GoF has been the most successful in-house production from FISHLABS to date. How do you explain the huge popularity of the title?

There was great demand on the old Java devices and the iPhone, because the popular space simulation and space shooter genres, with classic titles like Wing Commander or Privateer, did not exist on mobile devices. There was a bit of a nostalgia bonus, but we also broke new technological ground for mobile games with the Galaxy on Fire series. People just wanted to play something like that again. We moved into a niche while everybody else was focussing primarily on casual games or titles like Mario Kart. Before that, no one had dared this level of complexity.

To what extent were you able to express your vision as Art Director in the Java version of Galaxy on Fire?

The first step was to find out what was even possible on the devices. Of course, it was especially difficult with the Java devices at the time, because they just couldn’t do that much. The games also couldn’t be larger than 512 kB. That’s a joke compared to the PC games of the time.
We had to cut back heavily, unbelievably complex spaceships weren’t possible. But at the same time, the ships had to be interesting enough for players still to want to fly them. In the first conversion for the iPhone, we already had a bit more freedom, but still had to make sure that things still fit in the established universe.

Have those limitations been eliminated in the upcoming version of GoF II for the iPhone and iPad?

Oh, we have limits. With GoF I for the iPhone, we wanted to make everything better, sort of ‘now we don’t have any memory problems anymore.’ Right away, we had crammed in too much content and had to slim down so that the game would still run smoothly. It wasn’t as if there was suddenly a PS3 to work with, and we could do everything we wanted.
We were able to incorporate our experience from the first part in the work on GoF II and have learned to correct the flaws. Our engine section has given us a lot more options, for example, bump and specular mapping, which makes everything seem much more three-dimensional. Naturally, that also opens up a lot more possibilities for the design. I can now give a ship more details: portholes, hatches, tubes, battle scars, and even drive and position lights.

Can we expect a lot of new designs, or are the old models simply being reworked?

In GoF II for Java, we created the ships in modular construction for reasons of space. Technically, it was a good idea, but ended up, in part, with designs that weren’t so good and led to several groups, for example the Midorians and Nivelians, having to share many models. Often, you couldn’t tell visually against whom you were fighting or with whom you were dealing.We wanted to change that in the new version of GoF II for the iPhone.
That is why we decided to completely redesign all the ships in the iPhone port. That means the ships don’t have much in common with the original anymore, as you can see clearly from the Betty, for example. Every race now has their own type of ships, their own design, colour coding, and so on. Every race can now be very clearly distinguished. That was important to us and also contributes to an appropriate atmosphere.

That sounds extensive and reminds me a bit of what HCK told me. Is this a redesign or a completely new title?

In principle, HCK carried over the basic gameplay and the ship stats, such as size or number of weapon slots. The storyline was also kept. However, technology, assets such as 3D models of ships and stations, skybox, galaxies, and planets were completely redone. I like to compare it to gutting a house: in the end, all that’s left are the walls, and you try to rebuild everything with high quality. That was necessary, of course, because the iPhone and iPad are platforms on which significantly more is offered today. The audience is demanding and the expectations for the quality of the graphics and design have grown a lot.
Along with creating new titles, we also have to pump up our classics, so that they are still competitive and don’t vanish into the mass of new releases that go live in the App Store every day. That is another challenge.

What makes GoF competitive in this respect?

As I said, we serve a niche. After taking a closer look at other genre titles in the App Store and on other smartphones, we think there’s a lot of room for improvement in terms of both technology and content. That is also why we wanted to turn things up a notch compared to the predecessor GoF I and set new standards with GoF II.

How have the demands for teamwork on the title changed?

We have to look much more closely at how the ships and stations are implemented, for example. I don’t just draft a design, present it, and say, ‘Do it!’, rather I have to actually go to our 3D artists and see that things are uniform. In the beginning, we had a meeting where we compared all the models from three different graphic artists, and they all looked different! Different construction, different texturing, and so on. I had to make clear to everyone once again, ‘THIS is the style,’ and ‘Please make sure that all the ships look like they come from the same universe.’ It shouldn’t seem as though one thing comes from one game and another from a different game. Everything really has to look very uniform and homogeneous, because otherwise everything will seem artificial, and the illusion of a coherent game world will be ruined for the players.

