Any mods to make this game not a piece of shit?

[fuckingshitgame]

What an annoying fucking game. Very little skill, lots of luck. Seriously missing nearly half your shots and sometimes more in SECTOR FUCKING 1 isn't fun. It's not a cool idea, or a good game mechanic, or a clever challenge. It's a stupid annoying not fun pile of fucking shit. I'm shooting at a big fucking ship in space with laser beams that presumably travels really fucking fast. How the fuck can I miss so much? This mostly ruins an otherwise decent game. This and the stupid bullshit of half of the random events. Oh yeah this time this random even will kill a crew member instead of net you some scrap! Better memorize all the outcomes on the WIKI so you know which ones you should and should not waste your time with!

Random luck fests are fun! Wee!

Seriously, good ideas in here, but ruined by a lot of fucking useless bullshit.

[Agg Shell]

This game is very much skill. Example: On the rock cruiser A, you only have missile weapons. You need to use them wisely and not go LOLMISSILESPAMLOL wait crap I has no missiles . Also, the events. If you watched videos of the game, you would know what events do what, and they are really easy to remember. This game isn't a piece of crap, it's super fun. You just are used to easy games that are predictable, easy to learn and that you can pick up, and learn how to play and be a pro at in 5 minutes. This isn't ftl. Go back to your X-box, real PC gamers don't talk about games like this, even if they hate them. Learning is a big aspect to this game which you seem to have no patience for.

[BKT]

One of the key to success in this game is to shoot the cockpit— Here's a short (1min) demonstration vid on how's it done.

[fuckingshitgame]

I beat the game on easy 3 times then normal 5 times, and unlocked 6 out of the 9 ships, (the first being the crystal cruiser on like my 2nd playthrough, so I had no idea it was a big huge deal). I know how to play the game, it's just stupidly annoying that sometimes certain events are good and other times they are bad and it's just random luck. And it's also stupidly annoying that seeming a lot of enemy ships have stupidly annoying dodge chance. Wasting several properly timed volleys in a row on what SHOULD be able to get through shields easily but doesn't is not due to a lack of skill. Obviously luck is a HUGE part of this game, even when you have the skill part down, which didn't take long anyway

[fuckingshitgame]

One of the key to success in this game is to shoot the cockpit— Here's a short (1min) demonstration vid on how's it done.

Did you just make this video for the express purpose of posting it in this topic? Well that's pretty nice of ya.

[VanguardOfValor]

Sorry to hear you've been finding the game frustrating.

There are a bunch of things you can do to help make the luck elements less significant though.

As was mentioned, shooting the enemy helm takes their evasion immediately down to 0. You can do the same thing by beating down their engines, but it takes longer. Just be aware that as soon as they fix it the evasion is back to normal. As far as how reasonable their dodge is, with level 3 sensors you can see just how powerful their engines are so you will know what to expect. Not only that, but you can do exactly the same thing to them. Upgrading your own engines can ensure that a huge amount of the enemy shots miss, especially if you combine that with well-timed cloaks.

The fact that sometimes events can be bad and sometimes good can be frustrating, but as you play you should get a pretty good idea of which events are safe risks and which aren't. There are many events which 2 options, one of which is good/neutral (where you get some reward or something other than losing a crew) while the other is good/bad (where you either get a reward or risk losing a crew). I find it doesn't take too long to learn which options can cost you a crew, and almost any other negative outcome is not a very big deal unless you're really badly hurt, in my opinion.

I know I probably can't change your opinion of the game, but one other thing I'd like to say is that while the game CAN just decide that you're dead (by giving you several asteroid fields with boarding parties in a row when you're trying to run away with little-to-no fuel, for example...) it generally doesn't. I've put way too much time into this game (almost 250 hours if Steam is to be believed) and at this point I generally win just about every run I attempt (or at the very least make it to the last stand), even with restrictions like never buying a shield system or upgrading engines past stage one, because I know now what to expect and how to deal with the various situations that crop up. There might just be a few little things that you're missing which are making everything unnecessarily difficult.

Either way, I hope you manage to find a way to enjoy the game. There are a lot of mods which change things quite a bit, which I do suggest you check out if that interests you.

[Jerjare]

The game is very random, which can be frustrating at times, but there are plenty of things you can do on your end to be more effective. The key, though is to know that because its a Roguelike, everything you do is a gamble, and may (or may not) pay off.

Firstly, use scrap wisely. There are plenty of encounters where you are better off running away then trying to grind an enemy down and having to blow 50+ scrap to fix the hull damage. Its less of a waste to buy a situational weapon/augment since you can sell them and recoup some of the loss.

Pay attention to the map. Jump points with "Distress" are good opportunities because you can get Blue Options which give you risk-free opportunities. Nearly every race, augment, system upgrade, or weapon can offer blue options somewhere. Though blue options for having Rockmen, Engis, Level 2 sensors/medbay/teleporter tend to come up the most often (for me anyway). These are often free scrap and weapons. Encounters that are generally along the lines of "Have some guy go to the surface/in space/etc to solve the problem are incredibly risky without a blue option. Alien Spiders, ship fire, etc if you can't get a blue option then don't risk the crew member.

Use missiles and drones wisely. If you are using drones a lot (Engi A/B) getting a Drone Recovery arm early on helps tremendously. For missile ships like Rock A use missiles very sparingly and as efficient as possible (Hermes does 2 dmg, Hull does 4 to empty rooms. So use hermes to hit their cockpit, which will let the hull missile auto-hit. If they have anti missile drones/zoltan shield, just jump away).

Most of the non-starter ships have a specialty and struggle against some targets. This is normal. Running into 3 autoships in a row with Mantis B before you get a weapon is a facepalm moment, but it happens. You also get lucky and end up with 4 elite boarding mantises dicing up enemy crews in seconds, so it balances out.

[Dontmindme]

When I first played the game, I didn't find the random encounters so random. I read the text and more often than not, you get a sense of the danger. Explore an asteroid field, no surprise you might take hull damage. Go down to a planet that is on fire, where people are diseased or alien spiders, it was not a surprise that there is a good chance of losing a crew member. I generally find the encounters to be well-written and with a little common sense, the dangers apparent. Its a risk vs. reward. You don't like the risk, jump away, nothing is making you take the chance.

[samules]

That's what roguelikes are, mitigating randomness. Sometimes luck completely screws you but 2/3 times you can survive if you play your cards right, like other people have been explaining.

[herb0815]

You beat the game 8 times in total, that is a lot of time you used on playing a game that you see as shit. Just wanted to mention that.