Jumpgate Evolution
Redford
Monorailcatfjord Join Date: 2002-04-28 Member: 528Members, NS1 Playtester
Monorailcatfjord Join Date: 2002-04-28 Member: 528Members, NS1 Playtester
<div class="IPBDescription">Making an old game new again</div>Those of you who have been around our Internets for a while may know of a game called Jumpgate. It was the first release product of a company you all should know for the terrible job that was done on Auto Assault. Otherwise known as NetDevil. The thing most people do not know is the reason playNC took a chance with netdevil is that Jumpgate was a great, groundbreaking game. It was, in fact, the very first multiplayer action-based space sim released to the public at large. Back in the day, it had a MASSIVE number of people testing it and thousands more who had paying accounts, one of which was me. However, time has not been kind to Jumpgate. Released in 2002, the engine has not aged gracefully, even for a space sim. Subscribers are at an all time low, even with a free expansion that allowed player-owned stations.
However, no longer. Jumpgate is getting something that is essentially another first in the MMO industry - it's getting a breath of new life. They are using a completely new engine, and adding a host of new market, combat, and squad based improvements, while still holding the framework of the game in place.
But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself here. What exactly IS jumpgate? Jumpgate could be considered the great precursor to EVE. It takes games like freelancer and the X series, and places them firmly in a multilayer environment. In fact, the entire base framework of EVE online can be traced back to jumpgate, which can be traced back to older games like x1. As far as gameplay goes, it's midway between. The combat and ship piloting is straight out of freespace, right down to slow ass weapons that need leading in order to hit with. You must dock manually, which involves lining up your ship to a tiny docking tube and then tapping yourself forward. Mining still involves shooting lasers at rocks, but in jumpgate, your mining take increases if you orbit the asteroid. This is further complicated by the fact that your ship gains more momentum as it's mass increases, and ore is heavy. Even mining professionally takes skill - because you must be able to maneuver and orbit your ship in and around space with a hull full of ore.
There is minimal information from Netdevil about exactly what status the project is it, who will distribute it, or when a beta may be expected. If they can carry this upgrade off without a hitch, though, EVE may suddenly be in a run for it's money.
<a href="http://www.mpogd.com/news/?ID=2777" target="_blank">Press release on MPOGD.com, w/ art/screens</a>
<a href="http://www.jumpgate-evolution.com/" target="_blank">Placeholder website w/ beta signup here.</a>
However, no longer. Jumpgate is getting something that is essentially another first in the MMO industry - it's getting a breath of new life. They are using a completely new engine, and adding a host of new market, combat, and squad based improvements, while still holding the framework of the game in place.
But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself here. What exactly IS jumpgate? Jumpgate could be considered the great precursor to EVE. It takes games like freelancer and the X series, and places them firmly in a multilayer environment. In fact, the entire base framework of EVE online can be traced back to jumpgate, which can be traced back to older games like x1. As far as gameplay goes, it's midway between. The combat and ship piloting is straight out of freespace, right down to slow ass weapons that need leading in order to hit with. You must dock manually, which involves lining up your ship to a tiny docking tube and then tapping yourself forward. Mining still involves shooting lasers at rocks, but in jumpgate, your mining take increases if you orbit the asteroid. This is further complicated by the fact that your ship gains more momentum as it's mass increases, and ore is heavy. Even mining professionally takes skill - because you must be able to maneuver and orbit your ship in and around space with a hull full of ore.
There is minimal information from Netdevil about exactly what status the project is it, who will distribute it, or when a beta may be expected. If they can carry this upgrade off without a hitch, though, EVE may suddenly be in a run for it's money.
<a href="http://www.mpogd.com/news/?ID=2777" target="_blank">Press release on MPOGD.com, w/ art/screens</a>
<a href="http://www.jumpgate-evolution.com/" target="_blank">Placeholder website w/ beta signup here.</a>
Comments
I don't want to pay monthly for the privilege of orbiting and asteroid and painstakingly docking. I can get that stuff for free.
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Or play EVE.
Or play EVE.
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You have to pay monthly for that too! That's the point.
Wait, let's go back to the combat bit. You actually FLY your ship, from a cockpit perspective, joystick (or mouselook/keyboard equivalent) and all? You jaw, pitch and roll like a <strike>spaceship</strike> plane? Not just "click on enemy, activate weapon, watch weapon auto-track and shoot enemy?" Actual combat, the way a 3D space-sim is supposed to have it?
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Still sore over those lowlifes who call Freelancer a space sim, I see.
Basically, small ships should "dogfight." That's what I want from a space sim. That, and cockpit view.
Still sore over those lowlifes who call Freelancer a space sim, I see.
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Freelancer doesn't have autotracking, EVE does.
Freelancer is more like a FPS in space than a space sim, but it's still 5 billion times better than EVE.
[youtube]IqdeL0zKic0[/youtube]
*BANG*
There's not much refraction in space. No shockwaves either, and my guess is that spaceships are well-shielded against heat. EMP might be an issue though.
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Fairly sure EMPs only occur when I nuke is set off in high atmosphere, due to reaction involving Earth's magnetic field. Heat drops off quickly in space, and ships have to radiation shielded anyway, so only a direction hit would do any damage really.
Jumpgate people, Jumpgate. No one cares about your retarded looking kids or the amount of radiation you have subdued them too. Beside's mine drink anti freeze daily so they wouldnt be effected anyway.
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I think your mome might have "subdued" you a little too much radiation when you were young.
The EM pulse is a feature of the device, not the detonation site. High-altitude detonations cover more area using fewer devices and cause less damage to the target. You still have to worry about all sorts of nasty radiation and the (now highly probable) odds of FLKs (Funny Lookin' Kids) after a couple bursts.
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From wiki:
"A high-altitude nuclear detonation produces an immediate flux of gamma rays from the nuclear reactions within the device. These photons in turn produce high energy free electrons by Compton scattering at altitudes between (roughly) 20 and 40 km. These electrons are then trapped in the Earth's magnetic field, giving rise to an oscillating electric current. This current is asymmetric in general and gives rise to a rapidly rising radiated electromagnetic field called an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Because the electrons are trapped essentially simultaneously, a very large electromagnetic source radiates coherently. "