You brought us screenshots which show the ships and stations of the well-known races in GoF II. I’d like to know more about the different styles of the various factions.

Each faction has its own colour code, its own symbolism, and even its own style of construction. Every faction has its own national emblem, designed so that you can always see from the logo which faction you’re dealing with. Lets look at the Nivelians first; their colour scheme is blue-grey. They have very elegant ships, which work a great deal with wing shapes and are distinguished by a very modern and stylish exterior.
It was important to us that the Mido ships could be clearly differentiated from the ships of their close relatives, the Nivelians. But in principle, they are two sides of the same coin. The idea behind that is that the Mido only have access to obsolete technologies, while their ‘brothers’ the Nivelians have long since moved on to new designs and new generations of ships. The Nivelians and the Mido long ago split into two factions, between which there is a sort of civil war. In this conflict, the Mido have the role of the rebels and have correspondingly fewer resources, which is pointed up by the rust-brown texture and damage on their ships and stations. Their ships, which also include the Betty, also have a slightly different design. They are distinguished by a catamaran-like dual stern, prominent cockpits, and a generally somewhat run-down exterior.

To me, the Betty looks a bit like a bird of prey.

Yes, that comes from the downward-bent wings. You could say it’s the typical bird of prey design. That suggests itself, because you can hang engines and weapons off of them so nicely. A very functional design. At the same time, the downward-bent wings also naturally suggest aggression. Designs like that recur over and over again in science fiction.

The Terrans have a more military design. It derives primarily from what you see today in fighter jets, helicopters, and transports, that is the jets and transports of the 20th and 21st centuries. The combination of grey paintwork and colourful markings are recognisable from modern fighters and other military vehicles. You can imagine them in the context that, sometime in the future, humanity has united and developed a common stylistic vocabulary, a visual amalgam of the world’s military forces and their colours and markings, so to speak.

The Terran transport ships remind me of things like Alien or Starship Troopers.

I think it’s very interesting to dig up the aesthetic of 80s science fiction films now and again. The ships from that period were often equipped with an incredible amount of detail, and you had the impression that they were simply very functional spaceships. They looked used, they were scratched and had laser scars. We bring over that 80s sci-fi feeling, without forgetting, of course, that this is a modern game. More a kind of homage, without completely emulating the style.
Examples are Battle Star Galactica, Star Wars, and also the less well-known television series from that period, like Buck Rogers. Those are examples for the classic, high quality science fiction of the 70s and 80s, which we revive with GoF II. Of course, we also combine that style with a modern aesthetic, influences from games like Eve Online, for example. In the end, we took our inspiration from a variety of eras, but ultimately distilled our own style. I think we succeeded.

In the concept art for the Type 43, the highly distinctive rear view of the ship and the engines really catch my eye.

Yes, actually you only see the ships in all their glory during cutscenes or in the hangar. In the game, you see the ships from behind 90 % of the time. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the rear of the ship, the drive section of the ship, looks very distinctive and interesting. We achieve that by creating a wide variety of drive forms and arrangements. For example, we tried dual and triple drives or different sizes.
The silhouettes in the concepts were intended for the 3D graphic artists to always know where to put the glows for the engines and so that every single spaceship would look as distinctive as possible. In the first drafts, we always went to great difficulty to make several views of every model. Only later did it occur to us that it was actually enough to make a ¾-view with a diagram in that form.

What can you tell us about the pirate faction?

