HUGE NOTE: I am sloppily posting what I wrote over 10 years ago, because I don't want to throw away my thoughts--this has been sitting in my drafts for-basically-ever.
##Original Post
I've been thinking about an indie game that is a very strange mix of glee and frustration: FTL (Faster Than Light). I love this game.
For any who are unfamiliar, here's the general gist:
- Start out with a ship
- Make your way to the exit of the first sector without dying, hopefully acquiring upgrades
- Die anyway because RNG hates you
- Start over, knowing that this other ship style will totally be better
- Be wrong and die again in the first sector
- Rage quit
Okay, so maybe that's a bit dramatic. My experience was not that at all (although I have died in the first sector before even when I had a good setup going), but the general consensus is that this Game Is Hard. I still have yet to earnestly attempt beating the game even just on normal difficulty. Why do I like difficult games? That's a great question, but not what I'm getting at in this post.
FTL makes me think of life when it comes to things not working out, especially when everything seems to be going smoothly. Let me just do a little analogy. Let's say you have a ship, and you are certain this ship is going to take you all the way to victory. There are eight sectors, and you get some good scrap (currency) and weapon drops, so good that the first six sectors are a breeze and you're just steamrolling through outer space. However, come 7th sector, you suddenly find yourself up against a ship with a super shield, so you can't disable their guns with bombs or teleport your guys over to kill their crew. On top of that, they happen to be equipped with bombs and missiles, therefore your offense and defense now mean piddle. You barely survive with enough scrap to repair (if you're lucky enough to find a store in a timely manner) your ship. Unfortunately, when you move to the location just next to the store, you get
No comments:
Post a Comment