Subset Games talks FTL Advanced features

It's nearly here guys, the Advanced Edition of Subset Fames FTL (Faster than Light) is just around the corner and to celebrate, the developers have broken down each of the new features in an update, showing off the new Clone Bay, a better rewards information screen and several other new ship modules.

The clone bay works by replacing the med-bay. This means that you'll never be able to heal crew in a traditional fashion, but it does mean that when a crew member dies, as long as your clone bay has power, they will return – albeit with a slight reduction in their skill level. Minor healing will occur crew wide every jump so that you aren't constantly losing your best and brightest, but it's a very different way to play the game and should mean more of the dangerous events are perhaps a bit more worth the risk when you know a crew member will be replaced instead of permanently lost.

Another new system is the Mind Control station, which lets you take over an enemy crew member temporarily. However, you'll need to be able to see the crew member and slugs are immune, so you'll need to be brave and send a boarding party in before you can get a really good look at who you're controlling. Levelling up the station gives combat boosts to the newly controlled individual.

The last new subsystem is the backup battery, which gives you four extra bars of power for a 30 second stretch, but it needs 25 seconds to cool down afterwards, so remember, with great power, comes great responsibility.

In terms of weaponry, there's new hacking options, which means you can fire off a hacking drone that can disable weapons, shields, freak out drones or give you temporary control over an enemy teleporter. You'll also knock out the room's doors for a short while, giving you a chance to really play around with the occupants, or take out a key structure with a teleported boarding crew.

The last major update is to do with visuals. It's not new ship graphics or weapon effects though, but the reward screen. With the newly implemented imagery and highlighted text, figuring out what just happened in the wake of your space spider attack should be much easier – and quicker if you want to skip the fluff text.

No word yet on the final release of the FTL Advanced Edition, but it will be alongside a new iOS port, compatible with iPad 2 and newer.

Kitguru Says: This update is going to make me head back to FTL I'm sure. The clone bay sounds very interesting. 

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