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Install FTL: Hyperspace on Windows manually

  1. Skip this if you did not buy FTL on Steam.

    Right-click FTL: Faster Than Light in your library and open Properties.

    Show me how to open PropertiesRight-clicking FTL in the Steam library and choosing Properties

    Under General, untick Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud. Turn off Steam Cloud first. It restores outdated saves with broken state, which can keep Hyperspace from launching and will undo any save fix you try later.

    Show me the checkboxThe General tab of FTL's Steam properties with the Steam Cloud checkbox unticked

    Then under Updates, set automatic updates to Only update this game when I launch it.

    Your saves live in Documents\My Games\FasterThanLight. To get there, open File Explorer and paste %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games into the address bar.

    Rename FasterThanLight to FasterThanLight-backup, then launch FTL. The game makes a fresh folder, and your original saves stay in the backup if you ever want them back.

    Do this once, right after turning Steam Cloud off. Cloud sync leaves behind a save that Hyperspace cannot read, which freezes the game at the end of the loading bar.

  2. The Windows build of Hyperspace only runs on FTL 1.6.9. If Steam, GOG or Epic gave you anything newer (and they will have), roll it back first.

    1. Open FTL-Version-Rollback and choose Code → Download ZIP, then extract it.
    2. Copy the extracted contents into your FTL folder, next to FTLGame.exe. That is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FTL Faster Than Light.
    3. Run rollback.bat.

    Your original executable is kept as FTLGame_orig.exe, so this is reversible.

  3. Download FTL.Hyperspace.x.xx.x-Windows.zip from the latest release and extract it. Inside you will find:

    • Hyperspace.ftl keep this for step 5
    • README.txt
    • DirectoryWindows - Extract these files into where FTLGame.exe is/
      • Hyperspace.dll
      • xinput1_4.dll

    Copy both files from that folder into your FTL folder, next to FTLGame.exe. Leave Hyperspace.ftl where it is for now.

    On Steam, right-click FTL: Faster Than Light in your library and choose Manage → Browse local files. Steam opens the folder for you, which is safer than typing the path by hand.

    Show me where that is in SteamRight-clicking FTL in the Steam library and choosing Manage then Browse local files

    Got it from a different store? The folder is wherever you installed it.

  4. You need a mod manager to patch .ftl files into the game. ftlman is the one to use unless a mod misbehaves under it. The rest of this guide follows whichever tab you pick.

    Ftlman is the recomended mod manager for FTL: Hyperspace modding. Actively maintained and supports Hyperspace updates

    1. Download the build for your machine from the ftlman releases page.
    2. Extract the ftlman folder anywhere you like. It does not have to live in your FTL directory.
    3. If FTL is currently modded, revert it to vanilla first.
    4. Run ftlman. A Steam install is detected automatically. If yours sits somewhere non-standard, or you have more than one copy and want a specific one, open Settings and set FTL data directory yourself.
  5. Put the Hyperspace.ftl from the ZIP into your manager’s mods folder, tick it, and apply. Tick any other Hyperspace-based mods after it.

  6. Launch FTL. About halfway through the loading screen, and again on the menu, a small version string appears in the top right. That is Hyperspace reporting itself, and it means the binary is loaded.

    If your mod’s main menu comes up with no errors, you are done.

Hyperspace is now installed and ready to play. Everything below is optional.

Multiverse is the largest mod built on Hyperspace, and it installs differently from everything else.

  1. Open the Multiverse release thread and scroll to DOWNLOAD RAW FILES (OTHER PLATFORMS, UPDATES, MANUAL INSTALL). Ignore the installer above it, that one is Windows-only and does its own thing.
  2. Download both files listed there, the Assets File and the Data File.
  3. Put both .zip files in your mod manager’s mods folder.
  4. Patch them in this order, and nothing else:
  • Press Scan in the top right so the new files show up
  • Drag Multiverse Assets above Multiverse Data
  • Tick both
  • Leave Hyperspace unticked
  • Press Apply
Show me what it should look likeftlman with Multiverse Assets ticked directly above Multiverse Data, and Hyperspace.ftl left unticked
  1. Deleting the mod files is not enough on its own. ftl.dat still holds the patched content and has to be put back to vanilla.

    Delete ftl.dat and rename ftl.dat.vanilla back to ftl.dat.

  2. Delete Hyperspace.dll and xinput1_4.dll from your FTL folder.

  3. To go back to 1.6.14, delete FTLGame.exe and rename FTLGame_orig.exe back to FTLGame.exe.