Little to report today; our first jump in the Zoltan space found us near an abandoned mining station, where we were able to salvage a bit of scrap and the schematics for a Mark I Defense Drone. Lt. Blynd is certain we could manufacture one, but as we lack any systems to coordinate and control a drone, the excercise was largely theoretical.
I am proud, however, that my crew is remaining so positive and constructive through these hard times. They are, each and every one, a testament to the everlasting ideals of Justice and Progress for all the galaxy's peoples, as befit officers of the Federation.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.50
Charting our course toward the Twins Nebula, we came across a small civilian ship that had completely run out of FTL fuel. As we're currently sitting on a small stockpile, we felt it the honorable thing to gift them three SpaceLitres.
In return, they gifted us a Hermes Missile Launcher. Lt. Morf seemed very pleased with the acquisition, but Lt. Blynd informs me it will take major upgrades to our Weapons Systems and Reactor before it will see any use.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.51
We docked with a Zoltan research facility today. The scientists there are researching genetic distortion due to statis sleep and prolonged FTL travel, and asked if my crew would be willing to submit to a few scans to aid in collecting data for their thesis. Most of the crew elected to participate, though Ensign Varnas was rather adament in his opposition. I originally felt that his suspicions were naught but paranoia, but no sooner did we dock than a group of pirates swarmed aboard our ship!
Though we were caught fighting two battles, one in space against the pirate's ship, and one in our own engineering room, the bravery and skill of my crew, along with prudent usage of the medical bay, saw the interior battle won with only minor injuries on our side, while the targeting algorythms that Lt. Morf had programmed into the Weapons Computer kept the pirate ship disabled and toothless.
The Zoltan researchers were incredibly grateful to have been rescued; after the battle, they told us how the pirates had been holding them hostage and using their facilities to ambush unsuspecting ships. They also made some show of loading us up with whatever supplies they could spare, including the schematics for an Anti-Ship Drone MkI.
I'm starting to keenly believe that, if there is a divine being in the cosmos, it wants us to install a Drone Control system. I am also learning that, while his time in bondage may have made him gruff and suspicious, Ensign Varnas has a keen sense, and we should all trust his intuition. At the urging of both him and Lt. Morf, we upgraded the efficiency of our medical bay, and fabricated new blast doors to impede unauthorized movement within the ship.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.52
A Zoltan Science Vesssel in this system requested to dock with us, though they were evasive as to the reasons why. In an effort to be diplomatic and maintain relations with the Zoltan, I granted their request, though once again Ensign Varnas had his doubts.
In this case, however, the good Ensign was wrong; the Zoltan Emissaries that boarded our ship only wanted to discuss their belief that the Federation can still be a net positive for the galaxy, and gifted us some small amount of supplies to aid in our journey. This brightened the spirits of the crew tremendously, and helped in no small way to re-affirm my own conviction in our mission.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.53
We backtracked into the Twins Nebula today, in the hopes that it would buy us some time before the advancing Rebel Fleet caught up to us. Only time will tell if this tactic was sucessful. We encountered no one else in the nebula, but the sheer beauty of the swirling gas clouds reminded me why I wanted to join the Federation and explore the universe in the first place.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.54
Our travels today brought us to the carcass of a long-dead space-whale, inside of which a group of enterprising Mantids had set up a black market trading station. While normally I'd be compelled to arrest them, circumstances have found me actually rather grateful for their operation. We were able to trade our drone schematics for a functioning Crew Teleporter, which should hopefully grant us more diplomatic opportunities in the future.
Lt. Morf and Ensign Varnas, however, seem more interested in the tactical implications of the system.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.55
Short-range scanners indicate signs that there may be useful materials in an asteroid field not far from the jump beacon, however, a brief exploration found nothing of interest.
Slow day in space.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.56
We jumped within range of the Long-Range Beacon today, and bartered some scrap in exchange for more fuel. While a touch risky, I have decided we will not be leaving Zoltan space just yet; I'd like to check out one more nearby system before we leave.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.57
A scientific wonder; we found a light asteroid field entering the atmosphere of a nearby planet, and the resulting meteor shower was awe-inspiring. Little in the way of a tactical discovery, though; sensors detect the Rebel Fleet closing on us, so it's time to leave. After jumping back to the Long-Range Beacon, I believe we will head for the Zoltan Homeworlds; we've had good luck with our Zoltan allies so far, so it seems wise to continue to travel through their space as long as possible.
At the urging of Lt. Morf, I've officially assigned Ensign Varnas to the Security team, which, at this time, consists of the two of them. They are also designated as the official Away Team. All of which is largely beaurocratic, considering our situation, but it's the little things that keep a team going in stressful situations such as ours.
