Lets Play Faster Than Light In Space - No One Can Hear You Scream

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Lets Play Faster Than Light In Space - No One Can Hear You Scream

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

I know realize that I am wholly incompetent at this game. I never did like the Kestral though.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2014 18:02

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 07:15

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Section Z posted:

Meanwhile, I have a soft spot for the Kestral because in my short time playing off and on it is the only ship I have beaten normal on

Love that guaranteed Burst laser MK II and Missile.

The Burst Laser MkII is the one thing that owns about the Kestral, but I don't really like the layout. Also I never get very far in the Kestral.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2014 19:29

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Momplestiltskin posted:

Yes, they did. The old way of unlocking is still in the game, but you now have the alternative of unlocking the previous ship. For example, if you unlock the type b engi ship in the normal way (getting 2/3 achievements for the ship using the type a) and get to sector 8 in it, you get the type c. If you beat the game with the type c engi ship you unlock the next ship in order. In theory you can unlock all the way up to the crystal cruiser this way without beating any of the quests to unlock ships (except for the engi ship, which you get automatically for making it to sector 5).

It's fine to speak about the boss in general terms, just try to avoid spoiling how the actual fight goes until we get there. We'll be there very soon (as long as I don't die)!

Kestrel Type B is actually one of my favorite ships. Three reasons for that: The layout, the surprising effectiveness of the starting lasers, and the excellent starting crew.

The ship looks like this:

Notice just how many doors you have that can be vented into space. This makes it really easy to put out fires in the rooms you need to without sucking the O2 out of everywhere else. Same goes for asphyxiating boarders. Also note that you start with 4 crew (the max starting), including a mantis and a zoltan. Also notice that your pilot's room is protected by an airlock, so unless they teleport directly into the pilot's room (AI usually isn't that smart), you can just vent them to space. Lastly note that if you buy a teleporter, your teleporter room is right next to your medaby. That is great for getting them healed up and back into the fight quickly.

The 4 basic lasers it comes with each only shoot 1 one shot, but they are extremely effective for the first half of the game, by which time you should be able to acquire better weapons. 4 lasers at once means you can easily get through 1-2 shields without using missiles, and you can even get through 3 shields if necessary. You also have the flexibility to fire on multiple different systems at the same time since they are each their own weapon. I think in the right hands Kestrel Type B is one of the most effective ships in the game.

Holy poo poo, that ship owns. I really should start playing again, especially since getting ships isn't potentially impossible anymore.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2014 20:31

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

I wouldn't mind being an alien too.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2014 00:02

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

I never knew the boss ran away like that.

What a dick move.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2014 02:14

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Sloober posted:

You should by optimizing the number of nodes you explore as much as possible, since the more you look around the better odds of finding good stuff and scrap.

My biggest newbie mistake on getting the game was not upgrading engines. That evasion is a lifesaver for the flagship.

That becomes an issue if you start running low on fuel though. I sometimes get really unlucky and get no fuel from a bunch of fights and end up stranded.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2014 16:17

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

The safest galaxy in existence. I can't decide between the Engi sector or the Engi sector.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2014 18:15

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Unfortunately I was soon boarded by 4 mantis while the ship bombarded me with missiles. The map lied.

e:VV What game is that?

ViggyNash fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Apr 10, 2014

# ¿ Apr 10, 2014 18:30

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

He jumped again? This being the first time I've seen anything past the first stage, that would have pissed me off if I found out myself.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 01:25

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

PotatoManJack posted:

Yeah, I remember the first time I beat the first stage of the boss fight... then ran into the second phase and got super pissed. Then I beat the second stage... only to have him JUMP AGAIN and nearly punched my computer.

Still makes it all the more satisfying when you finally beat him for good.

e: I just wanted to mention something as well about the boss fight. As Momp is showing, taking out those isolated weapons rooms is really key to winning the boss fight, and especially the missile room. There are 3 ways to do this (1 new one thanks to advanced) that are really worth noting to players who have trouble with this fight

1. Boarding - sending 2 team members into the room to take out the weapon is probably the easiest way, and once the dude in there is dead, he doesn't come back.

