Reddit thinks FTL is too 'random'.

[Restless]

http://www.reddit.com/r/truegaming/comments/2y4mfn/how_much_random_is_too_random_for_you/

So this thread happened, where people flocked in droves to list FTL as one of the games they couldn't finish/play because it was "too random". Even after some other posters pointed out that people have gone 28-0 on Hard Mode, they were met with disbelief and a hackusation. Maybe if people spent less time blaming luck and more time learning the game they wouldn't be so negative.

What exactly IS random in this game?
The map and jump plots are randomly generated.
Event locations and outcomes are randomly generated.
Enemies are randomly generated, and their targets for abilities are randomly chosen (Mind Control, Hacking).
Store locations and inventories are random.
There is some probability involved with attacks, but that is present in any game with miss/hit ratings.

Personally, I think all the things listed above allow for unique playthroughs, and the levels of random are healthy to keep even veteran players interested and engaged. Any 'bad' RNG can be overcome by fleeing a battle (ie when your Weapons gets hacked). You can always prepare by plotting your jumps through a sector, and since the flagship does not change, you always know how much you need to prepare for the final boss. If you risk a crew member to giant alien spiders, that is your own choice and your own fault if they should die, not because the game was "too random". You can sit there and demand that a shop give you the weapon you want, and then cry about it in Sector 8 when you haven't seen it yet, or you can take what the shops give you and make a viable strategy out of that.

What are some things you feel are 'too random'? Personally FTL does not qualify as overly random to me, it is just a very well designed game that baffles people who expect walks in the park.

[4freedom]

My favourite comment in the chain was one guy claiming that there weren't enough constants in FTL. What about starting gear? What things will be in a sector (I wonder what will be in this Mantis Sector?). But the cherry on top was when he said, straight from the comment "I wouldn't mind a tough fight in FTL if I knew where the next store was, and that they'd have at least X amount of health & fuel at minimum". YOU CAN HEAL AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE ♥♥♥♥♥♥.

[kris220b]

i suck at this game, took about 13 hours to complete
yet i still know that the game is not random
i know that if your doing good the game will make it harder, and so forth

[HughManatee]

kris220b の投稿を引用：

i know that if your doing good the game will make it harder, and so forth

No.

[Dormammu]

kris220b の投稿を引用：

i suck at this game, took about 13 hours to complete
yet i still know that the game is not random
i know that if your doing good the game will make it harder, and so forth

We had an entire thread that disproved this.

[obliviondoll]

kris220b の投稿を引用：

i know that if your doing good the game will make it harder, and so forth

If you're good at the game, and you're doing well because you're good, the game will continue on with its usual somewhat-random level of somewhat-randomness.

If you're bad and only doing well because you're getting lucky with your RNG rolls giving you good luck, then it will probably get harder later, as the numbers tick up high enough to start balancing out. Your good luck streak will eventually wear out, and your lack of skill at the game will start showing through as that happens.

Significant amounts of experimentation, and a certain measure of digging into the game code have proven beyond reasonable doubt that the game doesn't adjust its RNG tables based on how the player is performing, and doesn't preferentially give a struggling player easier fights or throw tailored counter-builds at someone who's doing unexpectedly well. It just looks that way at times because of the nature of randomisation.

[Skinny Pete]

obliviondoll の投稿を引用：

It just looks that way at times because of the nature of randomisation.

There are a couple trivial exceptions. For instance, the rates of asteroid strikes at asteroid field beacons are related to your shields. There are probably a couple other equally trivial things like this, not quite directly related to how "well" your game is going.

[Viperace]

This kind of thread never gets old.

Truly smart people observe the statistical pattern in the randomness and are able to exploit it.
Same goes with stock market, FX market, roulette, Black Jack etc. There are statistcal EDGE to be won if you play correctly.

The 1% people WIN, 99% lose ( and maybe 20% of the loser WHINE). Others kept learning and become winners eventually

[Darth Tempest]

It can be quite random at times but you can shift the odds in your favour depending on what ship you choose and what systems you pick. So if you are used to FTL you can mitigate the RNG to a degree.

Although personally it is quite amusing when I have a vulkan +3 shields and the RNG manages to produce the one ship combo I cannot beat lol

[Ray Robertson]

Many of the later sector Automated ships will dodge half of the shots from a Vulcan cannon, so you choosing to use that weapon alone was your flaw.

[Skinny Pete]

Ray Robertson の投稿を引用：

Many of the later sector Automated ships will dodge half of the shots from a Vulcan cannon, so you choosing to use that weapon alone was your flaw.

I'll join that opinion.

If you are facing a 5 shield automated ship in Sector 7 (probably with evasion 45%+) and your sole weapon is a Vulcan, odds are you're gonna die. At least if you don't have the engines to warp on out of there.

