Interview: Jumpgate Evolution Developer NetDevil

One Last Continue recently got the chance to talk to Hermann Peterscheck from NetDevil, the producer for upcoming online action title Jumpgate Evolution. Keep reading to see what he told us. During this interview, we got to squeeze out lots of juicy details about the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) and action hybrid that is Jumpgate Evolution.  We got to find out about the processes they went through and decisions they made during development in order to make the game what it is to date.

I understand that Jumpgate Evolution is not the first Jumpgate title.  What is the Jumpgate universe about?

The original game started with an event called “The Great Collapse” – which resulted in the collapse of much of the the societies had at that pointgy.  Four factions (Solarin, Octavius, Quantar, and Hyperial) then set out to rebuild society and discovered the use of jumpgates to connect to the other factions.  These different factions had their own different views, political structures and so on. Eventually they got in contact with a fifth faction (Amanath) which was our mysterious, high tech, alien race. In the original game players could choose to be one of the three playable factions (Solrain, Octavius and Quantar) leaving the other two to expand on fiction and provide other forms of content. The major aggitator in the game was an alien race called the “Conflux” over which very little was known other than they were particularly aggressive and attacked any vessel that flew near enough.

How does Jumpgate Evolution expand upon the series as a sequel?

Jumpgate Evolution begins with an event called “The Shift” in which a huge section of space is moved a huge distance into a different part of the universe.  This causes a similar massive upheval in the various groups as well as opening up new mysteries. Once again the major nations are forced to rebuild although they were not pushed as far down the technological well this time. We did this because we needed to have a kind of blank slate to start with and expand and develop the story in interesting ways without tripping over the history of the original game. Evolution will explore Hyperial, Amananth and the Conflux in much greater detail. In fact, the game itself is much more story driven, which we’re excited about. So the factions are the same and the situation is familiar, but there’s a lot more expansion and detail than what was in the original game.

When a gamer thinks about a space MMORPG, one name immediately comes to mind – EVE.  What sets Jumpgate apart from EVE?

We get compared to EVE all the time, mainly because we are both space games; but beyond that the games are actually quite different. Our mechanics are much more similar to a first person shooter than, perhaps a more strategy based RPG like eve. Our primary goal is to create a space action combat game that allows thousands of people to play together. So just like most other MMOs we have auction houses, guilds, trading, crafting and all of those things; but the core game mechanic is definitely flying and shooting.

I’ve heard that Jumpgate Evolution contains near enough a thousand different ships.  Is this true?  And how will the ships differ?

A thousand is a bit of an exaggeration, but we do have over a hundred playable ships in the game and, of course, many more that are not playable. The goal in ship design is to create things that are both distinct and recognizable. Early on we had ships that looked very thematic to their nation, but we realized that what people wanted was things that look much more distinct so we’ve moved much more in that direction. Ships differ in both form and function. So, for example, you have light fighters that are physically smaller and nimble looking and heavy bombers that are larger and more armored. These different ships allow players to equip very different types of equipment in order to further enhance the differences.

MMORPGs tend to usually have very complex control systems which involve many keys.  Does Jumpgate’s system simplify the controls or make them more managable in any way?

Having a game that is easy to jump in and play is a primary concern for us. We have similar issues as other action games here so we have a system that teaches people the basic controls while they are playing. You learn how to fly, shoot, collect loot, fire missiles, boost and so while playing the game. As the player progresses more features are unlocked and added to the player’s arsenal. New abilities then gradually make the controls more complex, but also provide the player with greater options. So we start off simple, and gradually introduce the player to more complex controls.

How complex or varied are the classes/roles that players can play as in the game?

Jumpgate doesn’t have a standard MMO class system. Instead, we give players a lot more freedom to choose whatever role they would like to play depending on the situation.  We haven’t set it up so that if you decide to be a certain role you have to stick with that throughout your whole game experience.  A player can own multiple ships and can choose what role they should play in accordance to the scenario.  Therefore a player has the freedom to choose whatever they want to do – mine, fight, escort, tank – the choice is left to them.

Will Jumpgate involve a free form trade economy like EVE? Or will the economy system work differently?

Jumpgate’s economy is largely player driven. While there are stores from which players can buy and sell things, most of the objects that players find will come from missions, loot, crafting or trading with other players. Items come from loot drops, mining nodes and mission rewards. Ore can be refined into commodities and some items can be recycled into base parts as well. Thes base parts are the items that enter into the crafting system which allows players to make all kinds of equipment. Ultimately, prices are left for the players to decide – we don’t set any fixed prices.  Supply and demand determines the price of items, similar to the real economy.

