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Sponsored feature: Behind the scenes of Galaxy on Fire 2

Pocket gaming's final frontier

Sponsored feature: Behind the scenes of Galaxy on Fire 2
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iOS
| Galaxy on Fire 2

Highly anticipated space trader Galaxy on Fire 2 has now launched on the App Store.

To celebrate, we’re delving into Fishlabs’s extensive developer diaries, and taking a look behind the scenes of this landmark title.

Galaxy on Fire was originally the brainchild of developer Hans-Christian Kühl who, having worked on previous Fishlabs titles, approached the company’s owners with his idea for an open-world space game.

The idea went supernova. Galaxy on Fire and its sequel were among the most ambitious Java games ever made, both winning Pocket Gamer Gold Awards.

Now, with Galaxy on Fire 2 for iPhone and iPad, Fishlabs is hoping to set the bar even higher.

This game is much more than a port. Although the name and essential plot details are the same, almost everything here has been redesigned from the ground up.

Speaking my language

For starters, Fishlabs abandoned Java and developed the game using C, a programming language that allows the developer to exploit the full capabilities of Apple’s devices.

There’s now no limit to how much dialogue the game can handle, for example. Where mobile versions were limited to 1,000 dialogue ‘chains’ the iPhone and iPad can support reams of text, including character bios, detailed dialogue, and in-depth descriptions of technology.

“That is why we work with professional authors,” says Kühl. “The characteristics of the different races, systems, planets, and characters will be better developed, so that the whole universe will have more depth and vitality.”

Fishlabs has redesigned all of the game’s ships, too.

Memory restrictions meant that ships were previously made from pre-built ‘modules’ that often looked samey. Every ship in the new Galaxy on Fire 2, however, has been individually purpose-sculpted. It’s like moving from Duplo to Mechano.

The team clearly had great fun expressing each race’s character in their tech design. The images below show the contrast between the curved, sleek Nivellian ships, and the boxy, functional of Terran vessels.


In space, everyone can hear the ambient soundtrack

Galaxy on Fire 2’s music has received the same careful treatment. Gero Goerlich, Fishlabs’s sound director, and Jan Werkmeister of Periscope Studios were painstakingly committed to getting each race’s music just right.

They’ve used open, barely suggested harmonics to capture the feeling of possibility when exploring open space. The highly advanced Nivellians have a polished, elegant feel to their music, whereas the Midorians, a stunted Nivellian splinter group, echo the same themes but with a cramped harmonic range.

“There are no sounds in GoF 2 that can be purchased from a library,” says Goerlich. “Every single sound in the game was compiled new from a wide variety of sounds.”

Even traditional sci-fi sounds like laser fire have been built from scratch: Fishlabs sampled and distorted the sound of squealing pigs.

The team tried to take a ‘physical’ approach to designing weapon sounds, thinking about how each weapon would actually function. Werkmeister proudly describes how a thermoblaster works:

“First, the energy is created, then collected, and finally, discharged, compressed through a narrow tube. Using such considerations, you gradually approach a final sound.”

It’s the sort of dedicated approach to sound design more often used in Hollywood films.

This is no coincidence. Sci-fi cinema was always on the team’s mind. So much so that they called in Peter Lund, of film company eachfilm to help them direct the game’s cinematic trailer.

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Going to the movies

Interestingly, developing the trailer showed the team just how cinematic Galaxy on Fire 2 can be for the first time.

Fishlabs staged an epic 40-ship battle for the trailer, never thinking it could work for real on iPad. It did, and so the idea has been included in the final game. Fishlabs wanted nothing in the trailer that players couldn’t experience themselves.

If you've watched the video above, you'll know this means Galaxy on Fire 2 is a landmark mobile gaming experience.

The recruiting of outside specialists, the title’s enormous budget, and the sheer depth of realisation prove that console-quality experiences can work on portable devices.

And that’s good news indeed for the future of iPhone and iPad gaming.

Click on the gallery above to see Fishlabs's concept art for Galaxy on Fire 2.
Richard Meads
Richard Meads
New intern Rich has been blessed with far, far too much free time and an overwhelming desire to jump on things. He tried doing the jumping in public, but people got scared. A lifelong addiction to platform games and a degree in creative writing later, he found his way to Pocket Gamer’s doorstep.