Roguelike Radio Episode 56: Interview with FTL Developers, Justin Ma and Matthew Davis
Dec 18, 2012
Justin Ma and Matthew Davis, developers of the roguelike spaceship sim FTL, discuss the game's influences from board games, its scale and setting, the mechanics and design choices of crew members, advanced tactics and dialogue events, risk and crew member survival, flaws in the system, and post-release activities and future plans.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
From 2K Coworkers To Indie Duo
- Justin and Matthew met while working at 2K China and sat next to each other on a project before quitting to form Subset Games.
- Their close working relationship and complementary roles (artist/designer Justin, programmer Matthew) made the transition to an indie duo smoother.
Design By Playtesting
- They iterated without a rigid design doc, testing what felt fun and keeping what worked.
- The final FTL design emerged organically from playtesting and choices that produced the desired player experience.
Roguelike Elements As Atmosphere
- Roguelike elements were chosen for atmosphere, not as a starting mandate.
- They adopted permadeath and tension because those mechanics matched the ship-command fantasy they wanted.