Faster Than Light - guide, walkthrough and review. Faster Than Light - guide, walkthrough and review of Faster than light games
Faster Than Light (FTL) is amazing.
Roguelike in space
It was released in 2012, developed by Justin Ma and Matthew Davis ( Subset Games). The genre of this space RPG is sometimes even defined as a roguelike, and this is one of my favorites, but in space games of this genre are made quite rarely.A space game with an emphasis on combat and micromanagement
In the game you will find a constant choice of path, chance, trading and exploration. Real-time ship control is well done. Natural micromanagement is underway, you put out fires with the crew, fight off boarding (in space, yes!), pump up your guys and generally steer the ship in battle to the fullest.
I won't hide some things in my Space games Rush, which I have been making for a long time, I took from FTL. In one of latest versions I added the ship's crew and its leveling up, another interesting RPG element.
I wrote about it here:
The game is somewhat similar to , but in general it is roguelike and the analogies are more from this genre. Any game with dungeons and one life can be used as an example, but what adds to the charm of the game is that everything happens in space.
Next, you can read the game manual, descriptions of races, equipment and weapons. I understand that I’m writing this kind of material a bunch of years after the game was released, but actually normal (and even bad ones) manuals for similar games not much, so I think someone will read this for the first time and it will be useful. I couldn’t find such a description in Russian, so I sat and translated a lot from English sources.
Describe the main systems of the ship (weapon bay, engine, etc.) I won’t, since the principles of their operation are quite simple.
You can learn about this from my video, which is at the very end of the article.
Races in the game and their features
Let's start with the fact that in the game there are several races, creatures, most humanoids, who can be both your enemies and allies. Moreover, almost everything can be crew members, even all sorts of alien bugs.
These guys... And some others
List of races and their unique traits:
- People- as always and in all games, people are not particularly different. Except that their price is quite low in the store. Their lives are average, their combat capabilities are average, but they learn a little (+10%) faster. Station wagons;
- Angie, I think it comes from the word “Engineers”. These guys wear hoodies and sweatshirts, they cost a little more than people, but they don’t know how to fight in close combat, the damage is 50% of the norm. But they repair things twice as fast as others, which is quite useful;
- Mantis. Someone who looks like a praying mantis. Conditional alien beetle. Price 55 in the store (Angie had 50, people had 45). This is essentially the opposite of Angie’s stuff. Mantis do not like science and repairs, they repair everything twice as slow, but run 20% faster, and they also have 50% more damage than others. Extremely strong guys for teleportation to the enemy side and defense;
- Rockmen. The name of these big guys is difficult to translate, but you can type - stoneheads, people of stone. They cost 55, walk very slowly, but they have a big plus, 150 lives, while the norm is 100. The guys are slow, but tenacious, which is very useful in this game. In addition, they are not damaged by fire, and they extinguish it 67% faster than others. In general, very safe guys;
- Zoltans(Zoltan) are some analogues of conditional elves. Energy aliens. They cost 60, but they only have 70 lives. When they die, they explode... It seems that the guys have complete disadvantages, but they add one energy point to the compartment they are working with for free, and this is a very useful thing;
- Slug- snails. They are cheap, 45. They do not crawl slowly. In terms of parameters, everything is the same as for people. The trick is that they show neighboring rooms and are immune to mind control. So-so chips, people look more interesting;
- Crystals- these are big guys that resemble stoneheads in appearance. Price 60, life 125. Movement speed -20% of normal. Choking affects them 50% less effectively (from lack of oxygen), but they put out the fire a little slower than the others. In general, this is some kind of sub-race of stoneheads;
- Lanius- available only in the additional version.
What are we going to shoot with? Weapon
There are enough weapons in the game, there are different types. The main thing here is the principle of operation (rocket, ion, laser, etc.), as well as the ratio of damage per second and the energy required per shot. Don't forget that reloading and shooting speed can be greatly increased with an experienced crew member.
