Publisher: Mightygames
Developer:
Netdevil
Scheduled
Release Date: 2000
Written By: Brian Rubin
Published: Tuesday, January 9,
2001
In the last
few years, we’ve seen a surge of Massively Multiplayer
Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG’s from now on), and
most of these have stayed within the realm of fantasy,
such as Ultima Online or Everquest. While we do have
on-line sims, such as Warbirds or Air Warrior, none have
really melded the concept of simulation and role-playing
in a contemporary or futuristic setting…until now. Welcome
to Jumpgate, what the developers call “your next life.”
This, fortunately, isn’t far from the truth.
Jumpgate is a futuristic space sim/role playing game
in which you take the role of one of three humanoid
factions, the Octavians, the Solrains, or the Quantar.
Each of these three factions has their own strengths and
weaknesses, such as combat or mining, and your playing
style will help determine which faction is best for you.
The game is a sim because you fly a craft all around the
known universe, completing missions and gaining funds.
The game is also a role playing game because you advance
in levels, prestige, and capabilities as you acquire
more money and experience.
The story of Jumpgate, according to the website, goes
something like this:
It was a time of light, it was a
time of darkness. The four systems had prospered greatly
within the balance that only peaceful coexistence could
bring. Each of the known systems had something to offer
the others, who were all eager to receive. The ancient
axes which had been ground for millennia between the
traditionalists of the Octavian empire and the
rebellious commonwealth of Solrain had long since been
buried. The vicious, seemingly eternal struggles between
Quantar and Hyperial forces had been peacefully
resolved. Then occurred the unthinkable... an event of
religious armageddon for some, an event of impossible
chaotic chance for others.
To this day, no one fully understands what happened,
but the memoirs of Desigrey Hettir, Cornea Station's
first commanding governor, attempt to provide the
simplest description possible.
When the dust settled, chaos and confusion were all
that remained. The planet Solrain, so long the seat
tribunal of the four systems, had vanished. Although
remote contact with the planet's massive informational
databases was still possible, no one was able to locate
its physical position. All communication between the
systems was lost.
Some millennia passed, as the inhabitants of the
sixth planet of the Solrain system began to rediscover
the mysteries of the new world around them. The ancient
technologies that powered the great civilization were
mysteriously ineffective. Indeed, it was a great task to
rediscover the basic natural principles which now seemed
to govern the galaxy. The Solrain Reconstruction
Initiative was founded in order to overcome these
obstacles, and begin the re-establishment of what once
was. After some time, SRI scientists discovered strange
fluctuations in gravity fields within the galaxy. After
much trial and error, the first gyroscopic gravity
de-fluxer was created. The great Sorian thinker, Watt
Jeffries Samon, conjectured that if one could counter
the gravitational fluctuations, long distance space
flight could again become a reality. His theories proved
true, and the first "jumpgate" was born. The gravity
anomalies in certain points of space became commonly
known as "gravity wells". W.J. Samon's plans were to
build artificial de-fluxers surrounding a gravity well,
thus allowing physical matter to simultaneously exist in
2 completely different points in space at the same time.
If it worked, a spacecraft would be able to "jump"
between the two points instantly.
Two Sorian years after construction began, the brave
initiates for the maiden voyage boarded the virgin craft
built to travel through the first jumpgate, christened
the "Revival I". They carried with them the hopes and
dreams of a broken system and its life forms. It was the
chance that all had been waiting for, to restore the
golden age that the history databases described with
such honest detail.
Unfortunately, triumph led to tragedy as the Revival
hurtled towards the jumpgate... it vanished, and never
returned...