2. Bomb / Fire Bomb - these ignore shields and while they don't damage the HP of the ship, they are amazing at taking out the system. A fire bomb which ignites one of those rooms has a very good chance of taking out the weapon and the crew member inside. Bombs are generally crappy weapons, except for this instance, and a lot of times I will keep one in storage just for the boss fight.

3. Mind Control - as you've seen in this battle, using mind control to keep a system dead is fantastic.

Once a couple of those systems go offline, the boss fight gets much more managable.

I want to see how useful a maxed out hacking drone is to accomplish that. It's an (almost. if not shot down at first) guaranteed disable for 10 seconds at a time. And even if you don't use it directly on a weapon room, using it on the shields as you fire a barrage would be a great way to take a weapon down, maybe permanently.

I just realized it, but missiles in the hands of the AI is rather overpowered, especially that 3 missile launcher. They effectively get unlimited missiles, so they can fire as many as they want, but we can't since we're limited to whatever we've managed to pick up/buy along the way. That said, if someone were to stockpile missiles and hold onto a decent missile launcher but not use any until the boss fight, it would be a pretty neat way to (maybe) trivialize the boss.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 03:54

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

FTL really is an exercise in paying attention, because even with an easy access pause button there's a lot of things you can miss or forget about. Explaining every single thought and step is probably helping Momp keep track of everything that's going on, but he still misses some things now and then.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 18:38

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Do we get to vote on the next ship, or are you choosing it/have already chosen it?

# ¿ Apr 12, 2014 01:34

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

But the question is, which of us Lanius goons will die first through boarding.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2014 04:36

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

JT Jag posted:

That's the beauty of Lanius A. Clone Bay instead of a Medbay. As long as it doesn't get knocked offline at an inopportune time no one will die unless the ship gets destroyed.

We still get to point and laugh as they emerge from the cloning pot with rosy red cheeks.

But still, it starts with one? If you get a teleporter, you're set.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2014 05:47

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Glenn_Beckett posted:

There was a doctor who about that

There's a Dr. Who about every generic sci-fi idea. Also, I don't care if some rabid fan comes to kill me, but gently caress Dr. Who. :colbert:

Momplestiltskin posted:

I wonder if the clones remember their deaths. That could give you some major PTSD. Pretty dark stuff.

The whole cloning thing reminds me more of The Swapper. It's an indie game that came out last year whose whole premise, both gameplay and story, was based on cloning and the nature of identity.

Niggurath did an LP of it not too long ago, and it raises some really interesting questions about the topic.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2014 03:44

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

I too would like to repeatedly commit suicide by asphyxiation.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 23:20

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Biography:

So, the Lanius. Big spiky dudes that can kill you simply by existing in the same room. Why do they use so much drat oxygen anyway? It's as if they were designed to annoy all the other races. But I feel bad for them. If they tried to befriend someone of another species, their friendship would have to include a lifetime supply of oxygen tanks. Those are pretty cheap these days, but the cost'll add up.

Most people wouldn't mind that, but the Lanius get a bad rap because they have cloning bays instead of medical centers. Why? So they can heal themselves by dying and getting a new body. What sane being comes up with that plan? But that's why they're just so fascinating. It's the same feeling I had when those telepathic Slugs were first discovered, but I gave up on them when I found out they were a just a hivemind of angry psychopaths. Too much of a hassle to get them not to kill me. But with the Lanius, I don't have to worry about dying. Now, instead of running away from it, I can treat death as another new experience gained from being friends with them. And honestly, dying a few times can't be that bad, right?

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 03:32

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Veloxyll posted:

I've beaten the game 4 or 5 times and never even SEEN the crystal device until now.

Part of the reason why the Crystal Cruiser quest is UTTER BULLSHIT.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 16:49

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Inadequately posted:

Tearing apart Rockmen with giant metal mandibles! I'm helping!

