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Jumpgate Evolution: What JGE Can Learn from Sci-Fi Games
MMORPG.com writer Bill Murphy takes this look at what NetDevil's Jumpgate Evolution has to learn from its predecessors in the sci-fi MMO market.
Editorial By William Murphy on February 08, 2010
Jumpgate: Evolution is sort of a re-launching/re-imagining of the original Jumpgate which NetDevil released all the way back on September 25th, 2001. Never quite a blockbuster success, Jumpgate still has a loyal following to this day, and obviously the staff at NetDevil have a passion for the IP. Later this year (at least we hope so), published by Gazillion, NetDevil will unleash their new spaceflight MMO unto the public. A lot has changed in the industry since 2001, and NetDevil themselves have launched and closed another online offering in that time. And with the game still pretty under wraps, here are some of the major things we hope the developers keep in mind while crafting Jumpgate: Evolution.
advertisement Don’t Try To Do Too Much
One of the cardinal sins of sci-fi MMOs is trying to do too much at once. Being everything to everyone is actually a mistake that a lot of MMOs regardless of setting have made in the past. Drawing a comparison to their own deceased game, NetDevil would do well to avoid one of Auto Assaults faults. As fun as the car combat was for fans of AA, the tacked on feature of requiring players to create avatars was not necessary. Not only that, but when moving around in towns, the avatar based portion of Auto Assault seemed very awkward and poorly done.
It’s understandable why NetDevil felt the need to add it in, hoping that players would connect better with their characters if they had an avatar to reference, and that the MMO convention of towns and quest givers could be taken care of in a more believable fashion than simply having the world populated by thousands of cars. But let’s keep in mind the phenomenon that is EVE. EVE may be planning the whole Ambulation/Incarna update that will allow players to get out of their ships and walk around space stations, but the game has done just fine with nothing but customizable photos of the players’ characters.
The main selling point of Jumpgate: Evolution seems to be its space combat which has drawn comparisons to Wing Commander in the past. The core of the game seems built on the action and piloting your own fighter starship. If NetDevil concentrates on getting this right first, they can always add the other parts later, just as CCP Games has with EVE Online.
;)
Get the Combat Right
Space combat is something altogether different than typical MMO hotkey-driven turn-based affair. The thrill of games like Wind Commander, X-Wing, and Tie-Fighter was all about just how much these classics made you feel like you were piloting a dangerous weapon and engaging in intergalactic dogfights. If Jumpgate is going to succeed, they need to come as close to this feel as possible, and even surpass it. The fact that NetDevil is aiming to allow massive warfare between players of three distinct factions boosts our hopes that they don’t screw this part up. In a game billing itself as an aerial combat-centric title, they’d better not.
Three Factions Please!
When you want to do Faction versus Faction PvP, simply having two sides has rarely worked out well. The best examples of factional PvP have been in games where at least three sides compete. Though not a Sci-Fi game, Dark Age of Camelot is a prime example. Having three factions helps to counter the unavoidable population balance issues that rear their head in a live environment but allowing the two underdog factions to often team up and take down the one with bigger numbers. If your game is going to have factional warfare, three factions is the way to go. Good on NetDevil for recognizing that early.
;)
Make Space Purdy and Sprawling
Space… the final boring frontier. Think about it. Space may be a thing of wonder that most of us will never experience, but once the initial feeling of “Wow, I’m in outer space… wicked!” is over you’re left with a bunch of nothing surrounded by more nothing. A visually appealing and enticing game does not the dark reaches of space make.
To help avoid this conundrum, we’re hoping NetDevil is already using their art team to add some punch to the universe. Going back to point number one, it’s not as though there’s going to be any planetary expeditions in Jumpgate. Yet one of the things that help players make a connection to your world (or universe in this case) is being able to identify landmarks. Judging by some of these screens, the developers are already way ahead of us.
Additionally, it would be a big bonus if space was, you know… spacious. I’m not necessarily harping on any particular game with this one, but when I’m playing a game that’s supposed to take place in something so infinite, I’d better not spend too much time looking at loading screens. For that matter, I hope NetDevil can do as they hope and keep the game on one server similar to EVE Online so that all players can and will interact with one another. If you have to zone off your universe fine, but let’s not bog down the stars with too many instances and copies of instances, shall we?
Get the Mission Generator Right
Early on in its life, Star Wars Galaxies had a pretty robust (for its time) mission generator to help give players tasks to do out in the wild. Still what it ended up amounting to was “find this, kill/get/talk to it, and come back”. Jumpgate Evolution is touting a robust content generator that will make sure players never run out of quests to do. The skeptic in me worries that what will wind up being in-game is a system that pumps out quest after quest involving the merciless slaughter of space rats. I pray this isn’t the case, and I trust that the company given the reins on something as crucial as Lego Universe knows what it’s doing. But time will tell if my trust is well-placed.
