Avernum: Escape from the Pit

Spiderweb Software is a small independent game company which has been making classic, 2 dimensional turn based RPGs for nearly two decades now. Avernum: Escape  from the Pit is a remake of their original game, Exile, from 1995. It has been remade with slightly better graphics and a new game engine, as well as new story elements and secrets in the game itself. If you have already played the first game in the series, it is nothing particularly revolutionary, but if you enjoy classic computer RPGs with a long, rich story, involved character creation, and a huge quantity of items, then in my opinion Avernum: Escape from the Pit might interest you very much.

You Will Never See the Sun Again

The premise behind Avernum is straightforward: the world is ruled by one gigantic, tyrannical empire with little tolerance for people who are a little different, or just annoy the wrong person. These people, who haven't committed a crime worth execution, are instead magically banished to a massive underground cave system. This is Avernum, a kingdom locked deep underground.

Gigantic firebreathing centuries old magical lizard of death.

Unsurprisingly, life is not hunky dory in Avernum. Humans are beset on all sides by other hostile races, such as the nephilim, the bandit-prone cat people, the slitherzaki, barbarian lizard warriors, and of course human brigands and murderers. In addition, powerful demons, the restless dead, callous dragons, brutish ogres, and many other factions are trying to exterminate humans from beneath the surface. This is where you will enter Avernum; you will start out weak, clueless, and unconnected, but with time, tact, cleverness, and just a bit of luck, you will become stronger and begin to unravel some of the mysteries of Avernum. Hidden in the caves are mighty relics, from peoples now mysteriously missing from the caves, in the treasure troves of dragons and demons, and lost from the surface; you will want to uncover these, as they are universally powerful and useful.

Combat in Avernum is turn and grid-based. Many of the systems are quite dated (and to me nostalgic), so people who are only interested in brand new triple A lifelike graphics will probably not be interested in Avernum. It does take a bit of patience to love this game, but if it is the kind of game you like, you will fall in love with Avernum. It has more than a hundred hours of content to delve into, and surprises await prudent adventurers.

If Avernum sounds fun to you, you can find out more about it on it's Spiderweb Software website.

Independent Game Distribution & Revenue

Recently I read an article published by Level Up Labs LLC, the independent game studio who developed and published Defender's Valley. Defender's Valley is a modestly successful indie game which I have not played, but that is not relevant to today's post. Today  we will be talking about the article itself, which discusses the methods of distribution which Level Up Labs used for Defender's Valley, the revenue they received over two periods of time, and some overall thoughts on getting your indie game out there.

Steam is Great for Gross (Revenue).

To the left is a breakdown of the gross revenues received from each distribution method. It is immediately obvious that getting your game available on Steam is an excellent objective to power sales - even though they did not sell their game on Steam for as long as other platforms (direct sales took place for several months before the other sales platforms made agreements with Level Up Labs), Steam had by far the biggest amount of revenue and most sales. Nevertheless, it is very important to notice how well selling direct worked for Level Up Labs, particularly taking into account the fact that direct sales generate the most revenue for Level Up Labs themselves - the company they used to process payments for direct sales took only 8% of the sale, and all other sales platforms took a larger chunk (which Level Up Labs was unable to share with us due to Non-Disclosure Agreements but is most likely around 30%, with Steam being the distributor most likely to take the biggest cut).

The most important things to take from this topic are that it is better to have a bigger variety of distributors, Steam is an extremely powerful revenue generator, and setting up direct sales is extremely important as it is still a significant cut of your overall revenue and it gives you a customer base with loyalty to the indie developer themselves, rather than to a platform first (like Steam).

Sales Sell

Lars Doucet of Level Up Labs also makes a very helpful graphic showing the relationship between discount sales and the number of sales that happen during the sale. From the graphic it is immediately clear and quite interesting that by far the most revenue was generated during the time where the game was discounted to the lowest per unit price. In other words, even though they temporarily lowered the actual price of the game to only five dollars per sale, they sold such a vastly higher quantity of units that they made by far more revenue than when the game was full price. Doucet does note later on that after reviewing the numbers of the sale they decided that they had most likely underpriced their game and they could have probably generated more overall revenue if they had kept the price a bit higher, but regardless these sales were clearly excellent overall for Level Up Labs - without any sale, they would have undoubtedly had much lower overall revenue.

