
Hi guys! I'm Ruben, an artist in the game industry.
I got insanely addicted to FTL, and a second time with Advanced, (a total of hundreds of hours in and got all the ships) so I thought it was time to give a little back with some fan art

These are Photoshop paintings, with the vivid colors I usually see in boardgame art and videogame unit portraits.
I wanted each small portrait to tell a story, either the essence of what the alien does, or certain scenes in action.
Links for the larger view:
DeviantArt http://rubendevela.deviantart.com/art/F ... -458802607
Tumblr http://rubendevela.tumblr.com/post/8792 ... y-ftl-from
Notes:
I was inspired by the sprites to make portraits of the various aliens. With the tiny game sprite size, drawing these was almost like literary fan art. I had some cues but there were so many details I guessed at for my own interpretation.
Lanius:
The new aliens in town! Possibly inspired by Dan Simmons' Shrike creature, (their 2nd ship is even called THE SHRIKE), I was also reminded of the T-1000 from their habit of turning into liquid metal goo. Also, I was reminded of 40k's Necrons from their habit of spending eons in stasis. These living skeletons come from the void and asphyxiate you to death...
Slug:
"Now, most gracioussss captain, you must join me please in a drink to our alliance!"
Zoltan:
I wanted these glowstick people to be human shaped with 4 limbs like the game sprite, but with clearly alien physiology.
Engi:
I love these guys with their green CRT monitor faces and friendly demeanor! I wanted to capture their living "silvery skin" made of trillions of nano-machines as mentioned in the game I imagine it to look like constantly shifting iron filings.
Rockmen:
Fireproof combat is AWESOME!!!!
Mantis:
These implacable green death-dealers seem to be identical like earth Mantodea in their anatomy. In my headcanon, this hints that they might be an "uplift" species, perhaps specifically engineered from Earth insects to be killing machines, but got loose from their masters?
Human:
My inspiration for this Rebel Captain? Let's just say... "Lady Captain Honor Satsuki Harrington Kiryuin"!!!, a specimen of what seems to me to be the most disruptive species in the galaxy!
???????:
"there's a strange stasis pod that catches your eye...."
Background star images from NASA and Hubble