The first three parts of the Galaxy on Fire 2 Developer Diaries have already given us a close look at the upcoming travels of the mercenary Keith T. Maxwell. Along with lead developer Hans-Christian Kühl, who gave us some insights into programming and the course of production in parts 1 and 2, part 3 gave us Fishlabs’ Art Director Marc Nagel, who explained the graphics concept of the Galaxy on Fire series.

In this chapter, we turn to a topic whose importance for mood and overall impression is still underestimated by many game producers outside of AAA console titles: sound design and music. Our interview partners are Gero Goerlich, Sound Director at Fishlabs, and Jan Werkmeister, Managing Director of Periscope Studio in Hamburg, Germany, who was hired to compose the music for GoF 2.

GERO: [laughs] Sound? We’re talking about sound?

KAI: Exactly. The sound design and music in Galaxy on Fire 2 are a major step for Fishlabs. Among other things, sound is planned for the dialogues in parts of the game. Up to now in our titles, they were only displayed as text.

GERO:  Yes, we’re actually doing that now!

JAN: I hear you’re working on that with Jeremiah [T-Recs Studios], right?

GERO: Yes, exactly. We had already done the voice recordings for the co-pilot in Rally Master Pro with Jeremiah. Even though that was a comparatively smaller job with just one speaker, the boys really gave it their all. But for the dialogues in GoF 2, we need six speakers, who will, in part, also have to voice a variety of characters. In total, we have over 400 dialogues that have to be spoken.

KAI: Let’s get back to basics. What percentage of a good game comes from the sound design and music?

GERO: About 33.33 %.

KAI: What are the other factors?

GERO:  33.33 % gameplay and 33.33% for the other sense people use for perception, that is the graphics in the game. We don’t have touch, smell and taste yet.

KAI: What are the challenges in sound design and music in a space shooter like Galaxy on Fire 2?

GERO: You have a certain visual mood that is specified and that needs to be appropriately implemented and supported by the sound. Whether it’s music or sound, you have to find a way to bring over and intensify the tension and mood that are supposed to be generated.

JAN: We did the music. In sound design, you can rely heavily on the events or actions. For example, if there is an explosion, then naturally there is the sound of an explosion. I can also work with atmosphere, create certain background moods. What I can do with music, though, goes a step further. There, it’s what is found between the lines. The best example is the Midorians, about whom you [Gero] said, ‘They aren’t so high-class, not so well equipped,’ there is ‘not much value.’ Then we try to bring that out with the music. What might be revealed to players in-game only after several hours of gameplay can expressed immediately with the right music.

KAI: Does the sound design lead, as is usually the case, and the music is laid down later? How exactly does that work?

GERO: The one does affect the other, but you start out differently. ‘What is that, then?’ and, ‘What do you need for that?’ Initially, I selected a variety of music samples and styles to provide everyone in the company who was involved with a first impression of the direction we were aiming for. That means simulating a sound world through music and sounds at first. On the one hand, you have the ‘one-shot’ sounds, that have to be complete in and of themselves. For example, you can’t incorporate the sound of a western revolver in a Galaxy on Fire 2. The sounds have to sound more technical, futuristic. After requirements like that and the direction we wanted to go were clear, Periscope came into play, perfecting them in the form of music, and they implemented it terrifically.

KAI: How important is the position of an in-house sound designer in the production of a game?

JAN: As a result, things are all of a piece. You [Gero] didn’t think up a sound design and then some music is added, rather you thought very carefully how it should be, and we communicated very closely on a level that is not always immediately possible with developers. On that foundation, I could immediately assimilate statements like ‘That needs to sound a bit more like this,’ and do something with it and implement them appropriately. The result is very consistent. I was quite surprised, because I hadn’t heard the sound design before the beta. When you [Gero] played that for me, I immediately thought, ‘Wow! Great! That works!’

GERO: The advantage of in-house sound design is that I know how the people think. On the one hand, there’s what you want to present to the outside, to the players, but on the other hand, there is what goes inward, what sort of feelings the members of the team have about the game. The best part is that, in the end, you have a complete work in which the music fits with the sounds in the game.

