Battlestar Galactica Deadlock - Dev Diary #23 'Colonial Day'

“What was I doing?” Jubal Sarkis stepped in so close he could recognise the politician’s aftershave. “What was I doing when Centurions marched down Atlas Promenade? When snipers covered every corner of Caprica Square?” Senator Cantrell sputtered into his microphone. “Your service has already been commended. But whole months are unaccounted for in these findings.”

Sarkis turned to face the room. They were hungry for his response. Cameras caught his every movement. Every word scrutinised. He folded his hands in front of him, and calmly walked away from the sweat-soaked senator. “Whole months. Well, damn me. Whole months unaccounted for. Maybe years, if you tally it all up. Years without oversight and receipts. Because of all the fighting, I guess. Years of being shot at. Blown up. Trampled, crushed, beaten.”

Jubal made sure to find Stefan in the crowd. The eye contact wouldn’t be lost on the Duke of Hadrian.

“What was I doing, Senator? I was saving your gods damn life. If I had a choice in the matter, maybe I’d be speaking to someone a little more appreciative. But it was my job, and I’m good at my job. So how about I leave you to your bookkeeping, with your little calendars, and I’ll go back out there and do my job. That way you might get to live and do all this again tomorrow.” He didn’t look back. “Whatever all this circus is.”

In the stunned silence, no one thought to ask another question. The cameras ate up his every step past the media pit, and out of the judiciary chamber.

It’s hard to believe it’s been over 2 months since we last updated you all on the latest developments in Battlestar Galactica Deadlock . We have a really good reason though - we’ve been hard at work on the next expansion, Ghost Fleet Offensive , which was recently announced. In this dev diary, we’ll share some more information about the new Colonial ships included in that expansion.

Most Battlestar Galactica fans will be familiar with the movie Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome . Set in the 10th year of the Cylon War, it introduces the “ghost fleet”, a fleet comprised of Colonial ships that had apparently been destroyed, but were in fact hiding from the Cylons in order to strike in enemy territory.

A ship that was pivotal in the movie was the Osiris , an Orion-class battleship. When Ghost Fleet Offensive is released, you’ll get access to Orion . Packed with the latest Colonial electronic warfare technology, the Orion includes stealth features that make it harder to detect by enemy DRADIS.

The stealth technology does not make the ship invisible to naked eye - it’s still physically there, just harder to get a lock on. As such, when the stealth tech is engaged, an Orion can’t be targeted with munitions, and can’t be a focus fired target.

The stealth technology can only be activated for a relatively short period of time, and takes a few rounds to recharge after use, so how and when to use the Orion’s unique capabilities will create some tough choices for Colonial commanders.

The Orion also features a munition slot and a fighter slot.

The other new vessel the Colonials are bringing to the battlefield is the Defender . The Defender was designed by Todd Boyce before the 2004 series aired, but still got added to the ghost fleet in Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, as well as appearing to be the design used for the Adriatic 40 years later. We’ve seen a number of requests for this ship over the years, so we approached Todd and got his permission to include the ship in Deadlock.

The Defender is a mid-size support vessel of Gemenese origin. Being a support vessel, it goes in the fleet support slot (similar to a Celestra ), so you can add it to your campaign fleet without using one of your seven capital ship slots.

The Defender has a number of interesting abilities. A standout feature of the design is the underslung launch pod. This pod is the turnaround hanger. Any squadron in your Colonial fleet that has taken damage can dock on the Defender , get some emergency repairs, and relaunch to get back in the fight.

A Technical Support Raptor deployed from the Defender can be used to boost systems of another capital ship in your fleet. (If you’ve play Anabasis , the ability is similar to the Jury Rig ability of the freighter.)

Finally, the Defender also hosts a sizable detachment of marines that can be sent to any ship in your fleet that has been boarded. These marines will happily assist with the elimination of troublesome Cylon Centurion boarding parties.

Naturally, as well as being added to your campaign fleets during the Ghost Fleet Offensive campaign, both of these vessels will be available for skirmish battles and multiplayer matches.

Ghost Fleet Offensive will be releasing on PC on February 25, with Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launches soon after.

One last bit of info for today. We will be previewing Ghost Fleet Offensive on Thursday at 6 pm GMT on our Twitch channel. Sgt Zdog (freshly crowned champion in the latest tournament) will be showcasing the new campaign and the new ships. Don’t miss it! So say we all!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1143820/Battlestar_Galactica_Deadlock_Ghost_Fleet_Offensive/