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Jumpgate Evolution: PAX Hands-On Report
At this year's Penny Arcade Expo, Carolyn Koh had the opportunity to get her first hands-on look at NetDevil's upcoming MMORPG, Jumpgate Evolution. In her report., she talks about controls, the feel of the game and how it managed to somehow avoid activating her motion sickness.
Netdevil showcased Jumpgate: Evolution at Penny Arcade Expo this year together with Dolby sound & voice technology and Plantronics’ new gamer head sets. I had been given a sneak peek at the game at the Ion Conference early this year but this time we were given the chance to actually fly a ship as Netdevil had set up 8 laptops to run off a local server, giving players the chance to play a few bits of an alpha build.
“Why and how,” I asked Herman, “did a graphics overlay for Jumpgate turn into a completely new game?”
“It took on a life of its own,” answered Herman. “We did one thing, and then another, then we wanted to put in all those things that we didn’t have in Jumpgate and before we knew it, we basically had Jumpgate II on our hands. We have a robust player economy system designed for Jumpgate: Evolution. Manufacturing (tradeskills) is in game as are Auction Houses, better AI, and just a slew of other features.”
I had seen the Battlestation (Boss Mob) fights at Ion and Herman now showed me a “dungeon experience” which was flying and fighting within a large meteor. With tunnels and pits, enemies behind corners, and with the ability to move in all three axes, it totally felt like a 3-D dungeon. Throughout the flight through the meteor, there were enough visual cues for me to figure out what was considered “Up” and what was considered “Down” in the game – and this was mainly conveyed by the direction other ships and objects were situated in free space of the meteor.
I was a little apprehensive as I sat down to play as I am susceptible to vertigo, otherwise known as motion sickness. I’ve never been able to play a space game. One roll in Wing Commander (1990) and I was done for. I didn’t do too well with space combat simulation games that followed either. Star Wars X-Wing / Tie Fighter? Privateer? Descent: Free Space? Forget it! So, you can’t blame me for getting excited when I found that I could play the entire newbie mission in Jumpgate: Evolution without getting sick. My take on Jumpgate: Evolution suddenly went from “Cool concept, nice graphics.” to “Omigosh, I can play a 3-D space flight game!”
Has this colored my perception of the game? Well it made me want to find out a lot more about it, and Producer Herman Peterscheck was there to oblige me, but first, the flight experience. Since keyboard and mouse was used, it was not as intuitive as it would have been with a joystick / throttle set up. With keyboard and mouse, W and S were the throttle controls, A and D strafed you right and left, R and F strafing up and down, and Q & E rolling you left and right respectively. Your mouse movement turned you, the left mouse button was your trigger and the Shift key is your Afterburn.
Ships have several stats: Power, Speed, Armor, Radar, Shield and Inventory (Cargo size) but not all were demonstrated. Your Shields and Armor contribute to your “Health”, the difference being that shields are recharged while armor is repaired. Once your Shields are down, your armor is the tin-foil between you and death.
;)
Character creation at this time is very simple. Netdevil has put in a selection of avatar portraits, but is still working on the ability to do avatar customization, to create more of an avatar identity for players. I picked an avatar, gave it a name, jumped into my newbie ship and I was away. Visual cues were intuitive and simple to follow. The mission showed up in the UI, a discreet red flashing arrow cued me to where my targets were, a target ring helped me lock in on my target and when it came into optimum range, changed into a larger, flashing target ring.
The Damper was on as default and that assists newbies in space flight as it, well, “dampens” the physics of moving in zero gravity space, but turning it off allowed some neat maneuvering. I could throttle up, turn the damper off, and while still traveling in the same direction spin my craft around and fire at enemies in my wake. Très cool.
After I had destroyed all of my mission targets, a discreet green arrow cued me to where I needed to go to dock and complete the mission. I flew into a meteor just to check collision. Yes, it works. It also works when you fly into your target because you didn’t throttle back or avoid it. But once I got the hang of the controls after a few “How do I roll again?” type questions, I was enjoying myself and did not realize that I wasn’t getting motion sick! What I had not realized until I was done with the mission was that I had not felt disoriented once, watching Herman play the game. If playing a 3-D space flight game turned my inner ear balance mechanism totally out of whack, watching someone play was usually worse.
“We’ve been working hard on that aspect of the game,” said Herman, “Grace, our Business Development Manager is sensitive to motion sickness and so we use her to test a lot.”
