Jumpgate Evolution :: Spaceships Types Revealed! (Now with more screen shots)

[Ghambit]

I think you're speculating too much.  Have we seen anything other than newbie ships?

Is there anything more important than newbie ships?

Nope.

And isnt this thing 'sposed to release in like a few months?

At this point I think you should probably just stop looking at Jumpgate thread because it seems you're going to hate everything you see right now or at least find something to hate.

No, the problem is I love it too much to see it fail... like many others lurking this thread.   It's impossible for me to hate it, but quite possible for all of us to be disappointed (from what I've seen so far of this title).
I guess a lot of it has to do with the fact that much of this game is still a big "?".   

[Triforcer]

It is true that for a game releasing in June, we know surprisingly little concrete information about it.  Apparently people still aren't even sure if ships are permanently destroyed or not. 

[Draegan]

It is true that for a game releasing in June, we know surprisingly little concrete information about it.  Apparently people still aren't even sure if ships are permanently destroyed or not. 

Ships arn't permanently destroyed.  I believe they are working out what players drop when they die.  It's not going to be full or partial loot of a players cargo/setup but maybe materials or what an equivalent to what an NPC drops. 

[Mrbloodworth]

They are also toying with a "Hardcore" mode.

[Ghambit]

See this thread for where I expected JGE to be in development and capability at this point in the game.
It's a joke by comparison and JGE is 'sposed to be big-money ballin AAA shyt.   

[Draegan]

Actually JGE isn't supposed to be ballin AAA stuff. 

[Ghambit]

Actually JGE isn't supposed to be ballin AAA stuff. 

AA?  A?
It's a bigger title than Black Prophecy though eh?

[Triforcer]

Actually JGE isn't supposed to be ballin AAA stuff. 

Er, it is.  When have they ever said "we are reaching for 10k subs"? 

[Draegan]

I think I'm just getting trolled by Ghambit now.

[fuser]

Dev Chat April 21st

During the chat we’ll select 5 random attendees to receive beta keys for our Closed Beta testing of Jumpgate Evolution, which will be starting in the upcoming weeks. Be sure to attend for your chance to win a slot.

So ~month of beta before release?

[Draegan]

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

[fuser]

Most if not all release ships are laid out it seems.

Surprise! support class

Support Gunboats
Take a heavy Gunboat platform and load it with ECM suites and combat support capabilities, and you have a Support Gunboat. These vessels are as ungainly as a Combat Gunboat, but possess heavy armor and shields that allow them to survive a pounding. While not a direct combatant, the Support Gunboat class can be outfitted with powerful radars and electronic warfare systems that allow them to identify enemy assets and scramble enemy attack capabilities over a wide area. Often used as a command ship, a Support Gunboat is an asset that dramatically increases the survivability of any combat wing fortunate enough to possess one.
Specialty: Electronic warfare and combat support
Progression:
• Recon Gunboat
• Escort Gunboat

[Trebes]

I'm pretty excited about this game, but the decision to go with NPC-supplied immortal ships over player-crafted destroyable ships kind of rubs me the wrong way. I think I understand why they are doing it, but it feels like a cop out.

Still, if I can make screaming torpedo runs against flak-spewing battleships I won't care.

[Pennilenko]

Still, if I can make screaming torpedo runs against flak-spewing battleships I won't care.

This would be all i need in a game. Also It would be good if i was actually allowed to scream while making such a run. You know for dramatic enhancement.

[FatuousTwat]

I'm pretty well known for my 'PRIMAL SCREAM'. It makes me win, I swear.

[waylander]

It is true that for a game releasing in June, we know surprisingly little concrete information about it.  Apparently people still aren't even sure if ships are permanently destroyed or not. 

This is how I feel too. We have about 30 guys that want to play this and are trying to convince me to sponsor a formal guild chapter.  Jumpgate has been releasing more info, but this close to release there should have been a lot more out there.  Then there's the fact that its nearly May, it launches in June, and there's been no beta of significant size.  The official forum community was also very small the last time I checked, so I also worry about population issues.

