f13.net

OK, in the spirit of some form of information here is at least a few of the things we are working on/thinking about now. All subject to change, insert standard disclaimer here.

-"Battlespace" returning to more of its simulator roots from Classic, really a place to practice not advance. I know this will make some of you happy in that advancing will only happen in "real" space not instant action type playing. I still hope to have some achievements/leader board materials form here but not likely to have any equipment or pilot advancing type effects.

-Lots of work on missions. With the new design team map layouts, mission stories, the types of things you do in missions, etc is all MUCH more interesting and varied than ever before. The kinds of things we can now do is very advanced.

-Better faction definition. The stories in the game really tell all about your faction and why you are at war with the others. The story is also darker than before with many of the missions you fly feeling more gray than the typical black and white always doing the good thing type story.

-PvP. Lots and lots of work on systems for PvP, new maps, new game play, new forms of advancement, player built battle stations, capturing sectors, etc. The scope and feel of the massive space battles you will be taking part in against other players will be, IMHO, what really sets us apart.

-AI functionality. Tons of work on making the AI both the right difficulty (it was way to easy before) and also varied in behavior.

Once we have more solid information we'll share it.

The other thread is extremely old so I thought a new thread was warranted.


Link (http://us.jumpgateevolution.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3106)

How is this any different from the crap info. posts they've put up in the past?  Not worthy of a new thread by any stretch.
And there's a distinct possibility "Black Prophecy" (which releases sooner) will make this title the vapourware it aspires to be.  I'd say if JGE wanted to salvage their game, the delays they're planning better be to add more of the original design back into the game, rather than going with their simplified one.

JGE is far from vapourware but it is getting ridiculous.  From what I've read, Black Prophecy seems heavily instanced.

Give it up, this game is dead.

Dead.

What you posted above is their first communication in 6 months and they haven't said a word since.

Give it up, this game is dead.

Dead.

What you posted above is their first communication in 6 months and they haven't said a word since.

They need to release the game. I would be part of their potential customer base but I've lost interest in the stupid delays.

What you posted above is their first communication in 6 months and they haven't said a word since.

The silence could mean that NetDevil did some testing, realized gameplay needed some fundamental redesign, then shut up, put their heads down, and did it. We've often expressed irritation about extended hype trains. Maybe they're keeping quiet until they're ready to start the hype train again. Marketing is expensive, and JGE -- from what I read -- was intended to be faster, cheaper, better. (Insert the usual caveat of "pick two" and we get the current situation.)

At least, I hope that's what it is. I want to play this game.

Might be a Gods&Heroes/STO situation brewing here.
Hopefully they can trim the fat and just release JGE regardless.

The silence could mean that NetDevil did some testing, realized gameplay needed some fundamental redesign, then shut up, put their heads down, and did it. We've often expressed irritation about extended hype trains. Maybe they're keeping quiet until they're ready to start the hype train again. Marketing is expensive, and JGE -- from what I read -- was intended to be faster, cheaper, better. (Insert the usual caveat of "pick two" and we get the current situation.)

I'm sure the teams are different.  Releasing a game to another studio which doesn't know any of the tech, code, or design decisions up to this point will not suddenly turn it into an amazing game.  You know how you were so down on it?  That move would pretty much guarantee every fear you've expressed during the course of this thread.  And then some.

As we all now know, that initial round of testing exposed a hard truth about the ‘relatively simple goal’ of updating Jumpgate to become Jumpgate Evolution. While the core game experience of intense space-based combat was still solid, the reality was that as the team scaled up to let in more testers, things started to go wrong. Jumpgate Evolution’s modern ambitions exceeded Jumpgate’s old-school capabilities, and we knew we were not as close to launch as we needed to be.

That is when the team made the crucial decision to completely overhaul JGE’s game systems, while also refocusing specifically on the game play experience we wanted to make: space warfare on a massive scale.

I bought a joystick in anticipation of this game 8-)

I think they may be just fine on the course they have set.

Should've just made Freelancer into a worldy MMO, guys.

Freelancer IS an MMO. Freelancer "Discovery" I think it's called.  They typically have about 100+ users on at a time.

Discovery's official servers have forced RP. It is abhorrent.

Why abhorrent?  It's a sandbox hardcore sci-fi space-shooter game with low userbase.  Kinda HAS to be forced RP.

The fact that you had to get special IC permission to do anything short of the most banal EVE-style asteroid grinding never really sat well with me. It's like those old persistent worlds for Bioware's NWN with nutso hardcore rules about resting and eating and using the bathroom at certain points in the day: I like some of the rules and I like the general world, but the other stuff just totally turns me off.

