FTL Games (Faster Than Light) was the

video game development Video game development (or gamedev) is the process of developing a video game. The effort is undertaken by a developer, ranging from a single person to an international team dispersed across the globe. Development of traditional commercial PC a ...

division of Software Heaven Inc. FTL created several popular

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s in the 1980s. Despite the company's small size, FTL products were consistently number-one sellers and received the highest critical acclaim and industry

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

s. FTL was founded by Wayne Holder in 1982. Holder started Software Heaven and FTL as its game division after founding Oasis Systems, which specialized in

spell checking In software, a spell checker (or spelling checker or spell check) is a software feature that checks for misspellings in a text file, text. Spell-checking features are often embedded in software or services, such as a word processor, email client, el ...

software. He hired

Bruce Webster Bruce F. Webster is an American academic and software engineer. He is currently a principal at Bruce F. Webster & Associates and an adjunct professor in computer science at Brigham Young University. Early life and education Webster studied ...

, with whom he graduated from

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, to head FTL. After Webster left FTL in 1984, Doug Bell joined FTL and served as the Technical Director until FTL ceased operations in 1996.

The games

FTL released several games throughout its relatively short history. Most went on to become best sellers and some even set new standards for games of their genres.

''SunDog''

Holder and Webster co-designed FTL's first game, '' SunDog: Frozen Legacy'', a space trading game. It was released first for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

in March 1984. Webster did most of the programming for the Apple II version, but resigned from FTL after the release of version 2.0. Doug Bell, Andy Jaros and Michael Newton significantly enhanced the game's graphics when

porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...

the game to the

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

, releasing it in late 1985. ''SunDog'' became the best selling game on the Atari ST during the system's first year, and garnered lavish critical acclaim. The packaging cover art was designed and illustrated by David R. Darrow.My Illustration Career
from David R. Darrow's website All of FTL's subsequent games contain at least one subtle reference to ''Sundog''.

''Oids''

Oids ''Oids'' is a multidirectional shooter developed and self-published by FTL Games in 1987. The game was originally released on the Atari ST, followed by a B&W version for the classic 68k Macintosh in 1990. The Atari ST version, written by Dan Hewi ...

'', an

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

, was one of FTL's minor releases. The original

version was created by Dan Hewitt who did both the graphics and all of the programming. It received little attention with a later conversion to the

Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

, but received 5 Stars on ''

Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macint ...

'' 1990. However the original Atari ST release received rave reviews in the UK, where it remains a cult favourite. Later, after FTL ceased operations, an updated authorized shareware version of ''Oids'' for the Macintosh was developed and released by Kirk Baker. It was however eclipsed by the release of FTL's next game. As with ''SunDog'', the packaging cover art was designed and illustrated by David R. Darrow.

''Dungeon Master''

'' Dungeon Master'' is a fantasy

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

, the first to feature real-time gameplay. The game included a number of

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

features that made gameplay particularly enjoyable, from a spell system that seemed to be "logical" to the

intuitive Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; ...

way the player used the mouse to directly manipulate items in the simulated 3D view. It was released on the ST in 1987 and went on to become the ST's best selling product of all time. It was eventually ported to over a dozen platforms in six languages. It received too many awards to list here, including the first ever ''Special Award for Artistic Achievement'' from ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' when it was initially released. Darrow did the cover artwork for this game as well.

''Chaos Strikes Back''

A ''Dungeon Master'' sequel, '' Chaos Strikes Back'', was released in 1989 for most platforms, but notably excluding a PC version. It uses the same engine as ''Dungeon Master'' but features new creatures and

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

''Dungeon Master: Theron's Quest''

'' Dungeon Master: Theron's Quest'' was a simplified Dungeon Master version with new dungeons from 1992 for

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC, NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth genera ...

and the

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though ...

''Dungeon Master II''

'' Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep'' was the best-selling game of the week when it was released in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in December 1993. For some reason, it took two years before it was released in the US and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in 1995 by

Interplay Productions Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca ...

. While the game had been anxiously awaited by legions of ''Dungeon Master'' players, by 1995 it was considered too dated and sold poorly. FTL broke up about this time.

''Dungeon Master Nexus''

'' Dungeon Master Nexus'' was released 1998 for

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

and only the Japanese market under the ''FTL'' and ''Software Heaven'' brand. It was published and maybe also developed by ''Victor Interactive Software Inc.''.

References

External links

*
FTL Games , Dungeon Master Encyclopaedia
{{Authority control Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 1982 Defunct companies based in California 1982 establishments in California