Jumpgate Still Evolving

As anyone following modern space sims knows, JumpGate is getting ready for a massive overhaul -- and has been for quite a while. It's one of those make-food-taste-good-again upgrades that hopefully won't follow in the footsteps of Ultima Online 3D and the 'improved' Star Wars Galaxies experience. How do we know it won't? Because they're thinking about Wing Commander, if recent interviews are any indication! Producer Hermann Peterscheck with Warcry Network:

Q: Explain the "twitch-based" combat system.
A: Well it's similar to prior games that have had twitch based space combat. Games like Freelancer, Privateer, Wing Commander and so on. It's really more of a "fly the ship like in the movies" kind of approach.

PALGN: Now for those who don't know much about Jumpgate Evolution and haven't been following it, can you give us a thirty second rundown of what the game is?
SB: Sure, Jumpgate Evolution is basically the idea of taking all of the fun of the old space flight sims that were out there - Wing Commander, Privateer, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, you know Elite kinds of games and bringing it online.

PALGN: Are you aiming at people who have not played the original Wing Commanders or are you really going for the old school crowd, or a bit of both?
SB: I'd say it's both. Our primary target for this game is people who are fans of space sims, that's really who we think the game is ideally geared towards. But what we're hoping is, is that it's approachable enough that people who wanted to try those or think this might be something fun, will find some interest in it as well.

Making the Games: Wing Commander IV Sketches

Today we have more behind-the-screens material from Wing Commander IV: six early sketches of the game's various spacecraft. These are really cool - a length for the Black Lance transport, a more streamlined Dragon... a Bearcat with a different name ("Cougar")! In order, they are: Avenger bomber, Banshee light fighter, Black Lance transport, Bearcat, Lance (Dragon) and Durango (BWS Intrepid).

Thanks to Captain Johnny for both archiving and providing this material!