43,000 credits is quite a nice sum. Before you can collect it, however, you need to take down the notorious dealer and mobster Qyrr Myfft in Fishlabs' upcoming outer space adventure Supernova for iPhone and iPad.

The first particularity that you will notice about bounty hunting is the fact that it is not available right from the start. The Terran Federation and the other factions only grant you access to their security servers, which contain the names, whereabouts and travel destinations of their most dangerous enemies, after you’ve gained their trust and mastered a number of story-bound missions. However, once you’ve reached that point and got access to the invaluable pieces of information stored on the hard disks of the most wanted terminals, the hunt begins! Starting at your target’s current destination, you’ll have to follow their travel route from jump gate to jump gate and scan all ships in the respective orbits. As soon as your scanner indicates a name in red letters, you’ve found your target. Taking it down, however, is not as easy as it sounds, because quite often these mobsters are surrounded by half a dozen pirate underlings, whom you’ve got to blow to pieces first before you can lay hands on their boss. The unavoidable dog fight gets particularly tricky, when the gang of thugs is already involved in a raging battle against the adjoining station’s security force. Especially if you got scatter guns or thermo-weapons installed, the broad distribution of the shots and explosions might cause unintended friendly fire quite easily – and sooner than you think you will not just be up against a band of space pirates, but also against a heavily armed and extremely hacked off security squadron.

Once you've found your target, all hell is about to break loose and the display of your smartphone or tablet is about to be set ablaze while you're gonna dash into battle with all guns blazing!

The routes you’ll have to follow in order to get hold of your target may vary in length quite a bit. Sometimes you just need to browse two or three orbits in order to find your prey and sometimes you need to travel through half of the galaxy before you’re able to face your adversary in the ultimate showdown. But you’ll better be quick. With several thousands of credits bounty on their heads, the galaxy’s most wanted criminals will surely not stay in one place too long. And if you waste too much time or if you don’t check their latest whereabouts at least every now and then, they might have changed their travel route in the meantime and taken course to an entirely different star system than the one you’ve been heading for. Also, some particularly shifty individuals might sell out their friends and give you the names of even higher-ranking criminals, if you let them live and don’t blow their vessels into pieces. As you see, bounty hunting in the Galaxy on Fire universe is quite a challenge… but it’s definitely worth the effort, because some of your targets will not only carry valuable cargo and bring in nice rewards, but even fly totally unique space ships, which you’ll be able to take over and fly yourself, once you’ve taken out their pilots. You can already take a sneak peek at one of those special Most Wanted ships, the fierce and ferocious Bloodstar, on the screen shot below. If you’ve got what it takes to defeat the ruthless Nivelian arms dealer in its cockpit, this beauty will be the next addition to your fleet!

The Most Wanted Criminals in the upcoming iPhone epic Galaxy on Fire 2 - Supernova fly unique space ships such as the Bloodstar on the picture above. If you've got what it takes to defeat their pilots in a dog fight, you can take over those ships and fly them yourself!

Well, fellow space pilots, what do you say? Do you still plan to keep the peaceful live of a trader or craftsman and earn your credits without ever pulling the trigger of your Disruptor Laser? Or are you already burning to take on the most dangerous dealers, pirates and terrorists in the galaxy and steal their custom-made space ships? Let us know in the comments…

A technically advanced Nemesis fighter of the Deep Science faction floating through space in Fishlabs' new sci-fi epic Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD - Valkyrie for Mac.

When Valkyrie was first released for iPhone and iPad a bit more than a year ago, it instantly took over the sci-fi-loving hearts of fans and media alike and earned all kinds of praise and accolade, including countless raving reviews and a Pocket Gamer gold award. Here at Fishlabs we’re literally blown away by Valkyrie Full HD’s magnificent look on the big screen and we’re sure that the Mac gamers will enjoy the new add-on just as much as the iOS gamers did!

One of the two new Vossk battle ships in Fishlabs' new expansion pack Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD - Valkyrie.