If that makes any sense at all.

The fact that you had to get special IC permission to do anything short of the most banal EVE-style asteroid grinding never really sat well with me. It's like those old persistent worlds for Bioware's NWN with nutso hardcore rules about resting and eating and using the bathroom at certain points in the day: I like some of the rules and I like the general world, but the other stuff just totally turns me off.

If that makes any sense at all.

Aside from this week's headlining announcement that LotRO is going free this fall, there was another bit of news that’s started to make some waves in the week prior to E3.  Long since believed to be a vaporware by the cynics, NetDevil’s Jumpgate Evolution is finally back and tracking on gamers’ radars as the title’s producer came out with a lengthy post this explaining the reason for the game’s long period of silence.  What the letter amounted to was that basically NetDevil had a lot of the game’s systems working but  that the result simply wasn’t what they wanted it to be… and so like any good developer would the Colorado lads and lasses went back to the drawing board.

A while back, as JGE was still in quiet-mode, I wrote an article about five things NetDevil needed to do in order to make the evolution of Jumpgate successful.  As it turned out, I wasn't at all far off from the developer's own line of thought.  Scott Brown and Lance Robertson both read the article and I received an e-mail and subsequent phone call from the former in order to clarify how ND was planning on making my prognostications come true.  Basically Scott said that the team behind JGE has exactly the same thoughts as me and that they're anxious to start showing the game again, but that they wouldn't be doing so until they were definitely ready.  Next week is that time.  And I have a feeling that those folks who have been calling the game vaporware for a while might be eating some hefty portions of crow. 

While they're understandably holding a lot of their cards close to the chest until next week, I was able to get Scott and Lance to tell me what we can expect from this year's E3 showing.  Aside from a major overhaul of most of the game's systems, a lot of what JGE was initially going to be was thrown out (as Lance stated here) and instead the team has focused most of its attention on bringing you the biggest and best representation of massive space battles the likes of which have so far only been seen on film.  At E3 we'll get to see if and how NetDevil has been able to seamlessly blend the PvE and PvP, or the AI with the player characters to create truly stunning and massive space battles.  Scott gave me an example that while there may be hundreds of players controlling smaller ships in a battle, the AI might be off controlling turrets on a space station.  Or that players might find themselves tasked with destroying a massive alien fleet controlled by AI only to have it result in a PvP battle for the resources the aliens were hoarding.


The entire quest system has been redesigned as well, and apparently it now focuses on objective-based questing with the result driving the factional warfare.  Of course I was assured there will be plenty of PvE as well, but that even the PvE content will be focused on the feud between the game's three factions.  It's sounding more and more like a hybrid of DAoC and Wing Commander, and I for one couldn't be more excited to see if NetDevil can pull it off. I'll let you know if they're on the right track next week after I get my grubby hands on the pilot controls.

Long before I joined the company, when NetDevil set out to build Jumpgate Evolution in 2007, they started with what was considered to be a relatively simple goal: to update the original Jumpgate for a modern audience. They wanted to retain the game’s core - a player-driven space MMO with realistic physics and combat - while expanding the scope to incorporate many of the aspects of modern MMOs.

Back then, many original Jumpgate players probably felt the same way that NetDevil did; that while updating the original game would be a difficult task, it wouldn’t be an impossible one. It was your support that kept the development team going, and the team tried to repay that support by bringing some of those early fans into Jumpgate Evolution’s first round of Friends & Family testing.

As we all now know, that initial round of testing exposed a hard truth about the ‘relatively simple goal’ of updating Jumpgate to become Jumpgate Evolution. While the core game experience of intense space-based combat was still solid, the reality was that as the team scaled up to let in more testers, things started to go wrong. Jumpgate Evolution’s modern ambitions exceeded Jumpgate’s old-school capabilities, and we knew we were not as close to launch as we needed to be.

That is when the team made the crucial decision to completely overhaul JGE’s game systems, while also refocusing specifically on the game play experience we wanted to make: space warfare on a massive scale.

It was a difficult choice to throw away what didn’t work and only keep and improve what did. One of the hardest things for a team to do is to throw away work, because it’s wasted time and effort, but in order for us to make this game the amazing experience we knew it could be, we had to let go of some things and push forward.