Godspeed, Admiral @Houn and the intrepid crew of the Endavour!
I feel a bit silly for not realizing this but I think we (the player) are supposed to be the ship's AI or something.
How do you all generally prioritize your upgrades? I usually go for another level of shields, then get everything at at least level two. Might not max out the shields, but the times I have done it things tend to go easier.
I like getting the second level of shields and doors ASAP. After that it depends on what I've picked up.
Godspeed, Admiral @Houn and the intrepid crew of the Endavour!
I feel a bit silly for not realizing this but I think we (the player) are supposed to be the ship's AI or something.
How do you all generally prioritize your upgrades? I usually go for another level of shields, then get everything at at least level two. Might not max out the shields, but the times I have done it things tend to go easier.
I like getting the second level of shields and doors ASAP. After that it depends on what I've picked up.
It depends... I don't normally upgrade doors until later on since the "retreat to medbay and void the rest" works REALLY well. Shields depends on the ship, stealth ship I'm immediately looking for shields, some ships I'm looking for power/weapons as they don't come with sufficient of either. Some ships I'm just looking for more crew!
Yeah, Doors and shields need to be upgraded early on. Only having one level of shields is almost worthless, especially if your opponent has an ion weapon, and level 1 doors leave you completely vulnerable to a boarding party or fires.
Oh sweet baby Jesus, this game got its hook in me!
I just got it and played it for the first time yesterday. "I'mma just try the tutorial... What's that? Is it midnight already?!" over 3 hours disappeared just like that.
The final boss ship killed me on the second encounter. All those drones! I should have attacked the drone control. Or I could have tried boarding, which I haven't tried yet, or I could have just ran away and regrouped. Alas, no, I just got cut to pieces trying in vain to destroy it's shield.
Managed to get 3 new ships on my first play through! Love it!
1st ever "Penny-Arcade Hero Academy Tournament" Toilet Bowl Champion!
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Oh sweet baby Jesus, this game got its hook in me!
I just got it and played it for the first time yesterday. "I'mma just try the tutorial... What's that? Is it midnight already?!" over 3 hours disappeared just like that.
The final boss ship killed me on the second encounter. All those drones! I should have attacked the drone control. Or I could have tried boarding, which I haven't tried yet, or I could have just ran away and regrouped. Alas, no, I just got cut to pieces trying in vain to destroy it's shield.
Managed to get 3 new ships on my first play through! Love it!
Actually killing drone control won't stop the drone swarm. You need to either have really good dodge/shields/luck or have a cloak and activate right before the drones start firing but after they spawn. Unless you have a high level cloak, but if you have a lvl3 cloak, it will be in cooldown during the next power surge. Boarding the main area is pretty hard unless you have a crystal crew member.
MordaRazgromМорда РазгромRuling the Taffer KingdomRegistered Userregular
Had a funny lesson learned the other day. Don't buy a crew teleporter when you only have two crewmembers, I was excited to try out the whole boarding close combat thing and get lots and lots of scrap and supplies by leaving ships I fight intact, however I failed to see that my choice came down to either piloting the ship or invading the other ship. Crew teleporter sat unused for a long time until my crew met their untimely death by me turning the shields off in an asteroid field.
I am excited about asteroids because it allows me to train my entire crew's repair skill to massive levels, and I can always have a fully upgraded pilot, engine, and shield technician...however RNG sometimes screws you. The first asteroid hit and knocked out my Oxygen, then set the room on fire, so my poor guys suffocated while trying to get it fixed.
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Yeah, Doors and shields need to be upgraded early on. Only having one level of shields is worthless if your opponent has an ion weapon, and level 1 doors leave you completely vulnerable to a boarding party or fires.
I agree on shields by sector 2, but I think you guys seriously underestimate the value of doors to space. Rock B is actually difficult because of this. It's very easy to ignore fires. In the Engi B ship, I void everything except the pilot room. Makes sitting around repairing tedious sometimes, but once you upgrade your shields, it really helps.
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SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
edited January 2013
I started a run with the Zoltan ship this morning where, about 3 jumps in, I encountered a ship in an asteroid field that had an attack drone. My Zoltan shield went pretty quickly, but I did manage to take down the other ship. Unfortunately, he set some rooms on fire in a way that I couldn't immediately put them out, so I jumped to the next point.
Which just happened to be next to a sun. And the solar flare took out my O2 room. And I had already pre-vented most of my ship, but I guess the O2 room hadn't completely vented yet. I hadn't been able to tell because the previous asteroid field had taken out my sensors.