You can buy the main game on the Mac App Store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/galaxy-on-fire-2-full-hd/id452222956?mt=12 and unlock Valkyrie Full HD via in-app purchase for additional € 7,99 / $ 9.99 / £ 6.99. Enjoy your trip to Her Jaza, guys. And always stay alert when you infiltrate the Valkyrie station… there’s some really fishy things going on onboard!

Thanks to its straight forward developer tools, its solid operating system and its premium quality hardware, the porting of GOF2 HD from iOS to BlackBerry Tablet OS required little more than a single day. And thanks to the BlackBerry App World’s developer-friendly rules and regulations on the one hand and its loyal and willing-to-pay user base on the other, we believe that Keith’s most recent venture bears a helluva lot of potential for Fishlabs as a company and Galaxy on Fire as a franchise alike!

Off to new dimensions: Keith T. Maxwell activates his hyperdrive and dashes onto Research In Motion's premium tablet in the soon-to-be-released outer space adventure Galaxy on Fire 2 HD for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

The release of Galaxy on Fire 2 HD on the BlackBerry PlayBook is scheduled for the end of May. Earlier this week – on Monday, May 1st, 2012, to be precise – our CEO Michael Schade attended the BlackBerry World 2012 and exclusively showcased our spectacular outer space shooter on the PlayBook during the event’s keynote. Check out the video above to find out how stunning GOF2 HD looks on BlackBerry’s premium tablet and let us know in the comments what you think of Keith’s adventurous journey to the App World!

A Veteran fighter of the Terran Federation approaches a gas cloud in Supernova, the upcoming second add-on for Fishlabs' award-winning iPhone and iPad shooter Galaxy on Fire 2.

The first and most challenging test of your light-fingeredness, which we’re going to tell you about, is the so-called “gas cloud mining”. In Supernova, ores extracted from asteroids will no longer be the only valuable substances that the players have to gather, but they will also have to collect several extremely rare gases, which are pretty hard to get hold of. In order to detect them, special gas cloud scanners have to be installed and in order collect them, the clouds that contain them have to be vaporized with ionization missiles. This process sets free the pure essence of the clouds, the so-called gas plasma, which can be collected with special devices known as plasma collectors. Those collectors are mounted on the players’ ships like turrets and will suck the plasma in like vacuum cleaners. However, since the plasma evaporates after a short amount of time, the players have to hurry up in order to collect it before it is gone. This time pressure makes the whole affair particularly tricky, because it requires equal amounts of skillfulness and swiftness from the player.

In Fishlabs' new outer space adventure GOF2 - Supernova, Plasma Collectors are mounted to the space ships like turrets and used to harvest valuable plasma from gas clouds.

The second new mini-game we’re going to introduce to you is “hacking”. In Supernova you’ll be able to land your vessel on some of the space stations or freighters. However, before you can dock to them, you’ll sometimes have to hack your way into their security systems and deactivate their safety arrangements. In order to do so, you gotta rack your brains a bit and succeed in a little puzzle game. Only if you bring the individual patterns into the right order, you’re granted access to the ship or station you’re about enter. Good luck and don’t forget to hurry up… your enemies surely won’t wait until you’ve figured out the code and hence a whole bunch of angry space scoundrels might be hard at your heels with all guns blazing!

In Supernova you can hack into the security system of a space station or freighter by solving a little puzzle game. The image above appears a little blurry, because it is a mock-up with SD-graphics scaled up to Retina resolution.

Well, fellow plasma collectors and hackers, we hope you’ve enjoyed this Dev Diary! As always, we’re really looking forward to read any kind of feedback or suggestions you might have. So keep your comments coming!

If you follow the link below, you’ll already find some first-hand information on the new mini-games in Supernova, such as Hacking and Gas Cloud Mining. Next Wednesday, we’re gonna dedicate our fourth Developer Diary to that topic as well and present you some exclusive in-game screenshots and concept artworks. So please keep checking out our blog as well and also keep your comments coming. We’re really psyched by the lot of feedback that our first three Dev Diaries for Supernova have gotten so far and we really enjoy reading all your amazing ideas and suggestions! Keep it up, guys!

