Greetings, Happy 2009! A new year full of excitement, blood, sweat and tears lie in wait as Jumpgate Evolution drives forwards at full throttle and straight into overdrive. Before we dip into the year ahead though, let’s take a look back. 2008 was an exciting year for Jumpgate Evolution; in March the game was showcased in it’s first playable state for the public at Connect 2008, the Codemasters Online gaming event held in the UK and was very well received by those who played it. Since then we have been hard at work building the game’s content, including more thriving sectors, player vs. player mechanics, capital ships, manufacturing and trade systems, ships, equipment and the less exciting, but vital account and support systems. And it doesn’t end there...   2009 promises to be a great year for Jumpgate Evolution, and we have big plans. The most recent addition to the game over Christmas is the implementation of Octavius space and a greater variety of enemy ships. Our next goal is to bring in the much-desired Quantar space and higher level content – and it’s looking fantastic. Look out for upcoming juicy asset releases which will showcase these Nations. All of this work moves us a step closer to an extensive Beta test period now that we have the systems, we have the Nations and we have the content. Next up is “moving the eight hundred pound gorilla”, a.k.a. Beta! Until now we’ve been testing internally, with both employees, close friends and occasional outside testers. Although it’s helped us immensely in gathering feedback and testing functionality, it’s no substitute for the pounding that you guys can give it with your vast numbers and persistent exploration. So many of you have been waiting patiently, eager and itching to test the game and feedback your thoughts to make the playing experience the best it can be. We’re almost there.   After that, once the game is shined and polished and once we finish gargling coffee and taking on Mountain Dew intravenously for the final crunch period, we’ll arrive at the launch window and a fully-fledged marketing campaign will kick in, but that’s information for another time. We’re all excited to see Jumpgate Evolution grow from an idea into a colossal beast of a game and all of us here can’t wait for you, the player, to get your hands on it. A lot of you have supported us since the days of Jumpgate Classic, sticking by us through all these years. The original idea of Jumpgate was formed way back in 1995 when the game was just a simple ship floating in a gray 3D box. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 14 years since that journey began and now we are poised to release something that is truly special and the work of countless thousands of hours of effort spent over a decade of time. We, the developers, will continue to talk with you, gathering feedback and letting you know how things are progressing. If we seem a bit quiet, it’s because we are working hard to make sure that you are given the experience you have waited for and the best we can create. If you haven’t yet, then sign up to the Beta and join us in helping make Jumpgate Evolution the best game of 2009! Have a great year everyone! Regards, Hermann Peterscheck, Producer of Jumpgate Evolution Manufacturing will play a big part in Jumpgate Evolution. Scattered around the universe are factories, which allow players to craft weapons, ships, modifications and items to enhance and progress your or someone else’s character by manufacturing raw materials and salvage together. These factories offer different items for manufacture depending on which one you visit and they’re located within different threat levels of space. So if you want to create a prestigious item only found at a factory that’s currently inside a combat hot spot, you’ll have to take that risk in order to receive the reward. Reputation and allegiance with sub-factions also plays a large part in manufacturing. In order to manufacture an item you need to align yourself with certain organisations that grant permission to access their catalogue of items. Those can then be made in stations or in sub-faction specific factories. We’re also planning to have a large collection of items and ships which are “manufacture” only. This means players will need to trade and create amongst themselves to get the best possible items – not everything will be available from NPC vendors. That’s all for this time, don’t forget to also check out the official Jumpgate Evolution MySpace and Facebook pages to show your support and visit the Jumpgate Evolution website for all the latest information on the game. See you in space! 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