Info on the next build!

[Muramas]

How are you guys on the balancing front? Is the outlook to make more changes, or keep things mostly as they are?

I'm in the not-happy-about-how-random-the-game-is camp.

We'll be trying to balance the game as best as we can still, but the absurd amount of randomness is pretty core to the vision we had for the game. We'll do what we can to smooth it out (we made some changes to easy mode's difficulty curve) but it's probably not possible to please everyone since tastes are different. But I realize that's not much consolation. :/

I am a firm believer that most of the balancing issues would be fixed by changing how the stores operate. If you made it so there is more variety in the item selection and maybe one or two more items in the store it will lead to better runs and being able to find what you need in a higher chance. Also having the ability to sell missiles / fuel / drones will go a long way as well.

[timaeus]

Looking forward to the next build! I look forward to playing the new ships; it's fun seeing how each one forces you to play in a different style.

And just wanted to put in one more voice for "Yay Randomness!" It keeps the game interesting; otherwise we'd all have the tendency to stick to the same playstyle time and again.

[CaptainQuirk]

Hey Justin,

Awesome news. Thanks for the update!

For those of us that didn't make it into the Beta for whatever reasons, any chance of a cheeky update on whether you guys have a firm release date? Definitely August? Definitely September?

YouTube must be getting sick of me entering the search terms FTL, FTL Beta, FTL Let's Play etc etc.

Cheers,
The Cap'n.

[taylorott]

[Spoilers]
I'm excited for whenever the continue playing option (after you defeat the boss) starts being available.

[take]

how are achievements/unlockables going to work towards the future?? a.k.a. will any achievements/unlockables earned in the beta go toward the final version??

[Lambchops]

Exciting stuff, looking forward to seeing new ships.

[stephenarcher0]

Looking forward to it Justin, not if I could just find that darn Slug ship.

Keep up the good work

[chanman]

How are you guys on the balancing front? Is the outlook to make more changes, or keep things mostly as they are?

I'm in the not-happy-about-how-random-the-game-is camp.

We'll be trying to balance the game as best as we can still, but the absurd amount of randomness is pretty core to the vision we had for the game. We'll do what we can to smooth it out (we made some changes to easy mode's difficulty curve) but it's probably not possible to please everyone since tastes are different. But I realize that's not much consolation. :/

Depending on how you're generating the randomness of the encounter, if they could be controlled from the menu screen, you could have an 'entropy' slider/setting that determined how wildly your salvage/enemies/events deviate from the mean.

I'm not sure how much of that is possible under the hood, and it would require you to rate each encounter type on a scale of good/not good, but it could give a way of letting the player choose to split the difference between boring and wild. Maybe something to think about in future games?

[Jintor]

How are you guys on the balancing front? Is the outlook to make more changes, or keep things mostly as they are?

I'm in the not-happy-about-how-random-the-game-is camp.

We'll be trying to balance the game as best as we can still, but the absurd amount of randomness is pretty core to the vision we had for the game. We'll do what we can to smooth it out (we made some changes to easy mode's difficulty curve) but it's probably not possible to please everyone since tastes are different. But I realize that's not much consolation. :/

I am a firm believer that most of the balancing issues would be fixed by changing how the stores operate. If you made it so there is more variety in the item selection and maybe one or two more items in the store it will lead to better runs and being able to find what you need in a higher chance. Also having the ability to sell missiles / fuel / drones will go a long way as well.

Yes, this

I think being able to more consistently tell if a store will sell weapons, modules, drones or crew might be something as well. Like, all stores sell ammo, fuel and drone parts and fix ships, but Space Stations sell crew and drones, Shipyards sell modules and weapons, something like that.

[Gomisan]

I'm just glad to hear an update is coming! The Get Satisfaction forum has been scarily quiet and I have been worried that people may have been drifting away to other things.

I've just got a friend quite excited about the game and really want to be able to get him playing as soon as possible.

As for randomness.. bring it on! I had an absurdly LUCKY game the other day, weapons literally floating in space turn after turn. Took out the boss with comparitive ease at the end. It was a great game, even with all the 'luck' I hd it stil felt challenging.