MordaRazgromМорда РазгромRuling the Taffer KingdomRegistered Userregular
This may not work for everybody, but I find it a bit more rewarding to take the game through to the end. When your ship breaks apart and you get the Game Over screen, then it is truly game over, however, just like with all games that are subject to RNG, no matter how dire a situation may look, there is always a chance, no matter how small, that you can recover. I've come upon plenty of situations in FTL, Dungeon Crawl, Dwarf Fortress where I thought "there is no WAY I'm coming back from this" only to have a "lucky roll" and wind up surviving (only to die to a bat/asteroid/carp/something else that's miniscule five steps over).
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SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
This may not work for everybody, but I find it a bit more rewarding to take the game through to the end. When your ship breaks apart and you get the Game Over screen, then it is truly game over, however, just like with all games that are subject to RNG, no matter how dire a situation may look, there is always a chance, no matter how small, that you can recover. I've come upon plenty of situations in FTL, Dungeon Crawl, Dwarf Fortress where I thought "there is no WAY I'm coming back from this" only to have a "lucky roll" and wind up surviving (only to die to a bat/asteroid/carp/something else that's miniscule five steps over).
It really depends on my mood and where things go wrong. I tend to restart if I lose any crew in the first sector, for example, but in later sectors I'll soldier on. I've certainly come back from bad situations before!
MordaRazgromМорда РазгромRuling the Taffer KingdomRegistered Userregular
Also, I didn't intend to imply that you did anything "wrong" per se. Shoot, I've gone through times when I lose one crew member, throw my hands up and say "I don't want to deal with this shit!" and restart. Was just putting my two cents out there for no specific reason :P
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Loving the game so far, but my strategy of "throw everything you have at their weapons systems" seems way more effective than it should be. Just beat the game on normal doing basically just that.
I do that as well. I only go after other systems if I need to. If I have primarily laser weapons, I'll go for shields first. If missiles, weapons first. I go after other subsystems just to toy with them after their weapons are down. Health, O2, steering, Drones, pretty much in that order unless I have one trying to jump away.
I once lost all my crew--save one poor Engi--in the first sector and decided to play it through. Made it all the way to the boss before I got trounced. Captain Luan Ti still holds the records for most repairs (180-some!) and most skill masteries... all six.
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
I agree that playing a game out can have good results. The game where I let 4 max skill crew die by accidentally leaving O2 off and leaving the room was my highest scoring game. Would have beat the flagship except I accidentally x-d out of the window instead of saving and quitting.
I started a run with the Zoltan ship this morning where, about 3 jumps in, I encountered a ship in an asteroid field that had an attack drone. My Zoltan shield went pretty quickly, but I did manage to take down the other ship. Unfortunately, he set some rooms on fire in a way that I couldn't immediately put them out, so I jumped to the next point.
Which just happened to be next to a sun. And the solar flare took out my O2 room. And I had already pre-vented most of my ship, but I guess the O2 room hadn't completely vented yet. I hadn't been able to tell because the previous asteroid field had taken out my sensors.
Esc --> Restart
It seems to me that whenever I jump away from a given danger, I die from jumping into a worse situation.
Jump away from a boarder even that gives me 4 boarders plus an enemy ship plus the sun? Jump into a second boarder event and be taken apart by the 8 person boarding team.
Once you have a boarding party then the attack priority usually becomes their medbay, and potentially the pilot chair to keep them from jumping if so inclined.
I just did an incineration run last night. Was rolling Engi A, and got a second Ion Burst II in the first system I hopped to. First store had a fire beam. The next Sector was Zoltan and I scored a Pre-Igniter.
Upon entering the Zoltan Homeworlds, the border patrol IDed us as Federation and allowed us entry; we can only hope they aren't as accomidating to our enemies, but I fear the Zoltan border patrol is ill-equiped to deal with a fleet the size of the Rebels'.
It is obvious, as well, that the Zoltan forces are already spread thin; our first jump within their home space brought us into conflict with a pirate vessel, who immediately demanded our surrender. Sad times, indeed, that pirates openly and brazenly attack within the core worlds of our allies. As was our duty, we stepped in to assist our Zoltan brothers with their local pirate problem.
This battle did not go well for us. They sent a two-Mantid bording party into our teleporter room, where our two Mantid crew were waiting, but unfortunately their crew proved the more experienced in hand-to-hand combat, forcing Lt. Morf and Ensign Varnas to retreat to medical while the intruders tore apart our teleportation room.