Deep in Quantar space, a strange bluish pyramid
appeared in the heavens, quickly noted by Quantar
astronomers. It was quickly decided that a probe should
be sent to investigate the strange ornament, which
crackled with unknown energies. As the probe came
closer, an alien craft was found drifting less than a
click away from the pyramid. The craft was covered in a
liquid black film and whatever was alive inside was now
dead; charred bodies shaken into pieces as if struck by
an ancient disrupter. Later research confirmed that
co-existing in multiple points of space simultaneously
causes a specific set of synapses in the normal human
brain to overload and misfire. This malfunction sets off
an enormous chain reaction of gravitic energies within
the body. In the case of the Revival I, this caused
spontaneous combustion of all of her crew.
Ancient Quantar religious texts prophesized a
"visitor of the night, who swims the bottomless
seas...", which was instantly applied to the find. The
prophesy predicted a re-dawn of prosperity. This
generated massive excitement and hope for the Quantar
people, and so an unmanned ship was built to send into
the pyramid in hopes of fulfilling the prophecy. The
craft contained an assortment of messages in various
languages, hoping for some communication with whomever
was responsible for the pyramid's appearance. The
mission met with success, and dialog began between the
people of Quantar and Solrain. Not long after initial
contact, Quantar scientists discovered the genetic
breakthrough which allowed safe passage of life forms
through the gravity wells. Quantar joined the Solrian
Reconstruction Initiative, which then became known as it
is today, simply "The Reconstruction Initiative". TRI
began to grow in power and credibility.
The genetic alteration, however, was determined to
have some highly desirable side effects, most notably
that the recipient typically gains super-human abilities
within an environment of constant low gravitational
force. The Reconstruction Initiative proudly released
these results and began a large scale recruitment
program delivering fame and fortune for all who signed.
Rules and regulations, law and order, ethics and morals
were all suspended from the Initiatives' charter in
favor of rapid expansion. The move proved valuable to
TRI as all manner of life forms from all corners of the
known systems began joining in hopes of a brighter
future . . .
Pretty interesting stuff. It’s apparent that a lot of
time and effort was put into the storyline of Jumpgate,
and it shows not only in the background fiction such as
this, but in the game itself. In this preview, we’ll
take a detailed look at Jumpgate, and explain why it
might, indeed, be your next life. If the beta I played
is any indication, this one is going to be a whopper.
Why, you ask? Read on my friend.
Gameplay
On its surface, Jumpgate plays very similarly to
other games in the genre, like Privateer or Terminus.
Once you dive a little deeper beneath the surface,
however, you can see just how much is going on in this
game. Let’s start with the player factions (there are
actually five main factions in the game, but three are
available to the player).
We first come to the Octavius faction. This is the
warrior faction of the game, and their equipment is the
most power hungry and offensively geared in the game.
Octavians are mainly mercenaries for hire, and their
ships, weapons, and equipment, are all geared for
combat, above all else. The next faction is the Quantar,
who believe in deep, natural relationships with the
cosmos. They are called “terrifying holy warriors,” but
the mainstay of Quantar society is mining. Their
equipment and ships have a more natural, flowing look to
them, and are also a bit bulkier than some of their
sleeker counterparts. Finally, we have the Solrain, who
are the efficient manufacturers of the group. Solrain
equipment is usually some of the best non-combat
oriented equipment around, boasting a level of
efficiency unmatched by some of the other faction’s
equipment.
What does this all mean for the player? Basically,
when choosing a faction, each of the three factions will
cater to a certain player’s style. If one wants to be
heavy on combat, they’d choose the Octavians, while if
one wanted to be heavy on trading and economic matters,
they’d choose the Solrain. While three factions might
seem a bit skimpy, their definitions are broad enough to
allow for a wide variety of player styles, such as a
Quantar Mercenary or an Octavian Miner. The three
factions also have different bonuses when starting a
career, such as more credits or better armor.
Once a faction is chosen, it’s time to get into the
game and do the one thing that drives many games of this
type…make money. In Jumpgate, there are several ways to
go about this, including mining, missions, trade,
combat, and so on. We’ll take a look at these in detail.
