![]() ![]() Leaning on that previously established atmosphere makes it so easy for players to fall into it. “Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, etc., have sold the fantasy of surviving (and exploring) in space for decades. “It also helps that the story the player gets to create takes place in an easily recognizable theme,” Davis added. We happened to ride the wave of what ultimately became a massive movement for popular design elements and mechanics, and there’s always a benefit to showing up slightly earlier to the next big thing. It was almost a breath of fresh air to be really challenged, and finally being able to beat the Flagship seemed to mean a lot to players.”ĭavis agrees: “Yeah, at the time, difficult games weren’t quite as common and ‘roguelike’ was not yet a widely known genre. “Other than storytelling, I suspect one thing that helped is that FTL was a very difficult game during an era where games were rarely punishing. It’s similar to how your D&D campaign might make a mediocre book, but experiencing it firsthand is incredible because you took part in authoring it. For some people, what happened to a single crew member over the course of one game could be more compelling than the best-written story. The game’s story isn’t something that is told to you by a writer it’s created by the player interacting with the random elements of the game. “I think the ‘dynamic storytelling’ element makes the game compelling to a lot of players. “It’s quite rare to become emotionally invested in a game or story, so I imagine if a game can keep making you feel strong emotions, it is less likely to get boring.” “I suspect that people continue to enjoy it in part because it’s so emotionally tiring,” he said. The fantasy of captaining the ship, with the procedural world resulting in unexpected wins and losses, is an emotionally taxing experience, but Ma believes that’s one of the reasons the game remains popular. What’s surprising is that they’re still playing the game today. ![]() People clearly wanted to experience the harsh realities of keeping a ship together while the universe tries to take it apart. The Kickstarter (they asked for $10,000 and received over $200k) was a huge step on the game’s journey. What, we thought, was a personal project turned into something very different.”įTL was a success even before the game’s release. And later, PC Gamer reached out to us to do a feature, which made no sense at the time for our little prototype, but the resulting PC Gamer write-up still hangs framed on my office wall. ![]() “During our time as finalists in China’s IGF, we met other developers that we respected who were genuinely interested in the game. “It started to snowball into something that people seemed to be legitimately excited about,” he said. Programmer and co-designer Matthew Davis was surprised, too. Every step of the way, the reception of the game exceeded our expectations.” “After we started showing the game around, it became clear it might be viable as a finished product, so we formed a company, did a small Kickstarter, and tried to finish it in a timely manner. “We didn’t really expect anyone would enjoy it we were making it entirely for our own entertainment,” said Justin Ma, artist and co-designer of FTL. It has always been a harsh experience from the start. We talked to the Kirk and Picard of Subset Games, Justin Ma, and Matthew Davis, who crafted FTL, about the impact of the game on themselves, the players, and developers alike.įTL began as a prototype while the developers were between jobs for a year. A decade on, people are still starting up their Kestrel’s engines and plotting routes into the unknown. Through an exceptionally tight combination of mechanics, storytelling, and calamity, FTL remains a remarkably popular way to ruin an evening. Developers Subset Games made a game they wanted to play, and as it happens, a lot of people wanted to play it, too. Every step of the journey is a leap into peril, where your captaining skills are called upon to divert power, vent fires, and battle the hostile enemies that focus on your vulnerable ship. The game, a tough-as-nails roguelike, is simple enough: you’re the captain of a fleeing Federation vessel, desperately trying to keep ahead of a wave of Rebel ships hunting you down. By Craig Pearson FTL: Faster Than Light appeared ten years ago, like a small scout ship illuminating the path for the rest of the fleet to follow. ![]()
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