netdevil posts

Jumpgate Evolution brings on a new Executive Producer

by Kyle Horner Nov 24th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, New titles, News items

Any of you die hard Dark Age of Camelot fans out there? We hope you're paying attention, because NetDevil just brought Lance Roberston aboard their Jumpgate Evolution team as executive producer. For those not in the know: Lance's career blossomed as he rose through the ranks at Mythic Entertainment while working on Dark Age of Camelot. As such, he possesses extensive experience developing MMOs with both PvP and PvE focuses. He also helped to ship Warhammer Online as a senior producer, before the unfortunate events we're all aware of over at Electronic Arts.

Jumpgate Evolution is a three faction game that deals with PvP and PvE. Sound familiar? It should, as DAoC's tri-factions were one of its selling points back in the day. Lance also benefits from having experience in the "what do do" and "what not to do" areas of PvP/PvE MMO development, so we're certain he'll prove to be an immensely useful member of the JGE team.

Tags: daoc, dark-ageof-camelot, ea, electronic-arts, executive-producer, gazillion, gazillion-entertainment, jge, jumpgate-evolution, lance-roberston, mythic, mythic-entertainment, netdevil, war, warhammer-online

The Digital Continuum: Five exciting MMOs in 2010, part 2

by Kyle Horner Nov 9th 2009 at 12:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Tags: bioware, blizzard, ea, electronic-arts, gazillion, gazillion-entertainment, jge, jumpgate-evolution, lucasarts, netdevil, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor, the-digital-continuum, tor, world-of-warcraft, wow

Progression and building in LEGO Universe

by Kyle Horner Oct 27th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: New titles, Previews, News items, LEGO Universe

Information on LEGO Universe has been somewhat thin as of late, but that's beginning to change. Over at 1up you'll find a meaty preview that covers quite a bit of ground, including basic MMO features like progression to LEGO specific stuff like building quests. The building mode is of course the keystone to this game, and the fact that a player cannot be harmed when entering the mode speaks volumes about its importance.

Aside from building mode, zones in LEGO Universe are likely to be distinctly memorable due to the licenses' ability to have pirate, ninja, robot or even Star Wars themed planets -- assuming they're capable of using any of their real world toy lines within the game. And as for combat? If you've played any of the console LEGO games, then you'll know what to expect, which is essentially action-based combat. There's a lot more detail in the actual preview, so check it out if building with bricks is how you get your kicks.

Tags: 1up, gazillion, gazillion-entertainment, hearst, lego, lego-universe, netdevil, ninjas, pirates, preview, robots, star-wars

Gazillion layoffs hit Romero's Slipgate Ironworks

by Kyle Horner Oct 18th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, News items

Whatever Gazillion Entertainment's secret mastermind plot is, their next step has been to create an unfortunate situation for a suspected 50 now ex-employees at Slipgate Ironworks. The reasoning? According to Gazillion, "As part of our focus on reaching the widest possible audiences with breakthrough MMO entertainment, we decided to change the format of our project at Slipgate Ironworks to better achieve this aim," So, whatever unannounced MMO the team was working on is now canned, it would seem.

At least there's a silver lining, in some sense. Gazillion also stated, "-the other Slipgate staff are already in discussions around the many open positions across our slate of projects." You know what? We'd make another world conquering joke here, but that'd be too easy. Instead, we're just going to sit in our chair, pet our cat and sip this lovely whipped latte. Oh, whoops, guess we just can't help ourselves sometimes.

Seriously though, next year is going to be interesting, because the official statement alludes to something being released from the publisher next year. Unless they're just talking about Jumpgate Evolution -- at least, we hope that comes out by next year -- and then we're not really sure why they just didn't say as much.

Tags: gamasutra, gazillion, gazillion-entertainment, jge, john-romero, jumpgate-evolution, layoff, layoffs, netdevil, slipgate-ironworks

Redefining MMOs: Developers weigh in

by Tracey John Sep 24th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Interviews, MMO industry, Redefining MMOs

What does "MMO" mean anymore?

When we launched our "Redefining MMO" series over the summer, we began with a look at the terminology behind the games we play -- what the term "MMO" encompasses and what kinds of games it describes. But with the online games market expanding into new genres and incorporating new gameplay and social elements, the definition of "MMO" has changed.

So is it time for a new word?

We reached out to developers working on different MMOs. We asked what they thought about the word "MMO" and if it's time to eschew the term and come up with something new. Read on for thoughts from Cryptic's Bill Roper, Metaplace's Raph Koster, Mythic's Paul Barnett, Nexon America's Min Kim, Sony Online's Laralyn McWilliams, Turbine's Jeffrey Steefel and many more.

