FTL: advanced edition

A few years back I wrote about a little game called FTL. Well, a year or so ago they put out a free update, which added a whole load more encounters, weapons, equipment, ship rooms and other stuff too. I hadn't played the updated version much due to the fact that I played the classic version a lot (a crazy amount, in fact!).

Recently, one of my good friends finally got into the game and had been telling me a little here and there about his adventures and it started to re-ignite my enthusiasm for the game. After just a few games I feel like I'm completely hooked again!! Annoyingly I have to start from scratch because I now have FTL in steam and on a new computer, so I have none of my unlocks from the previous time I played.

The game is fundamentally the same as it has even been and if you want to know what that is, then follow the link I put in the first sentence of this post. If you can't be bothered then essentially the game involves you managing a space ship, fleeing from a rebel fleet across numerous procedurally generated space system. There is no load facility so if you die that's it, you can't reload from an early point. It's a desperate dash involving a certain amount of luck on what you find on your journey and decision making, with frantic real time space battles. At first the game can seem completely luck based and out to beat you into a pulp on every attempt, but as you become more familiar with it you become savvy to it's tricks and learn how to manage your resources and make better decisions. Each run through takes up to an hour and a half tops, but normally averages about the hour mark. It's a glorious game.

Anyway, back to the updated version of the game and what it changes. Well, as I said at the beginning of this post it just adds in a whole bunch of new options and potential encounters, sounds nice and just more of the same, no? Well, I don't think it is anymore. Because there more ways to do things and more ways for your enemy to end your desperate journey, I think it changes a lot more than just the new alternatives. This new update makes the game significantly harder because you have to guard against so much more. In the old game you could pump your shields and engines up and you'd be pretty much golden, but now your crew members might be mind controlled, or your shields might be hacked and taken down completely at a stroke! Also, the game isn't any longer and due to there being so many more variations, if you see something you want the chances of it appearing again in another system are next to nil, so you have to grab it when you can!

I must admit I didn't like the added complexity when it first came out, which is why I've not played it since the update. I thought that it diluted the game too much, took away the simple charm of the original version. I think it is because my friend has got into the game that I now feel I've seen it in a new light and really do appreciate it again.

This game will run on the most basic of laptops, there's even an iPad version. The graphics and music are beautifully "retro" and the gameplay is excellent. If you like a game with a short run through that is highly replayable, possibly endlessly replayable, then invest a few quid in this absolute gem of a game.

The second brew is a great success!

I cracked open a couple of bottles from the second brew, which was bottled up exactly 5 weeks ago. I tried one with the added "herb" and then had one of the "control" bottles, which was just the hopped malt extract, unaltered.

The first bottle, with the added herb, had a distinctive aroma (I thought it was a bit like elderflower), which was maybe a little overpowering, but if brought down a little, would be an excellent addiction to a summer or heather ale.

The flavour in both bottles was an IPA, although a little darker than I'd have expected. IPAs are not really my cup of tea, but it was ok.

The most impressive point of this brew was how well the bottles had conditioned! My co-brewer had opened a bottle after only 2 weeks of being bottled and he'd said it was ok. Being 5 weeks after bottling I did expect these to be good but I was very pleasantly surprised to see how much fizz, head and flavour there was.

Once again, my friend's attention to detail and cleanliness has led to another faultless beer and I'm champing at the bit now to get onto our next brew!

World of Warships - the yank ships aren't so bad

I've been a little reinvigorated to play world of warships in the last few days. A bit like World of Tanks, I think it is one of those games where it's easy to come and go, try playing a certain line of ships/tanks, get bored with them, then give it a rest and come back to it later to try a different line.

Whether it's battleships, destroyers, heavy tanks or artillery, both games offer a large selection of hardware to run out in. As I've said previously though, the lack of context bothers me in the long run, but as a free-to-play game they are wonderfully designed with, what I think is a fantastic pay model; you really don't have to put money into the game, but if you enjoy a particular part or fancy having a little more, then there are good products that allow you to get more from the game, and most importantly, do not give you an edge in the actual gameplay!

With World of Tanks I think I put in between £15-£20, but considering how much I played the game I consider this to be an absolute steal! I take my hat off to Wargaming.net, their game design and payment model is excellent.

So, getting back to the title, a couple of weeks back I expressed my view that I didn't enjoy the American ships so much, I felt they were all a little generic and lacked character. I think, in the last couple of weeks, having got in touch with an old friend, who to my surprised was a world of warships addict, he's brought the joy of brawling in an American battleship or charging around in my Clemson class destroyer. The latter ship, my Clemson destroyer, has been a joy to play with and made me consider that destroyer play may be my strongest ship class in the game!

I've been meaning to write a review of World of Warships, so maybe I'll run down some points now.