"Later this year, published by Codemasters, NetDevil will unleash their new spaceflight MMO unto the public." -
citation needed.
Call me a troll w/e. But after last year fiasco, when it had exploded during F&F testing all I have seen are rumors that it got ****canned, team members relocated to other projects (LEGO, Kung-Fu panda world
)
Yeah I think we should make space Purdy! :) haha
Seconded. I go to their website daily. They have not told the community a damn thing in the last year. Most of us are pretty pissed off about it to be honest. If you have any information with any legitimacy I'd be interested in knowing where you found it as well.
No citation means your making it up. How about some responsible journalism here? Maybe?
I suspect right now they've tossed all of their eggs into the Lego basket and are more interested in bringing that game to market and not so focused on this one right now.
There's probably still some folks working on JGE, but I think the best talent is building the other game.
Wow, so if you guys are right, this article is completly meaningless. Heh, anyway, on another note, what about black prophecy?
It dosent help that the've made this look like vaporware for years now,Wake me when the meats on the table.
The first thing NetDevil needs to learn is how to convince people this game isn't just vapourware.
This game reminds me of Darkfall... just went too long under production not because they were making a great game but because they have very little budget. I do not support small companies because they will not last long (especially since the big boys will release MMOs like FFXIV, SW: TOR, WoW Cataclysm, etc.).
CCP was a small company that has managed to hit it big. If everyone were like you, we would not have the phenomenon in the market that is EVE Online.
Another small company is CRS. While they've not hit it big like CCP, and they do not share the same success story, look at how long Battleground Europe has been around. That game just won't die!
So, do not say that small companies will not last long.
Everything begins somewhere, and even the big boys were small once. Often the small, the new and the weak are the most innovative and daring, because they have to be to survive. Your pals on the other hand, will likely err on the side of caution and pump-out stagnant wank because they've got too many stakeholders to appease.
Me, I'll support any company that makes something I like, big or small. But I won't support greedy dinosaur companies that bask in the mediocrity of their bland output. Then again, one man's bland is another man's ton-of-fun.
On the subject of JGE, I like the look of this game. I haven't followed it too closely so I'm not really bothered whether or not they fire-off press releases all the time. This seems to piss some people off but I'd actually prefer it if they kept schtum and worked on making the game a good one, rather than talk a load of bollox and get people hyped about jack.
Aryas
The only MMO I am currently watching is this one. I'm still skeptical, but this is the only game I have some hopes for. EVE without menu based combat would be fantastic.
Hmmm we could really use a game like that right now. With the fiasco that is STO, a space MMO is really needed. The last good one i played was Earth and Beyond, i really wish JGE could be similar to what E&B was, but look like all the previous posters are right, future looks grim for this one.
is this game actually coming out or is this another Duke Nukem Forever in the making.
"Additionally, it would be a big bonus if space was, you know… spacious. I’m not necessarily harping on any particular game with this one, but when I’m playing a game that’s supposed to take place in something so infinite, I’d better not spend too much time looking at loading screens. For that matter, I hope NetDevil can do as they hope and keep the game on one server similar to EVE Online so that all players can and will interact with one another. If you have to zone off your universe fine, but let’s not bog down the stars with too many instances and copies of instances, shall we?"
Hey Mr. "I'm going to allude to STO but not really say it TEEHEE", if you're going to complain about instances, don't bring up Eve. They're called "systems" but in reality, that's all Eve is. If they removed the channels, STO would be exactly like Eve in function, a bunch of instanced blocks linked together by a "warp" or "gate" to the other block. Additionally, you go on about space being empty and boring and how it should be spiced up, when thats exactly what Eve is guilty of, as the only reason it feels "spacious" is theres lots of completely empty room around the handful of randomly generated asteroid belts and crap thrown into each system.
I'm not trying to say "SEE! STO IS BETTER THAN EVE!" as that would be stupid, they're two entirely different games in two entirely different directions. However, you can't harp on one and then gloss over the other or even claim that it does the opposite when it does not, no matter how adorably clever you think you're being.
Side note, I'm not sure why this article is even here, as it's becoming more and more clear that Jumpgate Evo is likely to never actually release anyway, and if it does, I would be highly untrusting of how it would be handled given how development has been handled thus far.
It's either this or Black Prophecy. Just get it done so I can start playing!
I wouldn't count these guys out yet... true enough there is no new release date (my mistake), but we posted an interview with them here just a while back, and though they may be quiet that doesn't mean the game's dead.