Here’s PocketGamer’s first Supernova exclusive. Hope you enjoy it: http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/Galaxy+on+Fire+2+-+Supernova/news.asp?c=40436

The creation of a skybox in Galaxy on Fire 2 - Supernova with the aid of Adobe Photoshop CS5 and 3DS Max 2012

One of the most spectacular aspects of the new Supernova systems is definitely the fact that some of the skyboxes are no longer static but animated. Due to a number of striking details such as storm clouds, vapours and lightning bolts, the new settings look livelier than ever and provide some truly outstanding eye-candy for all intergalactic cruisers and sight-seers out there. The light pastel colouring of the corresponding skyboxes gives the new systems a distinctive look of their own and some of them are so heavily contaminated with radiation that the players can only visit them for a short amount of time unless they have an extra radiation shield installed.

The planets, which majestically rule each system’s orbit, have been given a little facelift as well. In Supernova, some of them do now contain three-dimensional asteroid belts – which constitute a nice little detail that the fans will hopefully appreciate! To make the overall looks of the new planets more striking than ever, our graphics artists have furthermore resorted to a number of effective techniques in their creation. Among others, they have spherically distorted the surface textures and appended additional cloud textures to make the planets look as plastic and realistic as possible. All in all, a helluva lot of effort has been put into the creation of the new star systems and their corresponding planets, stations and heavenly bodies. According to our developers, even the SD assets of Supernova contain so many details that they look almost as good as the HD assets!

Some of the new planets of Galaxy on Fire 2 - Supernova are circled by three-dimensional asteroid belts (as seen on the right)

We hope you’ll enjoy cruising through these new surroundings as much as we enjoyed creating them. And once you’ve cleared them from all space pirates and other potential threats, why don’t you take a couple of extra minutes to turn off your engine and simply float through the spectacular environments of Supernova with attentive senses and observing eyes. We’re sure, you’re gonna stumble upon a lot of nice little details and make plenty of fascinating discoveries.

A Terran Inflict fighter breaching through an asteroid belt with all guns blazing in Galaxy on Fire 2 – Supernova by Fishlabs Entertainment

Furthermore, we have to inform you that the release of Supernova has been postponed to Q3 of 2012, because we need a little more development time in order to add a certain amount of extra features and content to the title. Among others, we will make the storyline of Supernova more epic and extensive than the storylines of the original GOF2 and Valkyrie combined. In addition, we will record new background music and release the add-on simultaneously in SD, HD and Full HD. And last but not least we will also integrate a number of gameplay-related features and assets requested by the community (such as bigger ships)! Along with the new release date, we will also slow down the schedule of the dev diaries a little and only release a new behind-the-scenes featurette every two weeks instead of every seven days. We understand that some of you won’t be too psyched about that delay, but we believe that the additional content will be more than worth the wait. Hope you understand our decision and are still burning for Keith T. Maxwell’s next adventure!

Fishlabs: Could you give us a very brief synopsis of the Supernova story? What is the new add-on all about and why would you say that it’s Keith T. Maxwell’s biggest adventure to date?

Bernie Duffy: As the title suggests, this new story involves a cataclysmic stellar event which shakes things up in a Midorian system, displacing millions and creating fresh border tensions with the neighbouring Nivelians. While Keith is engaged in humanitarian missions to extract refugees from the affected areas, he is asked to become an emissary to the Nivelians to negotiate peace and aid. This leads to unexpected intrigues and deceptions, as the sector becomes increasingly hostile in the chaos of the disaster.

This could be Keith’s greatest challenge so far, as besides walking a fine political line, and coping with the deteriorating affects of intense gamma rays, he must now tackle an unknown and powerful stealth enemy intent on making the most of the bad situation.