Actually, it's pretty unlikely you even get that far with just the Vulcan.

[gambit]

About Vulcan, it depends on the situation(and ship you use).
Lot of times in early sectors I don't buy them, later rarely(but sometimes) I don't need to buy them.
Sometimes I have to sell them early.
But at the same time, I bought one in 2nd sector and still won(yes on Hard).

The biggest downside of playing with Vulcan is in sector 3 & 4 when enemy tries to run right away. So to even think about playing with it you need breach 1. Breach 2 bomb is usually too expensive, since you need 6 power in weapons now. Also most of the time you don't want to actually buy both, and in some cases one of the combo weapons you need early on, because you are low on scrap.
If enemy runs away you don't get scrap, and that is bad.

After that it's basically win the game weapon, provided you upgrade your defence.
I recommend having weapon power at 6, though 7 is better.5 can be just enough for sector or sector and a half, while you upgrade your defence.So yeah, by mid of sector 6 you should have at least 6 power in weapons.

Any weapon of 1-3 power that deals damage or ion can work with it. Just use what you already have :D

Even Vulcan by itself with buffer in weapon system can get ships down.
Aim piloting -> cloak -> shields. Vital is to press pause whenever enemy system gets down(is red) and wreck other system(as you can see you need good defence, because aiming for weapons just slows you down, and enemy hull might get down enough for him to try to get away).
Def 2 drones are not problem, if you have spare time Vulcan alone by itself will eventually hit it(any other ion, laser or flak will help a lot).
Aim for drone system first, if enemy gets it up in time which it usually will if you Vulcan solo. Most of the time you will have to get him to spend all his drone parts, so prepare for at least 10 minute battle(that is why I never Vulcan solo).

I forgot something, but whatever.

[Wyrtt]

so streams with 18-20 wins in row are not proper proof?

[Skinny Pete]

Skinny Pete の投稿を引用：

Actually, it's pretty unlikely you even get that far with just the Vulcan.

Funny I posted this just yesterday. Today, I beat the flagship with little else other than the Vulcan on the Simo-H (Stealth C). Because of terrible shop luck, I had been able to get no system other than shields, except Mind Control right before the flagship, and that solely for countering the stage 3.

Other than tanking up, maxing shields and evade, I had nothing but my starting weapons and the Vulcan, and used no other drone but the Shield+ drone I started with (and a combat drone I got right before the flagship).

It's funny because this is my FIRST win with the Stealth C, even though I had a ludicrous run of repeatedly getting to Sector 8 with a great loadout and then melting down on the flagship itself.

I still don't recommend it, but yes, you can beat the flagship with the Vulcan mounted to a turd.

No cloaking, no hacking, no boarding. Maxed shields, 6 engines.

Finished with 4 hull, because I got walloped every power surge. Never enough to stop the Vulcan from firing, though.

(Incidentally, I didn't even get the Vulcan from a shop or an encounter. I got it in a Lanius sector on that encounter where you can pay them 50 to craft a weapon. I was desperately in need of a weapon, and it turned out to be the Vulcan.)

[Thundercracker]

Skinny Pete の投稿を引用：

(Incidentally, I didn't even get the Vulcan from a shop or an encounter. I got it in a Lanius sector on that encounter where you can pay them 50 to craft a weapon. I was desperately in need of a weapon, and it turned out to be the Vulcan.)

you lucky dog, you! i can never find one early enough in my game to matter, i've only even managed to equip one once.

[Skinny Pete]

LORD 1 の投稿を引用：

Skinny Pete の投稿を引用：

(Incidentally, I didn't even get the Vulcan from a shop or an encounter. I got it in a Lanius sector on that encounter where you can pay them 50 to craft a weapon. I was desperately in need of a weapon, and it turned out to be the Vulcan.)

you lucky dog, you! i can never find one early enough in my game to matter, i've only even managed to equip one once.

Incidentally, that encounter (which is cheaper if you have Lanius crew) only gives you weapons, augmentations, or drones from the AE content. So you're more likely to get a Vulcan from it than from a straight random weapon drop. Of course, you're also more likely to get a stinker like the Chain Ion.

I'm not usually a fan of these pay for something random things, and the main other one (nebula black weapons trader) cheats you, unlike this one. My wild guess is this is slightly unprofitable in terms of pure scrap, and slightly on the good side if you have Lanius crew, but worth a shot if you're starting to run into ships you can't damage.

My basic strategy this run was to tank up, jack up shields to the max and engines as far as reasonable. I'll also note that the Shield+ drone, unlike a lot of starting gear, scales up very well with higher evade and shield levels. It's actually more useful at the end than at the beginning.