FTL: Faster Than Light | Cheerful Ghost

The Design of FTL & Into The Breach

FTL: Faster Than Light is one of those games I'll be playing here and there until I'm a grey beard and the followup Into The Breach is just as incredible looking, I just haven't played it yet. I'm holding out hope that it will come to the Switch and until then I'm a fan from the sidelines. Noclip, the amazing purveyors of YouTube game documentaries recently caught up with Subset Games at GDC and filmed a design discussion of FTL and Into the Breach. It's a good teardown of both games and how developers Justin & Matthew got their start in the industry.

Listen To The New Ben Prunty Halloween Themed EP ElectroCrypt!

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FTL is an spaceship simulation turn based roguelike that features an incredible score by composer Ben Prunty. If you liked the FTL score Ben has just released an all new Halloween themed EP called ElectroCrypt you can checkout by heading over to his Bandcamp page.

I recommend checking out the title track "Welcome to the Crypt," "Welcome to the Gravediggers Hut" and "Ghima's Revenge."

That is... if you can stand the... horror....

"Happy Halloween! This EP is a collection of what I'm calling 'Halloween electro-funk'. Let's make that a genre. The music was inspired by Danny Elfman, the old Super NES game Zombies Ate My Neighbors, and the gleeful indulgence of OCRemix, a... Read All

FTL Is Still Amazing - Today I Unlocked The Stealth Cruiser

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FTL is one of those special Indie games I might play off and on for the rest of my life. It's rogue-like space fairing gameplay is so unique and fresh every time I come back I am hooked by it. Recently i've been playing a couple games and slowly building back my ability with it. Like any skilled game that you step away from, i've had to remember a few things forgotten over time. During my last play session I made it to the Federation Starship boss to beat it once and then lost the second time. I forget how punishing that battle can be and how nimble and at times lucky you need to be to complete it.

During these last few games i've played as the Federation Cruiser, a... Read All

Ben Prunty Releases A New FTL Inspired Album "Deep Space Deluxe"

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Ben Prunty is the composer behind the FTL score, one of my all time most beloved game scores. When FTL got an Advanced Edition he came back with more tracks and he is back at it again with a new FTL inspired album called "Deep Space Deluxe." The album features 6 new tracks that do a great job of capturing the FTL vibe while doing a good job existing as a stand alone work.

You can stream all 6 tracks on Bandcamp right now and buy the whole album for $5.

https://benprunty.bandcamp.com/album/deep-space-deluxe-ep

Spin Up Those Record Players Because The FTL Score Is Out On Vinyl

"To accompany the game, Ben Prunty composed a masterful sci-fi soundtrack that we're thrilled to release on vinyl for the very first time! Give it a listen here. To do this vinyl recording its ultimate justice, we had the audio mastered at Telegraph Mastering Studio. We can't wait for you to hear it like this!

We teamed up with Leif Podhajsky to design a vinyl package that blows our minds with its awesomeness! Leif's pedigree includes album covers for many top labels, including famed rock group, Tame Impala."

I like seeing this kind of lush physical release treatment for Indie games and soundtracks as they generally only exist digitally. This is a nice piece to put on... Read All

FTL Kestrel Adventures Is A Cool New FTL Fan Show

YouTuber Andrew Colunga recently created a new series of FTL cartoon shorts called FTL Kestrel Adventures. They mix up some original pixel art and in game FTL game captures to propel the story. It's a bit of a mixture of Machinima and original art, which is really neat to watch.

Episodes 1 and 2 are available to watch right now. Episode one is linked above, you can watch episode two by clicking below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7lZi-39UQ8

Cheerful Ghost Roundtable: S2 E6 FTL: Advanced Edition

In this epsiode of The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable we discuss what we have been playing as well as Android's new Fire TV. After that we talk about the new FTL: Advanced Edition update and after the show ends we spend some time unboxing our versions of Diablo III.

Your welcome!