JAN: Actually, this procedure is necessary for any high-quality game production. We often take on this task, but if there is someone at the developer who knows what they’re doing and can communicate in both directions, that is, of course, much better.

GERO: In any case, there is a good feeling about the game. The music reflects the atmosphere in the game well and doesn’t get on your nerves, even after playing for a long time. One good example is the layer music that is used in combats. We thought about how to bring in a certain amount of drama through three-level tension or intensity degrees in the various layers of the combat music. Even if you can’t see the enemy yet, you know immediately how hot things are about to get.

JAN: In this approach, by the way, GoF 2 is no different in sound design and music than an AAA console title, which is certainly an exception right now in the field of mobile games.

KAI: What sounds are especially important for GoF 2?

GERO: Over the course of your life, you learn to recognise sounds and identify them. For example, you see a door closing and hear ‘Bam!’, the door closes. Eventually, you learn that the door closes without actually having seen it happen, because you have learned the sound and the event associated with it. The same principle applies in GoF 2. Of course, there is no sound in the vacuum of space, but sci-fi movies have long created a certain sound world which audiences have learned over the years. If they were to hear something now that sounds completely different, it just wouldn’t fit. As a result, you have certain standards, such as the typical ‘pew-pew’ of laser weapons.

You have to try to create something brand new out of that. For example, the integration of organic sounds. I layered a weapon with the squealing of pigs, very nice!

Soundsampel (click to play): Pigs in Space!

KAI: Squealing pigs!?!

JAN: Naturally, that addresses emotions on a different level that can only be triggered with certain sounds.

GERO: The possibilities are very diverse. Of course, you can also use a synthesizer and make the typical ‘pew-pew’ again, and change it a bit, but then it just sounds like synthesizer.

Soundsampel (click to play): Peeeeewww!!!!!

Or you start ‘tinkering’ and the result is significantly more complex, as with our blaster that has been enriched with squealing pigs.

Soundsampel (click to play): Pig-enhanced Beam Laser

JAN: Without tinkering, it’s one-dimensional. I think you have to take this multi-dimensional approach with sound, in which every trace stands for something. You just can’t do without that anymore in modern sound design.

KAI: What is the source of most of the sounds in GoF 2?

GERO: There are no sounds in GoF 2 that can be purchased from a library. Every single sound in the game was compiled new from a wide variety of sounds. For example, with all the weapon sounds, I first thought about what the weapon looks like and how it functions, like a thermoblaster, in order to create a sort of acoustic blueprint.

JAN: I know this from our sound designer. This physical approach, thinking about what the weapon actually does. First, the energy is created, then collected, and finally, discharged, compressed through a narrow tube. Using such considerations, you gradually approach a final sound.

GERO: Another important thing here is the term ‘sound world’. In GoF 2, there are many types of weapons with a wide variety of design levels. Every weapon has to sound different, but its type still has to be recognisable. Thermoblasters, for example, have a sound world.  That means, each one sounds different, but they have certain acoustic characteristics than can always be recognisedto be a thermoblaster. This is also true, for example, with cannon shots that sound more mechanical and less electric. They also have their own sound world in the GoF 2 universe.

KAI: What can you tell us about the music?

JAN: The approach is similar, of course. With music, things are more emotional, and you work more from your gut. That means, we try to pick up a mood from an emotion or a rough description like, ‘The Midorians are less significant’ or ‘They have antiquated technology’ and reflect that appropriately through music. Sure, we also work with synthesizers, but one alone is practically worthless here. You have to overlay them and combine these different elements to create new music worlds.

KAI: Are there different approaches for the different factions in the GoF 2 universe?

JAN: For the Midorians, for example, we had a basic pool of sounds: Midorians have to sound like this. The space music is then built from that and the variations from that, in turn. What I find particularly important in working with music is the harmonic approach. You can express an incredible amount with an interval of two tones. You can hear that well, for example, in Terran space. Everything is open, because there is nothing to indicate any sort of specific harmony.

Soundsampel (click to play): Terran Space

The Terran station is the same way. There, you hear this open, airy, harmonic, not at all graspable motif.