Of course, I would feel better if I were just in beta already... ;)
Actually, Kordesh... I've not even played STO. When I say I wasn't comparing it to any one game, I meant it. I was simply stating that I want the universe in JGE to feel vast as it should. Sorry if I made you defensive.
-Bill
Hey guys,
Little bad to admit to. We know it's Gazillion behind JGE now, not Codemasters and that there's no launch date yet. We've fixed both of these errors in the article.
Sorry about that!
Jon Wood
If thats the case then I apologize. Considering the unrelenting smear fest against STO, it's hard not to make connections, especially around here where it's particularly prevalent. I'm not particular to defending it, but the situation has gone from criticism to just unrelenting harassment and vitriol for the game for some unapparent wrong, real or imagined. I haven't seen this much hate for a game since SWG-NGE.
The original Jumpgate was a fairly well assembled game. It didn't have many flaws, but the ones it had were terminally bad for many gamers.
I did not play it for long, but I did enjoy it somewhat. It had 3 factions, each with its own strengths. Factional PVP consisted of controlling system control beacons, or defending them. Pitched battles, or even skirmishes, were not common.
I don't think NetDevil needs to improve much to appeal to a much wider audience. The original game almost had the right feel. The travel time in systems was their biggest downfall. I'm taking a wait and see attitude toward it, since this kind of game is difficult to get right. I'm glad, however, that they aren't trying to hype up their game. Jumpgate quietly entered the fray when it was launched, without a great deal of hype. It had a fairly solid launch for the time, and a good price ($9.95/mo). It just didn't take off, mostly because of the travel time, but also due to the newtonian physics engine. I hope JGE does better.
How do you think the companies that made those top tier games started? They started small, made it big....invest in a small company so they can make a miracle happen. They can't make a game for free
[quote]The thrill of games like Wind Commander[/quote]
In space, no-one can hear you...
I'll concur with others in this thread: JGE can learn from other sci-fi games in that as long at it doesn't launch it can be all things to all people.
I hope that this article is not taken on as the general consensus simply because it's posted on MMORPG.com
Net Devils continued failure to post new information on the game is the biggest cause for not only concern but anger and annoyance and even hatred that's growing in the community.
Their argument that they do not want to release anything new until a fixed time before launch is illogical, and they are praying to god that they will retain interest until that happens, the sad fact is that most of their fan base, the people that signed up for 250k+ beta invites, have mostly all moved onto other games now, and while they might check the beta out if they get an invite its more likely that they have now invested more time and effort into another game and will be less willing to leave their new game and new character to start over.
Games like Aion, EvE, STO and a few others are just nails in Net Devils Cofin, and their banging them in harder every month that net devil fails to release information.
Sure hope that this doesn't turn into Vaporware, seems like the first MMO that has finally decided to copy the success of DAoC and make 3 factions for PvP instead of the usual and always failing 2 factions.
The community should grow the fcuk up then. Net Devils efforts won't be the undoing of this game, it'll be the retarded 'community' that intends to play it if your statement is anything to go by.
BLEACH FTW - sorry off topic i know.
The community should grow the fcuk up then. Net Devils efforts won't be the undoing of this game, it'll be the retarded 'community' that plays it if your statement is anything to go by.
I would think that getting rid of one of their most devoted leads Hermman at this stage would have nothing to do with it bombinb down the drain, yeah blame the community lol.
PS. as my signature says, I actually cant wait to play the game and have high hopes that it will do really well, BUT the lack of intel and the lack of support from the devs cannot be ignored.
And as you should know Dvalon, if you'd read ANY of the posts made by Katie that no one "got rid" of Hermann. He left; for his own, personal reasons. Absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing development of the game. You can spin it however you want, but the ever-gnawing conspiracies over Hermann's departure are getting old.
Hmm..
Net Devil push back launch, claiming its not ready, and tell us the beta testers found big problems.
Launch delayed for unknown period of time.
Publisher, and Money Backer Gazzillion then fly to Net Devil to hold meetings.
Shortly after Hermman Leaves.
Sorry m8, but no matter what you say, my mind is made up on this one, unless Hermman a man I'v spoken to as you have, a Man we both know is insanely passionate about this game, comes here and tells me he left and his reason had nothing to do with JGE, I simply will not beleive it.
He loved the game and the project so much, god you could tell it simply talking to him for five minutes.
So no, I don't beleive it, no way did he just leave, something happened in that meeting that didn't sit well with his way of thinking, to a degree that he was unable to resolve, and was left with leaving being the only option.
Dvalon as I am sure you know full well already, it has been stated time and time again that Hermann was not sacked, or forced to quit.
Dispite what others (such as Lobotismist who made a thread) insist that Gazillion made a visit to netdevil and were not impressed so let Hermann go and replaced him with someone to rush the title, that is not the case at all.