If interested in the entire article, you may find it here. They cover some more topics which are less related to the distribution platform but are still interesting. For anyone looking into developing and selling an indie game, this article provides some great information on how and where you should focus on selling your game: attract Steam, continue to sell direct, and utilize sales to create interest and purchases.

Upcoming Game: Maia

Welcome to Maia.

Maia is an upcoming game by indie developer Simon Roth. Maia is a science fiction god game with citybuilding elements.

Not the Friendliest Neighborhood

Maia is humanity's first extra solar colony. Maia is not as comfortable for homo sapiens as Earth; your first order of business upon arriving on Maia will be to dig, because your colony starts out underground, where you are protected from the elements. When you start in Maia you will have to mine the necessary resources to construct a safe shelter for your colonists, to feed them, to power the technology you need to survive on an alien world. In addition, you will need to keep your colonists entertained so that they do not go insane and kill each other, while building defenses to protect yourself from hostile lifeforms.

Simon Roth's goal in making Maia is to resurrect the god-game genre and showcase the power of independent game developers. Many indie games have subpar graphics, so one of the areas that Simon Roth is focusing on is making Maia look great. Furthermore, Maia has a powerful and realistic physics engine, as well as cool touches like realtime daylight lighting.

There isn't a ton to write about on Maia but it is looking like it will be a lot of fun if you enjoy god-games or citybuilders, as it combines elements of both. Maia's alpha release is currently expected within the next month  or so, so if you are interested you will be able to try it out then. News on Maia can be found on the game's website.

Spelunky: Cave Exploration Adventure

Spelunky is a cave exploration roguelike game, where you take control of a brave spelunker and delve into an ancient cave in an attempt to plumb it of it's secrets and treasure. In Spelunky, death is brutal, relentless, unforgiving, hideously fast, and quite common. Every time you start a new game of Spelunky, the cave is randomly generated anew, but with practice you will learn how to survive and collect riches.

What Lies Beneath?

A typical entry cave.

When you first start playing Spelunky, you will probably have no idea what you are doing; as a direct consequence, you will most likely die within 15 seconds. Do not let this discourage you, as it is expected. Each map type has the same kinds of dangers; for instance, the first cave type has snakes, bats, spiders, giant spiders, arrow traps, golden shrines, cave men, spikes, and falling rocks. In addition you might blow yourself up with bombs or throw something at yourself. Also, theft is generally punished quickly and violently by the merchants. As you play (and then die), you will get experience with all of these dangers and learn how to survive them.

How exactly does a rain forest grow so far underground?

You have two goals in Spelunky: collect treasure, and delve deeper into the cave. After you get through five cave levels, you will get to the jungle levels, which will introduce a brand new variety of generally more dangerous threats. You will once again get the opportunity to die many more times while you learn to survive the jungle, and once you delve deep enough into the jungle, you will get to the next type of cave, and so on.

Depth in Simplicity

Although the concept and controls for Spelunky are extremely straightforward, and the basics will be grasped quickly, the randomness and unforgiving nature of the game mean that skill is extremely important in Spelunky. As you play Spelunky, you will develop the skills you need to survive longer and further; or you will die and you will not advance. Spelunky is relentless unforgiving, and that is what makes it so fun - as you advance, you know you are advancing because you are getting better, and that is a great feeling.

If Spelunky sounds fun, you can download it for free here at it's website.

Upcoming Game: Stardew Valley

If you loved Harvest Moon, then Stardew Valley will be right up your alley. Stardew Valley is an upcoming "country life" RPG that bears many similarities to Harvest Moon, and it is being developed for PC. We'll talk a little about what a country life RPG is for anyone who missed Harvest Moon, and why you should be excited for Stardew Valley.

It's the simple life for me.