Soundsampel (click to play): Terran Station

In contrast to this, we have the Midorians. Very definitely a minor approach. ‘Hooooohhh,’ a little strange, ‘hooooooohhhhh’. With dull sounds, in principle low-fi and a bit fusty. That way, I also express at the same time that it is less sophisticated. That comes through very quickly.

Soundsampel (click to play): Midorianischer Raum

Let’s listen to Nivelian space. The approach here is very similar to the Terrans. They are on a somewhat higher technical level.  The motif is again very open and has even more high sound elements in it.

Soundsampel (click to play): Nivelian Space

KAI: …That has an ethereal elegance…

GERO: [laughs] Ethereal elegance! I have to write that down…

JAN: …In principle, that is precisely the point that provides sophistication.

Then there are the bionic creatures, the Vossk.

Soundsampel (click to play): Vossk Space

GERO: A bit sick, not so completely clear…

JAN: Semi-mechanical, biomechanical, wrenching sounds. That comes through much more clearly in the station. Distorted sounds, metals are the motif. The harmonics are freakier. That means that you work in the background with intervals and sounds that seem strange and odd from the outset.

Soundsampel (click to play): Vossk Station

KAI: A bit discordant…

JAN: Yes. As Gero said, people learn over their lives how certain things sound. You can build on that. In harmonics, there is a lot of talk about how to work with intervals. In the open space of GoF 2, we work with fifths and major ascending intervals. I want to take sevenths to new heights. The Star Wars music, for example, is created with major sevenths that occur very often. If you want to work with small, cramped spaces, it sounds like this:

Soundsampel (click to play): Midorian Station

Small intervals, all the sounds are close together. I can express the size of the space relatively quickly with the frequency spectrum.

KAI: You already mentioned the layer-based battle music.  Are there different motifs for the individual factions?

JAN: As far as the battle music goes, we essentially have two different approaches in GoF 2: On the one hand, the ‘normal’ approach, which is based more on the orchestral approaches from Hollywood, enriched with synthesizers, so a very cinematic approach.

 Soundsampel (click to play): Battlemusic

On the other hand, we have the ‘Void’ approach, which is really much more brutal. It has something from the classic sci-fi approaches, like Bladerunner, but is much more modern.

GERO: Right, combat is combat. Except for the Void, there is no difference. When you fight against enemies from the normal galaxies, you hear the normal battle music. Depending on the number of opponents, the music is more or less intense. But when you fight against the Void, you immediately get this aggressive music and immediately think, ‘Oh, sh…. !’, and you immediately get a corresponding feeling. There are no stations you can enter here and also no breathers.

JAN: Exactly, no deals, no Mr. Nice Guy. Just imagine, you’re flying along comfortably here.

Soundsampel (click to play): Terran Space

Then you make a little jump, and suddenly you’re here:

Soundsampel (click to play): Void Battlemusic

And it’s pretty clear what’s going on. I always think of that scene in ‘Blade’ with the blood shower. I think you notice immediately where you’ve landed when you hear that sound. And you don’t have to be a music professor, it works with everybody automatically.

GERO: That point is really especially important. Music and sound in themselves are a matter of feeling, and less obviously than with graphics. That means an observer, the player for example, sees something and says, ‘Oh, that’s looks beautiful!’, but it rare that someone says, ‘Oh, that sounds wonderful!’ All you notice is, ‘The overall experience is somehow harmonious!’ If the sound doesn’t fit the image, it jumps right out at you that something is wrong, even if you don’t know exactly why.

KAI: That means that sound design and music have a significantly greater influence on the effects of images than we generally think?

JAN: I have a terrific example. Back in film school, we had a seminar on film music, and I think the first thing the professor showed us was images of water, people swimming, the sun in the sky, everything wonderful from below, scored with wonderfully harmonic, pleasant music. Everything was great. Then he switched on the original music, and it was ‘Jaws’. At first, you thought, ‘Oh, the Blue Lagoon!’ and suddenly your impression of the images flipped 180 degrees.

GERO: That is the point. The same sequence, nothing in the image changes, and yet everything is different – that is sound.  But because you can’t smell it, see it, or touch it, the whole thing operates on a completely unconscious level.

