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JumpGate Preview

By Marty Graves

For several years now, massively-multiplayer online gaming has been dominated by fantasy role-playing games. There is one game that looks to alter this course and expand the genre before any of the big publishers step up to bat. That game is JumpGate. JumpGate doesn't rest on the idea of simply bringing you the thrill of other space trading games such as Privateer, or Tradewars 2002. It immerses the pilot in a universe of grand conflict, personal advancement, and playstyle freedom. The pilots in JumpGate are treated to some of the better ideas from the CRPG genre, and the best of space trading and galactic conflict. It's an interesting mix that makes for a game with no peer now, or on the horizon.

NetDevil has most certainly done their homework. Many of the features that are now standard during the current beta of JumpGate were only dreamy additions to other Massively Multiplayer games currently on the market. Features such as in-game player organizations. JumpGate allows you to quickly and easily create a squad all your own right on the JumpGate website itself. Not only can you create it, but manage it, and receive statistics on how your squad is doing in comparison to other squads in your Faction, or in the entire JumpGate Universe. Have you longed for solid player-versus-player statistics and rankings in other games, but felt cheated at the obvious lack of Ladders or "Pecking orders"? Jumpgate has had this almost from the beginning. Even right now during beta, you can easily and quickly find the top kill-scores in JumpGate on the website. Not interested in killing? Want to find another way to compare yourself to your fellow players? JumpGate has you covered. There are 24 (twenty-four)Different categories by which players can be ranked, 12 of which are totally non-combat.

Achieving goals in such an environment is one way of entertaining yourself. But when you've got a large galaxy of human players pecking away at a pecking order, it can get stale. NetDevil knows this too, which is why the game is designed to allow individuals, squads, or even entire factions to fight back and forth over territory via a simple system of claim-able beacons. Want to claim a sector for yourself from an enemy, and gain experience points in the process? No problem, grab some cheap equipment at the nearest station, and fly through the nearest beacon. Be prepared to fight for your space! Beacons don't often allow for ill-equipped pilots to 'steal' experience without some hard work. What's more important, is that space actually does mean something in JumpGate. Organized groups can easily form and enforce blockades of entire sectors, preventing players from simply passing through without dealing with their influence. Without a particular sector rich in asteroids of certain minerals your squadmates or faction-mates may not have access to a primary source of wealth, and you may find yourself forced to pay tolls to an enemy or worse!

This is not to imply that JumpGate is all about player-versus-player combat. JumpGate does allow for a substantial amount of playstyle freedom. While it's probably likely that at some point you'll find yourself engaged in conflict, you can easily make your focus and strength the acquisition of wealth by trade. JumpGate lets players directly mine asteroids, and sell the minerals to stations nearby, or even players docked at stations. If mining isn't your thing, you can accept delivery missions, or even just buy goods from stations that have plenty, and sell to those who are in need. Playing the financial side of JumpGate isn't overly simplistic, but it does have more features than you might find in TW2002, for instance. What's reassuring is, this game being in Beta, even more features should eventually find their way into JumpGate.

In this game, wealth is important. Without it, you cannot purchase advanced equipment, which further restricts your advancement. Even worse, the pilot who ignores his/her financial situation may find themselves having just destroyed their ship with no money to replace it! There is little to fear from becoming totally destitute, however, as even when you have no money, you are issued a scout ship with minimal equipment. You can still function after crashing, even with no money (and you start off with zero), but it is much more painful. Much like other space trading games, without credits, you go nowhere. The added wrinkle with JumpGate is that you also need pilot experience to gain access to the more advanced technologies. So along with your trading, it's important that you make sure you're taking missions at stations, and claiming beacons wherever you can and still avoid destructive conflict.

If you liked the galactic arrangement in TW2002, JumpGate's universe is arranged in a fashion familiar to players of that old BBS classic. When you fly around the universe of JumpGate, you fly around sectors. Travel between sectors is handled through pyramidal JumpGate structures (as shown in the picture on the right). This doesn't follow the more thrilling model of being able to Warp or Hyperspace to anywhere you want to go, but it does help players establish clear lines of battle when necessary, and affect organized conflict in comprehensive ways. In a non-sector based game universe with technologies that let you cross infinite boundaries at whim, territory disputes become meaningless, and thus less-fun. Once again, NetDevil follows a model that has proven itself time and again to bring entertainment, and it delivers.