Don't know if it's been mentioned in the thread yet, but since the method of unlocking the Crystal ship was mentioned in the video I'll point out that unlocking it in Advanced Edition is far easier. Even if you don't go down the alternate unlock path and beat the flagship with A and B variants of every other ship, the Rock C starts with a Crystalman and a cloning bay, so you can skip the first two steps of the Crystal quest to get a Crystalman and just search for the crystal device in the Rock Homeworlds. Unlocking the Crystal ship now has roughly the same odds as any of the other random ship unlock quests in the game. Of course, to get the Rock C you first have to complete two of the achievements with the Rock A (hard) and get to Sector 8 with the Rock B (fairly easy). It helps that the Rock C is fairly powerful, it's probably my favourite ship.

Momplestiltskin posted:

I believe a previous (before Advanced Edition) update also made it so if you complete the first two parts of the quest you get a quest marker in the homeworlds, which makes it rather trivial to find (assuming of course, that you get to the rock homeworlds and even have it in your game). Of course, the first two steps are rather difficult to complete (easier with the rock ship because rock plating gives a blue option for the first part).

e: Voting for the next ship is now live. After we complete our Lanius A run I will take a short break, and then we will return with our new ship. As always, I will accept name suggestions as well, but ultimately the name choice will be up to me.

That sounds a lot better. I've never been able to do both parts 1 and 2 in a single playthough, so I never even had the option of getting to part 3. That said, I'd still have to get a rock ship, which I've never had the chance to get either.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 17:46

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Anything but Kestral A and Engi A/B, because those are the only ones I've ever seen.

Also, my pilot got phased out of existence. :psyduck:

e: Restarted. Second jump, one of my crewmembers are eaten by cannibals. gently caress. This. Game.

ViggyNash fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Apr 17, 2014

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 18:12

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

VICTORY!

Albeit, it was on easy, but who cares! :dance:

e: Wait a sec, aren't you supposed to get a new ship type when you beat the boss?

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 19:55

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Iny posted:

If you ~~beat it with an A-type and~~ (edit: whoops, my bad, it actually doesn't matter which layout you beat it with) haven't already unlocked the next ship in line through some other means! (In your case, this would be the Engi A, which... unlocks automatically from getting to Sector 5 with any of the Kestrels.)

Oh come on...

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 20:35

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

But I already had it, and type B. That's why I'm annoyed. Can't the game at least give me the ship after that?

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 21:09

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

Alas, no. At least you aren't playing the original version where every single ship besides the Kestrel and the Engi and Federation cruisers had an unlock quest that you had to randomly stumble across if you wanted that ship! "Win the game with this ship and you unlock the next one" is practically merciful compared to the old way.

I think I played about 5 or 6 hours of the original but only ever got the Zoltan and Engi ships. I think the quests were easier to find in the original because I don't think I've found a single one in the new version.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2014 00:32

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Shadowlyger posted:

Chain Ion is a stupid good weapon for long fights. A four Ion damage weapon will lock down a system for an incredibly long time, so much like the Ion Burst Mark II it can lock down shields completely by itself. It just takes only two shots to kill four shields as opposed to eight.

Combined with those two Chain Lasers, you could rip the flagship open with minimal effort once you'd spun them all up to max power.

I accomplished much the same by hacking the shields and then firing a charge laser, burst laser II, and a hull laser at the same time. The boss was dead in about 5 minutes.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2014 22:11

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Woo, I only died once! :v:

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 20:48

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

I live!

# ¿ May 2, 2014 16:56

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

They said I would get to meet the Lanius. They said dying would be fun. They never said the captain and first mate would be drunk piloting a ship with no shields or clone bay.

You lied to me.

# ¿ May 6, 2014 15:34

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

HoneyBoy posted:

Engies are loving nerds and their ships suck.

Mantis 2014 let's go.

I am a computer nerd and proud of it. :colbert:

Engi A for fun and relaxing option. Engi B for bullshit challenge option.

# ¿ May 7, 2014 03:22

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 07:15

ViggyNash: Oct 9, 2012

Hedrigall posted:

Have you also seen his poem from the rebel perspective? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi-VNkT57oE

That was beautiful, in every way.

# ¿ May 8, 2014 18:48

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