JAN: Which, of course, doesn’t make the position of sound in a production any easier.  Many developers have no real connection to the subject, and so sound is often the last thing that is taken care of. GoF 2 takes a completely different approach, with one expert in-house and one expert outside, fully aware that it advances the production. Ultimately, players will probably say, ‘Cool!’ without even knowing why.

KAI: How would you characterise the sound and music world of GoF 2?

GERO: It’s hard to describe. We have our own world that arises from all the elements like graphics and story.  On the one hand, there’s outer space, with planets, suns, nifty nebulas, and myriads of stars, as we know it. It looks good. Especially on these small devices, that is really fantastic. But then there is that openness which is characteristic for GoF 2. The sound supports this open, highly variable world. You can’t say that it is like Star Wars or Star Trek. That has nothing to do with it. It is triggered by its own idea. We thought a lot about and hotly debated how we could develop our own GoF 2 sound… I think we succeeded very well. At the same time, it is also difficult to describe, because the sound can’t easily be compared to existing titles.

JAN: I think it is the result of a process. From the first examples you [Gero] prepared, there was a rough direction, but we made our way into another world of sound, especially in terms of complexity. We went so far with the Midorians that we had to back-pedal somewhat, because some things went far beyond what you’re used to hearing.

GERO: You have everything from the digitally hardcore Void battle sound to very organic and harmonic sounds of the Nivelian world.

JAN: Despite the bandwidth, people would notice if something didn’t fit. So it is a bandwidth that belongs together.

GERO: It has its own signature.

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

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.

Become a fan of FISHLABS on Facebook for instant updates on all current projects.

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

Okay, that’s enough flying around. Time for some action. The first mission with the space junk is quickly resolved and I blow away the rubbish outside the space station in no time. The way the debris bursts with a tremendous explosion when I hit it is fantastic. I don’t have to wait long for the first mission with potential for enemy contact.

I still have to grin at nervous, one-eyed Bolar. Right then, let’s get him home in one piece. As expected, we have company on the way. My first encounter with the Vossk in over 3 years. As before, their dull, dark grey hulls make them difficult to spot, even on the gigantic display of the iPhone, but the head-up display reliably shows them as an enemy target.

First enemy contact on the iPhone

Their spaceships are significantly better than my little Icarus in weaponry, armour, and manoeuvrability, and a frontal attack was not a good idea even in the past. I duck under the first salvo and fire my booster to get behind the enemy fighter with a wide loop. All right, now you’re going to get it. A fine salvo from my twin lasers hits the target and the Vossk fighter’s energy bar declines significantly. I’d love to finish him off, but the time limit to get Bolar to the next waypoint is getting short. A quick moment to orient myself and then set course for the yellow dot at the edge of the screen. Bolar whinges away at me, and I boost again. Time presses. After another attack by the Vossk, which I am also able to parry, I bring Bolar to the last waypoint. He’s happy as a clam that we made it in one piece, and I pocket the credits. It’s a pity I had to let the Vossk get away, but I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.

The Doctor offers a lucrative assignment

Word of my deeds appears to have got round. Doc Washington hires me as a wingman. He won’t tell me much, just that we are guaranteed to run into trouble. Sounds like fun. The money is right, so off we go. At first, the journey is quiet. We reach the first waypoint without incident. Doc’s spaceship makes a much better impression than mine; his business seems to be doing well. As soon as possible, I’ll take a look around and see what the market offers for better ships and weapons.

The dramatic music announcing the approach of enemy units pulls me out of my thoughts of a new spaceship. Vossk fighters. I ignite my booster and hurry toward them to draw their fire, so that Doc can attack the Vossk with his powerful lasers. I am able to shake off the Vossk with time-tested evasive manoeuvres and launch a counterattack. With satisfaction, I wipe out two of the Vossk, whose ships are much better than mine. Well, it all comes down to the pilot, doesn’t it?

But where is Doc? I aim for the green dot on the radar until the green marker appears in the middle of the screen. Far away, Doc is in a hot dogfight with the last Vossk. I fire the booster and hurry to help him. The Vossk doesn’t last 10 seconds under fire from both our lasers. BOOOM – and Vossk wreckages flies through space.