We are burning, but we also set fire to the undergrowth and the enemy with a laser beam
Main types of weapons in the game:
- Rockets. They are very strong in this game, but there is a drawback: they require consumables. Rockets, along with money, fuel and drones, are the main game resource. They can be knocked out of enemies or bought. Missiles are cool because they always penetrate shields; energy shields do not protect against missile weapons at all, so when I see missiles from enemies, I try to disable their weapon systems, because the damage will be in any case if it hits. Shields won't save you. The damage of missiles is quite good, in short, there are almost no disadvantages, except for the fact that you need to spend more money for consumables. But if you only have 1 missile, then the missiles you knock out from your enemies may be enough for you;
- Laser and lasers. The main weapon of general lethality in the game. Choose a target and attack. Lasers do not require consumables, they simply shoot, but require energy to operate in principle (like other weapons and systems). Some types of lasers fire in bursts, and such a burst can cut off shields, especially if you shoot not just one weapon at the same time, but several at once. When hit, the laser takes away one shield unit per shot. Overall, lasers are good, handy, and versatile weapons;
- Ions and ion weapons. This weapon does not cause damage, but disables the enemy ship's systems. An extremely good weapon of indirect action, because by turning off shields, for example, you can freely hit the enemy with other weapons or drones, and the ability to instantly disable the enemy’s weapon systems helps enormously. The downside of this weapon is that it is quite energy-consuming; it is not the cheapest. And then you are faced with a choice, either install an ion cannon, turning off something there, or for the same energy you can normally shoot with the same laser, causing direct damage. Direct damage will have to be dealt in any case... Although ions work well together with drones or simply as an addition to the main guns;
- Rays. In fact, this is a laser, in our classical understanding. A line of light and energy that burns everything in its path, but in the game they called something else a laser, so there may be confusion. You direct the beam into one compartment, and then select another, and it seems to follow a path from the first to the second, burning everything along the way. The beams cannot miss, so a cool pilot and engine will not save the enemy. The big disadvantage of rays is that they penetrate shields very poorly, but in general they are powerful weapon, especially if the enemy's shields are down. The rays perfectly burn out the crew and equipment, the destruction from them is very massive;
- Bombs. They require rockets to fire, but the operating principle is a little different. Bombs are immediately teleported to the enemy ship, ignoring shields, but they can also miss. In general, these are almost the same missiles, but there are several interesting unique types of bombs with interesting effects;
- Flak. A flak gun is like anti-aircraft fire. Shoots with a bunch of all sorts of garbage and debris, shoots inaccurately (in an area like a shotgun), but can cause very strong damage if there are no shields. The weapon is in many ways difficult to aim where needed, almost impossible, but average damage quite good, no shells required. Another advantage is that the weapon does not require much energy. In my gaming experience, this is the most best weapon from the point of view of price and quality, the main thing is to chop off the enemy’s shields and you can kill them. I took down some enemies with a couple of well-placed volleys.
What will we fly on?
There are several ships in the game; they are unlocked for certain merits, for example, for completing the game. The difference between the ships is quite significant, but the emphasis is on the initial equipment and crew. It’s just that, for example, in space rangers, initial equipment and other things are easily and quickly smoothed out and have little significance, but here a lot depends on luck during the game, and often you have to do a good half of what your ship was originally designed for.
Cruiser Lanius is one of the best ships
But this is good, you can complete the game with different spaceships and it will always be a different style of play, it’s always interesting to play through.
Here is the list of ships:
- The Kestrel Cruiser;
- The Engi Cruiser;
- The Federation Cruiser;
- The Zoltan Cruiser;
- The Mantis Cruiser;
- The Slug Cruiser;
- The Rock Cruiser;
- The Stealth Cruiser;
- The Lanius Cruiser;
- The Crystal Cruiser.
I will not talk about each type of ship as they differ only in initial equipment, systems and crew. Later, it will be possible to tailor almost any ship to suit other purposes and style of play, but often this is not worth doing.
Let me just say that the game is designed in such a way that each ship has its own style of play and an emphasis on some kind of tactics and strategy. For example, it is clear that The Stealth Cruiser initially has stealth systems and forces you to try and hone precisely this mechanics.
Drones
Small flying robotic ships play a significant role. They can attack the enemy directly (combat drones), can help repair compartments, can repel enemy attacks, and much more. To have drones you need to connect a special system, which not only is not very cheap, but also requires energy. Therefore, you don’t always need all this and you can do without drones.However, some ships have drones from the start, and installing such a system at the very end of the game can be useful if you have extra funds. This way you can close the vulnerable parts of your assembly, as well as somehow spend consumables (drones), which you may accumulate quite a bit as you play.