It might be good. So far all the signs I see make me think that this is either an unfinished product we'll be paying to beta for many more months, or its been severely under marketed where we'll have too few people to fight.

I'll probably recommend it as "wait 90 days before buying" to my guild unless something remarkable happens to change my mind.

[Draegan]

They still havn't confirmed a June release yet.  I'm still waiting for a transcript from the dev chat last night with any other tidbits.

[Mrbloodworth]

This isn't the transcript.

Videogamer.com interview with Hermann Peterscheck

With the release of Codemasters Online and NetDevil's Jumpgate Evolution getting ever closer and brand new info being released on the game's ships, we thought we'd fire a few questions at Hermann Peterscheck, Lead Producer, in the hope he had his shield down for us to get a few through his defences. Read on for details on why no ship will be the obvious choice and why Jumpgate isn't an MMO only for the hardcore.

VideoGamer.com: You've just unveiled a wide range of ship categories for Jumpgate Evolution. How much variation will there be in the way they handle?


Hermann Peterscheck: That’s the primary difference, actually. If you think about traditional RPG games, classes are different because of the way they feel to play. In vehicle games this translates to the way that the vehicle feels and I think this is even more the case with space crafts. It’s important that a small fighter feels agile and manoeuvrable and that a heavy fighter feels heavy and powerful. Commercial vessels should feel like intergalactic trucks. We discovered that subtle differences go unnoticed and therefore the strong and extreme variation is much better than tons of small little differences.

VideoGamer.com: What is the biggest ship you'll be able to pilot, and how does it compare to the more common vessels?

HP: Right now the biggest ship is a double hauler and it’s around 8-10 times larger than a basic shuttle craft. To put that into perspective, that kind of ship would be about 200-300 m long. In PVP there are capital ships that you attack and defend that are 3-4 km long. We’ve also got interior maps we are working on that are even larger than that. Lots of people want player flown capital ships so you never know what we’ll do next.


VideoGamer.com: The press release mentions the trainer ships for newcomers. How will you govern a player's progression through different classes and categories? Will there be licenses or training to complete, or is access purely governed by how much cash they've earned, like Elite?

HP: Both. We start people with a ship that is easy to fly and allows for versatile activities. Combat, mining, hauling and so on can all be done with these basic utility ships. Of course, they don’t do it as well as the higher level ships, so there’s lots of reasons and opportunities to upgrade. Thus we start you in a nice, easy and fun ship to fly and then introduce the more specialized ships later. There are various things required to get ships. Some of them require faction rating, others require licenses and most of them will cost some amount of money. The idea is that we provide multiple paths for rewards – and we consider new ships to be one of the most satisfying rewards.

VideoGamer.com: You've mentioned that players will be able to customise their ships... Could you tell us a bit more about this? What's the coolest thing you'll be able to modify on your ship?

HP: So in terms of equipment we have guns, missiles, utility slots, MODs, power plants, engines, and radars. Each of those has sizes ranging from 1 to 4 or 5. MODs are specific to type. For example, you might have a combat-based mod or, perhaps, a commercial mod which may give a bit more inventory space, for example. Obviously there is a lot of variation in terms of gun and missile types. Missiles and MODs can also be countermeasures – for example we have chaff that takes a missile slot. It’s really as complex as we want to make it and as varied as the player wants.

VideoGamer.com: Will players benefit from sticking quite rigidly to one career path (combat, cargo-running or whatever) or will it be necessary to jump around between roles?

HP: Both are valid paths. I expect that players will focus in one major role but dabble in the other roles as well. There is nothing in the game that stops someone from flying a combat ship in the morning and doing mining at night, however. You don’t choose to be a “miner” and are then locked into that type of gameplay. We wanted to make a game where players were free to grow their pilots however they choose and for as long as they wish.

VideoGamer.com: On a similar note, has it been hard to balance out the different ship categories? Presumably you don't want everyone to opt for the same craft...