The premise of Stardew Valley is straightforward: you have come into ownership of a small farm in a rural town, dilapidated but ready for renovation and sowing. You have many choices in games like this, and the game is intended to be quite open-ended with the player deciding on which plot points to pursue, but some things available to do in Stardew Valley will include the following:

•  Turn your run down farm into a vast, productive ranch! This game is about farming, and farm you shall!
• Explore a vast, mysterious cave network - this is a combat and mining side of things.
• Become a part of the town community, and if you decide to, court and marry a fellow town member. Social aspects of this game are important, too.
• Help determine whether Stardew Valley remains a small-town paradise or a member of the powerful Juju Corporation. Politics are part of the game.
• Other things, like Archeology, Fishing, Cooking, and designing the appearance of your house and farm.

 I played Harvest  Moon, why should I be interested in Stardew Valley?

While Stardew Valley looks like it has a similar basic concept as Harvest Moon, the developer of Stardew Valley has expanded on it and added a ton of new things. Some of the main decisions you make in Stardew Valley, like the politics and caves, look like great new additions. Also, Stardew Valley is multiplayer! You can tend to your farm and explore the cave with your friends. Multiplayer is an awesome addition to the farming RPG genre.

If you want to follow the news on Stardew Valley, you can do so at their website. Links to their twitter can be found there too. I am excited about Stardew Valley and can't wait for it to come out, hopefully sometime this year.

Crowdfunding for Indie Developers: Kickstarter

 Almost by definition, an indie developer is probably going to have a very limited budget for producing their game. One exciting new source of funding is crowdfunding, like Kickstarter. It has been successful for several indie games already, including FTL. We'll talk about what exactly crowdfunding is today.

What is Crowdfunding and Kickstarter?

Funding by the people, for the people.

Crowdfunding is seeking funding for a specific project from the general public, sometimes in exchange for certain rewards (for instance, many games funded by Kickstarter will give you the full game for slightly less than the planned retail price at release). If you have the media to demonstrate your project, and an exciting, interesting, or revolutionary new concept, Kickstarter could work great for you.

Crowdfunding is a powerful tool because it lets you get the funds you need to complete your project without having to to go through a major publishing company and shackling yourself to their creative overview. By creating a Kickstarter project, you can also gauge public interest in your concept; if your project cannot garner public support on Kickstarter, it's possible it would not be financially successful regardless.

In addition to being a useful option for generating funds to create your game, Kickstarter is great at creating positive word-of-mouth among the gaming community, as that is where funding outside of close friends and family will generally come from; using Kickstarter can be an effective part of advertising your game while seeking funding for it at the same time.

If you are interested in creating a Kickstarter project or looking at current and past successful Kickstarter projects, you can of do so right here at the Kickstarter website.

Upcoming Game: Starbound

First contact with this guy will probably involve lasers.

2013 is shaping up to be an exciting year for indie games. My most anticipated game of 2013 is definitely Starbound. Starbound is an open world sandbox platform game about exploration, collection, combat, and building. Starbound is a new kind of game, but it is similar in some ways to Minecraft, and more so Terraria. However, Starbound is much more directed and story driven than either of those games - you have clear goals which you will probably want to pursue, although you are also free to just sit down and build.

What am I doing in Space?

Home sweet metal-space-can home. For now.

Starbound will start everyone off on an abandoned space station, fleeing the destruction of your homeworld by an as-yet mysterious adversary. Once you start playing, one of the things you will want to do is improve, repair, and upgrade your new space station. Eventually, you may want to found a new homeworld as well, which you will colonize and terraform.

You will be the Krabmikaze Jane Goodall.

Starbound is going to be a game of exploration - you will explore the galaxy and catalog what you find. Starbound will provide the players with the tools to examine and record everything, if they want. Every plant, animal, and weird rock you find will be able to be examined, and some of them will be useful. Maybe that tree can be harvested for an oil you desperately need to fuel your space stations hydraulic centrifugal blackhole machine. 

The Stars are the Limit

Although a lot of things about Starbound are still unknown, the clear thing is that Starbound will be a game about exploration and options for the player. I am personally very excited about Starbound as it looks like it is a new and fascinating type of game, with amazing depth and complexity.

If you are interested in following development on Starbound, check out their website. You can sign up for their monthly newsletter if you want to be kept up to date on developments.

FTL Post Table of Contents

Here's what I said about FTL:

If you missed any of my posts about FTL, or are new to my blog and are interested in the game, here is a brief table of contents.