The pirates are a bit unusual. They have a consistent colour scheme, which is rather militaristic, olive green and brown, but because the pirates are beings from all over the galaxy, rather than a homogeneous race, the pirate ships vary widely and also have very different series. I can demonstrate that best with the concepts.
For example, we have ships that are reminiscent of armed transports. Those are ships which the pirates have adapted to suit their purposes. This is an example which was derived from one of the Terran ships. We considered how the pirates could have converted it to suit their purposes. The ships should give the impression that they were adapted by the pirates to meet their individual needs, like car tuners. Improvements include weapons, shields, additional or new engines, additional weapons platforms, or more cargo space. But it is also possible that the pirates have made modifications just for the look.

Are some of them captured ships?

Either that or they are ships from the black market or used ships that were bought or stolen.
It almost seems as though the pirate ships have influences from all of the races found in GoF II.
You could say that. For example, the pirates take a Terran ship and modify it with parts from a Mido ship or build their own wings onto the hull if the original ship doesn’t offer enough room for rockets or blasters. The outlaws use whatever is available to them. For example, two wrecks could be cannibalised to build a new ship. Weapons and drives are less important than the look of the spaceships, which can no longer be clearly classified. They should give the impression that the pirates have taken some random ship and converted it according to their own ideas.

At the moment, I don’t see designs for the Vossk and the ominous Void. What can we expect there?

The Void were already so convincing in the Java version that we didn’t want to make any fundamental changes. The Void Fighter has a distinctive colour scheme. There are violet glows on the ships, combined with a brilliant blue basic colour.
But we will probably build extra ships, too. Jerry is currently working on a Void Station, for example. In the Java version, drafts like this caused some problems, because they were just too complex.

Because these designs have little that is regular or repeated that you can use in the modular construction?

Right, that was the problem with the whole thing.

Which faction is your personal favourite?

Oh, that’s hard to say, since I put a lot of work into all of them. But if you put a gun to my head, I would probably say the Vossk, just because they come across as so alien. The Vossk are a very aggressive race. Somehow, I have a bit of sympathy for them, because they are the least conformist.

In the sense of ‘least assimilated?

Yes, exactly. Of course, the Void are also interesting, because they are so mysterious. In the game, we even have dialogues from the Void for the first time. At first we only see cryptic writing, no plain text at all. The whole thing serves to emphasise the strangeness of the people even more. There are no translator data, as it were, and all you see on the screen are characters like this.

Are there also changes to the character portraits, or will the comic style be kept?

With well over 100 characters in the game, we decided to keep the style. Nevertheless, we had a not insubstantial production effort bringing the old character portraits up to the iPhone level.

A welcome side effect of that is the continuity with the Java version, which of course is not exactly unknown. Fans who have already played Gof2 on Nokia or Sony Ericsson will see things they recognise.

What are you especially pleased with?

How can I put it? The whole game, really. You really have to view it as a single piece of work. Just the way the sun is displayed. It isn’t just a simple glow hanging in the skybox, instead you see streaks and other special effects, depending on where you are standing.
That produces an extremely natural impression and is reminiscent of science fiction films. Sometimes you really think ‘Wow!’, we’re starting to get close to the visuals of cinematic films or high-quality console games.

To be continued…

Note by the editors: The names of the stations and ships may change before the final release.

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Tags: Galaxy on Fire, game, Games, iPad, iPadgames, iPhone, iPhonegames, nokia

In the second part of our Galaxy on Fire™ 2 Developer Diary Lead Programmer Hans-Christian-Kühl tells us more about the production process and the teamwork involved. In addition, HCK shares his personal favourite features of the upcoming version of GoF 2 with us.
For all the sci-fi junkies among you, who still haven’t played the first part of our space saga yet, FISHLABS offers GoF at a 50% discount starting today. The weekend sale ends on Monday – so make sure to quickly lay your hands on the Betty or one of the many other ships of the GoF universe and enjoy premium 3D-space-action for just $ 2.99.

Part of the porting of GoF 2 has been major changes in the design and artwork. Why was that?