In order to achieve all of this, NetDevil made the decision to invest more in the game. We brought on additional staff members to ensure that Jumpgate Evolution’s vision remained strong and that the team could focus and gain momentum. They started with me, and since then I’ve been very fortunate to add a number of other key team members who you’ll get to meet (several in person, if you’re coming to E3) in the months ahead.

At the same time, we ‘went dark’ and stopped our regular flow of information. Why? Because there simply wasn’t anything we could talk about with absolute confidence.

We couldn’t discuss game features, because we were no longer sure what would make it into the game and what wouldn’t. We couldn’t talk about story, because it was being completely rewritten. There was so much that we wanted to share, but things were just at too early of a stage to discuss without the risk of disappointing you, our community. When we announce something, we ought to be as confident as possible that it will stay in the game – although in game development, there are no guarantees.

When we went back to the drawing board we needed the freedom to discard anything that was getting in the way of our vision for the game, so we gave ourselves that freedom by choosing not to discuss things before we were ready. We've also learned our lesson about announcing timelines too early. We’ve burned you before with that, and don’t want to burn you again.

I’m going to be honest with you and tell you something that may be difficult to hear: what you saw and heard of Jumpgate Evolution before now may have little bearing on the actual game we're going to deliver. When we went into that dark period to redesign much of the game, much was thrown away and new needs came to light, but we ultimately ended up with a much clearer vision of what we want Jumpgate Evolution to be, as well as the path to get there.

Now we’re finally ready to begin showing you what we’ve been working on. What you’ll see may look and feel similar on the surface, but it's what’s inside that counts. We’ve reached a level of confidence in our game that we didn’t have the first time around, and we’re much stronger for it.

Some of you are going to ask the obvious question: why should we believe you? Well, the proof is now in the game itself. You can experience it in the hands-on demo we’ll be bringing around the convention circuit this year. The stuff you’ll see in the demo is actual working tech from our current build. It’s real and shows off working features that will be in the game at launch. While most of you won’t be able to try the game out at E3, we are planning on being at other conventions this year. Hopefully many of you will get the chance to play it and see for yourselves that we’re on the right track.

Consider this to be a new beginning to our information flow. Anything you’ve seen up to this point may or may not still exist in the game, and all those details will come out in time. Right now we’re restarting with the story of the three warring nations, the very reason why you’ll be fighting in Jumpgate Evolution. After that we’ll be revealing more game information, and eventually, of course, we’ll get into Beta. Before that, however, we’ll return to the people who put us on this path in the first place, as we re-deploy our Friends & Family testing.

We can’t express how grateful we are for the community that we have. You guys have stuck with us through trying times, and we’re very excited to be able to start re-engaging with you and providing fresh game info, screenshots, videos, etc. We still have a long road ahead of us, but we know we couldn't have gotten this far without you. So thank you…

… and we’ll see you in space!

Lance Robertson
Executive Producer, Jumpgate Evolution

That sounds a lot like "we scrapped most of the features to meet a deadline" talk. I still wonder where netdevil funding comes from.

Huh? Sounds more like the game was ass and they know they can't afford to release it that way.

Scott gave me an example that while there may be hundreds of players controlling smaller ships in a battle, the AI might be off controlling turrets on a space station.  Or that players might find themselves tasked with destroying a massive alien fleet controlled by AI only to have it result in a PvP battle for the resources the aliens were hoarding.

The entire quest system has been redesigned as well, and apparently it now focuses on objective-based questing with the result driving the factional warfare.  Of course I was assured there will be plenty of PvE as well, but that even the PvE content will be focused on the feud between the game's three factions. It's sounding more and more like a hybrid of DAoC and Wing Commander

DAoC and Wing Commander, or WAR and Battlecruiser 3000AD?

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/705275/Exclusive-Jumpgate-Evolution-Octavius-Trailer.html

not gonna lie, it was kind of fun listening to the audio for this trailer get put together

That sounds a lot like "we scrapped most of the features to meet a deadline" talk. I still wonder where netdevil funding comes from.

Rumor I heard was they got a new investor who didn't like the direction of the game and demanded changes.

Hey, at least the number of factions is right.

Well, if it were truly right it'd be zero factions and let the players sort themselves out or just get lost in space doing their own thing.
[...]

Disagree, as this is why I'll never play EVE.  I don't want a full time job, I already have one...  and because I already have a job, I already have too much politics in my life, thanks.

Rumor I heard was they got a new investor who didn't like the direction of the game and demanded changes.

What kind of Richie-Rich prick names their company Gazillion?