Part 1: Introduction to FTL
Part 2: The Map & Beacons
Part 3: Shield & Evasion
Part 4: Cloaking & Defensive Drones
Part 5: Energy Weapons
Part 6: Missiles, Bombs, & Offensive Drones
Part 7: Teleportation & Boarding

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: Bring the Fight to Them pt. 7

Today we are going to talk about offensive boarding and some tips for defending against boarders.

What are you doing on my ship?

Something here does not belong.

In FTL, being boarded happens quite regularly. Many enemy ships are equipped with teleportation pads (particularly Mantis vessels), and many special events involve enemy combatants teleporting onto your ship. It is important to develop effective methods of dealing with enemy boarders.

I have found three main tips that are very helpful for repelling enemy crew. First, investing in at least rank two doors is immensely helpful; rank two doors means that enemy crew cannot just walk through doors, and instead have to take the time to shoot them down. This is very important, particularly with the next two tips in mind. Second, when possible, fight the enemy in your medical bay; it will heal your crewmembers but not the enemy, and a single combatant does about the same amount of damage as the medical bay heals, so it is a very powerful defensive advantage. Finally, prepare to vent all decks to space! Opening your airlocks and dumping oxygen from any room that you do not have crew in is an incredibly useful tip for dealing with enemy boarders. If you have upgraded doors, you can asphyxiate your foe without ever having to send a crewmember to fight them. If not, you can open every room other than the medbay, and then send your crew into the medbay to force the enemy to come to you instead of sabotaging your systems.

Maybe if I board his vessel we can come to an agreement.

Offensively boarding enemy ships is a potent option for a few reasons. Teleporting onto an enemy ship bypasses all defenses other than the enemy crew that will be waiting for you, and unlike other offensive choices which penetrate shields, as long as you are effective with your crew and don't get them killed, they are not a consumable like missiles or drones are. You can teleport onto the enemy ship and target key systems, like shields or weapons, and sabotage them while fighting off the enemy crew. In addition, if you eliminate the entire enemy crew without destroying their ship, you receive bonus resources from capturing it intact instead of sifting through the scrap after you slice it into seventeen pieces with your beam weapons. Furthermore, transport ships often have additional bonus items that you can only get from capturing the ship. Although it can be more difficult and time consuming, boarding the enemy ship and systematically killing off the crew is definitely worthwhile if you have the capability to do so.

Hopefully this series of blogs has been informative for you. I highly recommend FTL and hope that if you choose to try it, my tips give you a better chance when starting out than I had.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: Things That Go Boom pt. 6

Today we are going to talk about some more offensive options in FTL, including consumable weapons.

Bombs Bursting In Air

Missiles

Direct hit, Captain.

Missile launchers are the most common form of consumable weapon. Each shot from a missile launcher consumes one missile, so care must be taken in using these weapons efficiently. Missile launchers penetrate all shields but are vulnerable to defensive drones. Missiles typically do devastating damage and charge moderately quickly. Due to their high damage and ability to penetrate shields, missiles are best used tactically in small numbers to eliminate important enemy systems at the beginning of the fight - most frequently, the shields or weapons systems in order to open up more offensive options or to limit the amount of damage the enemy can do to you. Missiles make good complements to almost any other weapon, as long as care is taken with their ammunition.

Bombs

Prepare to meet my little friend.

Bombs are similar to missiles in several ways - they use one missile per shot, they bypass shields, and they can do heavy damage to specific systems. However, bombs have two key differences from missiles that give them a much different strategic purpose: bombs do no damage to hull, and bombs cannot be stopped by defense drones. Consequently, bombs cannot be stopped by any defensive systems available other than cloaking, because they can miss. Bombs also often have powerful secondary effects, such as starting fires or breaching the enemy hull. Bombs typically charge moderately quickly, although slightly slower than similar missiles. Bombs work excellently with an offensive boarding team, as they allow you to systematically destroy enemy systems without the possibility of accidentally destroying the enemy ship while you still have crew on board.