That happened, because we did not have so much room for the original Java version. Back then, the entire version could not be larger than one MB. At the time, we used the trick of not building the ships completely as one object, but rather like a ‘Lego’ ship put together from individual modules. Ultimately, there were 30 different modules that were used to create roughly 40 different ships. But there were essentially the same ships for the different races, varying only in the colours and textures. Now, we have a lot more possibilities and can create a set of unique ships with their own textures for every race – because now we have the necessary memory. The same is true for stations. Previously, they were put together from modules. Now, we can create unique stations for every race, which of course is a lot of work, but looks really good.

What is the process in developing the new 3D ship models?

Marc Nagel, our Art Director, doodles the ships from three sides with a rough texture template. Then the 3D artists get a specification from me what the maximum size of the texture can be. Then they get started, and constantly look it over and say where the geometry has to be fiddled with, the size changed, or other changes have to be made so that everything fits together. After all, the models also have to fit the design specifications that are already there from the Java version, such as weight, speed, or armaments of a ship. If we were to completely rebalance all of that, we would be working on the port even longer. Therefore, we try to use the original data as much as possible and ‘only’ change the graphics.

You also have someone on the team who is only responsible for the different space stations, right?

Yes, Jeremias Hohn is our lead 3D artist. Jerry is currently only doing stations, but he has to be finished with them this week, so that we can try them out in-game. Be he can explain much better about what he is currently working on.

Who coordinates the project when it comes to the balancing?

At FISHLABS, we work in very small, flexible teams, that are always being reformed as needed. So of course, there has to be someone who always has an overview of the whole project. As Lead Engineer, I am not only responsible for the programming, but at the same time, I am also the project manager and concept developer. In the end, I look everything over and say if things should go more in one direction or another. Apart from that, we frequently sit down with Marc or Uwe Wütherich, our creative director, and of course with Michael Schade, who considers everything once again from a marketing perspective. Naturally in particular cases, it depends on the department. One good example is the interface.Fredrik Überle, who works on the interface as 2D/3D artist, loads the latest skyboxes and new 3D models for his work in Photoshop behind his current interface, so that he can see right away if it fits with the style, look-and-feel, and brightness.

What role do the production meetings play?

Of course, the production meetings are becoming much more important at the moment, since we are working with more and more people on the project. In the initial phase, it’s enough for someone to come by and look at the current status and adjust it. In the current phase, where more than 10 people are involved in the project, we have to coordinate more closely, which is only possible through regular production meetings.

How will GoF 2 be tested?

First, I test the game until it makes sense to give others access to it. In the next stage, we enter a new project in our test tool and inform all FISHLABS employees by e-mail where the game is, what needs to be done, what to look out for, and what should still be disregarded in this phase. Then we ask who wants to test the game. But of course, there are also people in the team who have to test the game. We also like to get feedback from outside and, for example, invite students in. Here, we work with questionnaires a lot, particularly to get a feel for our balancing and find out what the testers especially like and if the game is too hard or too easy.

The new version of GoF 2 offers more room not only for 3D models and textures, but also for more characters and plot threads. How do these new content options affect the development?

Previously, we didn’t have as much room for text. In GoF 2 for Java, we had a total of just 1000 strings, that is character strings from one word up to about 10 lines. Now we can add as much content as we want, for example, a description for every solar system or piece of equipment. That is why we also plan to work with professional authors. One example: we need an alien race. Aha! What are they called? OK, they’re green, and what else is there about them? The new smartphone platforms give us the opportunity of providing a lot more information and backgrounds. In the future, for example, 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.

That sounds as thought the new options are both a blessing and a challenge for the developers?

Naturally, we have to adapt. If GoF 2 is going to become even better known and suddenly we’re facing a port to platforms such as the PC, XBLA, or other major consoles, you could quickly create a universe that may not have been properly thought out, but which continues to be used, and then suddenly you are confronted with unsolvable contradictions. Therefore, we have now reached a point where we have to go over the prior content, so that there is nothing in the way of a future expansion of the GoF universe.

