in a while but not 3 in a row that all have a missile weapon or ion spam with laser. i also feel like the game hates me; if i upgrade shields, enemies have ten thousand more missiles. if i build evade instead, they get a billion lasers! And... hummm.... did you do something to reward the player with a shit ton of anti-personnal drones? i must have gotten 4 or 5 so far. if not, my game became self aware :|
Kenshkrix
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:00 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby Kenshkrix » Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:38 am

The Hawk wrote:EDIT: IVE GOT IT!!! THE PROBLEM WITH BOARDING! Too many goddamned automated ships! im at the second sector and ive encountered at least 12 auto-scouts or auto-assault. Yeah, i can deal with one of them every once in a while but not 3 in a row that all have a missile weapon or ion spam with laser. i also feel like the game hates me; if i upgrade shields, enemies have ten thousand more missiles. if i build evade instead, they get a billion lasers! And... hummm.... did you do something to reward the player with a shit ton of anti-personnal drones? i must have gotten 4 or 5 so far. if not, my game became self aware :|

The RNG is definitely roguelike in FTL, but it gives you time to savor each part of your defeat, from that missile that flew through your active cloak directly into the cloaking room, utterly destroying it, to the ion blast that knocks out your engines right when you're about to hit the JUMP button while a missile kills your pilot while breaching the hull, and your engi is trying in vain to get the O2 room back up... (This was, naturally, the second to last beacon in the 7th sector)

In contrast, you get very little time to witness your defeat in older rogues like Nethack. Such as one game where I stepped onto a teleportation trap that deposited me onto a pit door trap that dropped me onto a boulder trap, which killed me instantly (I should have searched for traps more thoroughly, sure taught me).

In both cases, the RNG makes up for brutally and cruelly murdering you by... giving you no useful loot, and leading you through horrible environmental dangers, such as hitting 2 asteroid fields in a row when playing on the Stealth A for the first time (There was only one path on that map...)

Occasionally, however, the RNG slips up, and you have 6 crew members on the Vortex by the second sector, or you get 3 Burst Laser Mk2 by the fifth sector, then find a preigniter (Or you find an uncursed wand of wishing on the 4th floor)...
MrSmite
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2013 5:03 am

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby MrSmite » Fri Feb 15, 2013 12:05 pm

DrkTemplar wrote:@MrSmite, just to clarify, I didn't say it would break an event.

[...]

So let me ask you another question, what do you think of the concept of event specific backgrounds. As an example, you arrive at a beacon, you are surrounded by ships. Instead of just seeing the one ship in your target HUD, you also see in the background a large number of ships.


Sorry for the late reply, been busy...

When I said "break an event", I was referring to the actual script. In other words it wouldn't cause an error or crash the game. I do like the idea of event specific backgrounds though.

For the additional feedback you requested re: HD backgrounds, I personally dislike ones with lots of little stars as seen in the next to last image in the screenshot: High-res background graphics [V1.0] (I assume that's the mod you're going to use).

I would suggest for that particular starry image to either reduce the brightness / contrast of the stars, reduce the quantity or give them a softer color.
CzesiiekThe2nd
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:12 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby CzesiiekThe2nd » Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:16 pm

Could you add a "Very easy" mode for this mod? I Feel like I get the hardest possible ships :x , E.G With the Mantis type B I get owned because ALL ships have a medbay even at the start and they often have Mantis aboard their ship. Thanks for reading.