No mercy for GOF iPhone aliens

Christine has the first delicate mission for me. A Vossk weapons convoy has been reported. Together with Christine’s wingman, we go hunting to stop the delivery. We fly in formation for a while. I enjoy the view of the smoothly flying Terran fighters with their triple engines. Suddenly, enemy targets pop up on the radar: three large Vossk freighters with an escort of four Vossk hunters. We break formation and dive into the fight. Now I have to keep an overview. My weapons are intelligent enough that they only hit enemy objects, but with a total of seven ships constantly circling between the gigantic freighters, you have to watch out who is behind whom.

I quickly identify the pirate whose hull is already heavily damaged. His evasive manoeuvre does him no good. With a little effort, my lasers find their target. They tear apart the enemy spaceship with a tremendous explosion and a mighty fireball with a secondary ring impulse spreads through space. Quite a sight.  In the meantime, my wingmen have done good work, only one fighter can still be seen on the radar. Not for long. The remaining Vossk doesn’t stand a chance against three Terran hunters, and his life also ends in a ball of fire. The three Vossk freighters are now defenceless against us. We attack them one after the other. Their hulls are strong, but they can’t withstand the constant fire of our lasers forever, and gigantic explosions tear the enormous freighters to pieces. Satisfied, we turn for home.

To be continued…

Tags: Fishlabs, Galaxy on Fire, Games, iPhone, sci-fi, Shooter, Space

Tremendous computing power, a huge display, rich sound, and analogue controls via touch or motion sensor. The iPhone was just made for out space shooter game Galaxy on Fire™. For some weeks, our mega-hit is rocking on the iPhone and iPod touch. We have completely reworked all of the graphics, elaborately recomposed the soundtrack, added new sound effects, and developed a new survival mode and analogue controls, for a real outer space feel. But one thing at a time.

Pure outer space eye candy on the iPhone

Right from the start-up sequence, Galaxy on Fire™ for the iPhone has a new look. The FISHLABS logo shimmers in the interlaced monitor design and all of the menus are correspondingly designed. An homage to the early 90s, when many of us spent hours playing Wing Commander and Elite. The first 3D scenes run in the background, more reminiscent of the PC games of the late 90s than a mobile game. Gigantic spaceships glide slowly past the camera, while small fighters fly patrol in front of a huge planet. All of this is accompanied by the familiar Galaxy on Fire™ main theme, but in a rich orchestral sound – I feel like I’m sitting in the cinema.

When is the film finally going to start?

I already have the main menu behind me. I chose the story mode. Of course, I remember the intro well, on the Sony Ericsson K700 at the time. It was impressive, because it was fully animated in 3D, rich in detail, fluid, and with an astonishing visual range. Impressive for a platform where only 2D games had run before. The new intro on the iPhone will knock you out of your socks. A twinkling background of stars shimmers, lone asteroids spin slowly by. The first semi-transparent text box is displayed, while the camera pans gently to one side and a splendid nebula enters the picture. In the middle is a planet, illuminated by a gleaming sun. Subtle lens flares play in the virtual optics. I select continue and the camera pans to a high-resolution, bright orange planet, with a space station in orbit rotating around its own axis in 3D. Eden Prime, AD 3587. It begins. Finally.

Arrival on the iPhone – I mean Eden Prime

Majestically, the SS Ulysses approaches and flies past the camera close enough to touch. The numerous details on the hull of the Terran battle cruiser are clear. On the stern, the gigantic ion drives pulse in bright cyan. Has my jaw dropped? Christine bids me welcome. Sweet. She doesn’t know that we met three years ago. No matter. I don’t let on and follow her to the hangar.

My first mission in outer space on the iPhone

It is roomy here. At the end of the camera pan through the spacious hangar, I spot a small something hovering above the floor. Hmm, it looks as though my first spaceship is still little more that a tin can with rocket engines. Whatever, I listen patiently to Christine’s instructions, and then my first test flight.