Drones

As well as defensive drones, offensive drones are available. Using offensive drones requires one drone part, so they need to be used sparingly, although typically you will only need to launch an offensive drone once per fight so drone parts will be depleted less rapidly than missiles. When launched, offensive drones continually attack the enemy ship until either the drone or ship is destroyed. Offensive drones do a lot of damage over time, but typically cannot penetrate enemy shields effectively on their own, and thus they work best when supporting a weapons array that involves either heavy energy weapons to bring down the enemy shields, or missiles or bombs to tactically weaken the shields system. Drones can be a powerful choice for the right strategy.

Tomorrow we will finish discussing ship systems with a look at offensive boarding, as well as some things to try if you are boarded.


If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: Dealing Death pt. 5

Today we are going to cover some offensive options available in FTL.

Conventional Weaponry - Energy Weapons

Lasers

The most common type of weapon in FTL is laser weaponry. Lasers come in two varieties: standard, and heavy lasers. Heavy lasers do two damage per laser blast, while standard lasers do one damage per laser blast. More powerful lasers typically shoot more laser blasts at once. Each laser blast, whether standard or heavy, depletes one layer of shielding, as was covered in the defensive section of my tips. The main advantage of lasers is that they charge relatively quickly and deplete no ammunition. They are capable of penetrating shielding if you have enough lasers, but they cannot ignore it. Lasers are a standard weapon which is mediocre at most tasks but does not excel at anything in particular. Lasers make good weaponry fillers for most strategies.

Beams

Beam weapons do damage to each system hit, and damage to the hull based on how many total rooms are hit.

Beams are another form of energy weapon which are more specialized than laser weaponry. In general, beams are devastatingly powerful, but come with the limitation that they work effectively only once the enemy shields are down, whether temporarily or permanently. Once shields are down, beams are guaranteed to hit, and are by far the most damaging weapon if used effectively. Some beams are capable of partially ignoring shields, but their damage is reduced by each layer of shield which is still operational. Beams work great when paired with a weapon which can take down the enemy shields, either permanently or temporarily. Like lasers, beams do not require ammunition.

Ion Guns

Ion guns are an energy weapon which does no permanent damage but can disable any system once shields are down. While shields are up, beam guns work towards disabling the shield. As with other energy weapons, ion guns do not require ammunition. Ion guns often charge quickly to very quickly, and can work particularly well with beam weapons, or if you are planning on boarding the enemy vessel. Ion weapons do ion damage to systems, which takes the system hit down for 5 seconds per ion damage dealt.

Tomorrow we will go over consumable weaponry such as missiles and bombs.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: If You Are Not Alive, You Do No Damage pt. 4

Today we will finish discussing your defensive options in FTL

Let's Stay Alive!

Cloaking - Because Invisibility is Almost the Same as Invincibility

Installing a cloaking system is a powerful defensive option in FTL. Cloaking systems are quite expensive, costing 150 pieces of scrap from a shop, but they give you a powerful, active, tactical defensive choice. When you activate your cloaking system, all projectiles currently preparing to explode on your weapons systems and ruin your day will have an additional 60% chance to miss. In addition, enemy ships cannot charge or lock on their weapons while you are cloaked, while your weapons continue to charge, and your crew can continue to repair any damaged systems. Cloaking comes default on the Stealth Cruiser, once you unlock it, but it is a compelling defensive option for any of the ships, no matter what your particular strategy might be for that playthrough.

Drones - Why Take a Bullet That a Robot Will Take For You?

Drone control systems give you both offensive and defensive options, but for today we will focus on the defensive possibilities. You need 4 things to make use of a drone system: the drone system installation (if it is not stock for your current vessel), drone schematics, drone parts, and, of course, the always-necessary reactor power.

Defensively you have several choices for drone varieties. There are repair drones which will quickly and automatically repair damaged systems if deployed, as well as extinguishing fires and closing breaches. In addition, there are anti-boarding drones, which will automatically respond to and eliminate any enemy personnel who teleport onto your ship. Finally, and perhaps most powerfully, there are defense drones which you can deploy to orbit your vessel for the current engagement. While deployed, defense drones shoot down incoming enemy missiles, causing them to deal no damage to your ship. This is an effective and nearly guaranteed way to eliminate the otherwise highly problematic missiles from your consideration. An advanced version of the defense drone can also shoot down incoming enemy laser projectiles. Defense drones are sometimes eliminated by enemy fire as well, if they happen to be orbiting in the path of an incoming laser blast, so they will sometimes need to be replaced. A word of caution if you are relying on defense drones, however; unless you get a drone recovery arm, you will lose the drone parts after each individual engagement, so you should keep a careful eye on your stock of drone parts, and refrain from using them if you are running low unless you know the enemy is dangerous.