HP: Exactly so. Making ships is a difficult task. You have to make sure there is something about it that is highly desirable without making a super-weapon. This comes from lots of testing, especially in PVP for ships that do combat. What we tend to do is design a weakness and then offset it with a strength. For example, when we made heavy fighters we gave them 4 missile slots which made them brutal in PVP. To counter this we added minimum range to those more powerful missiles so now if a light fighter closes quickly on an undefended heavy fighter, it’s going to be bad times. This ends up creating an incentive for light fighters to defend the heavies which try to stay a bit out of range. If you just leave the heavy fighter without balancing the missile behaviour everyone will fly a heavy fighter. Thus you must answer two questions: 1) Why would anyone fly this ship? 2) Why doesn’t everyone fly this ship? You know you have it right when people argue about which one is better without reaching a conclusion.


VideoGamer.com: A lot of MMORPGs are quite focused around the prestige of attaining a certain level, or of claiming a particularly rare piece of loot. What is the equivalent in Jumpgate Evolution? Are there any ships that will only be available to the best players?

HP: I think there is no way to escape the fact that MMOs need some kind of long term and short term achievement. Yes, there are rare, hard to get ships and items in the game. The goal is that there is always something cooler for people to get. That being said, we have lots of other stuff too, such as tons of medals, in-game stats tracking, and don’t forget PVP leaderboard and ratings. I think it’s really important that each activity leads to some kind of sense of achievement. Usually it involves some new thing that I get. In one case it’s that cool looking ship, or that powerful gun. In another it might be a sweet looking medal, or maybe a title that no one else has. I think the question that is in our minds is “why would anyone do this?”

VideoGamer.com: Aside from the obvious graphical overhaul, what are the big differences between this and Jumpgate: TRI? Will veterans of the first game find it easy to drop back in, or will there be a lot of new stuff to master?

HP: Hopefully both. We’ve made a conscious decision to make the game easy to jump into and I think we have succeeded in this regard. What we have to make sure we do correctly is to provide a mixture of challenge and entertainment to all these new and returning pilots. That is no small task. There is a constant tug-of-war between something being too easy and too hard, too rewarding and too punishing. The spectrum of potential players is large and it’s impossible to appease everyone. I think, therefore, you do your best to make sure that the product provides high quality entertainment but also stay true to its core value. That sounds like a mouthful of marketing nonsense, but it’s really quite true. People will forgive something they disagree with if it’s in-line with the rest of the game and fits well. That being said, fun is king. When people stop having fun, well, that’s when we get nervous. We’re really interested in making sure that each part of the game is fun for as many people as possible.

VideoGamer.com: What kind of big “in-world” events can we expect to see in Jumpgate? Are there going to be pre-organised wars and the like, or do you anticipate that this kind of thing will happen organically?

HP: Both, again. I’ve been doing the MMO thing for quite some time and if there is one thing I’ve learned is that players will never, ever, do what you expect them to do. People are creative and intelligent. They see these games as new worlds to explore and figure out and no amount of guiding or planning will ever tell you what thousands of individuals will come up with. Thus, we are very interested in looking at what people do and say and responding to it. So, specifically, let’s take the beacon system. This was very popular in Jumpgate Classic so we’re putting it on steroids. Now, instead of just flipping a beacon and that’s it, there’s a Battlestation system built on top of it. Thus, beacons become focus points for large scale combat. Battlestions are cool, large scale combat is cool, so we just put them together. So that is a constructed event that comes from an organic experience. I can assure you that players will find interesting ways of interacting and we will be actively encouraging that with reasons for doing those things. I think too many developers see their games as a way of creating some kind of adversarial relationship with players. If a player finds some kind of cool unexpected thing, they kill it off. I never really understood that. If people figure out that flying through caves is cool, then why not build something like a fly-through-the-cave race that happens every two hours or something? If people figure out that by getting 70 heavy fighters together to take out a conflux hive, then add a new map that combines 6 hives together and see if they gather 140 heavies together. In my mind, we should always be chasing the cool.