Has the system of alliances and factions in the GoF 2 universe been further refined as part of this development?

Originally, there were only two factions: the Terrans and the Vossk. If you have done a lot of missions for the Terrans, you will eventually be out of favour with the Vossk and have to pay money if you want to land on their stations. Meanwhile, we have four factions: Terrans, Vossk, Midorians, and Nevelians. Now the reputation system oscillates between the Terrans and the Vossk, as well as the Midorians and Nivelians. If you do something for one side, that has an effect on the other side – even if all you do is fly out and attack some random ship. In extreme cases, there are diplomats where you can buy your way out, if your reputation has reached a critically low level. Unlike in GoF 1, there is no simple division into friend or foe - in GoF 2, every faction is innately neutral toward the player. Only once you cross the threshold of a certain number of points, will the entire faction be hostile to you and its members will shoot on sight.

What parts of GoF 2 have turned out particularly well so far and what are your favourite features?

You can just fly out and do whatever you want! There is a tutorial in the beginning, which explains the basics of the game, but after that, you are soon given a great deal of freedom. Another favourite feature is the abundance of items. We have approximately ten times as many items as in GoF 1. Then, of course, you can design your ship however you like. What weapons do I install? What are their characteristics? Or should I use the slot for more cargo space, or install a better scanner? Another favourite feature is definitely that you can now communicate more with your environment. Previously, there was only the mission board, always with the same text. Now, there is a personal address, which varies. That makes it more lifelike. At the same time, we now have virtually unlimited character portraits. Here, we used the head generator we had already used in our title Deep.

That almost sounds like we can expect a completely different game under the old names with GoF 2?

Naturally, the core and the story remain. But compared to the Java version of GoF 2 and the GoF 1 version for the iPhone, the new version of GoF 2 will clearly stand out and represents a major step in development. The original GoF 1 was very limited in terms of the freedom you had. The universe was already open, but you could only leave the stations as part of missions. Now, I can just leave the station and decide for myself if I want to complete missions or just fly around and mine ore, hunt pirates, use maps to discover new systems or stations in the growing GoF universe.

Next will be Marc explaining the art redesign in Galaxy on Fire 2 for iPhone…

Tags: Fishlabs, Galaxy on Fire, Games, gof, iPad, iPhone, java, nokia, One, racing, Space

In recent months, the galactic rumour mill has been buzzing, and we have frequently been asked if and when we are going to bring out Galaxy on Fire™ 2 for the iPhone. First, the good news: yes, we are bringing out GoF2 on the iPhone and we have been working all out on it since October of last year.  But we still need quite a while, because GoF2 is an unbelievable complex and extensive game - and our quality standards for what we want to offer you are, as ever, high. To make the wait a little more bearable and to give you an impression of just how all-encompassing the work is and which details we are polishing, we will begin describing all of this regularly in our developer diary, starting now. To take a more laid back approach to all of this, we will let those mainly responsible speak for themselves in interviews.

Let’s get started with Hans-Christian Kühl, also known as HCK, the lead developer of Galaxy on Fire™:

Where did the original idea for the GoF [Galaxy on Fire] series come from?

I had the idea after we had finished some smaller games like Motoraver and Robot Alliance. I thought, ‘Let’s see what will work,’ and started to make a tech demo, that I then later expanded. After that, more people from Graphics and Design came on board pretty quickly, and the project was born.

Was it difficult to convince owners Christian Lohr and Michael Schade of the concept, or were they both excited from the beginning?

I think they thought it was a good idea from the start, especially because it was so open and free compared to projects like Motoraver or Cloud Commander, which were limited to single roads or a canyon. With GoF 1 we already had 500 different planets and 100 systems, which almost no one could have imagined for a mobile game back then.

…and thus taking a step away from linear level design toward a sandbox, an open world?

Yes, originally it was just 13 missions that had to be played through. Afterwards, the system opened, and you could fly everywhere - that was a major innovation at the time.