When a new pilot is starting out, there are few options
available to them. While unarmed, combat is not an
option, so missions or mining is usually the order of
the day. Missions come in eight varieties, including
Combat, Scout, Patrol, Cargo, Transport, Mining,
Faction, and TRI. Many of these missions have three
different levels, the lowest being the easiest and
quickest to complete, while the highest offers the
bigger payoff at the expense of a higher difficulty and
time commitment. The missions, for the most part, are
pretty self-explanatory. Combat usually tasks you with
killing a certain amount of Conflux (the AI enemy in the
game), ships. Scout usually requires you to purchase a
camera or scanner, and either take pictures of a
station, or scan an anomaly. Patrol is just that…go to
certain sectors patrol through them. Cargo and Mining
missions usually involve getting a certain amount of a
substance, whether it be a commodity for cargo or a
mineral for mining, and bring it to a specific station
for sale. These missions can be difficult for new
players, as cargo bays on the beginning scouts can be
quite small. Transport missions are basically “Fed-Ex”
missions, meaning you basically take an item from one
place to another.
The last two missions, Faction and TRI, aren’t as
self-explanatory. Faction missions can differ from
faction to faction, depending on who’s station you’re on
at the time. This could include combat, scouting, or
patrol, and is never really the same. TRI missions are
very long patrol missions where the payoff in credits is
large, but the payoff in Experience Points is always the
same. Speaking of which, we’ll now come to the next
“currency” in the game, Experience Points.
Experience Points are the lifeblood of any pilot.
When starting as a new pilot, you have no experience
points, and must get a certain amount to get to the next
level. Completing a mission gives you experience points,
as does successful combat, and flipping beacons.
Flipping beacons means that, on the map, each system has
a TRI beacon, which can be flipped, using a piece of
equipment, to your faction’s color. If you flip the
beacon’s color, you’ll get experience points for holding
the beacon for a certain amount of time. This can be
dangerous business, as flipping a beacon in occupied or
faction space can really tick some people off.
Experience points are very important, because much of
the equipment is restricted to certain levels. For
example, a Quantar needs to be of level three in order
to buy the next ship up from the default scout, but
might need to be level nineteen in order to buy that big
gun that they want for that same ship. This is where the
concept of levels becomes so important. With higher
levels comes higher payoffs in missions, better
equipment, more money (you get a bonus every time you
reach a new level), and more responsibility, especially
if you’re a member of a squad (which we’ll discuss
later).
Another important factor (and the real stars of the
show) are the ships themselves, and Jumpgate has a
plethora of them. Ships are broken down into several
classes, including Scout, Light Fighter, Fighter,
Transport, and Cargo Tow. You begin the game with a
scout, which is pretty dinky as ships go, but usually
pretty maneuverable, so it’s a good place to start. Each
ship serves a different function. The scout is best used
for patrol and transport missions. The fighters are best
used for combat and escort duty. The Transport is best
used for mining missions, and the Cargo Tow is best for
transporting large amounts of goods from one station to
another (Cargo Tows usually have hundreds of spaces of
cargo room). Each ship behaves differently depending on
faction, size, and cargo. Light fighters are quite
maneuverable, while Cargo Tow’s (especially when fully
laden with cargo), fly like drunk cows covered in
molasses, as they should.
While there are several different ships, there’s even
a wider variety of equipment. Equipment is broken down
into several categories, including Power Plants,
Capacitors, Guns, Missiles, Engines, Shields, Radar,
ECM, and MODX. Power Plants are the heart of your ship,
and give power to every system on board. If, for
example, you buy powerful engines, but have the default
(i.e. crappy) power plant, you’ll wonder why your radar
doesn’t work when going full thrust. Capacitors are your
weapon’s power reserve, and are used to power energy
weapons. Bigger capacitors mean less power drain and
more available power for your energy weapons (projectile
weapons use no energy).