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/705275/Exclusive-Jumpgate-Evolution-Octavius-Trailer.html

not gonna lie, it was kind of fun listening to the audio for this trailer get put together

Lords of the Dead was in force for E3 JGE with three attendees! Over the next few days they will be posting on this thread their thoughts and impressions about what we saw, heard, and experienced.

So let’s get to it! Here’s my write up.

First off I want to thank Daeke and Rockjaw for allowing us to go to E3 and experience JGE. We were divided into groups as we entered. Group one heard the presentation while group two had hands on time with JGE. Once both had completed each portion we were gathered into one room for the q & a.

Our group began with the hands on experience. The first thing that struck me was how crisp and detailed the art was. I was blown away by the graphics it was stunning. Movement was smooth and the game felt responsive.

Regarding combat:

By holding down your mouse button you can auto fire with your lasers. You will also have missles you can fire although I didn't get a chance to test those. Combat explosions were excellent. I was impressed by the time they have put into updating the game. I am not going to over specific controls as that has been reviewed quite well by many other attendees. When you pvp there will be no instances instead it will be 100% world pvp. (To clarify.., I am not saying the game is 100% pvp. There will be pve in JGE! I am editing this in because some definitely misunderstood.) It also goes without saying that any pve you do will be instance free. There will be epic battles and I asked how they will handle lag should it arise. I was told they have multiple systems in place. This will alow for a very smooth gameplay. Of course you are going to have lag in any game. They understand though how important it will be to optimize the game. They want us to have the best gameplay experience possible.


Ok here’s what I recall from the q & a:

    * There won't be an option for two players to fly in one ship
    * There are safe zones but they are really more areas where you can focus on learning the history, culture, and background of the game
    * At level 10 you can go pvp
    * There will be crafting
    * They are not flagging for pvp. If you see an opposing faction and it’s not in a safe zone you can kill them
    * Gameplay has been tested with 700 ai & can handle hundreds of players for pvp
    * Mining and hauling will not be a major focus
    * There will be definitive rewards for pvp
    * They will definitely be supporting Joystick and IRtrack
    * Repeated deaths will accrue a repair bill
    * There will be bonuses based on squad level pvp
    * No comment for the business model
    * You cannot talk to the opposing faction
    * They will have public quests. It was asked what if a player goes afk? Rewards will be based on participation so if you try to leech you won't get much.
    * There will be multiple servers
    * Yes to radar
    * No friendly fire
    * No cargo loss on death
    * No comment regarding guild stations, guild rewards, and guild station asset destruction

Overall impressions:

They answered nearly every question that was asked. I felt they were honest and forthright. They conveyed their passion for the game and making it the best experience possible. I can tell you without a doubt no media outlet got as many detailed answers as we did. When it was time for our q & a to end Scott, Daeke and Rockjaw went above and beyond. They asked were there any questions you felt you didn't get to ask? We were then allowed to go into an additional q & a. In addition there was swag including a shirt, mouse pad and poster!

Most importantly we got hands on time with the JGE. The game draws you in. You feel immersed within the sheer beauty of it. Every single detail from ship movement, to firing, to explosions was well thought out. Controls were precise and responsive. Passing thru the jumpgate was fluid and realistic. JGE is going to be an amazing game that is definitely worth the wait. We were also told there will be a major update for us come Pax!

Veery veery noice.

I think you can mark me down as a paying customer for this once it gets released.

  For nearly a year the offices of NetDevil have been quiet and with good reason, for what you may remember of JGE before the dead spell is long gone.  What’s come out on the other end is a game focused and poised to deliver truly massive space battles on the backdrop of a three-faction war for the fate of humanity.  It’s about faction pride, hi-speed dogfights, and dynamic PvE and PvP content on an epic scale… oh, and the instancing is a thing of the past.

    * There won't be an option for two players to fly in one ship
    * There are safe zones but they are really more areas where you can focus on learning the history, culture, and background of the game
    * At level 10 you can go pvp
    * There will be crafting
    * They are not flagging for pvp. If you see an opposing faction and it’s not in a safe zone you can kill them
    * Gameplay has been tested with 700 ai & can handle hundreds of players for pvp
    * Mining and hauling will not be a major focus
    * There will be definitive rewards for pvp
    * They will definitely be supporting Joystick and IRtrack
    * Repeated deaths will accrue a repair bill
    * There will be bonuses based on squad level pvp
    * No comment for the business model
    * You cannot talk to the opposing faction
    * They will have public quests. It was asked what if a player goes afk? Rewards will be based on participation so if you try to leech you won't get much.
    * There will be multiple servers
    * Yes to radar
    * No friendly fire
    * No cargo loss on death
    * No comment regarding guild stations, guild rewards, and guild station asset destruction

You expected more than a lite arcade space shooter?