FL: While Galaxy on Fire 3D focussed on the conflict between the Terrans and the Vossk and Galaxy on Fire 2 set all four factions up against a devious new enemy of unknown origin, the next add-on Supernova will put the long-lasting struggle between the Nivelian Republic and the Midorian rebels into the centre of the attention. Why did you decide to shift the action to the Mido sector this time?

BD: Everybody involved in story development felt that the Midorians needed a fuller explanation. As the youngest and most vulnerable faction in the GOF universe, recently created from the Nivelian Civil War, we wanted to level the playing field for them somewhat, give them a chance to break out and prove themselves. This, however, turned out to be a literal trial by fire… and the verdict is still not out!

The Midorians embody many noble traits which we 21st Century humans would find admirable. They are go-it-aloners, multi-racial and resourceful, out to make their stake on the new frontier. Their freedom means more to them than anything. It is these qualities which endear the born-adventurer Keith to them, and brings him to their aid in their ordeal. But whether Keith succeeds in his efforts is ultimately up to the player.

FL: In Supernova, politics and diplomacy are as much a part of the story as space battles and skirmishes. In what way do you think do these aspects make for a deeper and all the more enthralling back story?

BD: It’s risky introducing political thriller elements into an action game, and by no means do we want to detract from the gameplay. Balance in plot development was key to this new turn, but it is something that we hope players will appreciate in the end. Our hero, Keith, has such a galactic reputation at this stage that it only seemed the next logical step that he should be able to use these credentials as leverage in negotiations between the various factions. Contacts he has made in previous episodes may since have even graduated to positions of greater influence, while his non-aligned status allows him to navigate the disparate corridors of power.

The Supernova storyline should offer an overall insight into how the various frontier societies operate, and how their inter-relations may shape their futures.

FL: Are there any particular mysteries, plot holes or cliffhangers from the previous instalments of the GOF-saga, which Supernova is going to unravel, solve or bring to a conclusion?

BD: Well, I wouldn’t want to reveal too much, but we did look to wrap up some loose ends from the previous episodes. I think I will be cautious with this question and keep my lips sealed until closer to the release date!

FL: Could you tell us a little bit about the characters of Supernova without giving away too much at such an early point of time? Which old friends or foes will the players meet again in the second add-on? And who are the most striking new characters, whose acquaintance they are going to make in Supernova?

BD: Love interest Carla Paolini remains a significant figure, although some strain is beginning to show in her relationship with Keith as their desires for the future begin to diverge. Brent Snocom has risen to the top of Terran Fleet, and acts as an important liaison for Keith. Our favourite multipod, Mkkt Bkkt, has resumed operations somewhere in the galaxy, although finding him will be tricky! Khador is still the wiz of Deep Science, but a new arrival will ruffle his feathers in a big way.

I had a lot of fun introducing two new characters in particular, Thadellonius Moonsprocket and Brillo Lampeter.  Mooonsprocket is a kind of bumbling professor from the early 1950’s, modeled on one of the original Doctor Who’s, and is the source of some light-relief in the form of unfortunately timed double entendres. His full-time psychiatrist, Lampeter, is a kind of Bobolan Doctor Watson, who always has to have the last word. Together they travel the galaxy falling further into disrepute from their misadventures, but it is Moonsprocket’s unorthodox methods which will be key to fixing the current cosmic crisis.

Gunant Breh makes a return in a much more important role as his mining operations and even his own family become engulfed by the supernova event. Other movers and shakers of both Nivelian and Midorian factions are introduced as the plot thickens.

FL: Which is your favourite moment in Supernova? Why?

BD: Also a difficult question to answer without giving away too much! I really went for a satisfying ending with this episode, a real wrap up, a get-together, a knees-up!  Bringing all the characters together is something that was a lot of fun to write. There’s the bittersweet tinge of tragedy to it all, and there is the ridiculous, but there should be in there a reward for the player who has stayed with these characters for so long. Wait and see, play it for yourself, you’ll see what I mean.

