Our Garrett Fuller spent some time with NetDevil President Scott Brown at this year's Austin Game Developer's Conference. In this video, we're treated to a developer walkthrough of Jumpgate: Evolution where we learn about some of the philosophy behind the game's design, the new player experience, and get a neat look at a high-end boss encounter.
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One of the most interesting things that came out of this developer walkthrough is the philosophy behind the game's mission design. For one, Mr. Brown mentions that battles aren't a one-versus-one, you vs. the ai, type of event. Instead, you'll often participate in large scale battles as part of standard gameplay, with both NPC support and enemies in what will most definitely be a giant furball.
The other interesting aspect of mission design in Jumpgate: Evolution is the deviation from the quest paragraph, mission, return for quest paragraph format that most MMOGs employ. It's no secret that most of us just don't read the quest text, and so the developers at NetDevil have taken lessons from older games like X-Wing and Wing Commander where your mission goals will be a bit more ambiguous (I.E. go out on a patrol) and you find out more in smaller chunks as the mission progresses, as opposed to the frankly unrealistic idea of having players read walls of quest text in the space station before they launch.
Also, for the hardcore out there, Mr. Brown confirms that IR head tracking, joystick, and triple monitor support will be available in Jumpgate: Evolution. Unfortunately, no word on a new release date, but we're waiting with bated breath!
Watch the video here.