Playing GoF brings back memories of classic titles, especially Origin’s Wing Commander series and its sequel Privateer. Did titles like that influence the development of GoF?

„Privateer“ was kind of like „Wing Commander“ with added tradesystem and more freedom. „Freelancer“ was really the first game, that combined the best aspects of the previous titles – namely a good story, a huge universe with several factions, a tradesystem, individual ship-modification, ore-minig, generic missions and lots and lots to discover. Definitely an inspiration. An additional source of inspiration concerning the productions of various goods according to blueprints has been „Eve Online“.

What are you currently working on for GoF 2?

Currently, we are working on 3D models of ships, weapons, asteroids, as well as various hangar scenes and the bar where you get new missions. At the same time, Marc Nagel, our art director, is making 2D concepts for new ship models. Then I try to bring it all together. Next, Marc and others will help me with that and deal primarily with the shader, so that everything looks right. And, of course, we mustn’t forget the sound. We’re still looking at a lot of work.

What adjustments are necessary for porting GoF 2 to the coming C platforms?

The most conspicuous thing is the graphics. But for me as a programmer, the change from Java to C is the biggest step. Unfortunately, there’s no tool where you can push a button and everything is reformatted. Whole concepts need to be redesigned. And with a huge game like GoF 2, that already wasn’t easy with the Java version. The Java version of GoF 2 is based on a predecessor, Deep - an underwater game that was itself based on GoF 1. That means there were already two intermediate steps from development to improvement. Porting all of that to C was extremely difficult. Since we already had GoF 1 in C for the iPhone, I first had to consider whether I should take the GoF 1 version in C and turn that into GoF 2 or take the GoF 2 Java version and port that to C. I must have needed 2 weeks just for that decision. Ultimately, I decided to convert the Java project Projekt completely into C, and that was good. Of course, that is only the technical side of the programming. With the graphics, everything had to be adapted, there was no stone left unturned.

Will the work on GoF 2 make the work for upcoming projects easier?

Of course, there’s always some benefit. For GoF 2, for example, we are currently working a lot with geometry and texture shaders under OpenGL ES 2.0, which we will certainly be able to reuse in future projects.  Other components of the game, such as the depiction of space with nebulas and the simultaneous depiction of a large number of objects, will also be able to be reused. But naturally, we will get the greatest added value if we develop a sequel to the current title or integrate add-ons like in-app purchases, that unlock new levels or equipment.

The GoF 2 port also resulted in a conversion from integer to float. Why? What are the advantages?

All newer end devices use a floating-point processor. Floating point operations [mathematical calculations using floating point numbers] are carried out in the hardware. For older Java devices, we realised projects using integers, because that ran faster and those devices did not have their own floating-point processor in the hardware. That brings some simplifications into the game: for example, we no longer have to calculate everything large and recalculate it small again later in order to realise small numbers in this way. Actually, we can now compress the whole game much smaller, so that the units of length are smaller. Previously, a ship had to be 1000 length units in size so that it could move smoothly. Now, a ship can theoretically consist of just one unit. Visually, the changes in the game will be apparent in that things no longer shake during camera rotation and navigation.

Does being able to use float also reduce the programming effort?

Not for GoF 2, of course, because this is primarily a port. In this case, the conversion is rather complex. But for future productions, it will be good that we can rely on floating-point.

What else has been especially difficult to implement so far?

Memory management in Java and C is completely different. Unforeseeable problems could crop up any time.  You could play the game for two hours and suddenly it crashes, and at first you don’t know why - it is probably because someone at some point didn’t release something somewhere, where everything occurs automatically in Java. In addition, we now have a lot more textures and of course everyone wants everything to look great. But we ‘only’ have 10 – 20 MB of texture memory available. In comparison, with Java we had to get by with 512-byte texture. Everybody in the team said, ‘Oh, everything will fit in, we have to make use of this somehow!’ Now, they all come and say, ‘Everything should look really good now, and we still need five 1024-byte textures…!’ In the end, we have to sit there and make sure we don’t pack too much content into the game.