Tags: ccp-games, electronic-arts, eve-online, featured, jumpgate-evolution, lego-universe, mmo, mmo-industry, mythic-entertainment, netdevil, redefining-mmos, ultima-online, warhammer-online

Building the LEGO Universe MMO

by Seraphina Brennan Sep 23rd 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, LEGO Universe, Kids

It's slowly coming together -- brick by brick. The LEGO Universe MMO is still on track, and it's still under control of NetDevil. While the company has gone quite quiet on the production of Jumpgate Evolution, GamesIndustry.biz was able to catch up with the company at GamesCom in Cologne to ask them some questions about the LEGO Universe MMO.

This interview is with Ryan Seabury, the creative director on the project, and focuses in on the challenges behind making a directed gaming experience coupled with the creative power of a sandbox game, and then making it all accessible for kids and their families. It's really a great read if you're interested in how game design decisions are made, and how LEGO Universe will bridge the gap between an entirely open sandbox world and a more "theme park" experience.

Tags: cologne, cologne-gamescom, gamescom-2009, jumpgate-evolution, lego, lego-mmo, lego-universe, netdevil

Jumpgate Evolution dev blog looks at balancing combat

by William Dobson Jul 30th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Classes, Game mechanics, New titles

As player-versus-player pew-pewing is one of the biggest draws for those interested in the upcoming Jumpgate Evolution, there's no wonder that a lot of attention has been given to balancing the game's combat. The most recent Jumpgate Evolution dev blog entry from lead producer Hermann Peterscheck, titled "Combating Combat", shed some light on how class balance came to be where it's at now.

The post goes on to say that from the very beginning, balance was approached with PvP in mind, as NetDevil realized that it would be easier to tweak PvE accordingly at a later stage. Starting with just one class of ship, additional classes were introduced over time and put through their paces in daily play tests. Petersheck noted that the goal was to have each class feel truly unique and not simply have a bit less of this stat, or a bit more of that one:

"It's very tempting to just throw a bunch of classes of ships together in order to say things like 'our game has 15 classes of ships!' but this, we believe, is the wrong direction. People want meaningful and strong choices and not lots of meaningless, empty choices. Currently we plan to have 4-6 classes, but they will each have nearly endless possible configurations within those groups."

It's a promising design philosophy, to be sure. Check out the rest of Peterscheck's article at the JGE dev blog.

Tags: balance, class-balance, codemasters, combating-combat, dev-blog, developer-blog, hermann-peterscheck, jge, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil

Jumpgate Evolution hits 250,000 beta sign ups

by James Egan Jul 21st 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, News items

The upcoming sci-fi title Jumpgate Evolution seems to be highly anticipated by the MMO gaming community, at least if the deluge of unique beta sign-ups is any indication. Jumpgate Evolution's developer NetDevil and publisher Codemasters announced today that they've passed 250,000 beta sign-ups.

They added, "Everyone working on Jumpgate Evolution is ecstatic about the news, and we can't wait to begin allowing those who have supported us through this phase of development into Beta once it begins later this year."

[Via WarCry]

Tags: betas, codemasters, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil, sci-fi

Jumpgate Evolution interview drops details on PvP

by James Egan Jul 17th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Game mechanics, Lore, PvP, Races

NetDevil's upcoming sci-fi MMO Jumpgate Evolution is notable for its aggressive, joystick-style approach to PvP. Needless to say, it's a game we're really looking forward to trying, we're just not sure about when that's going to be. Without a solid ETA on when the title will launch, we're just keeping up with NetDevil's updates on Jumpgate Evolution's development. They've recently announced some new info about the game's move towards a player-driven economy, but we'd imagine most of our readers are more interested in JGE's PvP. That's the focus of an interview with the title's lead producer Hermann Peterscheck that we've just come across over at MMORPG.com.

Jon Wood spoke with Peterscheck about how PvP will factor in the game's lore, and vice versa. Peterscheck explained how each of the nations has a personality or a character, which they've been trying to convey with the lore released for the militaristic Octavians, the profit-motivated Solrain, or the mystic Quantar. NetDevil's goal is to present enough 'character' for each nation that players can identify with that faction and bring that into their gameplay.

Tags: hermann-peterscheck, interviews, jge, jon-wood, jumpgate-evolution, lore, mmorpg.com, netdevil, octavian, pvp, quantar, races, sci-fi, solrain

Jumpgate Evolution updates lore surrounding the spiritual Quantar faction

by James Egan Jul 15th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Lore, New titles

The writers on the Jumpgate Evolution team have released a lore update that focuses on the mystic Quantar nation. In Jumpgate Evolution's setting, the Quantar are a people who follow many different religious paths, but are "united by the fundamental belief that human destiny lies among the stars." Their spiritual beliefs are reflected in their technology, centered around the concept of a pilot and ship striving to become a single being, which explains their prowess in combat.

NetDevil's lore update to Jumpgate Evolution chronicles the history of Quantar culture and society, but they also released new info on sectors of Quantar space accompanied by some gorgeous images. There's now quite a bit of material centering on the Quantar nation which should be good news to fans of Jumpgate Evolution's lore.

