PAX08: Hermann Peterscheck interviewed on all things Jumpgate Evolution, page three

Massively: It's kind what we would describe as the "Luke in the Deathstar" kind of feel. Where you're got little areas of tight close quarters and more open areas mixed in as well?

Hermann: That's just it, right? Basically, think about science fiction stuff that you like and try and reproduce those experiences. Really, we all like the same things from those movies. Things like big space battles, giant capital ships, fighting inside of stuff, blowing up the Deathstar. These are all memories we have of sci-fi and if you can capture those emotionally, then people will be into in, right?

Massively: Yeah.

Herman: It turns out that what I want to see is probably real similar to what you want to see and to what most people want to see. So as a developer you've gotta be open to those ideas and just kinda try them out and see if they work. It takes a lot of time to get 'em right, but it took a long time to make Star Wars right, too.

Massively: What's the max level in the game going to be?

Hermann: It's probably going to be sixty, but that's another one of those "How long is a piece of string?" things. Something like that I'm guessing, because people feel that that's about right and they understand what it means. Also, to be fair it also seems like it's enough content. A game needs enough content so that you feel like you're going to be doing it for a while, otherwise you're kind of done before you even start.

Massively: In regards to the level question, what's the sense of progression for player ships as you level?

Hermann: We're still sort of working on that, but the idea is that you pick your first ship at level five, which is about an hour or so of gameplay. Basically there's sort of forks, so you start out in kind of a beginner ship and then there's like fighting types of ships, mining types of ships, cargo haulers and within that there's sort of sub-classes. So like, there's light fighters, medium fighters, heavy fighters, bombers. There's haulers that carry a lot of stuff, but move kind of slowly and there's haulers that carry lost stuff, short little courier shuttles that move really quickly.

Massively: Now this is very cool.

Hermann: So here's more of a themed, kind of end level. It looks, kind of like hell a little bit. This is the Infernal homeworld.

Massivel: If hell were a planet.

Hermann: Their planet has kind of broken off and there are bits and pieces floating here. We're experimenting with terrain in space. We have these broken rocks and there's a city on them. The advantage of terrain is that it gives you a sort of tactical element. You can fly around it as need be and use it as cover. I could do this encounter on my own if I wanted to, but it's more fun with people. You want it to be soloable, but you want it to be fun in a group, too.%Gallery-30683%