Ship upgrades
I haven’t found an adequate translation for the word augmentations, so I just call it improvements. You can place up to three such bonuses and change them at any time. If you played space rangers (yes, I'm a wild Rangers fan, and I'm already tired of mentioning them), then the analogue is artifacts.Improvements can help strengthen weaknesses, or bring strengths ship to perfection. There are quite a few of them, for example there is a garbage collector (debris - game currency). With this improvement you will receive 10% more money. It is very useful to buy or get such a thing at the very beginning of your journey; it will definitely pay for itself by the middle of the game, and then you can exchange it for something else.
An example of an improvement useful in combat is an automatic reloader, which will increase the rate of fire by 10%.
There are also interesting toys in general, for example Stealth Weapons (hidden weapons). With this upgrade, you can shoot from stealth.
- You can also read:
Without improvements, it would not always be possible to give a ship true uniqueness, but with them you create a full-fledged, unique warship.
Game walkthrough video
On your YouTube Econ Dude channel I also made a short video about the game. This is the first episode, I’m just going through it on easy difficulty, telling you what and how, giving some advice, and writing it in one take. If I die, I die.As in the Pixel Dungeon series, I record a new video of the series only if there is demand ( likes, comments, views and shares), otherwise I'd rather record a video on another game or another topic if people aren't particularly interested in it. But I think I’ll make 1-2 more videos on this game in any case, since in one I covered quite a bit of information.
Looks simple space simulator"FTL: Faster Than Light" can surprise even an avid gamer. Before you is a randomly generated galaxy with a bunch of different missions and quests. By completing quests you will unlock new ships, as well as various equipment that increases the capabilities of your ship. There are 9 types of spaceships in the game, but you will start with the simplest one - the Kestrel Cruiser. You move around the galaxy using portals, each jump triggers events - a meeting with enemies, allies, merchants, etc. You make a decision and move on. In addition to developing the ship, you will also recruit and train a crew. An experienced crew significantly improves the ship's performance, so during battles, take care of your crew!
Cruiser types:
Kestrel is the first and weakest.
Stealth is excellent camouflage, but there is no protection.
Mantis - the ability to board enemy ships.
Engi is a powerful ion weapon.
Federated - an improved and enlarged version of the Kestrel ship.
Slug – automatic recovery of the hull.
Rock is the most reliable armored defense.
Zoltan is a powerful protective shield.
Secret – it’s already clear from the name that the cruiser is secret, as are its abilities.
System Requirements:
✔ operating system: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
✔ Processor: 2 GHz
✔ RAM: 1 GB
✔ Video card: 128 MB
✔ Sound device: DirectX 9.0c compatible
✔ Hard disk space: 300 MB
Release date: 2012
Genre: Strategy / Simulation
Developer: Subset Games
Platform: PC
Interface language: Russian
Release date: April 2014
Developer: Subset Games
Publisher: Subset Games
Description of FTL: Faster Than Light
Outstanding space strategy from the studio Subset Games. You have to save the galaxy in a small spaceship. Throughout the game, you will encounter emergency situations in which your own life will depend on your choices.
Every time you start FTL: Faster Than Light again, a completely new, unique journey through the galaxy, full of unpredictable situations and things awaits you. It won't be boring.
System Requirements FTL: Faster Than Light
Minimum:
- Supported OS: Windows XP, Vista and 7
- Processor: 2 GHz
- RAM: 1 GB
- Video card: Resolution - minimum 1280x720, supporting OpenGL 2.0, discrete video card with 128 MB video memory recommended
- Hard drive: 175 MB free space
- The game is known to run on some integrated graphics cards from the Intel HD family, but they are not officially supported.
You can buy and download FTL: Faster Than Light on Steam, Google Play and App Store.
Review
“At first we will be a little shaken, and then we will completely explode.” With this phrase, Nathan Fillion's character in the cult TV series Firefly, without knowing it, very accurately described the concept FTL: Faster Than Light- unexpectedly one of the best space games in this galaxy. The plot of FTL turns the events of A New Hope on its head: you control a small but nimble Federation ship that has eluded evil rebels with top-secret data on board. They need to be delivered to headquarters, but the path to the allies lies through dozens of unexplored sectors, fuel is running out, and the rebel fleet is already hanging on their tail. In a word, it will shock you quite a bit. And then you will definitely explode, and more than once. After all, behind the friendly pastel colors and starry theme lies a roguelike game with greetings from the 80s, such as randomly generated content and the lack of saves. Add to this the fact that FTL is not shy about regularly pitting your trough against obviously more powerful opponents - and it would seem that a monitor broken out of anger is guaranteed.