What We are Playing & Drinking

0.24m WhiteboySlim: Diablo III, FTL: Advanced Edition & Ocarina of Time 3DS

2.10m Travis: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls

3.35m jdodson: Emoji, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition, Hotline Miami & Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 2

Amazon's Fire TV

8.40m Amazon's new Fire TV is out. What do we think about it? Will we pick one... Read All

RedChocobo wrote on 04/17/2014 at 06:11pm

Advanced edition actually got me to buy FTL. I think Mind Control is new which I love because you can just shut down their pilot to ruin their evasion before shooting, but be careful the Clone Bay brings back a person with slightly lower skills. But if you have a lot of Mantis you can just throw them at enemy ships with a crew teleporter.
I still suck at the game though, only one victory so far.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/17/2014 at 06:34pm

A Clone Bay/Mantis/Transporter is a really interesting combination! I'll have to try that!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/18/2014 at 12:28am

@RedChocobo glad to hear you got into the game, now is a great time to do that!

Adym: Let me know how it turns out. Been so busy lately I haven't had as much time to FTL as id like.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/18/2014 at 12:28am

Wait... RedChocobo how long have you played the game for? If you already beat it, that's pretty damn good if you just started!

Travis Admin wrote on 04/18/2014 at 03:20am

Yeah if you've beaten the game I don't think you can say you suck at it.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/18/2014 at 03:51am

RedChocobo wrote on 04/18/2014 at 10:52pm

I think it was my 5th or 6th playthrough. Lucked out and got a Zoltan Super Shield and one of the missle launchers that sends two for one.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/19/2014 at 03:05am

I've never beaten the game. I'm not even sure if I've made it to the last sector, I think I've made it to sector 7. I tried the Advanced Edition, which put me at just over 60 hours in the game. I didn't survive very long, but I did enjoy some of the new things. Like Travis I was impressed because once I started up the game and realized not only that my crew were already in positions I normally place them, but I was able to set them to a hot key and have them return with the press of a button. That really impressed me. I did get a Clone Bay, but it was a bit late after one of my crew had died. I also enjoyed the new feature to the navigational map, with the ability to see where different points lead to. I didn't play AE very long and I didn't last very long either.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/22/2014 at 09:02pm

I finally made it to Sector 8 and I fought the final ship, which utterly destroyed me. Hahahaha.

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FTL: Advanced Edition Releases Today!

FTL: Advanced Edition launched today and the lives of space fairing nerds all around the world got a little better. If you own FTL on Steam the new updates will await you when you sign in or if you want to try FTL on iPad, you can now pick it up for $10.

If you are looking for a list of changes to the game the FTL developers made a fairly complete list available. Because of the popularity of the update the FTL site is getting hammered but the link is below. So far I like that there are many more changes than they advertised. It's great to have a team under promise and over deliver!

http://www.ftlgame.com/FTLChangeLog.html

Ben Prunty has made the new FTL tracks available... Read All

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/04/2014 at 04:52am

Just died, naturally. I'm really enjoying the Advanced Edition. They've put in a lot of polish first of all. It would be a lot to try and list out, but I definitely like how when you hover your mouse over a sector it shows you the next possible jumps from there.

The new systems are interesting. I sold my med bay and bought a clone bay. I think that's going to take some getting used to, but seems pretty cool.

A lot of new quests and instances made for an entirely unique feel again :)

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/09/2014 at 07:27pm

It's been a while since I've loaded Steam, since I've been playing StarCraft II. Today, I noticed FTL has an update. I'll have to give it a try sometime. I haven't played FTL in a while.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/10/2014 at 02:27am

Yep, it's the whole "Advanced Edition" business. Speaking of...

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/10/2014 at 08:06pm

It's been a while since I've played it. I probably should give the new update a try. I'm interested in what anyone else has to say that's played the new version. What do you think? Is it better? Is it any easier? Hahaha

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2014 at 01:56am

I played a few games and plan on posting a review on it in the next week or so.

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FTL: Advanced Edition Will Release April 3rd

"As a reminder, FTL: Advanced Edition is a free content expansion for FTL. All current (and future) customers will receive this update regardless of where they purchased it. Prior to release, we will post detailed instructions on how to get the update from whatever digital vendor you originally purchased FTL.