The MMORPG market is known to be dominated by World of Warcraft.  How do you think Jumpgate will fare in this market?

I don’t think it can be predicted exactly how well an MMO will perform.  There are a handful of dominant MMORPGs out there, which causes companies to think “what are they doing to get so many users, maybe we can emulate that” and this is when you get the march of the clones.  If a developer pitches to a publisher a game where they say “maybe we can get five percent of the market by using the formula;” that is a very easy to understand and seemingly low risk pitch. It’s harder to go to a publisher and pitch an idea and say “we want to make this because we think it’s cool and there’s not much out there like it” it’s much more difficult for people to measure the potential success and risk associated with something like that. This is what leads to lots of cloning in the gaming industry. I think it’s false logic. If you make a good game, that’s the best way to ensure that you will have satisfactory performance. Gamers know a good game when they play it.

Will Jumpgate try to attract a new audience to MMORPGs?  Such as the action minded player?

I think new players will be attracted to Jumpgate without us even trying to do so.  We wanted to make Jumpgate because we thought it would be a good idea, not to intentionally attract this market or that market.  Jumpgate is a different style of game from other MMOs.  We have similar mechanics as other MMOs, but the core mechanic is an action game. Also, there haven’t been any really good space combat games in quite some time, so I think players might respond positively to a new experience. In the end, though, it’s all about making the game good.

Do we now have the technology to introduce action-heavy MMOs?  In the past latency issues have limited developers from action; has this now changed?

Well, we had an action MMO with the original Jumpgate back in 2001; and at that time bandwidth and latency were much larger problems. Having extra bandwidth and reduced latency obviously makes it easier, but there are still many challenges to overcome. We can now have many more players online together at a time; partially because of increased bandwidth and also because of better client side hardware. Before it was possible to have a few dozen ships on the screen, all taking part in one battle, but now we have the ability to create massive space combat on the scale we originally wanted.

As an increasingly common feature in MMOs, will user generated contect be present in Jumpgate Evolution?

Not in the sense that players can make their own missions or bases or things like that. I find that companies that try to have creation tools from early on in a game rush it, and they end up not working properly.  Also there’s the problem that if there’s a flaw in the tools, someone will end up exploiting it.  We’re definately interested in letting users create their own content, but we’d much rather release the game as we intended it to be, and perhaps invest in content creation tools in the future.  Some developers decide to have user created content because they think it’s a cheaper way of expanding the game. This is dangerous thinking because making well balanced, usable tools is not really easier than making compelling content. Releasing bad tools and having a bunch of bad player generated content may end up costing more in the long run.

Scott Brown once described the game as “Massively Multiplayer Freelancer”.  How accurate is this description?  Has Freelancer influenced the game?  If so, will it include the non-combat elements that made Freelancer what it is?

I believe that to be a very accurate description.  This was the main influence right from the start.  I remember playing Freelancer and saying “wouldn’t this be cool if it was online with other people” and voila here we are making Jumpgate Evolution.  Freelancer contained an intense single player campaign with a good story and we wanted to give the same feel with Jumpgate Evolution.  We do this by straying from how traditional MMOs work and decided to make sure we delivered an action experience.  Outside of missions, there is still plenty to do.  A player is free to explore the galaxy and pretty much do as they please.

Will the current MMO player find familiarity in Jumpgate Evolution?  Such as player roles – the tank, the healer, and the glass cannon

Just as with classes before, there are no set roles per se.  We allow the player to choose whatever role they want depending on the situation.  A player can own several ships with different specifications, and can choose whichever they want when they engage in an activity.  Players are able to customise their ships too, for example they can have different types of shields and armour.

On the other hand, players will find some familiarity in the game as it still carries some MMO elements such as trade systems and the auction house.  There’s also being able to play with other players in groups and engage in battles.

Does Jumpgate Evolution draw from any existing science fiction influences?  Does the aesthetic and art direction draw from the likes of Star Wars?

We did indeed take influences from other popular science fiction franchises in terms of seeing what types of themes they use for the design and art direction of different worlds, factions, and how they produce the feel of intensity.  However, the real feel we were going for was one of our own, rather than to just rip off something that already existed, and I believe that’s what we’re doing.