Wow! What a frame rate! Small particle fly towards me, my Icarus, with its glowing drives, stands out fantastically from the glittering backdrop of stars. The head up display provides all functions at a glance and, thanks to the huge screen, covers very little of the scene. While Christine explains the basic operation of the controls and the HUD to me, I look for the fire button. The bottom right looks good. PHEEEEW, PHEEW and the first twin laser shots fly toward the horizon in a glowing green. Wicked sound. Again. PHEEEEW, PHEEW. That was definitely missing in the Java version.

In the meantime, Christine approaches the first waypoint. Her ship is far in the distance, recognizable only as a yellow tail and the green marking in the HUD . She is probably wondering where I am. What was that she said about the controls? Ah, the analogue stick in the lower left. This is supposed to work? I’m surprised, the controls are very good. Amazingly smooth, the 3D scene flows past me and I fly in every direction until I start to get dizzy.

Now I really have to hurry to the first waypoint. On a normal mobile phone, the booster would be the ‘3’, but that doesn’t exist on the iPhone. Hmm, maybe the double arrow next to the analogue stick? WOOOOOHOOOOO! Boring tin can? With a noise like a turbine, the Icarus takes off like a bat and my head rocks back slightly, as if I could actually feel the acceleration. Conditioned like one of Pavlov’s dogs. I hope no one is watching me play.

To be continued…

Tags: Fishlabs, Galaxy on Fire, Games, iPhone, java, Mobile

What a year for FISHLABS! All of our mobile games were showered with awards. German and international online magazines gave top marks by the score to Powerboat Challenge™, Rally Master Pro™, Gladiator – The Mobile Game, and Snowboard Hero™. As a result, FISHLABS led the international charts for the best mobile games in 2008. Not bad for a small company with just 30 employees. Naturally, we were tremendously pleased with all of this recognition and are very proud of it.

Unfortunately, none of this guarantees that high quality and innovation will earn back the expenses of the costly production of such mobile games on the open market, to say nothing of making a profit – the purpose of every professional company. There are a number of diverse reasons for this:

• Even high-quality mobile games are offered at a relatively low price
• Mobile network operators keep at least 50 % of the revenue
• Distributors help themselves to up to 25 % of the end-user price for the more or less simple task of passing on the mobile game
• Mobile games are marketed like ring tones – the name of a mobile game is the only distinguishing feature, the customer only learns about quality and innovation after the purchase
• There is no effective copy protection for mobile games. They are downloaded illegally over the Internet in huge numbers – there are roughly ten times as many illegal downloads of our mobile games as legal (and that is just those that we are aware of)

All of this would not be so serious if these problems had not been known for years. Unfortunately, almost nothing has changed in this regard, and we do not expect there to be fundamental changes in the market for mobile games in the future. Mind you, by this we only mean the market for mobile games which are sold by network operators and Internet portals.

New sales channels for mobile games

In 2009, FISHLABS will rigorously pursue other methods. Above all, we will, for the time being, not develop any new Java mobile games for sale via network operators and Internet portals.

With the long-awaited sequel to our best-known mobile game, the space shooter and trade simulator Galaxy on Fire™, we will rely entirely on the new marketing concept which we successfully introduced with Rally Master Pro™: Galaxy on Fire™ 2 will be available for free download directly from our website and a few selected partners. Anyone who wants to can download the game to their PC to save the mobile transmission costs. In any case, Galaxy on Fire™ 2 can be played for a few hours (!) absolutely free. Only in the later course of the game must the game be unlocked for 100,000 myFISHLABS credits. In western countries, the purchase of a myFISHLABS Credits Gold Package for 5.97 Euros is enough for this. We have also taken great care that myFISHLABS Credits are priced lower in emerging markets in accordance with their purchasing power and that the most important payment systems of each country are available. 

Copy protection for mobile games with extra benefits

In order to adequately protect Galaxy on Fire™ 2 against piracy after the free playing period, the mobile game uses an online connection to our OCEAN™ server to check whether the individual player is authorised to use the paid premium area of Galaxy on Fire™ 2. This check occurs only once per game session and the one-time 10 KB data transfer is minimal, in order to keep the cost to the player as low as possible. The game security data are kept in the phone’s memory until the game is ended. Thus, Galaxy on Fire™ 2 will even work in the underground, so long as there has been a brief connection to the OCEAN™ server beforehand.