At the same time, the pirate ship took out our weapons room with a single missile, leaving us the slow-charging Artillery Beam as our only offensive option. My crew, however, sprang into action. Lt. Cmdr. Facts dashed purposefully about the ship, repairing systems as fast as they were taken down. The Away Team, once healed, also repaired the Teleportation room and chased the enemy back to their own ship, where they quickly took down the crew.
A tough battle, but a victory all the same.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.51.73.50
Jumping into the nearby Cattevil Nebula, we found ourselves in a plasma storm strong enough to impact our reactor output. There were two pirates nearby, scanners showing one carrying a store of fuel, the other ammunition.
As dangerous as the situation was, my crew convinced me to attempt to take the weapons cache.
LOCATION:
FOUND IN CATTEVEL NEBULA, ZOLTAN MILITARY DISTRICT
DESCRIPTION:
"BLACKBOX" FROM FEDERATION CRUISER USS ENDEAVOR. DAMAGED DURING SHIP'S DESTRUCTION. CAPTAIN'S LOGS INTACT, INDICATES SHIP WAS ENGAGED IN ANTI-IMPERIAL ACTIVITIES DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE UNIFICATION WAR. COMFIRMS LONG-HELD BELIEF OF INTELLIGENCE DIVISION THAT THE FEDERATION HAD DETERMINED THE WEAKNESS OF THE FLEET, BUT WERE UNABLE TO ACT ON INFORMATION; WE NOW KNOW IT IS BECAUSE ENDEAVOR NEVER RENDEVUED WITH MAIN FLEET, AND THE INFORMATION DIED WITH THEM.
TRANSCRIPT OF FINAL COMMS RECORDING:
VOICE A : FIRE! FIRE! IN THE WEAPONS ROOM!
VOICE B : ENGINEERING TOO! SHE'S BURNING UP ALL OVER! *LOUD CRASHING NOISES*
VOICE C : GET THOSE FIRES OUT, EVASIVE ACTION!
VOICE B : WE CAN'T TAKE EVASIVE ACTION WHILE THE ENGINES ARE DOWN!
VOICE D : FIRE IN MED BAY! OH GOD, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
VOICE E : I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A 98% CHANCE THAT WE ARE, AS YOU HUMANS SAY, "FUCKED".
*KLAXON SOUNDS FOR :37S*
TRANSCRIPT ENDS
EDIT: A solid effort, Admiral Houn. Damn, what a way to go. Curse those plasma storms! They claim so many good lives. (Also, are you playing on normal or easy mode? Also also now I wanna do a similar "Captain's Log." thing.)
EDIT: A solid effort, Admiral Houn. Damn, what a way to go. Curse those plasma storms! They claim so many good lives. (Also, are you playing on normal or easy mode? Also also now I wanna do a similar "Captain's Log." thing.)
Man those fucking Zoltans, able to run all their shit in a plasma storm. I'm betting it was that halberd beam what did you in.
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
EDIT: A solid effort, Admiral Houn. Damn, what a way to go. Curse those plasma storms! They claim so many good lives. (Also, are you playing on normal or easy mode? Also also now I wanna do a similar "Captain's Log." thing.)
Man those fucking Zoltans, able to run all their shit in a plasma storm. I'm betting it was that halberd beam what did you in.
Does this same thing apply if you're in a Zoltan ship yourself? I already avoid nubulae, but sometimes you don't have a choice.
Yea, but not always.. I still don't know how you get the rebels have scouted the nebula descriptor... Something about jumping in and jumping out maybe?
And I WTB more Captain's Logs... Will definitely get around to doing a semi-LP/Captains' Log myself when I get some free time and have enough ships to make it more Choose your own Adventure for you guys.. Probably a good way for us to impact good strategy advice, too.
I just don't like them. Every time I go in there I realize how crummy it is to have sensors out and then there's an electrical storm and I can't use half of my equipment. Then I die. After that I curse. Then I play just one more time before bed.
Normal, @Curly_Brace. And yup, @Aioua, it was that halberd beam, plus the anti-ship 1 drone they had keeping my shields down. It was over surprisingly fast. I knew I should have just chosen the "avoid" option, heh. Oh well.
That was fun, but stopping to write Captain's Logs WHILE playing is a pretty slow way to go through the game, lol.
EDIT: A solid effort, Admiral Houn. Damn, what a way to go. Curse those plasma storms! They claim so many good lives. (Also, are you playing on normal or easy mode? Also also now I wanna do a similar "Captain's Log." thing.)
Man those fucking Zoltans, able to run all their shit in a plasma storm. I'm betting it was that halberd beam what did you in.
