TEXT: The Art Behind
  FTL:2448
  Designers Notes
  Tri Tac Games
  
  The Art of FTL
  Rich Tucholka
  Artists
  Doug Blanchard
  Kathy Mandrink/Carter
  Larry Dixon
  Tom Dow
  Kyle Miller
  Scott Ruggels
  Sandy Schreiber
  Diana Harlan/Stein
  Clifford ‘Gideon’ VanMeter
  William Wardrop
  FTL: Lost Races © 2001 Rich Tucholka and Tri Tac
  Games  No part of this Art or book may be repro-
  duced by any means or electronically without per-
  mission of Tri Tac Games
  Tri Tac allows the owner of this CD/PDF to produce
  up to 12 printed copies of this CD/PDF for his or her
  players and general use.  No part of this may be
  sold in any format whatsoever.
  Tri Tac Games
  c/o Rich Tucholka
  235 West Fairmount Ave
  Pontiac, MI  48340
  Tucholka@Hotmail.com
  TRITACGAMES.com
  
  FTL:2448
  It started in 1977 with the publication of Marc Miller’s Traveller and a group of Michi-
  gan Gamers who wanted to Role Play in Space.
  There was rumor of this new game and a copy was located in Lansing Michigan.  I
  made the journey and bought the boxed set.  With dice and rules in hand I generated a
  character and he died in training.
  Then I generated another and he died in training.
  Then I generated a Fleet Admiral and he died in training.
  Slapping the book against the wall, I pondered and said I could do this.  Bob Sadler
  had just done an unpublished short story called ‘Star Heat’ and I considered this a pivotal
  point.  It was a good future, a time of exploration and humans heading into space in 2248.
  An independent freighter crew.  I picked up the ball and ran with it.  Galaxy was born.
  We play tested a couple years and had a great time.  I changed Galaxy to FTL:2448
  and drove several groups crazy as I refined the play, styled the universe, and finally crafted
  the play mechanics.  Somewhere during this I was sidetracked with a game design  called
  the Morrow Project.
  With the passing of my association with Timeline, Tri Tac Inc published Fringeworthy
  and then The ORIGINAL FTL.  Nifty new game in a plastic binder.  Color coded page sec-
  tions.  The distributors looked at it like it was a can of worms.  ‘Where was the box?’  We
  showed it at Origins and Bob Boyle of Greenfield grabbed a hundred.  Then other noticed
  and the game sold out in 3 months.
  The second edition of FTL in 85 saw the expansion and addition of the bad guys, the
  Hagonni.   We realized that historically,  FTL had a lot of resemblance to the years before
  WWII and pushed into that direction.   By this time FTL had a good following and a lot of
  material was coming in along with suggestions and art.
  By 1993 the 2 volume 3rd edition hit and was well received.  We had planned to add
  two more books with covers that continued the port picture.  Unfortunately the advent of
  collectable cards and the absorption of most of the industry by Wizards (the end of small
  company Distribution) ended the era of small game companies.
  Tri Tac Games nearly ended publication in 1997 but Richard Tucholka saw the
  possibility of electronic publishing.  By 1999 the technology was there and the new  TRI
  TAC GAMES began to produce books on CD.
  Enjoy the history here.
  TRITACGAMES.COM
  
  1982
  Plastic Binder
  Color Coded
  Pages
  102 Pages
  1985
  Spiral Bind
  150 Pages
  
  1993 Edition
  384 Pages
  The cover was magnificent.!
  1980’s Box
  This design did not fly.
  
  Crew of the Santa Barbara
  by Kathy Mandrink
  A lot of what became FTL is here.  Borcha, Tugan, Kymnar,
  Kandak, Whurr, Kymnar, Vesh and a couple other things.
  
  Barlow
  by Kathy Mandrink
  What is it with the Barlow?   One of the three most popular
  Aliens from FTL.  Larry Dixon is now married to Mercedes
  Lackey.
  Barlow
  by Larry Dixon
  More serious view of FTL
  Aliens.  Larry Dixon is now
  married to award winning SF
  writer Mercedes Lackey.
  
  Dabes
  Dabes are one of the fun Aliens.  Never
  quite as bright as you’d expect, every crew
  seems to have one.
  These are views of what Dabes look like.
  1  Gideon
  2  Kathy Mandrink
  3  Doug Blanchard
  4  Randy Bathurst
  1
  2
  3
  4
  
  Views on a Scene
  Same scene from Star Pirates by Sandy
  Schreiber and Doug Blanchard.
  Sandy‘s (above) was just too good
  looking!
  
  Hagonni
  Unpublished piece
  that shows Hagonni
  and Uranzi.
  FTL Favorites
  by Doug Blanchard
  Just a single piece of
  art said volumes.  A
  Human and a Whurr
  on a repair.
  FTL Favorites
  by Doug Blanchard
  Human nature never
  changes.
  
