Jumpgate Evolution Development Update

[Scorch]

It’s been about three years since we originally started thinking about making Jumpgate Evolution and in those three years many of you have been following the game’s progress quite closely. You’ve watched the project grow and gain momentum as it has become what it is today. Getting the game complete and into your hands is the point we’re really eager to get to and we strive each week to get to where we can share our adventures in space together.

One of the things we’ve always promised is that we would not release an unfinished product, nor would we subject players to a sub-par experience. The worst situation for a developer is that our game does not meet the expectations of our fans. This is constantly weighed against the need and desire to release the game and let our dedicated community play the game as soon as possible. I know that many of you have seen the targeted June release date and that has generated significant excitement. As with all game development projects, we constantly have to evaluate the quality of the product against anticipation. The question always asked among ourselves, does what we have meet the expectations of the players? Is what we have a good game?

With that, let me be up front about the current state of the game from where we stand. Jumpgate Evolution is nearly feature complete, but since entering the Friends & Family phase of testing we’ve been able to bring new eyes onto the game and get solid, crucial feedback from actual players and fans. Based on these results, it is clear that the product needs more time to meet its objectives. As an example, we have received and read lots of feedback regarding the instanced and public PvP systems. The feedback has been vital in helping us polish and improve this core feature of the game. We take a lot of time in digesting and considering what people say and take feedback seriously. Given that situation I can tell you that we would rather delay the release, than let you down by releasing an unfinished product. We will continue development past June while extending the test schedules and respond to the results of those tests.

Nowadays, Massively Multiplayer Online Games have a highly competitive market and a less-than-stellar release can be the end of a title before it starts. Our passion for this game means we want to release it in a state that is complete. You have raised the bar for us and we feel a great responsibility to reach that bar and exceed it. The only thing worse than waiting is being rewarded with a product that does not live up to its potential. We’ve always had one goal while developing this game which we’ve stated over and over. That goal is to make a great, and most of all fun, space combat game. Until we, and you, are happy that the game fully meets all of those requirements we won’t release it.

We understand news of this delay is disappointing. The good news is that our immediate goal is to get the game ready for larger groups of people as we get into wider testing. This means that more people will have more time to give us the vital feedback we will need to improve the game. Once we've established our road map for the next few months we'll share with you when the revised release date is.

Thanks for your patience and continued support.

See you in space!

Scott Brown.

[AWSM]

Thanks Scorch I guess we pack a lunch and sit and wait, practice makes perfect right? Good info

[Grandius]

Well, at least we can stop putting up "When's it going to release?" threads.

Also...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

[Adnot]

Who can say they really didn't see this coming? I'm all for taking more time to make a great game, even with my insatiable appetite to play it, I have been let down so many times before from underdeveloped, dull games. I, just like anyone else, want this out ASAP. But don't want it to end up another game that gathers dust on my bookshelf.


I just wish I knew what some of the feedback being taken into consideration is. I know they said it was around PvP aspects, but I want to know exactly what aspects they are revising!

Thank you for the update, hope to see more info soon!

[Roheryn]

This is excellent News Scott,

Please do not release this game before it is truly ready to be what it should be. I am happy to hear proper testing is indeed going on that is resulting in implementing changes to the game to make it better.

JGC was my first MMO experience and it is beyond a first love status. I want JGE to be great, take the time to make it right. I have waited this long whats another bit of time?

With that said. Turn Friendly Fire ON, you know it's just the tright thing to do

[SRILeader]

Scorch, I appreciate the update, but we could really use some more solid information. If JGE is nearly feature complete, then surely you have some information for us that doesn't end with the old chestnut:

"Everything is subject to change"

A cursory glance at the forums reveals that people are concerned about the game, fueled with a lack of knowledge pertaining to JGE's core features. Now that you've clearly decided how JGE's features will work, why not share that information with your dedicated fans?

It would likewise be nice to know when you plan on inviting some of us to participate in JGE's closed beta test. We all knew the June release was a pipe dream, but a June beta sounds about right. How about some more information on that front?

[Jazy1]

Don't mind us, take as much time as you want, heck we all rather expected it to be honest! As Adnot said, we have been let down by too many underdeveloped games so I'd rather it got released 5 years from now and get a good game than get it now and watch it crash and burn, so don't mind our whining, we'll just have to learn patience.

[Civilunit]

Well I think everyone was pretty sure the release date needed adjusting. Though I think everyone here is pretty excited about your time table to expand testing now that the game is feature complete.

Not to pin ya down of course, but yeah we are all rather excited about beta starting.

You know on the subject of complete game releases...I was going to make a post about this but this is as good a place as any. I notice from game play video's that when you jump into anouther sector the screen kinda blinks out and then jiggles into place while inside the watery bubble of a jumpgate...

Think you guys could I don't know...add some kind of cool animation...maybe something like the stargate wormhole effect with the shooting through a crazy tunnel or you some kind of screen blur and a flash.

Don't wanna give any one siezers mind you but seeing how the game is called jumpgate there really should be a special significance to hopping through a gate.

Yeah I know thats not helpful but i'm just saying...zone changes are weak sauce. something flashy to cover up the blink in and viewpoint shift would look much nicer.

In jumpgate classic all we really got was a funy Vroooon! noise when we jumped followed by a beep or something.

I'm thinking something dramatic like at the end of Starwars episode 6 where the fleet jumps in on the death star and Fwooon! right when they come in they have the flashy boom effect and a bunch of laser fire starts going everywhere.

well anyways, lets not talk about release anyways. lets talk about the next step, closed beta.

Hows that time table looking?

[Crab66]

I look forward to blowing things up when it's done.

I have seen many a game ruined or be less than it could have been by launching before it was ready. I am sure we all have.

[arterionx]

So, I guess this means that they are holding off release until after beta?