Almost four months ago, we posted a dev diary by the name of “Sorted Out” here on our blog. Among others, it contained a pretty kick-ass concept artwork of a heavily armed Terran fighter called the Dark Angel. Judging from the dozens of comments about it, our fans liked that ship quite a bit. I mean, almost everyone who posted about it on our blog or Facebook fan page said that they would have loved to be able to add that spectacular vessel to their personal fleet as well. And, guess what… that’s exactly what you’ll be able to do very soon! Next week, on November 21st, we’re going to launch a free content update for Galaxy on Fire 2, which will include the prototypes of three highly sought-after new vessels. Besides the Dark Angel it will also include a Nivelian fighter known as Ghost and a Vossk bomber known as N’Tirrk! Since both the Fishlabs team and the GOF2 fans really loved these designs, we thought that it would be a shame if they’d just end up in some folder of unused material.[full] And thus we decided to make them a part of the game instead. After all, we’re still very proud of the Supernova add-on and this is our way to say “Thank You!” for the awesome support you’ guys have given us over the years. Cause in the end, nothing says “You guys rock!” as loud and clear as a couple of kick-ass new space ships! And to make sure that all iOS gamers will be able to get hold of them at the same time, we’ve decided that the free content update will be released simultaneously in SD, HD and Full HD. So all iOS and OSX pilots will be able to enjoy the new ships on their devices, no matter whether it’s an iPhone 5, iPad mini, iPod touch 5G, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS or Mac!

With its four primary weapons, the Ghost has quite a lot of fire power. On the screenshot above, it is landing a fatal blow on a moribund freight ship of an enemy faction.

But now enough of the introduction and onward to the stuff that really matters: the new ships! In the game, all of them are described as prototypes, which have never gone into mass-production for one reason or another. While the hard-to-get Dark Angel and Ghost are pretty much on par with the Most Wanted Ships in terms of stats and pricing, the cheaper N’Tirrk could rather be seen as a noteworthy alternative to the H’Soc. However, the one thing that all three of the new ships have in common, is the fact that – just like the Blood Star, Blue Fyre & Co – they will only be available for in-game credits and not for real money. After all, we still believe that the players should be able to unlock all content in a premium title like GOF2 simply by playing the game and not by shelling out actual money. If someone wants to progress faster and hence prefers to buy a credit pack rather than grind for an hour or two, that’s of course more than fine for us as well. But reaching into your wallet should definitely be a voluntary option and not a necessity. One way or another, if you’re willing to hand over some of your hard-earned cash to a shady ship dealer operating out of some down-and-out space station’s rusty hangar, you’ll soon be able to add three real beauties to your exquisite collection of space ships.

In its early incarnation, the Dark Angel still sported a dark-blue paintjob. However, we ultimately decided to go with another colour, because the dark-blue coating might mislead players to believe that its not a Terran but a Nivelian ship.

The first ship we’d like to introduce in detail is the Dark Angel – a classic ship which most of you will most likely know from the aforementioned Dev Diary #10. With four primaries, two secondaries and one turret slot, the prototype of this quick ‘n forceful interceptor has more than enough fire power to take on just about any other ship in the galaxy. However, due to a number of unexpected delays and unscheduled development costs, the manufacturer of the ship – Davilon Corporation – ultimately had to cancel the production of the Dark Angel; an instance that almost made the company go bankrupt.

An early lowpoly model of the Dark Angelsporting only light meshes as well as normal and diffuse maps

Design-wise, the Dark Angel’s biggest characteristic is the unorthodox shape of its airfoils, which is a little reminiscent of the wings of an angel – hence the name of the ship. It’s also due to this advanced shaping that the Dark Angel is surprisingly swift and agile despite its heavy armor and massive plating.

The N'Tirrk was originally designed as a Most Wanted Ship for the Supernova, the latest story add-on for Fishlabs sci-fi epic Galaxy on Fire 2.

The second ship you’ll be able to buy when the new “Prototypes” update has gone live is a Vossk gunship called the N’Tirrk. Though its two primary weapons rigs don’t exactly make the N’Tirrk well-suited for dog fights, its four secondary weapons slots cater for a lot of boom anyway. And its experimental segment plating gives it a particularly aggressive and terrifying look.

A very early incarnation of the N'Tirrk. Back then, the Vossk bomber was little more than a lowpoly 3D model and a monitoring grid.

All in all, the N’Tirrk is quite a little weaker than the Dark Angel and the Ghost – with its biggest disadvantage being its humble 8 equipment slots – but on the other hand it is also way cheaper than the other new vessels.Hence it is especially attractive to newbie pilots, who have not yet accumulated an eight-figure sum of credits on their intergalactic bank accounts.

This re-worked concept artwork of the Ghost illustrates the vessel's bellicant look and experimental character quite nicely.

And last but not least, there is also the Ghost. This rare prototype of a Nivelian fighter never went into mass production, because it was supposed to make use of some revolutionary technology, which was still in its very early stages at the time of the vessel’s construction. Hence, the Nivelian Administration decided not to pursue the Ghost project any further. Instead, the Nivelians rather put their time and effort into other fields of research, which were partly based on the findings from the development of the Ghost. Despite the fact that the Ghost is not as advanced as its predecessors, it is still one helluva ship. And its four primaries, two secondaries and 15 (!) equipment slots leave more than enough room for extensive customization and armament.

This lowpoly model features only a normal map. It's particularly well-suited to show the Ghost's characteristic double-hull design and heavy armor plates in the back.

In terms of its outer appearance, the Ghost does not look as stunningly beautiful and stream-lined as other Nivelian vessels such as the Aegir or the Kinzer, for example. This is mostly due to the fact that the Ghost has undergone quite a lot of changes and modifications during the individual steps of its development. Therefore a lot of parts have either been re-arranged or added retroactively. Hence, the ship is characterized by a rather experimental design that does look quite a bit more harsh and brutal than that of the other models of the Nivelian fleet.

With its heavy armor and powerful weaponry, the N'Tirrk poses a serious threat to the squadron of Nivelian fighters in this spectacular GOF2 action shot.

So what do you think, guys? Will you add all of these exquisite vessels to your personal fleet? And if so, which one will you buy first? Keep your comments coming… it’s gotten pretty quiet here after our final dev diary had been posted and it would be awesome if we’d revive the blog a little. For starters, I think a three-figure sum of comments on our “latecomer” behind-the-scenes featurette would be pretty cool! Let’s see if we can pull it off. And, as always, please show a little love for www.Facebook.com/GalaxyOnFire as well and “like” it if you haven’t already done so anyway.