Now I know from talking to you on the JGE forums that you work on a principle of "They lie to us, so them saying differant doesn't count to disprove me" when it suits you, but when the speculation and crapola theorys started flying even more by disgruntled people who just wanted to generate drama this post was made to firmly state things for the record.
As for all this anger you claim exists in so many people in the JGE community... speak for yourself Dvalon, whilst I will admit there are alot of frustrated people due to the extended wait and lack of information whilst things are changed and as such sharing information would infact be misinformation, I have not any sign of any actual anger or 'hatred' toward Netdevil.....
It's the job of PR people to spin information into a good light for their company, and it happens all the time in all walks of life, of course their going to say that Net Devil or JGE had nothing to do with it, They would not be doing their job as a PR employee if they told the truth and in doing so put the company in a bad light.
That aside, with all things, I look at the evidence at hand, and then make my own mind up, im not a sheep and don't simply accept what other people think as fact or truth.
From the facts or at least the information I have at hand, it sells sus enough for me to conclude that something was not right, to the point that hermann left a job he not only loved, but put a lot of his life into.
So unless you can come up with proof there was no meetings, proof that hermann didnt leave because what went on in them, I will not change my mind.
if you do happen to come up with proof, that it was just coincidence, and harmless bad timing I will of course change my opinion, like many things its not set in stone, but as of this moment and with the information i have, my thoughts on the matter remain clear for all to read.
I find it overly humorous that people seem to think they are entitled to information about a product they have not even purchased yet. You can tell them you intend to spend money on it all you want, but intent does not make you have any right to information any more then the next guy.
I think what you are seeing mostly is a very small but vocal group of people who seem to have gotten this idea stuck in their head that if NetDevil does not say something it means the game is no longer in production. The reality is they probably announced JGE to early and now are facing the consequences of those early announcements, and so maybe they deserve the ridicule of this small group. I think its just a silly assumption though, games change continually and often times you will go through multiple iterations of a system and they may be vastly different. It makes sense that they don't want to tell you about a system that's likely to change before release.
This is about the point people would argue that a game under development this long should have something set in stone, but I think this falls into that category of PR. They want to announce information, but they are probably looking to do it in a constant flow leading up to release and so want to make sure they have enough content to do so. We all know that once the information stream starts becoming constant and we start seeing a lot more going on right up to the release that those people who are 'angry' or 'wary' are probably going to forget all this anyways because they will basically either like the direction or hate it and move on. If they like what they hear then no number of proclamations that they won't buy the game at release will matter because they will by that point be appeased. Its like a kid who says they will hate their parents forever if they don't get their way, they are just throwing their arms up hoping that they will get their way by making empty threats.
To be honest, I hope people who do the above don't buy the game, and don't add their drama to my having fun. I smell the fires already coming, but I am tired of the number of people who are so negative and jumping to conclusions about this game because NetDevil is being careful, I only wish more companies would do the same thing.
LOL
I love the way people miss understand my intentions, you seem to think I dont want the game to work, or I want it to fail, I moan because I see more and more people leaving the community for other games and I see that as a problem, I would very much rather have these people stay like me, so I can enjoy blowing the crap outa them in space.
Kinda hard to kill people or form alliances and bonds with people in a game where there is hardly anyone playing now isn't it.
My biggest fear, is that Net Devil wait to long before they ramp up the PR machine and as a result they lose tons of potential players that have followed the games production like me, for years.
I think you mistook me for targeting you directly, I was mostly projecting on my view of the JGE forums which I have been watching silently for the most part because I don't see a reason to post. I did not mean to raise offense with you if that is how it came across as it was not directed at any one person.
One way or another, as long as they get the hype machine rolling there will be people waiting at the doors, I have been waiting patiently since the first announced the game quite a while ago. Just biding my time playing other space sims, waiting for the beta... just gets old reading forums about the game and seeing 90% of the posts being doomsayers who cannot make a single positive post because they feel that they have been cheated or somehow wronged because a company decided to take the cautious road and decided to hold off on information.
A post on the official forums also alluded to the fact they are waiting for the point where they have enough information to keep posting it steadily up until the release, which I think is a smart move, even if it means waiting for the time being.
I guess I am tired of all the QQing is what it amounts to, just gets old... course the simple remedy is to avoid the forums all together which is what I might do in the future.
JGE = Duke Nukem Forever 2, it will be the sequel.
But first, we have to wait for Episode 1.
I like Dvalon's "guilty until proven innocent" approach xD
Anyway I'm still looking forward to this game, and hope it releases in a good state. This and SWTOR are the two MMOs I might try out.
I'm still looking forward to JGE, from a bit far away.
STO looks like a flop to me, so I'm still looking for a nice SciFi/Space MMO