To be continued…

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Tags: free, Galaxy on Fire, Games, gof, iPad, iPhone, java, Mobile, nokia, online, scifi, Space

We started the new year with a bang: Our most successful iPhone ad game, Barclaycard Waterslide Extreme, has cracked 10 million downloads, Rally Master Pro™ will be released –  for free (!) – in an extra high resolution Symbian version for Sony Ericsson Satio™ and Vivaz™ in a few days, and we recently launched a new iPhone game for Volkswagen: Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge. This iPhone promotional game we are particularly proud of, because usually promotional games are inferior to regular commercial games for reasons of budget, and the subject of fuel saving is rather uncommon in games. Nevertheless, we were able to turn all that into a high-quality, exciting game, as even the folks at toucharcade declared (a great honour!). You see, promotional games can be quite entertaining, and so you can look forward to at least two more free  casual games, that will be launched by this summer.

Fresh games for iPhone, iPad & friends

Of course, this year, we aren’t just developing ad games for iPhone and iPad and revamping existing iPhone games for other smartphones; we are also working on several completely new titles. With a racing game that has music as an essential component, we are entering new territory. We can’t tell you too much, but the first playable version caused quite a sensation both in-house and with marketing partners.

Along with our iPhone and iPad developments, we also want to put out feelers towards Android this year. As with the iPhone before, we will first port our casual games, like Burning Tires™, to get a feel for the new platform. If the effort proves worth the trouble, we will definitely follow up with more titles. Beyond that, we are working on a AAA title closely together with Nokia featuring OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics for a large screen.

Reunion with Keith on iPhone, iPad and Nokia Smartphones

It’s been at least a year since we ported our most important brand to the iPhone: Galaxy on Fire™. Our 3D space shooter with open gameplay and RPG-like equipment options for spaceships is still unchallenged in the AppStore. But despite heavily pepped up graphics and crisp sound, GoF on the iPhone cannot deny its Java origins and its five-year old design. Sci-fi action fans will be glad to hear that we have been working on converting Galaxy on Fire™ 2 to the iPhone and other smartphones since October.

The sequel to the space epic has set standards in the Java field similar to Part 1 and, thanks to the even more open game design, offers significantly greater potential to be a megahit on the iPhone. So you can look forward to seeing Keith and other acquaintances from the first part once again later this year and play the Alien part for the first time in the Mission Pack in summer. And to keep the wait from being all too boring, we will keep you up-to-date with the status of the development with a regular developer’s diary.

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Tags: action, Android, Barclaycard, download, Fishlabs, free, Galaxy on Fire, Games, gof, iPhone, java, nokia, racing, rally, sci-fi, Shooter, Space, Symbian

Sony Ericsson has been known for its outstanding 3D gaming performance on Java phones for years now. It all started back in 2004, when Sony Ericsson introduced the first mass market Java phone that could render decent 3D graphics on a 176×220 pixels screen. We had been early on and released our first 3D games Motoraver, featuring 3D driving physics in a fairly large sandbox-style city at night, and Robot Alliance, a proper first person shooter in full 3-D (!) with smoothly animated 3D characters, all within 350KB of data.

Continuously, Sony Ericsson improved their hardware and, even more important, the Java Virtual Machine it was running. The crown of 3D enabled java phones still belongs to the K800i, the game experience felt close to the Playstation 1, even if it was not as fast and on a smaller screen. And Fishlabs has to give Kudos to Sony Ericsson. Without this great performance we could never have created mobile games of such high quality like Blades & Magic, Rally Master Pro, Snowboard Hero and Galaxy on Fire 2.