  Art and Humor
  by Doug Blanchard
  Most of the art was reasonably seri-
  ous but we did let the artists add a
  little humor.  The lower piece was
  known for the slugs comment:
  ‘There Goes the Neighborhood!’
  
  Trell
  by Kathy Mandrink
  Created by Diana Stein, Trell es-
  caped their dying sun by
  going deep into their world.  Close
  to Earth, they were discovered and
  quietly became an important race
  in the Federatd Races.  Never said
  much but were oddly charming.
  Kymnar
  by Kathy Mandrink
  Every space game seems to have a
  feline like alien species.  FTL was
  no exception.  I suspect either our
  love of Cats or Larry Niven started
  this.
  
  FTL SCENES
  by Scott Ruggels
  Scott who went on to do 3DO’s Army Men did a wealth of amazing
  pieces on general life in 2448.  In this one we see a bar scene with a
  couple of angry Kymnar.  Notice the NO signs in the background.
  The uniforms he created were pure WWII styled from the Germans
  and Allies.  God these were magnificent!
  
  FTL SCENES
  by Scott Ruggels
  Grex police trying to apprehend a criminal.
  
  FTL SCENES
  by Scott Ruggels
  Anti War protest against the Interstellar Arms manufacturer
  Sternmeyer.
  
  FTL SCENES
  by Scott Ruggels
  Interstellar Court of Law.  Note the US  WWII style uniforms.
  FTL SHIPS
  More designs and styles then I want to think about.
  
  FTL SCENES
  by Scott Ruggels
  Combat scene with Human and Kymnar
  
  FTL SCENES
  by Scott Ruggels
  Wonderful look at film production of a piece of history.  In the FTL
  history the Kymnar were a war like race that federated into the ideals
  of the federated races.  The ship design was a William Wardrop
  design from the first edition.
  
  Kymnar Attack Ships
  by William Wardrop
  Bill build models of most of his ships.
  Note the hull design from a K-9 space
  station kit.
  Gamers
  by Kathy Mandrink
  Left to Right
  Ree Pruehs
  Dave Stein
  Jeff Matthews
  and some guy
  named Tucholka.
  
  Ruzz
  Race prototype that didn’t make the
  book.
  Wire Frame
  by David Strein
  We won’t say that Dave used a half million dollars of Military
  Computers at a Department of Defense Contractor to create ship
  angles for us.  The station and funny bits are William Wardrop.
  Ruzz
  by Tom Dow
  Tom Dow’s Ruzz that were a lot more
  bug like.
  
  Paebak
  by Gideon
  Same alien, different
  view.
  Paebak
  by Diana Harlan-Stein
  Paebacks are assigned Genetic
  Constructs at birth.  These lizards
  are intelligent helpers that last the
  Paebacks lifetime.  These aliens
  are born engineers.
  Paebacks were first invaded by the
  Hagonni in 2467 and stopped them
  cold.
  The older a Paeback gets the
  heavier they get.  They believe this
  is a badge of rank as they add
  more pockets for tools and parts.
  Paebak
  by Randy Bathurst
  These were almost the
  design of the Paebak
  from an old alien race
  that did not make the
  first edition.
  
  Vacsuit
  by Doug Blanchard
  Doug was prone to tape multible
  pieces together and somehow it
  worked.
  
  Hagonni
  by Doug Blanchard
  Absolutely perfect.  I always had
  trouble with birds and Parrots always
  hated my guts.
  Hagonni
  by William Wardrop
  First renderings with a touch of Bode
  influence.  Not sure about that single
  head feather but we were on the right
  track.
  
  Vesh
  by John Reiher
  John created he Vesh and creeped
  us all out.  A race that had given up
  their identy by gene manipulation and
  could tinker with themselves, adding
  other body parts.
  Vacsuit
  by William Wardrop
  Early heavy Vac Suit designs.  Bill was also the
  primary vehicle and equipment artist for the Morrow
  Project.
  
  Kansas Class Freighter
  For some odd reason we built a 3
  foot long model of the freighter for art
  shots.  Sadly the model was lost.
  The sketch below was the first ren-
  dering of the ship.
  
  Dancing Kymnar
  by Kyle Miller
  We couldn’t use this in the book but it
  was a great piece!
  
  Starport
  by Kyle Miller
  Kinda cute.  It was never published.
  Sandrol
  by Gideon
  Nice look at the race that came from
  a pressure hell and used somebody
  elses encounter suits that had been
  left behind.
  
  Splash Page First Edition
  by Kathy Mandrink
  Ben, Bells the Kymnar and Quag the Trell.
  The guy reading in the background is the
  game creator Rich Tucholka.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/FTL 2448 (tri tac)/FTL 2448 - The Art Behind FTL 2448.pdf