While we were in the US, Kingsley (UgLyPuNk) and I were fortunate enough to visit Colorado-based developer NetDevil Studios, who are currently hard at work on two very exciting, very different MMOs.

Firstly, there's space-based shooter, Jumpgate Evolution, which we've looked at before. Kingsley got some hands-on time with the game, and we sat down with producer Hermann Peterscheck to talk about what's in store.

The other is LEGO Universe, an MMO based at the younger market, and while the security surrounding the project was pretty tight (we had to turn the camera off at times), we did get some footage of some amazing blocky models as part of our studio tour.

Our visit came roughly a year after my first look at Jumpgate Evolution, which took place when Hermann and NetDevil founder Scott Brown were visiting this wide brown land for Game Connect Asia Pacific 2007. We had a great chat then, and I was very interested in seeing what the team had come up with in the twelve months since the last time I'd seen it, which was on a laptop in a hotel foyer. Let me tell you, all the good bits are still there, and watching this game run on a 'proper' gaming rig, with three monitors... it's a fantastic improvement.

To recap, the original Jumpgate was released in 2001, a little title set in space well before the concept of "Massively Multiplayer Online Games" had become familiar. Jumpgate Evolution is part revamp, part remake, part sequel of the original, with advanced graphics coupled with a totally re-designed gaming mechanic.


Rather than me trying to explain it all though, I'll let Hermann take the microphone. Please note in this video: all the gameplay footage was recorded live in the studio, with Kingsley at the controls (trying to show up the developers with his FreeSpace piloting skills!). Proving how easy the game is to pick up and play, this was only the second time he'd sat in front of the keyboard, on a pre-alpha version of the game... so imagine what the end-result, polished copy will look like!

Download NetDevil's Hermann Peterscheck Interview
Now, remember, NetDevil is also working on that other game, too... In their converted warehouse offices, it's actually only a small group of people working on interstellar Jumpgate projects, with quite a few more people hard at work with something many consider to be "children's toys". Over the other side of the building, there are shelves and shelves (and shelves) of LEGO bricks, of all shapes, sizes, designs and dimensions. We had to leave the cameras behind for this part of the tour, because tucked away amongst these were entire walls covered with concept art and sketches for LEGO Universe, and developers hunched over computers and tablets, busily drawing, animating and programming little yellow block-people. It was amazing, I just wish we could share it with you! The best I can offer is this here studio tour video, showing off some of what it's like inside a real video game office, even if we didn't manage to capture the designers zipping around on scooters and skateboards!

Download NetDevil Studio Visit Video
So - that's a bit of a quick glimpse into what we got up to in Colorado. We hear that there will be a beta release of Jumpgate Evolution out very soon, and we're hoping that LEGO Universe follows suit. Thank you very much to NetDevil Studios for letting us into their space - if you couldn't tell, we had a great time, and are very excited by how both games are shaping up!


This is our first new video release for the year, and we're very interested in your feedback. How did we do? ...incidentally, while I know many of you are loyal Internode customers, I hear that some of our visitors are using different ISPs and even dial-up accounts, and don't want to miss out on our great new video content. Never fear - we've heard your requests, and as we are enablers at heart, we also have some smaller, lower-quality versions of these videos available for download. You can grab the tiny 6MB versions of our Interview with Hermann Peterscheck, and the studio tour, which should leave your quota a little more intact.