If you’ve read our last two developer diaries carefully, you will have learned quite a bit about the making of the spectacular new space ships in our upcoming outer space adventure Galaxy on Fire 2 – Supernova for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. However, if you’ve not just read about it in theory but also put your learning into practice by spending some time in the cockpit of such a space ship, you’ll know that even the most impressive vessel will be little more than a floating tin can ready to be taken down any second unless it’s equipped with some powerful weapons and helpful gadgets. Needless to say, we will make several new weapons systems and pieces of equipment available in the new add-on and we’d like to introduce some of them in our dev diaries. While today’s behind-the-scenes featurette will put the emphasis on some of the red-hot items and gadgets that will be part of the new expansion pack, the following developer diary will introduce an exclusive selection of the new primary weapons, secondary weapons and turrets to you![full] We hope you’re as excited to learn more about those new items as we are to talk about them. So let’s not waste another minute and move on to the first new apparatus right away!
In the Fishlabs HQ in Hamburg, the development of the new sci-fi epic GOF2 - Supernova for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is in full swing.
As all those of you, who’ve paid attention during their astrophysics classes at school, will certainly know, an expanding supernova will set free a particularly high level of gamma radiation, which poses a serious threat to hull of every space ship exposed to it. Hence, it is almost impossible to survive in the supernova’s area of influence for more than a couple of minutes unless your vessel is protected by a special kind of radiation shield. And since the new evacuation missions and other objectives in Supernova will require you to spend quite a bit of time in the trouble area, you won’t get around installing one of the new radiation shields in your ship – or else your precious Nemesis or S’kanarr will melt faster than an icicle in hell! Once you’ve mounted it to your ship, the gamma shield generate will create a jittering plasma bubble that surrounds your whole vessel and protects it from the menacing radiation. Since the shield’s duration and resistibility cease with every passing minute, a red gamma bar on the HUD indicates how much time you’ve left until your shield’s power has ceased and the deadly gamma rays will start to damage your ship directly.
Without a gamma shield, survival is nearly impossible in the radiation-poisoned star systems of Fishlabs' new iOS adventure GOF2 - Supernova.
This being said, in Supernova you’ll not only be able to inflict serious damage to other ships, but also to help them out and repair them. Yeah right, all you need to do in order to assist your allies’ ships in times of trouble is to mount one of the new repair lasers and stay close to them. The handy new devices will then automatically aim at friendly space crafts and prove them with a healthy dose of energy that fills up their drained shields and repairs their damaged hulls. Technically, the repair laser is pretty similar to the tractor beam – i.e. a simple ray of light visually enhanced by an animated texture – but gameplay-wise it will add quite a few new possibilities for the players and even be mandatory for succeeding certain story-bound missions.
In Galaxy on Fire 2 - Supernova, the new repair lasers come in quite handy when your allies are under enemy fire.
Another nice gadget that should be mentioned here is the so-called leech beam. Unlike the repair laser, however, this ray of concentrated radiance does not supply allied ships with additional energy but rather does it absorb power from nearby enemy vessels. The mechanisms behind it are as follows. After the target has been spotted, the leech beam establishes a radiation-band between the attacker and the victim. Due to different levels of denseness on both ends of the band, a spectral photon-transport is initiated and hence the attacker is able not only to steal energy from his target, but also to use the stolen energy for the re-charge of his own shields. Quite a handy piece of gear, isn’t it? Like all other new items, there are several versions of the leech beam available on the market and one particularly strong model even requires the player to lay hands on a rare and hard-to-obtain blue print first.
Leech Beams, such as the Crimson Drain, constitute a particularly sneaky means of inflicting damage to your enemy in Fishlabs' upcoming App Store hit GOF2 - Supernova.
That’s it for today, fellow space pilots. As always, we’re very eager to read your feedback in the comments. What do you think about the new gadgets of our upcoming sci-fi epic GOF2 – Supernova and which of the above-mentioned items will you definitely mount to your ships? Oh, and before I forget it… did you realize that all in-game screen shots had been taken from the HD version and not the SD version of Galaxy on Fire 2 this time? The new add-on looks pretty cool on the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and new iPad, doesn’t it?
Hey guys, some of you might already have wondered why we’ve still not posted the next developer diary for Galaxy on Fire 2 – Supernova. Usually, our dev diaries are scheduled to be uploaded every second Wednesday around noon. And the eight dev diary is also already written and all the assets are prepared. But it’s still not there! Why, you might ask… well, the answer is quite simple. Since my work day started rather busy, I had originally planned to upload the next developer diary after lunch. However, before I could do so, the fire alarm in our office went off at ear-splitting volume. Apparently, something in the building’s basement had caught fire and hence everybody had to leave the office right away. A couple of moments later, three big fire trucks and several police cars arrived infront of the building and when it became clear that the fire-fighting operations would take a little longer, we were all told to go home early.[full] So instead of posting the eighth developer diary for Supernova, I went to the pub with a couple of colleagues for a beer and a few rounds of foosball. When my train back home passed our office about two-and-a-half hours later, it looked as if the fire fighters were finally packing their gear and the Starbucks on the ground floor was already selling coffee again. So I guess, the building didn’t go up in flames entirely and we’ll all be back at work tomorrow. Since I’ve got all the texts, screenshots and assets for the next dev diary saved at my computer at work, I can’t post it from my PC at home. But when I’m back at the office, I’ll so right away.
In the sixth developer diary for our upcoming iOS-adventure Galaxy on Fire 2 – Supernova we gave you some additional insight into the conception of the most dangerous and destructive gunship in the universe – the legendary Bloodstar. Today we’d like to put that massive ‘n menacing battleship in the centre of the attention once again and tell you a bit more about how the 3D model of the Bloodstar was created. In the GOF universe this powerful vessel was constructed by the skilful craftsmen of a long-forgotten faction. In reality, however, it was brought to life by our Senior 3D Artist Matthias Kummer, who has not only supplied us with a lot of kick-ass “making of” footage of the Bloodstar, but also provided us with some very interesting information on how that ship has actually been created.[full] If you always wondered which stages and phases a spaceship in Galaxy on Fire 2 had to go through before it was finally ready to burst from one star system to another on the display of your iPhone or iPad, here’s your ultimate step-by-step guide to designing a heavily armed gunship in 3D Studio Max! Enjoy!
We’re having a sale again, fellas! This weekend only (from Friday, June 1st, to Sunday, June 3rd) you’ll be able to download our action-packed sci-fi epic Galaxy on Fire 2 (SD) from the App Store for spectacular 99 Cent only! Yes, you’ve read correctly… that’s 90% off! So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t bought the game yet, this is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to get “the best space shooter in the App Store” (148 Apps) for an absolutely unrivalled special price. Enjoy the flight and if you’re a GOF2 newbie, who has just bought the game in the course of our special sale, say “Hi” in the comments and let us know if you enjoyed playing Galaxy on Fire 2 on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch! We hope you enjoy to take over the role of the fearless space war hero Keith T. Maxwell and save the galaxy from its impending destruction on the hands of the devious alien menace known as Voids![full]