Tags: factions, jumpgate-evolution, lore, nations, netdevil, new-titles, quantar, sci-fi

Jumpgate Evolution economy changing to player-driven system

by James Egan Jul 5th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Economy, Game mechanics, Interviews, Crafting

Some gamers were disheartened when NetDevil opted to delay the Jumpgate Evolution launch in order to refine some aspects of gameplay, but we're hoping the extra time they've bought for themselves will equate to a more polished release. One of those aspects of the game they're improving is Jumpgate Evolution's economy, which is the subject of an interview that producer Hermann Peterscheck gave to JGERadio's "Tikigod."

Throughout the interview, Peterscheck emphasizes that Jumpgate Evolution's economy should, by design, function in ways similar to a real world economy (but hopefully with a lot less fail) -- a far more dynamic system than one driven by NPC vendors. Peterscheck says, "I actually think the changes make the economy more alive. What we have done is moved away from an AI-based economy to a player-driven economy."

Tags: auction-house, crafting, economy, game-mechanics, hermann-peterscheck, interviews, jge, jgeradio, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil, player-driven, positional-value, producer, sci-fi

The Digital Continuum: Reign of the shooters

by Kyle Horner Jun 15th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Opinion, The Digital Continuum, Crime, MMOFPS

This year, a bleating signal is ringing out from all corners of the MMO industry. It calls to our attention a new order on the horizon: the order of shooter MMOs.

Can it be coincidence that everywhere you look at this year's E3, most of the exciting upcoming MMOs are shooters in one way or another? I'm looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV as much as the next fan, but there's only one or two traditional looking concepts that have my interest.

Moving through my mental list of must-play MMOs reveals a very obvious pattern. Jumpgate Evolution, All Points Bulletin, CrimeCraft and even aspects of Star Wars: The Old Republic are looking shooter-like. I mean, come on, cover mechanics for the Smuggler class? Now you're just teasing me into a squelching geek heat, BioWare.

Tags: all-points-bulletin, apb, bioware, crimecraft, featured, ffxiv, final-fantasy-xiv, fps, frogster, jge, jumpgate-evolution, mag, netdevil, realtime-worlds, shooter, square-enix, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor, the-digital-continuum

New Jumpgate Evolution screens show fighters in action

by James Egan Jun 11th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Jumpgate Evolution

Massively recently took a look at Jumpgate Evolution at E3 2009, and we liked what we saw, which would be clear to anyone who listened to the latest Massively Speaking podcast. We put up some of the new screenshots for you to accompany our most recent feature story on Jumpgate Evolution, but the team at NetDevil released 14 new screenshots today.

We've added them to our core Jumpgate Evolution gallery, so have a look through our images below for the latest shots of the Quantar and Solrain fighters in action.

Gallery: Jumpgate Evolution Gallery

Tags: galleries, jge, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil, quantar, sci-fi, screenshots, solrain, solrain-empire

E3 2009: The evolution of Jumpgate Evolution

by Mike Schramm Jun 8th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Video, Jumpgate Evolution, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, Hands-on

The last time I personally saw anything about Jumpgate Evolution (Netdevil's re-imagining of the the very early space MMO) was almost two years ago when I spoke with the executive producer. At that time, we had little more than a few screenshots and concept art. Massively has spoken with Peterscheck and covered the game multiple times since then, but when I stepped into Netdevil's little booth at E3 (so little, in fact, that it didn't even have their name on it -- it was labeled with Gazillion Entertainment, their publisher), I didn't have any idea what to expect.

What I found was both surprising and impressive. Way back in that first interview, Peterscheck told me that they were trying to make a space shooter MMO that depended on skill rather than stats, that offered up a fully realized universe for players to explore, and gave some new options for PvP and space combat that we hadn't seen before. Sitting in their booth watching the game get played on three big screens, I saw all that and more. Hit the jump (gate) below for impressions and even a gameplay video from last week's show.

Gallery: Jumpgate Evolution E3 2009

Tags: convention, e3, gameplay, gazillion, gazillions, jumpgate, jumpgate-evolution, mmo, netdevil, scott-brown, space, space-shooter, video

E3 2009: Jumpgate Evolution's E3 trailer evokes that space opera drama

by Kyle Horner Jun 1st 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Trailers, Jumpgate Evolution, New titles, News items

When attempting to entice potential players with your game it never hurts to remind them of that television show or movie they love so very much, and how that it's possible to live out their fantasies of said other property in your own. This rule of thumb is why the E3 2009 trailer for Jumpgate Evolution over at G4TV's website is so very good. The trailer is quite successful in making us want to pop in our Battlestar Galactica reboot DVDs and watch them all over again.

Release day may no longer be in June -- or any month for that matter -- but our hopes are set in beta expanding sometime soon. You can find the full trailer after the break, in all its evocative and dramatic glory.

Massively is on the ground in Los Angeles this week and covering all the latest E3 MMO news coming from the convention. Check out our breaking coverage (or all the Joystiq network E3 reporting) and keep your eye on Massively's front page for the latest developments.

Tags: codemasters, e3-2009, gazillion-entertainment, jge, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil, trailer, video