Tomorrow we will begin discussing the variety of offensive measures available to a captain in FTL.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: Defending Your Ship in a Hostile Galaxy pt. 3

I am Allergic to Death

One of the most important things you will be doing in FTL is destroying enemy ships. There are a variety of strategies to do that, each with strengths and weaknesses. In order to make an intelligent choice about which strategy you will employ, it is important to understand how the different offensive and defensive systems work. Today we will focus on the different systems you can use to keep yourself alive.

Shields

Your basic shield is a rapidly regenerating energy based defensive system which protects you against energy based threats like laser and beam weapons. Enemy ship shields use the same mechanics as yours, so keep this in mind for both. For each level of shielding a ship has, it can absorb one laser burst, or ablate one damage from a beam blast. This temporarily depletes that level of shielding; all shields regenerate after a short period in which they do not take damage. Shields do not mitigate damage from missiles or bombs, however. Keeping your weapons systems contemporary is critical; if your weapons become too outdated, you will find yourself unable to penetrate enemy shields at all in the later sectors - for instance, if you can only fire two laser bursts at once, you will be unable to do any damage to ship systems on any ship with level two shields or higher - in this case you would have to rely on non-energy based weaponry to impair the enemy shields before being able to use your energy based weaponry against the enemy. It sounds a little complicated in text, but the shield system is very intuitive once you experience it.

Evasive Maneuvers!

As long as your ship has a pilot, it has a chance to completely evade any incoming damage (except for beam weapons, which are guaranteed to hit). You can increase your chance to dodge attacks by having a pilot man the helm, an engineer manning the engines, and by having those crew members become experienced in their tasks the evasion bonus will increase. You can also increase the evasion bonus by leveling up your engines and providing them with more power. Evasion is an extremely valuable ability because it has a chance to avoid all non beam attacks, including bombs and missiles which can bypass shields. It is also active as long as your helm and engines have power and are not destroyed, and you have a pilot in the helm. When missiles go flying past your starboard side instead of sailing into your shield generator, you will give thanks for your pilot's capable hands and your powerful engines. Do not neglect your engines!

Tomorrow we will finish outlining your defensive options.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: What Lurks in Space (pt. 2)

Last time we introduced Subset Game's FTL. Today we are going to talk about taking your first faster-than-light jump and what to watch out for when you are exploring a sector.

Nothing Suits One Bold Step Like Another

It's more about the journey

Although your goal is to get to the end of each sector, it's important to visit as many systems before leaving the sector. I recommend turning on the "Show beacon paths on hover" option in the options menu right away - this displays which FTL paths are available between any systems when you hover over them in the map. At the beginning of each sector take a few seconds to plot your route through the sector, hitting as many systems as possible while remaining ahead of the pursuing Rebellion. By default you can only see stores and distress beacons when you are within 1 jump of them, and you can see nebulae anywhere on the sector map, but by taking advantage of scanning systems and advanced sensor augmentations for your ship you can be forewarned about some other navigational hazards as well. Here's a quick list of things to watch out for:

 The Dangers of Space

• Ion Storms - these lower the power output of your (and any enemy ships') reactor by half and are extremely dangerous. I recommend avoiding these if at all possible as they can be extremely punitive. This hazard only occur in nebula systems.

• Solar Disturbances - these occasionally begin fires on and damage the hulls of any ships in the vicinity. Shields reduce the effect. Although less dangerous than an ion storm, take all due precautions when visiting a system experiencing solar disturbances, as losing atmosphere, shields, or door control can cause the fires to quickly destroy your ship.

• Asteroid Fields - while navigating an asteroid belt, any ships will be periodically pelted by asteroids which will be absorbed by shields. As long as your shield systems remain online, asteroid fields are relatively innocuous, but if your shields are taken down by enemy action the asteroids will rapidly obliterate your whole and all other systems and cause you to explode. Take out enemy shields and let the asteroids work for you but guard your own shield room carefully.

