FTL: Advanced Edition includes all new alien race, extra features

FTL: Advanced Edition will include a whole host of new features in addition to previously announced improvements, including a whole new race, new drones and layouts, a battery backup and more.

In a new blog post, developer Subset Games introduced the Lanius, a metallic species rarely seen in Federation Space. It's theorised that these scavengers absorbed all the evidence of earlier civilisations.

Although there's been no diplomatic contact with the Lanius in the past, their cyclical lifestyle has kicked off again; it's usually triggered by intergalactic war or the dying throws of a civilisation. Bit grim, that; you don't always lose.

Lanius are valuable crew members - if you cna find one who doesn't kill you on sight - because they don't need life support, and in fact drain oxygen from the compartment they inhabit. Perfect boarders and last-defence warriors, then.

Subset also announced the following new features coming to the rogue-like in the Advanced Edition:

• Lanius Ship: New player ship with its own achievements and alternate layout.
• Type C Ship Layouts: 8 of the original ships will have a third layout that capitalizes on the new content. With the Lanius ship, that makes for a total of ten new starting ship designs.
• Backup Battery Subsystem: Subsystem that can provide temporary reactor power in a pinch.
• New Drones: Expanded drone options includes: the Shield Drone that generates a green super shield for your ship, the Anti-Combat Drone that shoots down enemy combat drones, and the Ion Intruder that blasts into the enemy ship and randomly ionizes systems while stunning and distracting crew.
• Gameplay Refinements: Doors and Sensors can be manned to increase effectiveness; you can now rename crew mid-game; each race has a small variety of colors which allows for easier visual recognition.

Interestingly, the developer said there's "more to come", despite the already extensive list of features noted in the initial announcement.

FTL: Advanced Edition will replace the current release, and will be a free update for current owners, although its content can be disabled by purists. It's headed to all current platforms as well as iPad, sometime later this year.

Thanks, Destructoid.