FTL Games (Faster Than Light) was the video game development division of Software Heaven Inc. FTL created several popular video games in the 1980s. Despite the company's small size, FTL products were successful and received positive reviews from critics.

Overview

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 software. He hired Bruce Webster, with whom he graduated from high school, 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.

Release history

FTL released several games throughout its short history. Certain titles were best sellers for the time of their release.

SunDog: Frozen Legacy

<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: thumb|An [[Atari ST view of the eponymous ship in 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 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 the game to the Atari ST, 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.

Oids

<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: thumb|A screenshot of Oids on the [[Atari ST, a hit in the United Kingdom, but was overshadowed by their next game, Dungeon Master.]] -->

Oids, an action game, was one of FTL's minor releases. The original Atari ST 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 Mac, but received 5 Stars on Macworld 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. 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 many awards, including the first Special Award for Artistic Achievement from Computer Gaming World when it was initially released.

David R. Darrow. returned to illustrate the cover artwork for Dungeon Master.

Dungeon Master II

Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep was the best-selling game of the week when it was released in Japan in December 1993. For some reason, it took two years before it was released in the US and Europe in 1995 by Interplay Productions. While the game had been highly anticipated, by 1995 it was considered too dated and sold poorly. The studio began to break up around this time. It was developed and published by Victor Interactive Software.

References

  • FTL Games | Dungeon Master Encyclopaedia