That’s it guys… hope you enjoyed the read! If this interview made you even more curious about Supernova, please let us know in the comments which aspects of the new storyline you find most interesting and which of Supernova’s characters (old or new) you find most likeable! And don’t forget to check back on our blog next week, when we’re going to give you an exclusive sneak peek at the new star systems of Supernova and their distinctive assets, designs and features.

BTW, if you wanna find out more about Bernie and his work, feel free to visit his official homepage at http://bernieduffy.com/ and followhim on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/berniejduffy!

Right from the start, we were quite fond of the idea to replace the letter „O“ in the add-on’s title with the image of a stylized sun. However, in this early version of the logo, the whole imagery wasn’t striking enough and hence Marc decided to try a couple of other approaches.

Even though the logo above is one of Marc’s personal favourites, he decided to discard it because it bears too much similarity to the logo of a certain sci-fi MMO, which is pretty popular and successful these days. Instead of following along the lines of another franchise, the logo for Supernova should rather be designed in a similar style as that of its predecessor Valkyrie…

Despite the considerations mentioned above, it would be a bit too easy to simply copy the logo of the first expansion pack and use Valkyrie’s font and colouring for Supernova as well. After all, this would be pretty boring and not do our upcoming add-on any justice.

The stylized sun has returned! Since heat and fire play a crucial role in Supernova, it seems like a good idea to use the sun in the logo in order to show the fans right away how hot the new add-on is going to be! To achieve the best possible effect, however, the “O” must look more like a sun and less like a black hole or solar eclipse.

We’re getting closer! Let’s see what effect a little finishing in the form of a stronger glow and more striking colours has on the overall appearance of logo…

That’s it! Our current favourite! The letters look as if they were carved out of the sun itself and the ”O“ has a nice iconic quality without looking out of place. On the one hand, the usage of the same font instantly links the logo of Supernova to the logo of Valkyrie, but on the other hand, the orange colour also gives it an own touch and feel. Here at Fishlabs we’re really happy with this version, but before we can confirm it once and for all, we still need to run a couple of checks and find out how well it will blend with the new key visual, for example.

Well, so much for that. We hope you liked our first Developer Diary for Supernova and are as excited about the new add-on as we are! If you enjoyed the read, make sure to check back on our blog regularly, because there are still a lot of other aspects of Supernova, which we’d like to introduce to you in the next couple of weeks. Until the add-on is out, we will present you a new Dev Diary every Tuesday.

For more info on the event, feel free to visit the Droidcon’s official website at www.droidcon.com.

Galaxy on Fire 2 HD - Valkyrie by Fishlabs Entertainment

Finally the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 pilots have now also been enabled to experience Keith T. Maxwell’s latest adventure with completely overhauled 3D assets, texture sets, special effects and other visuals! So what are you waiting for? You can unlock the Valkyrie HD expansion in-game for US$ 4,99/EUR 3,99/GBP 2,99 and get instant access to a whole new story line with tons of spectacular new missions, systems, characters, weapons, space ships and other amazing features!

Galaxy on Fire 2 HD - Valkyrie by Fishlabs Entertainment

And if you own the regular SD version of Galaxy on Fire 2 (which is currently on sale and can still be purchased for half its original price until Monday, March 12th, 2012), we even have a special goodie up our sleeves for you: In order to say “Thank you” to our loyal fans, we’re giving away Valkyrie HD for free to all those of you who have already bought the trusty and not-at-all-rusty standard version of Galaxy on Fire 2 before! However, the free installation of Valkyrie HD still requires an installed version of Galaxy on Fire 2 HD on your iPhone 4S or iPad 2.

Galaxy on Fire 2 HD - Valkyrie by Fishlabs Entertainment

Enjoy the flight, guys & Let us know in the comments what you think about the new expansion pack! Which of the new Vossk and Deep Science space ships do you like best, which of the new characters is the coolest and which of the new blueprints was the hardest to finish… we wanna know it all!