Whatever you did, guys… don’t change it now. Anyone who has always wanted to play a space flight combat game but could not due to a sensitive middle ear, beta signup for Jumpgate: Evolution opened up in mid-August, and PAX is a good barometer for them to see how close they are to beta. The graphics look awesome. The game looks better each time I see it, especially for their mantra of keeping specs low for wider gamer accessibility, and the game is still in Alpha. Flying with keyboard and mouse was simple for me to get used to but I would love to try this with a joystick and throttle set up. From what I saw at PAX, Jumpgate: Evolution is looking good and it’s looking close.
So when I read all this so far...
Then Jumpgate Evolution will be like EVE Online was years ago, but with far less features, hardly any Avatar customisation. Only difference being that you can navigate and pew pew with a joystick.
Cheers
*******
So when I read all this so far...
Then Jumpgate Evolution will be like EVE Online was years ago, but with far less features, hardly any Avatar customisation. Only difference being that you can navigate and pew pew with a joystick.
Cheers
********
Mate, it's what is all about - EVE ain't about dog fighting - it's a RPGE-peen contest.
Jumpgate looks set to offer gameplay mate - the thing people have been crying out for since Attack of The WoW MMO clones.
Can't wait to sub to this game.
Ehmm seriously tho, but if you think a joystick is going to wear off RPGE-peen players, then you are seriously mistaken. It will be even the other way around. Easymode gameplay with a joystick is by far more appealing then the complex sandbox approach EVE Online has.
Cheers
No. It will be like privateer, with FAST action packed TWITCH BASED battles. And you must have skipped the part where its in beta, and avatar customization is in the works.
"Ehmm seriously tho, but if you think a joystick is going to wear off RPGE-peen players, then you are seriously mistaken. It will be even the other way around. Easymode game play with a joystick is by far more appealing then the complex sandbox approach EVE On line has."
It won't attract much of the MMO crowd, look at all the examples of dumbed down games failing in this genre. That is exactly what players don't want. This will be strictly a niche game, just like the original was.
What happens with games of this type of game is players don't play the game very long, and the developer has to constantly recycle the player base to keep the numbers up. High turnover is an anathema to any MMO developer.
How is this "Dumbed down" when its not an RPG? It’s a mmo based on space shooters. Where is the comparison?
It can be mouse driven, OR joystick, it can use Newtonian flight, or atmospheric (dampeners).
Your saying that the requirement to aim (Twitch), and fly (Crashing into and asteroid is an option), is somehow “dumbed down” from click to move, and tab target press ability/gun-to-auto-aim?
Jumpgate Evolution.. it will be the best mmo ever made when it goes retail.
Finally a good game with twitch skills instead of some dumb down auto atack grindfest.
yarrrrrrrrrrrrr
I am really watching this game now, can't wait. I long to get away from button mashing games....which is all we really have now days. A little skill will be involved .... love it.
Thats exactly the point. It's going to be a fun space based game like Eve, but with way better combat.
This game looks awesome, some of the comments about it baffle me. It's a giant online space based combat flight sim. Not much mystery there, it is what it is. This game will be more about the players skills over how long they have been playing the game.
And yes, this is a niche game. But this isn't a niche game that recycles it's player base all the time, this is more of a game that has a small dedicated player base, just like JGC did.
I was hooked on the original Jumpgate for years, and I got to play JG:E for about half an hour at PAX. So far it's turning out to be nearly everything I could have hoped for.
And as others have pointed out, JG isn't like other MMO's. It's more like taking games like X-Wing/TIE Fighter, Wing Commander, the "X" series, and Freelancer, and making it so that most of those other ships you see flying around have humans at the controls. Good stuff.
I have to say Alarm bells are ringing. How will those who loved the Wing commander franchise and the X wing and Tie Fighter find this game if some anti Space shooter genre person didn't like those huge classics on the Pc, but likes Jump Gate evolution, how will JGE feel to those of us who were hoping JGE to be as close to those classic games as possible?
Is the reviewer mixing up those games with his experience with the Pc game classic Decent? I'm surprised he didn't' even mention that game when describing the 3D tunnel play, but goes on to think moving around tunnel system in 3d was something new to Pc gaming.
I don't think flying around in asteroid tunnel looking for things to kill will be very appealing. It will become annoying. Net Devil should be looking to how the wing commander series and X Wing series did content then apply it to work for MMO's instead of trying to to do a fantasy MMO in space.
Personally Jump Gate evolution will be getting a run for it's money from that other Space MMO that's in development. I keep forgetting the name, but a trailer appeared for it at that huge gaming event in Germany this year.
Sorry to interject.
But twitching isn't a skill, it is a symptom of a brain or nervous system disorder.
I've played the old Jumpgate myself for a time. I wouldn't put my hopes up too high for this one. There is probably a reason as to why the original never really got all that popular. There may even be several. Who knows.