Guns are obvious, and there are several different
types to chose from. As a recruit, you’ll probably begin
with a low-end mining laser, which is used to mine
asteroids, but useless against fighting enemies. There
is, then, laser weaponry, which come in a wide variety
of damage, power use, rate of fire, and so on. While
some laser weaponry might be more powerful, it also
might have a longer firing delay, making aiming all the
more critical. We finally have projectile weapons, which
have enormous rates of fire, do decent damage, and use
no energy. Unfortunately, without the help of a
targeting computer (which must be bought separately),
aiming projectile weapons in Jumpgate is rather
difficult. Missiles also come in a wide variety of
types, based on maneuverability, damage done, and speed.
Radar, Shields, and ECM, are all self-explanatory.
Radar tells you what’s in your immediate area. Shields
protect you from enemy fire (or collisions, if going
slow enough). ECM makes it harder for your ship to be
detected on radar. MODX are completely different,
however. MODX modules include equipment such as cameras
for taking pictures, scanners for (obviously) scanning
anomalies, BCU’s (Beacon Control Units) used to change a
beacon’s color, targeting computers, and so on.
While this is a wide variety of equipment, there are
several things that might prohibit you from using a
certain piece, namely size, power requirements, and
cost. Size is one of the most important factors. Each
ship’s space (be it for a gun or an engine) has a set
amount of space that it can hold. The Respect, for
example, is probably the best engine you can get to fit
in a size two space, while the Dream will only fit in a
size five space, and is only used for larger ships.
Power requirements also come into play, and also has
something to do with space requirements, as the bigger a
power plant you can get, the more power you’ll have.
Factional equipment can also vary. Octavian equipment is
very powerful, but not terribly efficient, resulting in
more power used. They combat this with more powerful
power plants.
While the wide varieties of ships and equipment is
all well and good, it wouldn’t be worth a hill of beans
if it wasn’t fun to fly, and Jumpgate is pretty fun to
fly. Jumpgate uses a mix of Newtonian and Conventional
flight models, in which while inertia does play a part
of the game, the element of drag is introduced. That
means that, unlike Terminus, where you pointed your ship
in a direction, fired off the engines, and just kept
flying in that direction until you decided to change it,
Jumpgate forces you to always keep the engines on, or
else you’ll eventually come to a complete stop. While
this does take some getting used to (all new pilots are
HIGHLY encouraged to practice in the simulation module),
it eventually becomes second nature. This especially
comes into play with docking and mining, where slow
speeds and touches on the breaking thrusters are
mandatory. Your ship only has one fuel source, and it’s
used for breaking thrusters and afterburners only,
meaning that you can cruise on normal engines
indefinitely. Breaking thrusters are incredibly
important for mining and docking, as going over a
certain speed will mean death if you collide with
anything. The HUD helps with this, providing two arrows.
One tells you the direction you’re currently going,
while the other tells you the direction in which you
need to go in order to reach the currently targeted
object.
The game also has a simulation mode, which allows you
to practice your maneuvers either while docking or in
combat against other pilots. Simulation mode also allows
you to try out any piece of equipment in the game,
including every faction’s ship. This is a great way to
test that upgrade you want, to see if it will work
properly or not. It’s also a great way to vent out
frustrations and have competitions with other pilots.
Let us now speak of the social aspect of the game.
Currently, in the beta, there can be between fifty and
two hundred pilots on at any one time (with more coming,
assuredly). This means that the long trips between
jumpgates are made easier by the constant chatting going
on in the certain booths and in the systems. There are
several communication modes available, including sector
only (you’re talking to everyone in your sector),
whispering, squadron (you can speak you fellow squadron
members from anywhere in the universe, a nice touch),
and global booth chats. This means that a wide variety
of options are available for your conversations.
The other large social aspect to Jumpgate are the
formation of Squadrons, which NetDevil fully supports
through their website. Using the Jumpgate website,
squads can be created and managed by squadron leaders,
and some have gotten quite large (50+ players).