The iPad version of FTL will require an iPad version 2 or higher (iPad 1 is not supported) and will cost the same as the PC version, $10. It will be the complete game, including the new Advanced Edition content, and will not have any in-app purchases. We are proud to say that the iPad version is a true equivalent to the PC in the experience it provides, which is... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/30/2014 at 05:04pm

I have it on good authority that the iPad version is a near perfect representation of the PC version, and understand it to be a "new joy" to experience it through touch interaction. :)

Timogorgon Member wrote on 03/30/2014 at 06:19pm

I am beyond excited about this! I don't own an iPad, so I won't be picking up that version. But I will be rockin' the PC version after the kids go to bed on 4/3. :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/31/2014 at 02:48am

I love how the "introducing the ipad" shows you dying lol

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/31/2014 at 07:00pm

GET READY TO DIE ON YOUR IDEVICE. OR SHOULD I SAY iDIEvice?

Orionnoir wrote on 04/03/2014 at 03:37pm

Nice. FTL will port to a touch paradigm very nicely. It almost already works on my windows 8 tablet *almost*. I wish more games (even my own) did the 'full game' thing more more on mobile touch based tablets (i.e., the market would bear the cost of full development) The turning point in my opinion about experiencing 'real/serious gaming' on a mobile device for me was 2k's latest xcom in iPad. It impressed me having been playing the PC version (my only gripe is they washed out some of the lower level micromanagement bits in some of the gear.) My situation has been such give up gaming if its not on a mobile device for a while now. Firing up the PC was too much of a commit. actually it is a dangerous trap as of late... I would never come to bed once I started playing... so this is about self preservation really... maybe... but I digress. But am I alone that I find myself on the PC gaming less and less??? I do miss it, I miss the time to sink into it. Maybe this is a mid-life two jobs married father of two syndrome... o.O One last thought are we past 'gaming on a mobile device' is not gaming arguments?

scrypt Supporter wrote on 04/03/2014 at 07:03pm

@Orionnoir, I have to believe that anyone seriously opposed to the idea of gaming on a mobile device, or considering it a serious gaming platform, has either never really experienced what can be done (uninformed), or just doesn't much care for mobile gaming (i.e. Gameboy, et al.) (biased). It's a way to enjoy games, and a good one at that.

Also, I just want to say, you're doing a noble thing in sacrificing your hobby for your family. I have a good number of friends that struggle with the same thing. Games are fun, but family is so much more important. I take it, by your "even my own" comment, that you are a game developer to some extent? Very cool! I'd love to try your game, if it's available.

I'm relatively new to PC gaming, having been on consoles most of my life, so I'm kinda eating it up. Honestly, it's all Microsoft's fault. I'm disappointed with what they've done with the XBox platform. I'll get an XBox One eventually, because I love games, and exclusives are a stupid reality, but I'm not looking forward to it. I don't know. Of all the systems I have available, I'm the most content when I'm on Steam. That could change, and probably will once Destiny comes out on PS4 :).

Orionnoir wrote on 08/07/2014 at 05:30pm

I concur! I have traded much of my time to be with the family and its been great. They have also stod by while I chased a dream with what little time I had too. So its not all take!

Its been a crazy 5 months, but I quit my day job just over a month ago (July 4th 2014) to make games full time working with a good friend in a partnership at Appsomniacs. We've had more people in the past, I've been slinging code at our problems part time since July 2011. Everyone else involved has pretty much walked away or stopped showing up, mostly because of the work entailed. Specifically how much work. that work can be viewed at http://www.appsomniacs.com (shameless plug!) ;)

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How Can I Delay My Inevitable Destruction in FTL: Faster Than Light?

Well, that's the question that comes to mind when playing FTL, because that is exactly what I'm working on. I've found out that my standard double laser beam is more effective than I thought. Sometimes I use it after I use a missile on their weapons, but I've found that sometimes I need to use it to disable the their shields in order to get a missile in. So, those are the two that I usually end up targeting.

As for upgrades, I like upgrading my shields to two, which requires power and system upgrades. Whenever I can afford a Drone Controller Subsystem, I like to get it because the Drone that does Hull Repair is a life saver! The Defense Drone hasn't seemed very... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 02/22/2014 at 12:38am

You should definitely explore, just keep the rebel progression in mind.

How far have you gotten?