Even more interesting to this unique game, it has no AI of any kind. As of this writing, there are no known plans for adding artificial intelligence to JumpGate. While a few AI races might prove interesting for the casual gamer, NetDevil believes the cost of processing AI in addition to the player moves isn't worth it (Or so we understand). This all may change as the game is in beta currently. If you ask most of those who play JumpGate, they would probably say this was for the best. AI, unless programmed expertly, rarely creates a lasting sense of enjoyment, and with a flight model as complex as JumpGate's, would probably be insanely difficult to create. Yes, raiding Ferrengal was fun, but it only lasts once and only to the pilot who advances fast enough to accomplish it. That doesn't exactly equal entertainment for everyone. Hopefully someday, NetDevil will figure out a way to put in some meaningful AI into JumpGate. For now, it's a much better game without it.

As if this didn't sound fun enough, the game allows players literally hundreds of different combinations of ship hulls, engines, shield generators, weapons, missles, special ModX(mods), power plants, and more. Simply optimizing your ship becomes an adventure in and of itself. Various ship hulls have different capacities for various equipment types. Some engines, for instance, are too large to fit in your average scout hull, and thus you must have an hull that has enough room for that particular engine. As if that complexity wasn't enough, when you add equipment to your ship, you are adding mass(weight). Mass is one of the most important factors in ensuring the maneuverability of your craft. With too much mass, it becomes difficult to shop your ship, or even change directions, and you become an easier target for destruction. Dumping all your money into "The best" equipment doesn't work here. The pilot is forced to strike an optimized balance, and it's not the easiest thing to do. NetDevil's design of this aspect of the game truly reflects on marvelous gameplay engineering. Without the simple additions of equipment size and the integration of flight-model effects based on engine configuration, player-versus-player battles in JumpGate would be too simple to be truly fun.

The flight model of JumpGate isn't your standard Privateer or flight-sim model either. JumpGate uses a combination of Newtonian physics, and aerodynamic drag. When you apply thrust with your ship facing in one direction, you continue moving in that direction unless acted upon by another force, such as turning your ship around, and applying thrust in the opposite direction (or crashing). However, you are also constantly being slowed down by drag on your ship. This effect is much more noticeable at the higher speeds. At the highest speeds, it slows you down quite quickly. However, it's almost nonexistant at the very low speeds, allowing ships to continue moving with their low momentum for very lengthy periods of time unless active thrusting is used to stop the ship. Be wary when flying through this universe, you can't simply avoid a collision by pulling up in the nick of time. If you wait to the last second to try to avoid a collision in JumpGate, you are most often dead, make no mistake. Again, this simple alteration from the standard flight-sim makes combat much more interesting. Instead of constantly turning to get onto your enemies tail, you're now left with basically zero familiar tactics that can lead to victory. What good is trying to swing around on your opponents tail if he can simply twist his ship around, and match your firepower while continuing in his previous direction? Hiding behind large spacial objects also has much more meaning, as navigating around large objects smoothly takes extreme pilot skill (not twitch factor, extreme skill), and a very fine feel of your craft configuration (mass and engine power). Fans of weightless spacial dogfight tactics (much like one would read about in fiction novels such as Ender's Game) will love JumpGate's flight model.

JumpGate is a unique mix of everything anyone's ever wanted in a massively multiplayer space trading game (MMSTG). You have trade which is both essential to advancement, and a way of establishing dominance should one wish to focus on it. You have a type of combat that makes standard flight-sims pale in comparison. You have an organized player conflict which is something even current MMORPG's lack in any really meaningful way. To top it all off, you've got something new in the Massively Multiplayer gaming genre, and that is always welcome. If you were waiting for Privateer Online, JumpGate is definitely a game worth spending time on. Beyond the players who lust after space games, this gem of a game offers an original blend of tried and true gameplay ideas that make for a tremendous experience. Enjoy JumpGate.

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