VideoGamer.com: Finally, a personal question: what's your preference - Star Wars or Star Trek?

HP: Impossible to answer. I love the “magic-tech” of Star Wars and I love the sci-fi optimism/philosophy of Star Trek. That being said, there’s a new Trek movie coming and I’m irrationally excited for it. To get on a soap box of mine, notice that both of those IPs are hugely main stream, so I don’t want to hear about how science fiction games are hard-core or niche products. It’s not the case at all. I believe that Jumpgate could be a mass appeal game and that is exactly what we are trying to do. This doesn’t mean the game is “easy”, it just means that the reward is appropriate to the level of investment. If you play a ton, you should get much more out of the game than if you play a little bit, but if you just play a little bit, that should be fun and rewarding as well... don’t you think? There are people who read every Star Trek novel, go to all the conventions, collect all the autographs. I’m not one of them. Does that mean that I shouldn’t be able to enjoy the movie or the TV shows every week? Of course not! Why do we think that games are any different? There’s enough Trek that someone can spend their whole life in that world, but it’s also accessible enough that someone can just spend an hour every few weeks and still love it. That’s how we should be making games in my opinion.

VideoGamer.com: Thanks for your time Hermann.

[Draegan]

I'm really really trying not to be a fanboy for this game.  I don't think it's working.

[Ratman_tf]

To get on a soap box of mine, notice that both of those IPs are hugely main stream, so I don’t want to hear about how science fiction games are hard-core or niche products. It’s not the case at all. I believe that Jumpgate could be a mass appeal game and that is exactly what we are trying to do.

I don't think "mainstream" means what he thinks it means.
Do we have another self-proclaimed WoW killer?

[Draegan]

Who's proclaiming it to be a wow killer?

[Mrbloodworth]

To get on a soap box of mine, notice that both of those IPs are hugely main stream, so I don’t want to hear about how science fiction games are hard-core or niche products. It’s not the case at all. I believe that Jumpgate could be a mass appeal game and that is exactly what we are trying to do.

I don't think "mainstream" means what he thinks it means.
Do we have another self-proclaimed WoW killer?

That's like, not what he was saying, at all.

[Ghambit]

Arggghh!  I dont get it.  I dont see it.     
I wanna be excited, I should be excited, but I'm not.  My eyes do not allow me to, and the mere fact it's a space-shooter MMO isnt quite enough.   (sigh)  It's like there's something wrong with me, or terribly right. 

I've got a door-sized poster of the United Federation of Planets in my office, I max leveled in EnB, have a beta EVE character, and more, and I cant get excited about JGE.  Just cant.

I'm blaming f13!  It's this damned website.  I've now grown too cynical for my own fanbois genre.  I am sad.

And why come no one make "Ice Pirates Online?!!"  I wanna make a black robot and play in an AR sex-chamber with a space princess!  And steal ice n' stuff.  (not necessarily in that order)

[grumble]

[Lantyssa]

Is it possible to make a game campy enough to match Ice Pirates?

[Ghambit]

Is it possible to make a game campy enough to match Ice Pirates?

As if there isnt enough camp already in MMORPGs.  (pun intended)

[Ratman_tf]

To get on a soap box of mine, notice that both of those IPs are hugely main stream, so I don’t want to hear about how science fiction games are hard-core or niche products. It’s not the case at all. I believe that Jumpgate could be a mass appeal game and that is exactly what we are trying to do.

I don't think "mainstream" means what he thinks it means.
Do we have another self-proclaimed WoW killer?

That's like, not what he was saying, at all.

Then what the fuck was he saying?

[Kazmir]

After seeing these gameplay videos from the beta, I'm a lot less excited about JGE. Combat looks so boring I could barely finish watching the videos. And the sound effects, what are they thinking? While the videos are supposedly from the "newbie area" which isn't supposed to be hard, watching a loading bar is about as exciting as this.

