Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gameplay

General discussion about the game.
Fangz
Posts: 76
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:57 pm

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby Fangz » Wed Jan 16, 2013 6:50 pm

zabbo2 wrote:I'm really surprised by how many people are complaining that FTL is too hard, too random, and there is no save/load mechanic. These are three major selling points for me. Let me briefly address them...


+1
Danby
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:19 pm

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby Danby » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:07 pm

The one thing i dont like about the randomness is that it is only by luck that you have what you need to beat the game. I've played for 35 hours so far and have yet to have the weapons/crew i need to beat the boss. The closest i've gotten was the very first time i got to the boss with the kestral A and had 3 mark 2 rapid fire beams and some kind of missile. Unfortunately i didn't know what to expect from the boss, and was killed on the second battle with it.

Since then, EVERY time i've managed to get to the boss, i either don't have the weapons to kill him, dont have enough systems to survive, or don't have the crew.

People talk about perfect play throughs where everything goes your way. I've NEVER had that. I do enjoy the game still, but at least if there was some kind of consistency like certain types of sectors had weapons at store, ect. , it would take the edge off and make it a bit more strategic.

I think my only recourse at this point is to go all missiles and just brute force the boss to death. I'd love to get that crystal cruiser people talk about, but i either get the pod and no home worlds, or the home worlds and no pod.
mrguy888
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 5:33 pm

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby mrguy888 » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:31 pm

I think you are either picking bad paths and missing stores, not saving for weapons when you need them, or are being way to picky with your weapons. One good weapon or two and a few bad ones are usually enough to beat the boss. If you only pick up Burst Laser II's and Ion Blast II's you will get stuck but get one and maybe a hull laser or two and\or any beam and you can take the boss on.
mattlistener
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:15 pm

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby mattlistener » Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:02 pm

Mindset is key. The game is meant to be lost -- a lot -- so that beating it is an accomplishment. Not even elite roguelike players win more than 50% of their chosen game. (And when they approach that, they typically make more challenging initial choices to make their game harder to win.)

Skill reduces randomness. Recognize how to exploit an unusual combo and you will survive something later that would kill you -- or be able to capitalize on something later that you would have missed.

"The game handed me everything I needed and I won easily" and "the game made me die and there was nothing I could do" do happen, but they are a thinner edge of cases than most players initially think. We live with those edge cases as the cost of the random-gen format and try to pull off wins in the fat-middle zone.

Not for everyone, sure, but see if you can get into the mindset. If scraping an undermanned, leaking, scrap-poor ship through the galaxy isn't fun (for some it is, to see how far they can get!), then abandon playthroughs that aren't reaching sufficient power milestones fast enough so you can focus your time in games that are staying ahead of the curve.

When you die, think about what you learned from it, if there were any warning signs you could have acted on sooner, if you had other resources you didn't bring to bear. "Losing should be fun" is a good game motto -- and it's the learning part that makes dieing in FTL fun... until you win!
postman
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:03 am

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby postman » Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:39 pm

All of you people who complain about luck... there is a SIGNIFICANT amount of skill involved in this game. I've had the game for a couple weeks and played and beaten every ship on Normal except a couple B ships I've yet to try (Slug B and Engi B). Probably about 50-60 hours of playtime (I'm not at my desktop to check).

If the game frustrates you so much, my suggestion is to move on to things that you find relaxing. I personally enjoy a challenge and I'm actually starting to feel that the novelty of FTL has worn off and it might be nice to have a HARD mode.
Skull
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2013 6:44 pm

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby Skull » Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:20 pm

It`s not too hard and not being able to save a game prevents cheating so needs to be that way. It is way too random though, which adds replay value and frustration at the same time.
I have a hard time understanding how all the elites posting about how they beat the game easily and that they`re so good the game has somehow stopped being random, like the waves parting for Moses. In the actual game, as opposed to whatever fake elitist pretend game you`re talking about, you occasionally miss the opening shot so the shield doesn`t go down for the secondary weapon, before you get a bomb in the weapons room so you can`t reload and die. Or you take a torpedo in the guns while in stealth so you come out without having been able to fire and die to drones.
The game`s fun to play but denying reality is a pretty pointless behavior to be honest.

After playing FTL for about three days some of my games still last about two minutes due to crappy RNG, but somehow your elitism transcends physical reality and you just cruise through on multiple settings. I smell lies and self appreciation and internet fibbers all over this site.
BKT
Posts: 211
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 3:17 am

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby BKT » Sun Feb 17, 2013 10:24 pm

The game will never stop being random. :twisted:

However, as you play the game more and gained more knowledge + experience with the game, you'll be able to 'deal' with the game's randomness and tame it to a more manageable level— you'll know what kind of obstacle you'll face and will be able to planned ahead for it, know when and how you should take risks or just play it safe, etc. ;)

In your case though, it seem like you underestimated the benefits of what a few engine upgrade can give you... And bad luck; if you had decent level engine, the odds of an enemy's bomb to actually cause a serious problem to your ship is extremely small. It still does sometime, though— 3 ion bomb in a row to shield room in asteroid field follow by Ion blast + Halberd beam + Heavy laser MK2 destroyed one of my invincible max shield/engine upgrade Rock_B run... :oops:
ruler
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2013 12:34 pm

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby ruler » Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:41 pm

It's not that it's too random, but rather that the way the randomness isn't limited, you are sometimes given e.g. not a single weapons shop for 5 sectors, or a row of very difficult encounters.
UltraMantis
Posts: 2141
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 3:17 pm

Re: Don't understand why some people don't like FTL's gamepl

Postby UltraMantis » Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:59 am

ruler wrote:It's not that it's too random, but rather that the way the randomness isn't limited, you are sometimes given e.g. not a single weapons shop for 5 sectors, or a row of very difficult encounters.

Desperate circumstances sometimes make for very interesting gameplay. :D One of my videos had a fair share of ridiculous and bizzare events, with navigating through an entire sector behind the Rebel line taking the cake (link; around 48 minute mark). In the end the uselessness of the defense drone tipped the scales in the flagship's favour, but it was a fun ride throughout.
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