Does this same thing apply if you're in a Zoltan ship yourself? I already avoid nubulae, but sometimes you don't have a choice.
Yeah ion storm doesn't effect your Zoltan's intrinsic power ability. Your reactor is still knocked to half, though.
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
EDIT: A solid effort, Admiral Houn. Damn, what a way to go. Curse those plasma storms! They claim so many good lives. (Also, are you playing on normal or easy mode? Also also now I wanna do a similar "Captain's Log." thing.)
That comic was great, thanks for linking. Now I need more FTL comics!
I may have to give that a shot because I'm becoming quite frustrated trying to unlock that crystal ship.
Yeah, I didn't want to either. But it got to the point where I was restarting as soon as I realized I wasn't going to get the ship, and I got extremely irritated, totally killing my enjoyment of the game.
By the way, if you do go that route, make sure you make backups before entering a new sector. The beacons are generated upon entry, so if they don't have the event you're looking for, you can load your old save and re-roll.
I don't mind Ion storms. I'm usually better than the AI with half power. Who needs O2...
Well... our crew does.
My second game of FTL I decided to try buying and using one of these transporter things. After successfully repelling boarders and taking over a pirate ship, I thought it was pretty cool! Next ship that attacked me was a drone. Now. I hadn't upgraded my sensors yet and just had a slug crew-member's telepathy to tell me where the enemies were. So I know the drone was unmanned. And should have known better because I played a game the day before with sensors.
"What happens when you board an unmanned ship?" I wondered. Not thinking it through I sent over my Slug dude to check it out. Guess what? Automated ships don't bother to pressurize their compartments with breathable air! I felt pretty bad/dumb as I watched my new engineer suffocate to death.
I may have to give that a shot because I'm becoming quite frustrated trying to unlock that crystal ship.
Yeah, I didn't want to either. But it got to the point where I was restarting as soon as I realized I wasn't going to get the ship, and I got extremely irritated, totally killing my enjoyment of the game.
By the way, if you do go that route, make sure you make backups before entering a new sector. The beacons are generated upon entry, so if they don't have the event you're looking for, you can load your old save and re-roll.
I... I might go this route. That I can tolerate more than hex editing the save file. I like the cut of your jib sir. The question now is are the sectors randomly generated upon entry. As in, if I get a good mix of green/red, is the red pre-determined upon game start or when I enter the sector? I would be awful to go through this only to get no rock homeworlds or something similar at the end.
I haven't given up on getting the crystal legitimately. Not quite yet, anyway. :P
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
I think the type of sector is determined at the start. During the run that I got the crystal ship, at sector 4 or 5 as I was looking for the Zoltan Research Facility, I had a choice to go to either of two Engi Controlled Sectors, both of which forked to several red sectors. At one point, after not getting the right event, I went to the exit beacon to see what the next sectors were, and one of them was the Rock Homeworlds. When I reloaded my save and got the right event, the Rock Homeworlds were still the next sector. I only had to do it once, so this is anecdotal evidence at best, but there you go.
My advice would be to look for games that have paths consisting of red/green near the start, then green in the middle, and then mostly red towards the end. Still not guaranteed to have the right sectors, but you've got a chance.
And this way is definitely preferable to hex editing or something. The crystal sector has unique events and flavor text, so its worth checking out at least once. By the way, does anybody know if you can go to the sector with the crystal ship without having to go through the first two stages of that quest line? Will any crystal person allow you to enter the hidden sector, or does it have to be one from a stasis pod?
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
And this way is definitely preferable to hex editing or something. The crystal sector has unique events and flavor text, so its worth checking out at least once. By the way, does anybody know if you can go to the sector with the crystal ship without having to go through the first two stages of that quest line? Will any crystal person allow you to enter the hidden sector, or does it have to be one from a stasis pod?
Any crystal can let you in, and I think the beacon to open it is in every game's rock home worlds. Apparently you can also get a crystal crew member from crazed madmen events but I've never had that happen.
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Little to report today; our first jump in the Zoltan space found us near an abandoned mining station, where we were able to salvage a bit of scrap and the schematics for a Mark I Defense Drone. Lt. Blynd is certain we could manufacture one, but as we lack any systems to coordinate and control a drone, the excercise was largely theoretical.
I am proud, however, that my crew is remaining so positive and constructive through these hard times. They are, each and every one, a testament to the everlasting ideals of Justice and Progress for all the galaxy's peoples, as befit officers of the Federation.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.50
Charting our course toward the Twins Nebula, we came across a small civilian ship that had completely run out of FTL fuel. As we're currently sitting on a small stockpile, we felt it the honorable thing to gift them three SpaceLitres.