The good stuff:

• It's free. Honestly, you can play this game quite satisfactorily without parting with a penny! I haven't yet, but I am tempted, because there are some cool premium ships and I may want some extra port slots at some point, but I don't feel pressured and that's the important thing.
• The graphics are good; excellent, I think. The sea looks realistic and the swells and white horses are very convincing. The ships are immaculately designed in fine detail.
• The gameplay, just like with World of Tanks, is easily accessible. The controls are accessible and yet there always seems to be a nuance to be discovered to enhance your gameplay. It makes me feel good to play and learn, without ever making me like a nublet.
• The damage model is impressive. Just like in World of Tanks, the armour, hard points and ships components are represented so well and make accuracy and manoeuvre so important.
• The variety in gameplay is surprisingly good. Aircraft carriers, destroyers, battleships and cruisers all offer very different gameplay experiences, which cross over seamlessly to create a very team focussed battle experience; each player needs to play their role and sometimes do something heroic to win the day!

The bad stuff:

• Lack of context. Random nationalities and ships all bundled together to find another team of randomly assorted ships and nations. There's a certain amount of balancing with ship levels and types, but it's just a play ground for people to enjoy early 20th century warships; not for those who want to re-enact historical engagement or semi-realistic situations.
• Just like with World of Tanks, but less so, the ship level/tier system can be annoying. Some ships, which were known to be very good can end up being in a tier where they're up against ships of a later period and therefore not able to really show their impressive status in the history of warships; similar to how I described the Tiger tank in World of Tanks. However, World of Tanks brings players in almost at the invention of the tank and ends with near modern day tanks, which means the 10 tier systems jumps quite significantly as tanks get better. This speed of development is not as high in shipping; a tier 3 battleship, one of the very early dreadnaughts, will be able to out gun any cruiser, maybe even the very top tier ones, and a tier 10 battleship getting hit by torpedoes from a tier 2 or 3 destroyer is not going to appreciate it.
• Repetition. It's not the kind of game that'll grab me for long periods. I'm fairly certain I'll enjoy it for a long time yet, but in short stints and preferably with friends. Solo play gets tedious fairly quickly.

I'm not going to go into much more as it's a free-to-play game, there's no story to really go into, the game is what it is; if you like early 20th century warships, you'll probably enjoy dabbling in this game. It looks good and runs fairly well even on quite slow systems.

I've probably missed some things, I've written this a bit spontaneously, but I have been thinking about it for a while.

Doing something you don't want to do, so you can do what you want to do

Bit of a long title and it refers to many aspects of life, as any reasonable person will understand. However, in this context it's referring to games mastering role play games. It's something I've never wanted to do, but with so many exciting RPGs out there, in particularly, the Star Wars RPGs coming from Fantasy Flight games, I've been forced to figure out how I can play them.

I haven't done much GMing, as this blog will verify, but I've had a go a few times. I've run the prescribed beginner adventures from 2 of the Star Wars RPG beginner boxes, which are fantastic value for money for anyone interested in Star Wars and RPGing. I've run a couple of other things, but they've never been great. The important thing is that I've learnt a little each time and it's sort of compelled me to keep trying and I've found that I can enjoy the game in a different way. I've also found videos and guides to give me ideas and there are loads of resources out there; the youtube channel Geek and Sundry has just started a series of videos with useful tips for GMs, hosted by Matt Mercer.

As a kid I never wanted to GM games, but my friends and I were interested in RPGs, particularly me, and no-one else would do it. Back then we'd run very free-form games with no particular rules or even die rolls, it was all adlibbed and kept in our heads. I craved a chance to be a player in a game and not have to run it, but it never happened as a kid. Luckily, in recent years I've been able to be a player in Pathfinder and some D&D, which, in a way, brought me round to biting the bullet and trying my hand at GMing a proper RPG.

The title of this blog post also brings me onto the subject of other games too. I'm a big believer of the idea that if you want to play something, sort it out yourself, then find people who want to play. Then, if people get their own stuff, it's because they really want to, not because of any pressure. As a kid I used to try and rope people in, but all I ended up with was a guilty feeling when they didn't enjoy it as much as me.

Games on my mind at the moment

Since moving to Carlisle I've not playing any board games regularly. The only chance I've had is when I've gone south to see friends and family. Because of this I often feeling a longing to sit round a table with mates and enjoy some quality gaming time!

There are a couple of games in particular that are looking tempting to me at the moment, due to being easy to pick up and play and hopefully to be playable with people who are not into games or big game fans.

King of Tokyo/New York - King of Tokyo has been around for a few years now and looks like a great, very simple dice game where each player takes a monster and tries to terrorise Toyko. King of New York came out more recently and has a slightly more in depth gaming experience, but is supposedly still very easy to play.

Sentinels of the Multiverse - I think I've mentioned this one in the past (quite a long time ago actually), but I like the look of this game's simple card game mechanics and interesting use of different decks, which is something I quite like using in my own games. I've heard some compelling criticism for the game, which fundamentally states that the game doesn't have enough interaction between players to be properly co-operative and it can get overwhelmingly complex with different damage types and amounts all piling up,but I'm still intrigued by it...


[ edit - corrected the name of Sentinels! I always make this error... ]