Guide to FTL13
So, after years of working on the same old stations you got bored. You wanted something new and thus decided to join the crew of NSV Astreaus on their dangerous voyage through space. Well, you're in the right place as this guide will tell you everything there is to know about FTL13 and its mechanics.
Most jobs on FTL13 are the same, an engineer is still repairing the ship and scientists are still doing their normal routines (for now). However, FTL13 adds some new mechanics that you should know about and understand before you take any command roles or FTL13 exclusive roles like Bridge Officer. And for that reason, this guide will explain all these new or changed mechanics.
FTL13
FTL13 is an SS13 codebase which takes inspiration from the highly acclaimed game Faster Than Light (FTL). Although we take inspiration from FTL, the game still holds up many of the values that SS13 has to offer instead of turning into a full carbon copy of FTL. The crews are still the size, but everything will be far more compact, resources are scarcer, and the crew won't just have other players to worry about this time. One of the biggest changes this codebase has is that rather than a "stationary" station, this codebase has a ship. This ship can jump from system to system, land on planets, engage NPC ships in combat and salvage said ships for loot. This changes a lot in the way the game works and gives the game a completely different vibe, as the crew now has to work together to tackle obstacles the ship faces rather than just having internal conflicts.
New Jobs & Mechanics
FTL13 offers various new jobs that are related to space travel and ship-to-ship combat. To play these roles effectively you should understand how all of these roles work, as they are all dependent on each other and require the crew to work together, meaning you should put away the ill mentality of "don't trust anyone."
Bridge Officer
| COMMAND STAFF | |
 Weapons Officer |
Access: Maintenance, Outer Bridge, Bridge, Tactical Consoles Additional Access: N/A Difficulty: Medium Supervisors: Captain, Executive Officer Duties: Manning the weaponry of the ship. Guides: Guide to Bridge Officer Quote: What do you mean "We shouldn't fire at Nanotrasen Patrol Corvettes"? |
The Weapons Officer is one of the most vital members on board the ship. They are in control of the ship's weaponry and have to ensure that enemy ships do not destroy your ship. This is done through their console, the Tactical Console. They are also responsible for informing the Munitions Officer about what shells to load.
The Tactical Console controls the ship's weapons, targeting, and shield systems. Bear in mind the ship's weaponry has a very limited range, so shooting at something that's not at the same beacon you're at is just wasting ammo.
| COMMAND STAFF | |
 Helms Officer |
Access: Maintenance, Outer Bridge, Bridge, Tactical Consoles Additional Access: N/A Difficulty: Easy Supervisors: Captain, Executive Officer Duties: Flying the ship from point A to point B. Maybe with a stop at Point C. Guides: Guide to Bridge Officer Quote: Hang onto your asses, we're getting the hell outta here! |
The Helms Officer is the person in charge of flying the ship. The ship is flown using the Helms Console, which you can use to see the status of the FTL drives, and jump from system to system. It's fairly self-explanatory. Just make sure you warn the crew before you jump, else you risk leaving crew behind ("it announces it for me" isn't a very good excuse)! If you do not make any warning before you jump and you cause the death of a crewmember in jumping (i.e. leaving behind a salvage team), you may face punishment both in-character (manslaughter charges) or out-of-character (job-bans).
Munitions Officer
| SUPPLY STAFF | |
  Munitions Officer |
Access: Delivery Office, Munitions, MO office, Outer Bridge, Bridge Additional Access: N/A Difficulty: Easy Supervisors: Executive Officer Duties: Load the MAC cannon Guides: Guide to munitions Quote: "The clown's getting loaded into the gun...." "Oh my god, for fuck sake..." [MAC cannon ejects live shell, shell detonates] |
The Munitions Officer is the person that loads the main weapon aboard the ship - the Mass Accelerator Cannon, or MAC. The MAC is very big, very loud, and very powerful in the right hands. One very important note should be made: Once a shell is armed, it is very sensitive to shock until disarmed; the MAC ejects its spent shells forcefully. In other words, if you try to remove an armed shell that's loaded into the MAC, it'll blow up and probably kill you and whoever is in the room with you. If it doesn't kill you, it'll definitely lead to a demotion.
Salvage
FTL-13 features a rudimentary salvage system, where wrecks of destroyed ships will spawn in front of the ship, usually near the port-side arm. The loot from the wreckage depends on where the WO was firing - for example, if they were firing at the hull, expect to not get much cargo. The wreckage may still have live enemies on it, so you should be armed when you head out.
One thing to note is that the salvage team is safe while outside the shields: you do not need to worry about them being hit by incoming enemy fire. They are not safe, however, if you FTL while they are outside the shields.
There are 2 new consoles on the bridge: The Tactical and Navigation Consoles.
The Tactical Console is used to control the ship's weaponry and shields. This is where you can shoot at other ships, or lower the shields momentarily to allow your salvage team in or out.
The Navigation Console is what is used to pilot the ship itself. You can jump from system to system from the starmap, from planet to planet with the planet map, or from orbit to surface with the ship status menu.
Supermatter Engine
The ship's onboard powerplant is a thermo-electric generator with a supermatter shard powering the hot loop. As a quick reminder, the Supermatter emits plasma and heat when you hit it with an emitter, and that heat is what turns the hot loop. The cold loop is cooled by space to somewhere just above absolute zero. It is discussed more in-depth in this guide.
If left unattended, the supermatter shard can easily overheat. Overheating is bad, as it causes it to delaminate: If it delaminates, it explodes - violently - and you're left with a hole where the engine used to be, and an irradiated engine bay EVERYTHING. Of course, if it all hits the fan, you could always eject the supermatter shard - albeit with risks to your employment status for letting it get to the point to where it would need to be ejected in the first place.
Despite the risks, it's employed on the NSV Astraeus, Trailblazer, and Aetherwhisp because it allows a wide degree in the flexibility in its setup, and can be tweaked to improve performance or reliability.
An engineering roundstart guide created by one of the administrators is available here.
Factions
FTL13 has reworked the factions slightly, so there are three major factions:
- Nanotrasen are still your employers, and they're still friendly. However, firing upon them will cause them to retaliate with much more lethal force than the NSV Astraeus is equipped to handle. Systems controlled by Nanotrasen are represented by a blue dot on the starmap.
- Solgov is a neutral faction, but if you attack one, be it by accident or on purpose, the entire Solgov fleet will know within minutes. Systems controlled by Solgov are represented with an orange dot on the starmap.
- The Syndicate are sworn enemies to Nanotrasen, and are outright hostile towards Nanotrasen as a whole within FTL13. Syndicate-controlled systems are represented by a red dot on the map.
- Pirates are not technically a faction as each of them work independently, but they're generally hostile and found within any system.