In return, they gifted us a Hermes Missile Launcher. Lt. Morf seemed very pleased with the acquisition, but Lt. Blynd informs me it will take major upgrades to our Weapons Systems and Reactor before it will see any use.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.51
We docked with a Zoltan research facility today. The scientists there are researching genetic distortion due to statis sleep and prolonged FTL travel, and asked if my crew would be willing to submit to a few scans to aid in collecting data for their thesis. Most of the crew elected to participate, though Ensign Varnas was rather adament in his opposition. I originally felt that his suspicions were naught but paranoia, but no sooner did we dock than a group of pirates swarmed aboard our ship!
Though we were caught fighting two battles, one in space against the pirate's ship, and one in our own engineering room, the bravery and skill of my crew, along with prudent usage of the medical bay, saw the interior battle won with only minor injuries on our side, while the targeting algorythms that Lt. Morf had programmed into the Weapons Computer kept the pirate ship disabled and toothless.
The Zoltan researchers were incredibly grateful to have been rescued; after the battle, they told us how the pirates had been holding them hostage and using their facilities to ambush unsuspecting ships. They also made some show of loading us up with whatever supplies they could spare, including the schematics for an Anti-Ship Drone MkI.
I'm starting to keenly believe that, if there is a divine being in the cosmos, it wants us to install a Drone Control system. I am also learning that, while his time in bondage may have made him gruff and suspicious, Ensign Varnas has a keen sense, and we should all trust his intuition. At the urging of both him and Lt. Morf, we upgraded the efficiency of our medical bay, and fabricated new blast doors to impede unauthorized movement within the ship.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.52
A Zoltan Science Vesssel in this system requested to dock with us, though they were evasive as to the reasons why. In an effort to be diplomatic and maintain relations with the Zoltan, I granted their request, though once again Ensign Varnas had his doubts.
In this case, however, the good Ensign was wrong; the Zoltan Emissaries that boarded our ship only wanted to discuss their belief that the Federation can still be a net positive for the galaxy, and gifted us some small amount of supplies to aid in our journey. This brightened the spirits of the crew tremendously, and helped in no small way to re-affirm my own conviction in our mission.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.53
We backtracked into the Twins Nebula today, in the hopes that it would buy us some time before the advancing Rebel Fleet caught up to us. Only time will tell if this tactic was sucessful. We encountered no one else in the nebula, but the sheer beauty of the swirling gas clouds reminded me why I wanted to join the Federation and explore the universe in the first place.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.54
Our travels today brought us to the carcass of a long-dead space-whale, inside of which a group of enterprising Mantids had set up a black market trading station. While normally I'd be compelled to arrest them, circumstances have found me actually rather grateful for their operation. We were able to trade our drone schematics for a functioning Crew Teleporter, which should hopefully grant us more diplomatic opportunities in the future.
Lt. Morf and Ensign Varnas, however, seem more interested in the tactical implications of the system.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.55
Short-range scanners indicate signs that there may be useful materials in an asteroid field not far from the jump beacon, however, a brief exploration found nothing of interest.
Slow day in space.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.56
We jumped within range of the Long-Range Beacon today, and bartered some scrap in exchange for more fuel. While a touch risky, I have decided we will not be leaving Zoltan space just yet; I'd like to check out one more nearby system before we leave.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.50.73.57
A scientific wonder; we found a light asteroid field entering the atmosphere of a nearby planet, and the resulting meteor shower was awe-inspiring. Little in the way of a tactical discovery, though; sensors detect the Rebel Fleet closing on us, so it's time to leave. After jumping back to the Long-Range Beacon, I believe we will head for the Zoltan Homeworlds; we've had good luck with our Zoltan allies so far, so it seems wise to continue to travel through their space as long as possible.
At the urging of Lt. Morf, I've officially assigned Ensign Varnas to the Security team, which, at this time, consists of the two of them. They are also designated as the official Away Team. All of which is largely beaurocratic, considering our situation, but it's the little things that keep a team going in stressful situations such as ours.
Sector Two Complete
Shields: 2 (level 1)
Engine: 2
O2: 1
Weapons: 2
Medical: 2
Teleporter: 1
Artillery: 2
Piloting: 1
Sensors: 1
Doors: 2
Reactor: 11
Scrap: 3
Fuel: 16
Missiles: 14
Drone Parts: 9
Weapons:
Burst Laser II
Hermes (unpowered)
Crew:
Cpt. Prickhard - Helm
Lt. Morf - Gunnery Officer/Away Team
Lt. Cmdr. Facts - Shield Specialist
Lt. Soe Blynd - Engineering
Ensign Varnas - Security/Away Team
Ensign Varnas is wearing a red shirt.
