FTL: Faster Than Light

FTL: Faster Than Light

Developer(s)	Subset Games
First release date	September 14, 2012

Key points

Purchase from the developer's website for a DRM-free and Steam key version.

Save games are cross-platform on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Game is unplayable on resolutions under 1280x720, and exhibit other anomalies above this resolution.

General information

FTLWiki - PCGamingWiki's FTL subwiki

Official Forum - most active community

r/ftlgame - subreddit.

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source(s)	Store unlock	Notes
Developer Website
GOG.com		5 songs from the soundtrack, a mini-artbook, some wallpapers & avatars.
Steam

Game data

Save game location

	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Games\FasterThanLight\
Mac	~/Library/Application Support/FasterThanLight/
Linux	~/.local/share/FasterThanLight/

The file prof.sav contains game progress.

The file continue.sav is generated when pressing 'Save & Quit'.

The file settings.ini contains all settings.

No save file is generated if pressing only 'Quit'.

If one dies or wins the game, the file is automatically deleted as is standard in roguelike games.

Quicksaving

It is possible to 'quick save' by saving and quitting, and then making manual backup copies of the continue.sav file, and restoring them when one dies, a method known as 'save scumming'.

This is considered cheating by most players and may spoil enjoyment of the game. It goes against the intentions of the developer's desire for the player to experience permanent death, a standard feature of many roguelike games.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GameSave Manager
Steam Cloud		Only on Windows.

Video settings

Video settings: black bar running on the side whilst using Borderless Windowed.

Graphics option	Native	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Allows for either letter-boxing to 16:9 or stretching.
Multi-monitor
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)

Widescreen resolution

The game is very restrictive in only rendering in 1280x720. Screens with lower resolution than this, such as 1024x768 cannot play the game. Note: a recent patch, added experimental support for smaller resolutions, provided the graphics card is modern enough.

Edit settings.ini • Link More information on what values to use on the FTL forums. Adjust the values: screen_x=1280 screen_y=800

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Working using Borderless Windowed application. However, a black bar renders on the right hand side.

Issues fixed

Framerate Too High

Vsync • Link Turning on Vsync in the graphics adaptor settings will prevent unnecessary frame renders. Framerate Cap • Link Turning on the framerate cap caps the framerate at 60.

Low Performance

Dynamic background option.

Dynamic Background Option • Link Switching off the dynamic background option can have a large effect on performance. Only changes the 'animation' of certain backgrounds, such as nebula clouds, and has little effect on visual quality. Disable dynamic backgrounds in the options menu.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Windows XP / Vista / 7	Windows XP / Vista / 7
Processor (CPU)	2 GHz	2 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	OpenGL 2.0 Support, 128 MB (dedicated card preferred)	OpenGL 2.0 Support, 128 MB (dedicated card preferred)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	175 MB	175 MB

Some integrated Intel HD graphics cards have been known to work but are not officially supported.

Mac
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	OS X 10.5.8	OS X 10.5.8
Processor (CPU)	2 GHz	2 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	OpenGL 2.0 Support, 256 MB (dedicated card preferred)	OpenGL 2.0 Support, 256 MB (dedicated card preferred)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	175 MB	175 MB

Linux
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Linux	Linux
Processor (CPU)	2 GHz	2 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	OpenGL 2.0 Support (dedicated card recommended)	OpenGL 2.0 Support (dedicated card recommended)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	175 MB	175 MB