In the course of last week’s introduction of Galaxy on Fire 2 – Supernova’s new bounty hunting gameplay feature, we’ve already hinted that you’ll be rewarded with certain “special” ships if you manage to take down each faction’s public enemy number one. Today we’d like to elaborate a little further on that topic and give you some additional insight into the conception and design of one of those special ships, namely the Bloodstar. If you’ve checked out our last developer diary, you’ll already have seen an exclusive action shot of that heavily armed gunship bursting through one of the new star systems with its auto-turret sprayin’ bullets all over the scene. Today, we’d like to give you some more in-depth background info on the Bloodstar and let you know which steps and stages it had to undergo before it was finally ready to find its way into the playable beta version of Galaxy on Fire 2 – Supernova for iPhone and iPad[full]

An early concept artwork of the Bloodstar, the most powerful ship in Fishlabs' forthcoming outerspace adventure Supernova for iPhone and iPad. The "red star" symbol that can still be seen on the picture above has meanwhile been removed for reasons of anachronism.

Being commanded by the notorious Qyrr Myfft, a multipod so mean and nasty that even Mkkt Bkkt and his brother Jkkt Bkkt look like saints in comparison, the Bloodstar is a real powerhouse of a vessel! Unlike the Nivelian ships, for example, elegance and style did hardly play a role in the design of the Bloodstar, but rather did the makers of this brawny gunship put full emphasis on durability, robustness and firepower. Originally constructed by an ancient faction and sold to its current owner by a trader specialised in rejected military crafts and equipment, the Bloodstar had been heavily modified and upgraded over the years in order to make sure that it would still pose a serious threat to each and any ship in the galaxy – no matter whether it’s a destructive Mantis, a sleek ‘n swanky Aegir or a highly advanced Nemesis. With four primary and four secondary weapons slots, as well as a turret spot, the Bloodstar even ended up being the most heavily armed space ship in the entire GOF universe! But at the same time it is also the most expensive craft on the market.

In terms of its design and appearance, the Bloodstar is slightly influenced by the Centaur, a Terran gunship from the original App Store classic Galaxy on Fire 3D which belonged to the shady smuggler Doc Washington. In direct comparison, however, the Bloodstar appears to be a lot more brutal and menacing than the Centaur. This effect is achieved, at least in parts, by the Bloodstar’s unique paint job, which looks as if the whole ship was spattered with the blood of all the innocent pilots that Qyrr Myfft has blown into oblivion throughout his dubious career. Consequently, the vessel’s name follows the same direction and was chosen by Qyrr Myfft in order to evoke feelings of danger, fear and death in the minds of all pilots, whose scanners indicate that the Bloodstar is approaching with all guns blazing.

A direct comparision of the concept artwork and 3D model of the Bloodstar from Fishlabs Entertainments' upcoming iOS adventure Galaxy on Fire 2 - Supernova.

To get in the right mood for the conception of Bloodstar and get a feel for what it should look like, our art director Marc Nagel imagined the long-forgotten faction of Terran origin, to whose fleet the Bloodstar originally belonged, to be organized and governed in a similar way as the former USSR. In an earlier version, the Bloodstar’s cockpit did even sport an emblem in the shape of a red star, which was later on removed because of the anachronistic impression that the use of such a symbol might produce. The same is also valid for the following description of the afore-mentioned faction, which had been sketched out by Marc prior to the design of the Bloodstar. Even though it is not an official part of the backstory of the main game Galaxy on Fire 2 or its upcoming add-on Supernova, we’d still like to present it to you here, in order to give you an idea of what kind of society might have created a powerful gunship such as the Bloodstar.

Neo-Soviet Separatist Movement: It amassed a considerable strikeforce of 1500 battleships, fighters and other vessels. After various small conflicts with the USSP (Union of Soviet Socialist Planets), which consisted at its zenith of 40 planets and orbital stations, the Neo-Soviet Separatist Movement was finally defeated by the Terran Spacefleet in 3475, and its planets were completely re-integrated into the Terran Federation by 3480.

The design of the Bloodstar from the highly anticipated GOF2 add-on Supernova is inspired quite a bit by the bulky shape of the Centaur, a heavy gunship from the original App Store classic Galaxy on Fire 3D.

Quite a story, isn’t it? By now you should know more about the origins of the Bloodstar than its owner Qyrr Myfft himself and we hope you enjoyed this little excursion into fictional and factional galactic history. In our next developer diary we’ll pick up right were we left off today and tell you how the 3D model of the Bloodstar was created and integrated into the new expansion pack! So prepare yourself for a lot of first-hand information directly from our graphics department and some spectacular pictures of the semi-finished Bloodstar in the making! In the next dev diary you will also finally be able to get an exclusive sneak peek at the gorgeous High Definition version of the Bloodstar for iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and the new iPad!