Boss fight
Kill Mission
Delivery Mission

[Modern Angel]

Hahaha... that looks *terrible*! I mean... holy fuck, what? And no lie about the sound. It sounds like an old Atari game.

[Ghambit]

After seeing these gameplay videos from the beta, I'm a lot less excited about JGE. Combat looks so boring I could barely finish watching the videos. And the sound effects, what are they thinking? While the videos are supposedly from the "newbie area" which isn't supposed to be hard, watching a loading bar is about as exciting as this.

Boss fight
Kill Mission
Delivery Mission

FINALLY, some real gameplay vids (I'm sure they'll be taken down in a second)
Of note to me, no shot leading (which sux).  I could understand with a laser it's not necessary, but he's not shooting a laser.
Also, lack of anything remotely difficult in ship control.  Newtonian??  where?  From what I could see, you'd be seriously gimping yourself using a joystick as well.  Point 'n click is where it's at baby!  gyeaahhh <----sarcasm

As for the sound, that's gotta be beta placemark noises.  No way that's release material.  Right?

[Modern Angel]

Oh sure. Just placemark noises. That's it.

It's the company that fucked up the MMO with guns on cars. The easiest to market, make and sell thing you could possibly imagine and they fucked it up.

You want to know why you can't lead? For the exact same reason you could miss a direct hit in Auto Assault: I bet they're using die roll mechanics and not telling anyone. Watch, calling it now.

[fuser]

Oh they answered my question last night.. 2-3k active connections to a shard on release. I wanted more info on the ECW for gunboats :/

[Lantyssa]

I do like leading in my flight sims, but gods forbid a technologically superior fighter craft can't compensate for flight vectors to make where you point your cursor being where the shot lands.

[Ghambit]

I do like leading in my flight sims, but gods forbid a technologically superior fighter craft can't compensate for flight vectors to make where you point your cursor being where the shot lands.

You still have to maintain a point of reference for the craft itself.  On F-16s they'll have a pipper for the gun (where the bullets would land) and a pipper for where the nose of the plane is pointed.
From that vid. all I see is the nost of the craft pointed every which way and just shooting what's on the nose.  Speaking of which, there's nothing even remotely natural about the movement of those craft... not even slightly.
It's one thing to offer newtonian-type control over your craft, but it's another to have a newtonian flight model.  I guess the flight model is just pure arcade twitch and the "newtonian" controls are just to add a few more axes.

It's almost like playing Galaga in 3-d.  That's what this reminds me of.

(that being said, I'm still gonna play it)   
I like Galaga

[PalmTrees]

Wow, that boss fight video was painful to watch. Hover in place, shoot at part of the cruiser, repeat. Did it even fight back? I couldn't tell.

[Mrbloodworth]

To get on a soap box of mine, notice that both of those IPs are hugely main stream, so I don’t want to hear about how science fiction games are hard-core or niche products. It’s not the case at all. I believe that Jumpgate could be a mass appeal game and that is exactly what we are trying to do.

I don't think "mainstream" means what he thinks it means.
Do we have another self-proclaimed WoW killer?

That's like, not what he was saying, at all.

Then what the fuck was he saying?

That he thinks the genre of si-fi can compete with fantasy, in this space. You took it to the extreme "Wow killer" is not what he said at all. If you look at how well traditional Si-fi mmos fair you would see the huge gap before the line of "mass appeal" is reached, there is also another huge gap before the line of "Wow". Traditionally, si-fi is niche in this platform, extremely so. I also believe he was referring to the ability to appeal to a larger audience than simply the si-fi nerds, though the use of the focus of accessibility they have been keyed on from day one of this project.

Wow, that boss fight video was painful to watch. Hover in place, shoot at part of the cruiser, repeat. Did it even fight back? I couldn't tell.

It was a dev, in an empty instance, with no other players...come on now. That battle area he was showing you supports 50 x 50 x 50 and cap ships, AND NPC factional fighter ships.

NVM, i didn't see the vid you were talking about.