Squadrons each have different objectives, from escort
duty, to mercenary, piracy, bounty hunting, and so on.
You can either ask to join a squad, or be invited to
join by a squadron member, and each squadron has its own
ranking system and hierarchy. I was recently asked to
join a squad after a particularly exciting engagement
(go RFT! *Flash* *Flash*), and I’ve found out just how
much your squadmates will be willing to help each other
out. The full support and inclusion of squads is great
for brining a sense of camaraderie and companionship to
what might otherwise be a very lonely game.
In all honesty, I’ve barely scratched the surface of
the gameplay in Jumpgate. There is so much to do and see
in this game that it literally boggles the mind. The
game’s universe is huge (and can be made infinitely
larger through use of a modular system), the variety of
players, ships, and equipment are vast, while the social
atmosphere, through use of squads and what not, adds
something that few other games of this type have ever
had. I’ve told many people that this is what multiplayer
Terminus should have been like, but in all honesty,
Jumpgate is a better.
Visuals
The visuals in Jumpgate are more than adequate, but
not stunning. This makes sense, as it keeps the current
download small and lag times to a minimum. They might
not match the sheer-drool factor of the reigning kings,
X-Tension and Freespace 2, but they’re nicely detailed
and quite pleasant on the eye. The ships and stations of
the different factions look quite different, and
emphasize the different styles of the factions. The
Conflux have an eerie organic look to them, and some are
quite frightening. The weapons effects and explosions
are sparse in terms of looks, but get the job done,
nonetheless. In all, while the graphics in Jumpgate
won’t win it any awards, it’s game play will, which is
more important.
Aurals
The audio on Jumpgate is pretty good. The game uses
MP3 audio for its music, and the music is different
depending on who’s space your in, which is a nice touch.
The sound effects are the usual we’ve come to expect
from a game of this type, with the usual docking,
hissing, and laser effects. A fan site, Planet Jumpgate,
already has several user-created sound packs that can
change the sounds of certain aspects of the game, such
as the pack that changes the sound effects to those used
in Independence War. Overall, the sounds add mood and
atmosphere to the game, which is all anyone can ask for.
Multiplayer
Jumpgate is multiplayer only,
and while it does have an off-line mode for you to
practice with, the main game is only available online.
Getting online is quite easy, and while there have been
some server problems, usually the game is quite stable
and ping times are quite low. This is impressive, given
the game’s current beta status. The social aspects of
this game make the multiplayer component a must, as the
game wouldn’t be any fun if just flying around with AI.
Fun Factor
This game is so much fun it should be listed as an
addictive chemical. Let me put it this way. Space
simmers, this is your Everquest, your Ultima Online, or
your Asheron’s Call. I can barely begin to convey how
much fun I’ve had with this game. I’ve played it way too
much, to the point where my other projects have suffered
in order to get in “one more mission” so I could get
that Power Plant I’ve had my eye on. It’ll be hard, once
this preview is complete, to find an excuse to keep
playing, but darnit, I will, because my squad needs me.
This is a game that, indeed, will become your next life,
because it’s exactly the game us Elite playing, space
simmers have waited for.
Bottom Line
I’ve pretty much sung the praises of Jumpgate from
the mountaintop, and I could keep going. I’ve played
over 50 hours of Jumpgate in the past few weeks, and
I’ll probably keep playing LONG after this preview has
been posted. In the best way I can think to say it, if
you’ve been looking for a multiplayer, online-only
version of Elite, Privateer, or Terminus, then Jumpgate
is your dream game. The game is so deep, so complex, and
so involving that it will suck you in and never let you
go. I’m sorry, I have to stop writing now, because I
need to complete that one last patrol mission in order
to reach my next level. I hope to see you online…just
look for a pilot named SimHead in the RFT (*Flash*
*Flash*) Squadron. You can go, finally, to, Planet Jumpgate,
or The Official
Jumpgate Site for more information.