I like getting the second level of shields and doors ASAP. After that it depends on what I've picked up.
It depends... I don't normally upgrade doors until later on since the "retreat to medbay and void the rest" works REALLY well. Shields depends on the ship, stealth ship I'm immediately looking for shields, some ships I'm looking for power/weapons as they don't come with sufficient of either. Some ships I'm just looking for more crew!
I just got it and played it for the first time yesterday. "I'mma just try the tutorial... What's that? Is it midnight already?!" over 3 hours disappeared just like that.
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
I am excited about asteroids because it allows me to train my entire crew's repair skill to massive levels, and I can always have a fully upgraded pilot, engine, and shield technician...however RNG sometimes screws you. The first asteroid hit and knocked out my Oxygen, then set the room on fire, so my poor guys suffocated while trying to get it fixed.
WiiU Username: MordaRazgrom
Steam Username: MordaRazgrom
WoW/Diablo 3 Battlenet Battletag: MordaRazgrom#1755
Me and my wife have a gamer YouTube page if interested www.youtube.com/TeamMarriage
I agree on shields by sector 2, but I think you guys seriously underestimate the value of doors to space. Rock B is actually difficult because of this. It's very easy to ignore fires. In the Engi B ship, I void everything except the pilot room. Makes sitting around repairing tedious sometimes, but once you upgrade your shields, it really helps.
Which just happened to be next to a sun. And the solar flare took out my O2 room. And I had already pre-vented most of my ship, but I guess the O2 room hadn't completely vented yet. I hadn't been able to tell because the previous asteroid field had taken out my sensors.
Esc --> Restart
My Backloggery
WiiU Username: MordaRazgrom
Steam Username: MordaRazgrom
WoW/Diablo 3 Battlenet Battletag: MordaRazgrom#1755
Me and my wife have a gamer YouTube page if interested www.youtube.com/TeamMarriage
It really depends on my mood and where things go wrong. I tend to restart if I lose any crew in the first sector, for example, but in later sectors I'll soldier on. I've certainly come back from bad situations before!
My Backloggery
WiiU Username: MordaRazgrom
Steam Username: MordaRazgrom
WoW/Diablo 3 Battlenet Battletag: MordaRazgrom#1755
Me and my wife have a gamer YouTube page if interested www.youtube.com/TeamMarriage
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
It seems to me that whenever I jump away from a given danger, I die from jumping into a worse situation.
Jump away from a boarder even that gives me 4 boarders plus an enemy ship plus the sun? Jump into a second boarder event and be taken apart by the 8 person boarding team.
Then I set the Heavens ablaze.
Upon entering the Zoltan Homeworlds, the border patrol IDed us as Federation and allowed us entry; we can only hope they aren't as accomidating to our enemies, but I fear the Zoltan border patrol is ill-equiped to deal with a fleet the size of the Rebels'.
It is obvious, as well, that the Zoltan forces are already spread thin; our first jump within their home space brought us into conflict with a pirate vessel, who immediately demanded our surrender. Sad times, indeed, that pirates openly and brazenly attack within the core worlds of our allies. As was our duty, we stepped in to assist our Zoltan brothers with their local pirate problem.
This battle did not go well for us. They sent a two-Mantid bording party into our teleporter room, where our two Mantid crew were waiting, but unfortunately their crew proved the more experienced in hand-to-hand combat, forcing Lt. Morf and Ensign Varnas to retreat to medical while the intruders tore apart our teleportation room.
At the same time, the pirate ship took out our weapons room with a single missile, leaving us the slow-charging Artillery Beam as our only offensive option. My crew, however, sprang into action. Lt. Cmdr. Facts dashed purposefully about the ship, repairing systems as fast as they were taken down. The Away Team, once healed, also repaired the Teleportation room and chased the enemy back to their own ship, where they quickly took down the crew.
A tough battle, but a victory all the same.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 83.51.73.50
Jumping into the nearby Cattevil Nebula, we found ourselves in a plasma storm strong enough to impact our reactor output. There were two pirates nearby, scanners showing one carrying a store of fuel, the other ammunition.
As dangerous as the situation was, my crew convinced me to attempt to take the weapons cache.