That being said, I find it absolutely hilarious when someone playing Excel-spreadsheets in space, sorry, playing EvE-online, complains about the lack of Avatar customization in Jumpgate. I'm sure you have spend a lot of time playing with the sliders in the EvE character generator to create a pure masterpiece of heroic art but which probably was nothing more than a complete waste of time since the most anybody there will see of you is a mugshot in the chat interface which will make a postage stamp seem like a vast canvas in comparison. Provided your fellow player hasn't turned it off anyway in a desperate attempt to keep the clutter that the interface represents to a minimum.
Pot to kettle: You're black!
Sorry to interject.
But twitching isn't a skill, it is a symptom of a brain or nervous system disorder.
wow.. u found that twitch had another meaning and had to put it in here.. yes its a brain disorder.
But means also, and I quote :
"Twitch gameplay is a type of computer or video gameplay that tests a player's reaction time and precision. Action games such as first-person shooters are typically composed of twitch gameplay. However, other genres can involve twitch gameplay as well. For example, Tetris is a puzzle video game that gradually speeds up as the player makes progress.
Twitch gameplay keeps players actively engaged with quick feedback to their actions, as opposed to turn-based gaming that involves waiting for the outcome of a chosen course of action. Twitch can be used to expand tactical options and play, test skill in various areas (usually reflexive responses) and generally add difficulty (relating to the intensity of "twitching" required).
A game that rewards reflexes over tactics, strategy, and problem-solving is sometimes called a twitch game."
Hey dont blame yourself, you probably dont know anything but EvE/WoW type of gameplay..
Actually after one day of Eve, I quit and have not had WoW installed on my PC in over a year.
I play UT3 (heck I played Unreal back in the day on my Voodoo card), and other such "twitch kiddie" games, as well as TF, TF2 and games that you use your wits in. I was just tossing in a snarky comment since you seemed to be offended by tactical and strategy style games.
But I don't blame you for not understanding my sarcasm, being a twitch kiddie and all...
oops, sorry, did it again...
wow.. u found that twitch had another meaning and had to put it in here.. yes its a brain disorder.
But means also, and I quote :
"Twitch gameplay is ... [snip][snip] ...is sometimes called a twitch game."
Hey dont blame yourself, you probably dont know anything but EvE/WoW type of gameplay..
You say you qouted this? Usually you mention the source of the qoute.
And why are you trying to defend yourself against nonsense posts?
If I say "You are a banana", will you try to reply with counter-arguments to proof you are in fact NOT a banana? Do not feed the hungry troll.
I am a fan of Eve and I am also a fan of Jumpgate. I find it humorous that people compare the two genres because they are completely different types of games. The only simularities other than they both have ingame currency and an auction house is that they are both set in space. I believe that manufacturing will be a little more well thought out then what Eve has had to bandaid for years.
Also, for those people who want to compare Eve gameplay vs. Jumpgate gameplay. Two words:
"Object Collision"
This is my only major gripe with Eve Online. You don't actually collide with other ojects in Eve. Instead, you are repelled away from an invisible sphere set as a bounding box region around the object that you hit. So, that means that when you fly nearby some asteroids, even if you don't actually touch them, your client will bounce you off of an invisible wall surrounding that object.
In jumpgate, if you hit an asteroid - you'll damage your ship. Hit it hard enough and ... you will die. Same thing with docking at a space station or dog fighting with others.
I remember my first time I blew up a large collidable object in Eve. It made a HUGE explosion, but it didn't scratch my tiny ship that was right next to it.
This is also why I believe that Eve online and Jumpgate are really two different genres. Eve is more of a single unit RTS MMO and concentrates more on the strategy element. While Jumpgate is more of a space flight simulator MMO focusing on space flight at a microscopic detail.
I just wonder how you get someone with motion sickness problems in every space sim game to test out a space sim game. A sensitive inner ear gives you motion sickness in a car but has nothing to do with motion sickness from visual images. At any rate, if half the review was written about motion sickness then the game probably isnt that great. Lucky its only alpha...hopefully this game will rock.
Motion sickness is caused by both visual and physical not reacting right in the brain. Like with the car thing normally said person would need to be reading a book, which would be he feels the movement of the car but doesn't SEE the movement on the car. So in this case it would be the other way around. His eyes are seeing the movement but he is not feeling it. Thus he gets sick.
Also the reason he would want to test it out is to see if he does get sick from playing it.
But anyway it should be a good game hoping to get to beta it but I don't think I will be able to. But it looks good too bad I'm too cheap to play the first one =p