Jumpgate

[vorlon31]

Wow, a whole new set of space sim forums to stalk. Greetings all.

[sscadmin]

Hey Vorlon31 Not looking good for JGE, NetDevil been really silent on this matter.

[BrianRubin]

Hey vorlon, well met. Was that your JGC name as well? Mine was Veloxi.

[BrianRubin]

Well hey Ambro, long time indeed! How the hell you been?

[BrianRubin]

Hope the well bits outweigh the unwell bits. How many people are still playing JGC?And yeah, I think a lot of people feel the same way you do about JGE. Damned shame. Hope they eventually prove us all wrong, but it seems unlikely.

[Taymar]

Seeing as all the JG vets are stalking on here, I might aswell join in.I've posted it on here before but ND should have stuck with the idea of updating JG rather than trying to re-create the perfect space sim again. Games like music can be timeless or very much of their time, who will be playing CoD4 in five or ten years time for example ? JG is timeless and has endured where other 'Prettier' games have failed and fallen by the wayside.Don't get me wrong JG has it's fair share of issues and as an MMO the graphics are showing their age but the engine and the game play are still as fresh and sharp as they were 10 years ago.JG might not be for everyone and yes it is one of those games that players drift away from but 9 times out of ten they'll return.

[Istvan]

Updating JG is in fact my core agenda, and some of the good, early ideas from JGE are, with a bit of luck, part of the changes I'll be continuing to make. The problems facing JG are no different now than they were in 2006, when the JGE project was begun, and many of the intended solutions then are still relevant now. For example, last month I patched in a replacement default keymap for new JG players that is functionally very similar to what had been intended for JGE, because its design made sense.I'd have a great deal to say were I permitted to speak freely regarding JGE. That is a topic I'm afraid I must keep publicly silent on if I wish to have any hope of continuing to improve JG. Rest assured that though my perspective on details may be different, I personally share much of the community's disappointment, which is perhaps the strongest word I might safely use.I'm really glad to see some old veterans from long ago here on these forums (Hi, Veloxi!), and I hope our showing on SSC continues to grow, as this is an excellent site.Though my main focus for disseminating information must remain the official forums, I'll be very glad to make my presence known to chat on SSC more often should I see the JG community increase its own presence here.

[vorlon31]

BrianRubin wrote:
Hey vorlon, well met. Was that your JGC name as well? Mine was Veloxi.
Was? IS. :DLong time no see!Did you hear now in JG we have Civ, Merc and Military game play choices?What you been up to since last launch?

[Regan]

*waves* at Veloxi =)

[BrianRubin]

Wow, look at all the old faces. Makes me tempted to re-up. Nice hearing from you, Istvan, and also nice to hear the game is still being updated. Can you answer me this: If JGE turns into vaporware, can maybe the design changes/graphics and so on be slowly implemented into JGC?

[BrianRubin]

vorlon31 wrote:


BrianRubin wrote:
Hey vorlon, well met. Was that your JGC name as well? Mine was Veloxi.
Was? IS. :DLong time no see!Did you hear now in JG we have Civ, Merc and Military game play choices?What you been up to since last launch?
Wow, I kinda wanna re-up just to try those choices. What do they entail, exactly?Oh, I've been swayed back and forth by console gaming due to a shiny new PS3, but I still come back to the PC often enough to shoot lasers at other spaceships.

[vorlon31]

BrianRubin wrote:
Wow, I kinda wanna re-up just to try those choices. What do they entail, exactly?
Now, civ is as was outside of unreg.Military can ONLY shoot opposing faction*MT and Merc's without demerits, access to Mili misions, full insurance and Mili Map.Mercs can ONLY shoot Opposing faction* MT plus ANY Merc, you choose your insurance, no access to Mili missions or assets.*as defined by war status.Merc = old HG +/-

[Istvan]

BrianRubin wrote:
Can you answer me this: If JGE turns into vaporware, can maybe the design changes/graphics and so on be slowly implemented into JGC?
Yes. And I'm sad to say that "slowly" will probably be the operative word for now, until I can convince management that the project is worth adding some further resources. But within the limits of what I'm able to implement myself, that's absolutely my direction, where it fits the spirit of Jumpgate.Veloxi, are you telling us you haven't flown since before Military was added in 2006? Surely you played back in the HG days... or did you leave even before HG was created by my predecessors? I know your active period was back in the mists of time, and I admit as I age my memory of Jumpgate's first post-release years has gotten pretty murky - I remember beta better, since I was a pilot myself then.

[BrianRubin]

Istvan wrote:


BrianRubin wrote:
Can you answer me this: If JGE turns into vaporware, can maybe the design changes/graphics and so on be slowly implemented into JGC?
Yes. And I'm sad to say that "slowly" will probably be the operative word for now, until I can convince management that the project is worth adding some further resources. But within the limits of what I'm able to implement myself, that's absolutely my direction, where it fits the spirit of Jumpgate.
Istvan, even though I'm unemployed and money is tight, you might just have convinced me to come back. Well done.

[Taymar]

All I can say to you BrianRubin is that your support would be very welcome.For anyone that hasn't tried Jumpgate I will say that you have no idea what you're missing. Ok it looks 10 years old and has some minor issues with the learning curve for new players and a few 'Features' that Istvan is working his way through.The only other thing that might put off any new players is the community, we're a pretty tight bunch and from the outside I guess it can seem a bit like 'An Old Boys Network' but that's what makes the JG community special.We're all working to make our community bigger and I feel there are times that some of us need to hear an outside perspective, if only to prompt us to take another look at what we take for granted. In short JG is well worth your effort, time and money but as with everything, you only get out what you put in.

[Taymar]

As some of you may know the future of Jumpgate has been under a cloud of late. There were a number of options being explored to keep the game and the community together.Today Anguish has posted an update on the situation and it isn't looking positive - Folks, I promised you that I'd share with you when and as I had information. I promised that Soon (tm) wouldn't apply and we wouldn't drag things out.Things are not going well. While a last-ditch effort is not impossible, the odds of successful transfer of control/ownership/operation of Jumpgate into the community are now significantly reduced from where they were last week.I can't get into specifics as to the why of this. I am simply taking this moment to relate to you that as we understand things, the future is... likely dim.The the servers go dark, you'll know why.By all means, use the Facebook group or whatever to stay in touch as we're not down to zero options yet, but we're close. Should things change, I'll let you know.Until the true end, folks... it's been a pleasure.For the full story please visit the JG forums.

[BrianRubin]

Sigh, sad, but sadly seems inevitable.

[sscadmin]

This in reference to both JC and JGE or just JC? I know the JGE has its own issues with Codemasters.

[BrianRubin]

Darkone wrote:
This in reference to both JC and JGE or just JC? I know the JGE has its own issues with Codemasters.
JC.

[Taymar]

Although many from JG (JC) would tell you otherwise the two are linked.I have no 'Official' information but I'd guess that the law suit against Gazillion from Code Masters has a great deal to do with them not being able to do a deal with community for JG (JC). So indirectly ND's and Gazillion's inability to deliver JGE has killed off JG (JC) and made JGE impossible to make/sell in the future.I haven't visited the JGE forums in a very long time and have no idea on the state of the game or the community, once the issues with Code Masters were released I walked away from JGE and vowed never to play it after way EU members had been treated. So I doubt anyone, other than Scott Brown or Istvan could convince many JG players and former JGE community members to play another game with the word Jumpgate in the title.It's sad how things have turned out and it feels like Gazillion have left players like me with no alternative.