IMPERIAL EVIDINCE ARCHIVE ITEM035479
ITEM:
FLIGHT RECORDER
LOCATION:
FOUND IN CATTEVEL NEBULA, ZOLTAN MILITARY DISTRICT
DESCRIPTION:
"BLACKBOX" FROM FEDERATION CRUISER USS ENDEAVOR. DAMAGED DURING SHIP'S DESTRUCTION. CAPTAIN'S LOGS INTACT, INDICATES SHIP WAS ENGAGED IN ANTI-IMPERIAL ACTIVITIES DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE UNIFICATION WAR. COMFIRMS LONG-HELD BELIEF OF INTELLIGENCE DIVISION THAT THE FEDERATION HAD DETERMINED THE WEAKNESS OF THE FLEET, BUT WERE UNABLE TO ACT ON INFORMATION; WE NOW KNOW IT IS BECAUSE ENDEAVOR NEVER RENDEVUED WITH MAIN FLEET, AND THE INFORMATION DIED WITH THEM.
TRANSCRIPT OF FINAL COMMS RECORDING:
VOICE A : FIRE! FIRE! IN THE WEAPONS ROOM!
VOICE B : ENGINEERING TOO! SHE'S BURNING UP ALL OVER! *LOUD CRASHING NOISES*
VOICE C : GET THOSE FIRES OUT, EVASIVE ACTION!
VOICE B : WE CAN'T TAKE EVASIVE ACTION WHILE THE ENGINES ARE DOWN!
VOICE D : FIRE IN MED BAY! OH GOD, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
VOICE E : I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A 98% CHANCE THAT WE ARE, AS YOU HUMANS SAY, "FUCKED".
*KLAXON SOUNDS FOR :37S*
TRANSCRIPT ENDS
EDIT: A solid effort, Admiral Houn. Damn, what a way to go. Curse those plasma storms! They claim so many good lives. (Also, are you playing on normal or easy mode? Also also now I wanna do a similar "Captain's Log." thing.)
Man those fucking Zoltans, able to run all their shit in a plasma storm. I'm betting it was that halberd beam what did you in.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
Does this same thing apply if you're in a Zoltan ship yourself? I already avoid nubulae, but sometimes you don't have a choice.
And I WTB more Captain's Logs... Will definitely get around to doing a semi-LP/Captains' Log myself when I get some free time and have enough ships to make it more Choose your own Adventure for you guys.. Probably a good way for us to impact good strategy advice, too.
Good effort @Houn Awesome write up.
That was fun, but stopping to write Captain's Logs WHILE playing is a pretty slow way to go through the game, lol.
Yeah ion storm doesn't effect your Zoltan's intrinsic power ability. Your reactor is still knocked to half, though.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
That comic was great, thanks for linking. Now I need more FTL comics!
Wow, I thought the game was unforgiving before. I didn't even make it out of the first sector. Any thing I need to know to be effective on Normal?
Yeah, I didn't want to either. But it got to the point where I was restarting as soon as I realized I wasn't going to get the ship, and I got extremely irritated, totally killing my enjoyment of the game.
By the way, if you do go that route, make sure you make backups before entering a new sector. The beacons are generated upon entry, so if they don't have the event you're looking for, you can load your old save and re-roll.
Well... our crew does.
My second game of FTL I decided to try buying and using one of these transporter things. After successfully repelling boarders and taking over a pirate ship, I thought it was pretty cool! Next ship that attacked me was a drone. Now. I hadn't upgraded my sensors yet and just had a slug crew-member's telepathy to tell me where the enemies were. So I know the drone was unmanned. And should have known better because I played a game the day before with sensors.
"What happens when you board an unmanned ship?" I wondered. Not thinking it through I sent over my Slug dude to check it out. Guess what? Automated ships don't bother to pressurize their compartments with breathable air! I felt pretty bad/dumb as I watched my new engineer suffocate to death.
Origin: Viycktor
I... I might go this route. That I can tolerate more than hex editing the save file. I like the cut of your jib sir. The question now is are the sectors randomly generated upon entry. As in, if I get a good mix of green/red, is the red pre-determined upon game start or when I enter the sector? I would be awful to go through this only to get no rock homeworlds or something similar at the end.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
My advice would be to look for games that have paths consisting of red/green near the start, then green in the middle, and then mostly red towards the end. Still not guaranteed to have the right sectors, but you've got a chance.
And this way is definitely preferable to hex editing or something. The crystal sector has unique events and flavor text, so its worth checking out at least once. By the way, does anybody know if you can go to the sector with the crystal ship without having to go through the first two stages of that quest line? Will any crystal person allow you to enter the hidden sector, or does it have to be one from a stasis pod?