Under the subject of aesthetics, will there be unified themes between ship types or within factions?

Yes, and no.  Players will be able to recognise which ship belongs to which faction from a geometric theme, but each ship is still easily distinguishable from others.  We did this because we found that in the first game we had a few criticisms that some ships looked similar due to similar design or the art style was similar.  This time we’ve decided to vary each ship by design and colour, so they can be easily differentiated from one another.

People find themselves reluctant to play MMOs because of the default monotonous nature of them.  Does Jumpgate do anything to differentiate from the standard quest structure of MMOs?

Definately.  Many companies see what successful MMOs such as World of Warcraft do and emulate that in their own game, but we realise that gamers just hate monotonous questing, especially when it’s obvious and delivered from non-playable characters (NPC).  We looked at action games and looked at how they deliver objectives, even if they are trivial tasks and tried to incorporate that into Jumpgate.  One of the titles we looked at was Bioshock – we saw that the player is instructed to do tasks via a radio whislt they are already travelling instead of going and talking to a character.  This didn’t break the flow of gameplay and this is what we wanted to do in Jumpgate Evolution – keep the game flowing.

We also decided that the trivial tasks such as “collect 5 furs” are unneccessary in an MMO – we’ve pretty much deviated from these types of quests.  Instead we’ve put in a lot of custom written quests, much like Fallout 3, to keep the player interested and entertained.  We really wanted to break the monotony and keep the game action-orientated.

How will the Jumpgates work?

The jumpgates are simply portals to another map of the game.  It is a good way of masking movements from one area to another in seamless fashion.  We say seamless because when youre in one map, the other maps are already preloading at that time, so when you move to another zone there are no loading screens resulting in seamless gameplay.  Instead, there is the jumpgate animation which is travel through a giant wormhole.

How will damage systems work?  Will the different ships have different features such as shields?

There will be different factors that affect damages.  There are many different types of weapons in the game that perform different types of actions. Shields also have various attributes  Each of these will affect damage in different ways, but the game is a very skill based game.  It’s not your typical point and click game like other MMOs so being able to aim and fire does play a part in the game.  It’s got a lot in common with a first person shooter in terms of it’s more of what arsenal you choose and how you use it, than what role you play.

Have you considered bringing Jumpgate to consoles?  In light of other games finding themselves on consoles, would an action-heavy MMO like Jumpgate be appropriate on these platforms?

There’s no fixed plans, but it is a possibility.  Whilst we were making the game we found that the game played just like a console game would.  The movement and controls would fit really well with a controller, so we enabled controller and joystick support for the game.  It would fit very well on a console.  We found that due to the way it played, we had to overcome challenges in control schemes on the PC. Of all the MMOs I’ve played I think Jumpgate Evolution would work pretty well on the console.

MMOs today constantly bring new content to the core game via updates and expansions.  Will Jumpgate follow a Lord of the Rings Online style of free content, or a paid expansion method?

I honestly couldn’t tell you how updates are going to come, because for now we’re just concentrating on launching the core game.  There will probably be free updates like any other MMO such as a new area, a new ship, etc.  There will definately be updates, but we don’t have anything set in stone for how they will come.

Are updates and expansions for Jumpgate already planned?  Do you have a plan for what you want to bring to the game in the future?

We’re concentrating on releasing the core game for now.  For now there are no schedules for updates, but it’s inevitable that we will be supporting the game and releasing content for it.

Do you have any plans for how far into the life of the game you’d like to release new content?

I find that you need to release a bit of new content every quarter or so to keep people interested and keep things fresh.  However, it’s very hard to definately say “we’ll release something every x months” because then you may end up releasing a half-baked piece of content.

Is there a solid release date for Jumpgate Evolution?  If so, when?

There is no solid release date for Jumpgate Evolution at the moment.

What stage is the game at currently, and how is that coming along?

The game is at an early testing stage, which may be dubbed as Alpha/pre-Beta testing.

Now we know that Jumpgate has no release date, but is already in testing stages so it is definately a considerable way through the development process.  Screenshots and videos for the game have been released demonstrating that a lot of varied content has been created for the game.  There really is an emphasis that this is a different type of MMO; one centralized around action and combat, which will inevitably attract a large audience, including the action-minded player.  With a large range of ships with customisation like shields and armour, the game sounds like it will be providing a player with a lot of variety.  With impressive visuals and an action-orientated direction, it looks like Jumpgate Evolution will easily find it’s own place in the MMO market.