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/22/2014 at 12:46am

I think my stats say I've reached Sector 5.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/22/2014 at 12:54am

Unless you I with a ship that has drones at the start (Have you unlocked the Engi ship yet?), buying the drone controller subset is too expensive for me. That said, I do enjoy using them :)

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/22/2014 at 02:01am

I've apparently only unlocked the Torus. I just discovered that and haven't tried it. Do you recommend it?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/22/2014 at 02:11am

Yeah, it's definitely a fun build! It's difficult (of course), but fun.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/22/2014 at 07:27pm

I use to never bother with drones but I've since warmed up to them. :) If you are going to use drones though, definitely pick up the drone recovery arm augment for your ship. It will save you a lot of money on drone parts and (more importantly) you are much less likely to find yourself running out of drone parts in the middle of a fight.

As far as improving your survivability goes, I'd say make sure you have a pilot and engineer and then put a few upgrades into your engines. Bumping up your evade % really helps. Buy a cloaking device when you can, and time your cloaks right as the enemy is firing missiles/bombs at you. Don't worry about cloaking to evade laser fire, that's what your shields are for. Two shield pips should be fine until you start getting into the later sectors, but if you have the resources to upgrade, getting that third pip early certainly doesn't hurt. I rarely go for the fourth shield upgrade.

That defense drone was likely working better than you realized. The mark I drones will shoot down missiles every couple seconds. In the early sectors it's rare to find an enemy with more than one missile weapon equipped, so you will only need to worry about energy weapons. If your enemy only has lasers or beam weapons, then the defense drone is useless. Also, if you're in an asteroid field the drone will target asteroids coming at you, which may keep it too busy to shoot down missiles. The mark II drone fires faster and can also shoot down lasers (not sure how that works exactly).

I could go on a lot more (I love this game!) but I think I'll stop here. I don't want to overwhelm you. :P

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/22/2014 at 09:55pm

I tried the Torus, but didn't get very far. In that one, it seems you disable their systems with your weapon, while using drones to attack.

Tim, that's a really good post and I don't think you should hold back. If there's more you want to say, please feel free to! I didn't really consider the evade % that much, that may be something I'll have to look into. I've had the cloaking device a couple of times and probably just need to get to it and when my enemies fire to make it more effective. I think there might have been only one time I bought drones.

You've provided some great input, Tim, thanks!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/23/2014 at 02:28am

My first gold star: http://i.imgur.com/0Pak5Bo.jpg

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/24/2014 at 09:06pm

I've reached Sector 7 twice: http://i.imgur.com/s9FmjAN.jpg

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/24/2014 at 10:01pm

Hey, not bad!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/24/2014 at 10:53pm

=) I've managed to upgrade my engines and shields to almost max. I've also recently learned (after my first gold star) how to level up crew. The music has stayed in my head the last few days. I've been trying to do some more research on guides and strategies. There are still aspects of the game I'm trying to figure out, especially when it comes to strategies. I'm often not sure if I should save scrap or spend it on an upgrade and which upgrade if any. I guess that's a bit of the nature of the game.

I'm also not quite sure if sensors are a reasonable upgrade since they seem to always be disabled in the nebulae. I've started opening most outside doors, to help work on fires if and when they happen. This means 3 rooms of no oxygen on the Kestral. I think this strategy has helped me maintain fires and intruders, who I sometimes try to suffocate.

I don't usually buy weapon upgrades, I usually find then. I've also been learning better power management skill. For instance, the Medbay doesn't always need to remain powered unless crew are healing.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/25/2014 at 01:37am

> I've managed to upgrade my engines and shields to almost max

For most games, i'd agree with your thinking here. That said, I wouldn't go past 3 shield dots. It's just that the fourth is very expensive and you don't really need it during the Rebel Flagship fight.

I can't speak to the engines, BUT like with most systems in FTL, maxing them out isn't really a pre-requisite.

> The music has stayed in my head the last few days.

Ben Prunty's score is really awesome. I have it in my music player as I always want to listen to it :D

> There are still aspects of the game I'm trying to figure out, especially when it comes to strategies. I'm often not sure if I should save scrap or spend it on an upgrade and which upgrade if any. I guess that's a bit of the nature of the game.

Yeah, the game is very strategic. I'd say it depends on what build you are going for, where you are at and what's going on.

> I don't usually buy weapon upgrades, I usually find then. I've also been learning better power management skill. For instance, the Medbay doesn't always need to remain powered unless crew are healing.

Yep. This is really useful during a battle when you need to shuffle things around to power a system that is out for whatever reason. I use pause a ton and then shuffle things around depending on what I need, it's fun.

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