Of course, honest users consider copy protection to be an imposition. Why should honest buyers have to accept difficulties or even extra costs for a product they have paid for in full? The answer is simple: because this product and other like it in the future will not exist if it is too easy to obtain a free (illegal) version and the manufacturer cannot make a profit from their product.

But our copy protection also has its good side: above all, download fees do not apply. Depending on the mobile phone contract, that could be up to 15 Euros for a large mobile game like Galaxy on Fire™ 2. Furthermore, we offer up to two cross upgrades. Thus, players can start playing Galaxy on Fire™ 2 on one mobile and keep playing even after changing to another model from a different manufacturer (!) for the second time. The saved games are stored on the OCEAN™ server with every authorisation and loaded as needed. Even without changing mobiles, this is a useful function, for example when your mobile receives a firmware update. And at the same time, all premium players are entered in the international high scores table.

We can’t wait to see how Galaxy on Fire™ 2 and the new sales concept are received in the market. Even if data flat rates have not yet been widely established and we will probably lose some users in the short-term, online connectivity in mobile games is the future and FISHLABS is always one of the leaders!

With that in mind, game on and a successful 2009!

Tags: award, download, Fishlabs, free, Galaxy on Fire, Games, Gladiator, java, Mobile, myFISHLABS, Ocean, online, powerboat, Server

We called it and we did it: We rocked the Games Convention and man DID we rock! Whoever visited us at our booth in Hall 5 could witness the sheer insanity that was FISHLABS - and to the people who weren’t there: Man, did you miss out on something!

Happy winners of our mobile games and a Walkman phone

Just like the happy winners of a Sony Ericsson W760i Walkman phone, who couldn’t believe at first that they’ve actually won something. Or the endless numbers of mobile gamers, waiting for their free mobile game to be beamed on their mobile phone! And last but not least the huge amount of visitors, which we’ve been able to please just with a Sony Ericsson lanyard or a FISHLABS T-Shirt, in exchange for their participation in our prize.

It’s been four very exhaustive but worthwhile days with the visitors at the fare, from which most people didn’t expect THAT kind of visual quality from a mobile game, as we displayed our games on five big plasma displays at our booth. On which we countered that just FISHLABS mobile games look that good!

THIS is what mobile games can look like? Here at FISHLABS, they do!

No matter what age, position or reason for being at the show - anybody who took a glaze at Galaxy on Fire 2, Gladiator, Blades and Mages or Powerboat Challenge felt the urge to get one of those FISHLABS mobile games. And we felt this urge at our counter, where visitors pushed each other to be the next in line to get one of those free mobile games, which sometimes took some time: When 300 mobile phones pollute the air with their Bluetooth signals it becomes hard to single out one of them…

As a day at the fare can be somewhat exhausting, many people chose to relax a little bit at our booth - thanks to our cozy seats, which some people found so cool that they’ve tried to take some with them!

Get some FISHLABS mobile games for breakfast!

We’ve been up front at the main hall as well - the first booth people could put their eyes upon was: FISHLABS mobile games with our classic 75er Ford Transit. This is where people could get their flyers right away and take part in our prize. As you see, there was no escape from us!

Even the trade visitors got their fair share of FISHLABS mobile games - we placed some bigger-than-life mobile phone at the entrance to Hall 2, where we presented ourselves as part of the “Hamburg@Work” booth. Lots of people gazing at the visual quality of our games here as well.

We even made it into the nightly news - the ARD Nachtmagazin taped our booth and people playing FISHLABS mobile games for their coverage of the first day of Games Convention and had one of our promoters show them a mobile game in detail.

We’ll meet again - with our bus and the FISHLABS mobile games at the YOU in Berlin!

Sounds too good to be true? You’re bothered, that you couldn’t make it to Leipzig this year? No problemo! We’ll be back at the YOU in Berlin from October 24. to 26 in Hall 23, Booth 213 - be there!

Tags: Fishlabs, free mobile games, Galaxy on Fire, gamers, Games Convention, Gladiator, Mobile Games, mobile phone, powerboat challenge, prize, Rally Master Pro, sony ericsson