I think a lot of people believed that Jumpgate: Evolution was going to be the Jumpgate they enjoyed, updated to include a slate of later gen MMO features. However, it certainly appears to have moved more in the direction of Galaga: The MMO, especially with mining and hauling being downplayed.

There's still Black Prophecy.  :awesome_for_real:

Scott Brown, the founder of NetDevil, has decided to leave Gazillion Entertainment, NetDevil's parent company. Scott Brown founded NetDevil in 1997 and developed the company from a basement project to a multi-hundred person operation that produced many high quality games, including Jumpgate Classic, Auto Assault and LEGO Universe. Scott Brown has been the face of NetDevil for many years, and eventually moved into a position at Gazillion Entertainment when NetDevil was acquired. For unstated reasons, Scott Brown has decided to move on and explore other opportunities.

The publisher claims to have spent over $1.4 million on the interminably delayed project

They were claiming it was ready to go over a year ago, they just wanted to polish it. I can't imagine what the hell the delays are if that was true.

How did Lego U go for NetDevil / Gazillion? It really seems to be a title that sank without trace, but we may just be in the wrong demographic to notice it.

I don't know. I certainly never hear about it anymore. I imagine, given the extremely tiny amount of game world and content to explore on release, a holiday zone and a retread of the newbie ship aren't enough to keep subscribers interested in significant numbers, and I don't think the game's property building mode really appeals to the core demographic. I've always been notably pessimistic about it, though. I'll wait to see if there's any public info that gets released about subscriber numbers.

How did Lego U go for NetDevil / Gazillion? It really seems to be a title that sank without trace, but we may just be in the wrong demographic to notice it.

Scott Brown, the founder of NetDevil, has decided to leave Gazillion Entertainment, NetDevil's parent company. Scott Brown founded NetDevil in 1997 and developed the company from a basement project to a multi-hundred person operation that produced many high quality games, including Jumpgate Classic, Auto Assault and LEGO Universe. Scott Brown has been the face of NetDevil for many years, and eventually moved into a position at Gazillion Entertainment when NetDevil was acquired. For unstated reasons, Scott Brown has decided to move on and explore other opportunities.

Well, if it were truly right it'd be zero factions and let the players sort themselves out or just get lost in space doing their own thing.
Anyone understand what their plans with stations are?  Seemed kind of vague.  Did they inject avatars?

The rumors I saw also mentioned that literally everyone at netdevil had been fired, but I thought this was common knowledge.

To set the record straight and for rumor control here are the facts as I have them:

    * As of February 10, 2011, Istvan as well as most of the JGE team was called at home after work and told not to report to work the next day. This was expected by many for some time, but still sudden.

    * There is presently no active support or development occurring on Jumpgate. Istvan is now not an employee of Gazillion and is without general access to tools or systems.

    * Gazillion’s President and the Acting Studio Director have agreed with Istvan that control of the Jumpgate should be passed to the community. Istvan has been working to facilitate this transition but many details remain to be arranged.

We still have very little information from Gazillion as to how and when any transition will take place. Gazillion currently appears preoccupied with shuttering the former NetDevil studio, which they purchased in 2008, as further and larger layoffs of staff have taken place this week.

How can you believe that Netdevil isn't totally dead?  It certainly looks to me like Gazillion had a business strategy that looked like this:

1) Convince investors to give us money.
2) Skim 10% off the top for "executive compensation"
3) Buy a bunch of smaller developers
4) ????
5) Profit

But, really, this is Netdevil. Objectively, what did they ever do *right*?

I believe that NetDevil isn't dead since Fortune Online is their current project. It might to two guys who work at home, but the studio hasn't been shuttered yet. Is it functionally dead? Almost certainly, but the plug hasn't been pulled yet.

I'm always (well, almost always) sympathetic to the layoff cycle that plagues the industry, so I feel for those guys. But, really, this is Netdevil. Objectively, what did they ever do *right*? Am I missing something that they did which would give hope to the people wanting the new Jumpgate?

They sold themselves. Now it's Gazillion and Lego who pay the pipers.


I rebooted as a contractor when I got the fuck out of dodge, and often do work in the tech center that houses Netdevil. It's going to be completely surreal if I end up hired to manage the gutting and conversion of my former workplace.

Lego might stick it out in that place for a while, but I doubt that they should.

I wish I was a creative director :(