From music to photos to games

In 2005 3D gaming was hyped very much but could not break through as the carriers always forced developers to support the lowest common denominator and the majority of handsets could only render 2D graphics. Sony Ericsson did right in focusing on music instead and introducing the Walkman brand to mobile with great success. A year later Sony Ericsson repeated the success story labeling their photo feature phones with the popular brand Cybershot. With all those millions of Walkman and Cybershot phones sold, sharing a consistent Java platform and decent 3D rendering capabilities, Sony Ericsson’s strength in mobile gaming started as the best kept secret of the industry and led into ruling the mobile gaming business: in 2007, Sony Ericsson was the fourth largest manufacturer of mobile phones worldwide, seven out of ten games downloads were happening on Sony Ericsson phones in Europe and emerging markets like Latin America and South East Asia. Until today, Sony Ericsson has released over 50 models supporting proper 3D rendering and has an installed user base of approx. 200 million devices (Fishlabs’ estimate). Not a bad thing for developers like us, focused on 3D mobile games, if only the ecosystem was right.

iPhone – the mobile games game changer

Nothing is constant but change. It was not Nokia, with its great ambitions in mobile gaming, finally introducing N-Gage as a service, or Vodafone with more than 300 (?) million subscribers who literally changed the mobile gaming business over night. New kid on the mobile block Apple swiped away all competitors with a mobile phone featuring a game experience beyond Nintendo DS and close to Sony PSP. With the latest installment of iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 3rd generation featuring OpenGL ES 2.0 even beyond PSP. In combination with the App Store integrated in iTunes, a fair business case for developers (70/30 revenue share) and a low entry barrier (get started for less than $299 with an iPod touch and the iPhone SDK) for everyone mobile game developers were flocking to this new exciting platform.

Satio – ramping up for the fastest mobile gaming device?

It took Sony Ericsson a while to find an answer to the unexpected competitor coming from the computer area backed by a loyal customer base addicted to superior user experience – which is exactly why Apple is so stunningly successful with the iPhone. Although, feature phones based on Java had been a great success for Sony Ericsson and were the preferred mobile phone for gaming by tens of millions users, the future in mobile gaming lies in smartphones. However, any half-hearted attempt to stand up against the leader of smartphones will fail. But Sony Ericsson has sent a decent device stuffed with the latest hardware to the race. The Satio features the same 3D-Chip PowerVR SGX  as the iPhone 3GS running Symbian on an even more powerful CPU ARM11 clocked at 600MHz. Furthermore, it comes with plenty of memory and with a bigger display than the iPhone featuring 640 x 360 pixels resolution. 

Lots of horsepower – what is it good for?

It is one thing to stuff a lot of nice hardware into a mobile phone. It is another story to make all this power available to the developer. Sony Ericsson did an amazing job here. We have ported Rally Master Pro from iPhone to Symbian featuring almost the same functionality on Satio (only automatic acceleration when using touch controls due to single touch on Satio and no multiple simultaneous sounds due to lack of layered sound capabilities). Although the resolution of the Satio display is quite higher compared to the iPhone we experience a stable frame rate of 30 frames per second on both devices running identical game code and graphical assets. Thanks to the better screen resolution of Satio, it is stunning how much more details can be rendered in the scene (the original iPhone textures were designed with some head room for larger screens).

Xperia X10: Mobile games on the big screen

Today a prototype of the latest Sony Ericsson smartphone has arrived at our studio: A shiny Xperia X10 and we have to convey it looks stunning, indeed. It is still a very early proto but navigation on the capacitive touch screen feels great and fluid and the whole menu is much more inviting and intuitive to play around with than it used to be with previous smartphones from Sweden. As the X10 is an Android based phone it will take a while until we have our first game running on it. But one thing is for sure: The big screen is a great, great plus. You can see our website in full 800 pixels width and everything is crystal clear. Even the small fonts can be read with ease. Equipped with a whopping 1 GHz Snapdragon Chip supporting OpenGL ES 2.0 it promises high-end smartphone gaming on the big screen.
 

Tags: Android, app, Apple, download, Fishlabs, Games, iPhone, iPod, java, Mobile, nokia, racing, rally, Shooter, store, Symbian, touch