• Nebulae - while navigating through these systems, your ships sensors are disabled, but the Rebel fleet will pursue you at half the normal speed (or three-fourths normal speed in nebula sectors.) This has the obvious benefit of letting you visit twice as many nebula systems as non-nebula, and so it is often a good idea to work nebulae into your route through the sector. 

• Distress Beacon - distress beacons will always have some sort of event, and are usually a good idea to visit. The events can be harmful, positive, or benign and are not more or less likely to help than a regular star system, but there is guaranteed to be a chance to gain an advantage. Only avoid these if your hull is already critical.

• Shops - shops are helpful space stations where you can always repair your ship and replenish consumables such as fuel, missiles, and drones. In addition, shops will have a random variety of weapons, ship enhancements, crew members for hire, drone schematics, and ship system installations for purchase. When planning to visit a shop, keep in mind that the cheapest item for purchase will be a crew member at 40 scrap; most weapons and ship enhancements cost at least 75 scrap. If you have less than 40 scrap, try not to visit the shop until you have jumped to a couple nearby systems so that you can save up enough scrap to make a purchase. If your ship needs fuel or repairs, on the other hand, you can visit it as soon as you feel it is necessary. You can never have enough fuel - if you have less than 20, you should buy as much as you can afford, after any other important purchases are made; you never know when the opportunity will arise again. Another important thing to keep in mind is that all shop consumables and repairs increase in cost as you advance to further sectors, but all ship enhancements, crew members, weapons, and drone schematics keep a static price. Choose your upgrades carefully and try to have a plan befitting your ship. You will not have enough scrap to buy everything, so buy what you need.

One more thing to keep in mind as you explore the sector - fuel is valuable, and you should try to avoid jumping to a system you have already explored. Nothing new happens in a system after you have already explored it once, so with the exception of an emergency visit to a shop you have already jumped to, you should avoid ever jumping to the same system twice.

Join us next time for more FTL tips!

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: Faster Than Light - an Essential Indie Game pt. 1

What is FTL?

This is obviously Not Good.

FTL by indie developer Subset Games is a top-down strategy game where the player controls a spaceship and its crew in a mission to cross the galaxy with vital information to save the Federation. In your quest, you will encounter solar flares, traverse asteroid belts, struggle through nebulae, be crippled by ion storms, battle slavers, flee from the Rebellion, be boarded by man eating mantids, and you will lose. You will lose over and over again, and with all of the other elements, that is why FTL is a great game which anyone can appreciate.

FTL is a relatively short game, and winning a single game only takes an hour or two, but every time you play FTL the game will be unique. You traverse the galaxy by choosing your route through individual sectors which are randomized each time you start a new game. Your goal is to advance from star system to star system across the sector, fleeing the pursuing Rebel fleet. Each star system you visit has a random event awaiting you, ranging from benign to helpful to devastating. Some system types are inherently more dangerous - and likewise more rewarding. Accumulating as many advantages as possible is important, because the difficulty only increases as you move to the next sector.

OK, Where do I Start?

I recommend playing through the tutorial if it is your first time. It is short and painless and highly informative. FTL's mechanics are simple but deep. As you advance through FTL and are forced by its grueling difficulty to improvise, the game will naturally teach you advanced ways to apply the basic mechanics you will learn in the tutorial - but that is all down the road.

You begin with only one ship layout available to you, the Kestrel. The Kestrel is a straightforward vessel which is quite powerful, more than adequate for defeating the game - I first won using the Kestrel - but you will unlock 9 total ships with 2 layouts each as you play the game. Some of them are more difficult than others to unlock, but none is inherently superior to the others - each ship has strengths and weaknesses and I found them to be very well balanced. For now, simply know that the Kestrel is powerful and well suited to a beginning Captain.

This is your Captain speaking . . . does anyone know how to fly this thing?

The majority of the game takes place in a top-down view of your ship, with enemy ships displayed on the right hand side of the screen. From this vantage you will command countless brave space cadets, and you will mostly get them killed. But don't worry - they won't hold a grudge, and there are always more. Systems can be controlled on the lower-left hand corner, and crew can be controlled directly on the ship.

Join us next time for your first faster-than-light jump.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!