History VideOGame / FTLFasterThanLight

''FTL'' was officially released for purchase from the developers, UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, and GOG.com on September 14th, 2012, although early beta access was granted to its Website/{{Kickstarter}} backers. [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/64409699/ftl-faster-than-light It is one of the first completed games spawned from a completed Kickstarter.]]

*** All Federation ships (Kestrel A, B, and C, Federation A, B, and C, and Stealth A) have names that are birds or related to them (Kestrel, Red-Tail, Swallow, Osprey, Nisos, Fregatidae, and Nesasio, respectively). Nisos is the name of a man in Greek mythology that turned into a bird, a Fregatidae is better known as a frigate-bird with a black-and-red color scheme to boot, and the Nesasio is a type of owl known for being stealthy.

*** Mantis A and B (Gila Monster and Basilisk respectively) are named after large serpents.

The player controls the crew of a lone spaceship affiliated with TheFederation, which is currently on the losing end of a [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized massive rebellion]]. The objective is to deliver important information to the remains of the Federation fleet in a distant sector. Unfortunately, as those familiar with Roguelikes will suspect, this is [[NintendoHard far, FAR from easy]]: the galaxy is an extremely dangerous place for a lone vessel, filled with dangers such as pirates, [[NegativeSpaceWedgie deadly environmental hazards]], rebel scouts, hostile alien races, and others. Not to mention that the vast rebel fleet is in hot pursuit...

* NintendoHard: Like basically all {{Roguelikes}}. One of the pre-start tips [[LampshadeHanging explicitly says]] that half the fun is dying.

** Unless you have a scanner (obtaining one is a luck-based mission in and of itself), you'll never know what hazards the next system will have.

** The Rebellion is mildly human-supremacist; a small bribe is enough for a Rebel checkpoint to let a group of human ships pass inspection freely, and the Zoltan Envoy quest has a fanatical Rebel reject the idea of unity on the grounds that aliens are limiting humanity.

** The Mk. II Defense Drone fires faster than the Mk. I and can shoot down any kind of incoming projectile, including laser bursts and ion blasts, not just missiles and boarding drones like the Mk. I. However, like all drones, it's computer-controlled and has no threat priority system, meaning it will often prioritize a closer, weak laser over the more dangerous missile that will go right through your shielding. It also requires three bars of power to operate, compared to two for the more reliable Mk. I. It's good, just not as good in practice as it is on paper.[[note]]If you can manage to get your hands [[https://imgur.com/a/RMbKL on two of them however...]][[/note]]

* ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway: While Earth is mentioned in an event, it is otherwise ignored by the game, instead focusing on the Federation and Rebellion as the main faucets of humanity.

Not to be confused with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTL_Games FTL Games,]] a video game development company that has been defunct since 1996, and was best known for its own roguelike, ''VideoGame/DungeonMaster'', and its sequels. Also not to be confused with the trope FasterThanLightTravel, even though this game uses it for getting around.

** Engine upgrades are more incremental than shields or weapons upgrades, but they are able to reduce the number of shots that hit you, reducing the scrap spent on repairs, as well as letting your run away faster from nasty fights.

** The Mk. II Defense Drone fires faster than the Mk. I and can shoot down any kind of incoming projectile, including laser bursts and ion blasts, not just missiles and boarding drones like the Mk. I. However, like all drones, it's computer-controlled and has no threat priority system, meaning it will often prioritize a closer, weak laser over the more dangerous missile that will go right through your shielding. It also requires three bars of power to operate, compared to two for the more reliable Mk. I. It's good, just not as good in practice as it is on paper.

* ComicallySmallBribe: If you're really laying a beatdown on a ship, they may offer you a bribe to leave them alone. If it's a lot of fuel or missiles, or a nice weapon, you will probably take them up on it. But if it's one missile, one fuel, and only a handful of scrap, [[WhatAnIdiot you really have to wonder]] how much value they place on their lives. Although, when you salvage them, it turns out ''that was everything they had.''

* DecapitatedArmy: [[spoiler: If you kill the flagship, the ending crawl states that with the flagship destroyed, the Rebel fleet falls apart in spite of their extreme numbers advantage over the Fedaration. Presumably, the flagship had all of the Rebellion's leader on board and/or they dumped too many resources into it to continue with it taken down.]]

* InterfaceSpoiler: If your ship enters a new location a little bit farther to the left, or your "Ship" button is blacked out with an "In Danger" message, there's a fight happening.

** Unless you have a scanner (obtaining one is a luck-based mission in and of itself), you'll never know what hazards the next system you jump to will have.

** Newbie players on Easy — and even experienced players on Hard — can suffer devastating defeats in the first jump if they get bad luck, especially if they pick a ship with a glaring weak point; [[ClassicVideoGameScrewYous nothing says "fuck you"]] like encountering an Auto-Ship or Zoltan fighter with no offensive capabilities other than boarding parties, or encountering an enemy with beam drones and beam weapons without any shields.