Jump To Lightspeed Archive

So i was on the bus home from work today and i was thinking: I really and truly enjoy JtL, but there are so few people in such a large area of space that you hardly see anyone else.

My proposal: Jump to Lightspeed is released as a standalone game, specifically aimed at fans of the Xwing and TIE series, and of course new fans, who simply fancy a quick "jump in, do stuff for a while, leave" game. Space-based arcade action at it's finest.
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Well, let's start with the basics:


o Who would buy this?
As mentioned above, both new players AND fans of the older Star Wars flight games, such as Xwing vs TIE


o Why would they buy this?
Because JtL is a *fun* game. Let's face it, the groundwork is there to make it even more interesting on several levels. You have combat, commerce, AND a community already built-in! All you need is more people.


o What would they be buying?
Well, first of all, i'd like to point out one thing: NO SPECIAL STUFF FOR BUYING IT! (ie, not BARC speeder style). What people buy would either be, a) Already in the game, and/or b) Standalone JtL would double as a FREE expansion for SWG. Think of it as an update, that happens to get released.
As to "What would they be buying?" - it would simply be SWG without the ground-game! Only with a few alterations which i will discuss below.


o When would this be available?
Pretty much a few weeks after SOE hire me as a developer.


o Where would this be played?
What i mean buy this thought is; What Platform? And the answer is beautifully simple: AS MANY AS POSSIBLE! Think of it - PC games are disgustingly easy to port onto different formats (ie, consoles), but going the other way usually makes the game sucky and boring. In keeping JtL a "twitch-based" game, you lose nothing of the very idea behind JtL by porting it onto either (or, preferably, BOTH) the new PS3 or the xbox 360. Both of these consoles are going to be internet ready, and the Star Wars franchise ALWAYS has room for another title. If this were to be done, i'd definately say this: DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN ANY FORMAT! Ie, dont change the textures, the missions, the players, or anything! Can you imagine how awesome it'd be to go to a friend's house, log in your own character and start playing on their machine, even tho you have a PS3 and they have a new xbox 360? Or PC?? Why concentrate on one market, when you can dominate all the main ones?


o How would this be done?
When atmospheric flight was asked for, the swg community was told that the JtL expansion uses a different engine, one able to handle fast moving objects blah blah blah. The ground-game was not up to things moving too fast and suchlike.

THEREFORE IT IS A COMPLETELY SEPARATE ENTITY.

Therefore we can package and edit it with impunity, to the benefit of literally everyone. Now, as far as editing goes, im not actually meaning too much by it. In fact, looking at it, the ONLY thing that i can see that would need to be changed in order for this to work:

1: We'd need major space stations in all the major shipping ways. Ie, above Corellia and suchlike. No point in having anything fancy (that can come later, when they add all sorts of nice stuff) - simply use parts of the SWG into that's on the station. Add parts here, remove parts there, etc. All very simple and achievable.
2: Include a Bazaar and banking terminal on the major space stations. (NOTE: These terminals are accessible by everyone playing JtL - no matter the format! This will allow for some ideas i have) (NOTE 2: The bazaar terms will work in the same way as the ground game's; you can browse and buy from other planet's bazaars but not retrieve - in space, you are limited to browsing ONLY the bazaars in space). Also need some ship-management terminals, but that's easy enough.
3: Have shops and vendors that are PLAYER controlled -- but here's the good bit; if you want to OWN a vendor, you must purchase the Ground Game (ie, TTE). Non GG owners can simply buy and sell on vendors as per normal rules.
4: Make freighters a player-useable ship. For freight runs. Or smuggling.
5: Make the NPCs on the space stations all offer different prices for the looted goods, depending on how common they are, not just their "level"!
6: Netcoding for PS3 & Xbox360 would most likely need to be butchered but as long as the final outcome is "Billy on his PS3 can see Bobby on his xbox360 flying away from him, as Todd on his PC jumps into the sector, all weapons blazing". Did that make sense?

There's probably a little more to it that i cant think of right now. So i'll continue. As for packaging and selling for release, i'd make it so that all three formats are released simultaneously. SOE and Sony themselves are big enough companies that they do NOT have to have "special agreements" that hold back the release dates of a competitor's version. The end-user is the only one who loses out on this. Big companies that bully game-makers into this sort of tripe get no respect for it, either. A company truly interested in making money AND satisfying it's fans would release everything at the same time! (Grrr, etc. /rant)

Simplicity itself. And let's face it, with the amount of money that SOE and LucasArts makes, you'd probably be able to get away with this:
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"Jump to Lightspeed - a standalone game that also allows you to interact with thousands of players across different galaxies, all over the world. Buy and sell resources and looted ship components, change your hairstyle in a player-run salon or buy a Jawa Beer from the station's bar - run by a Master Chef! Buy special upgrades and equipment from Shipwrights across the galaxy and trick out your ship with one of many designs and colourschemes!
Play as one of many races and talk to your recruiter;
Enlist for dangerous patrols and deep-space attacks with the might of the Imperial Navy
Become a Privateer and work for the RSF of Naboo, the Hutts, or the Aligned Trading Guilds
Sign up for the life of a Rebellion fighter pilot, desperately fighting for your freedom in the depths of space!

Gain experience as you play; learn new skills and progress up the ranks until you're a Master Pilot and gain access to iconic ships such as Slave-1! Over 50 missions to choose from! Work for a living as a trader, or space miner, or perhaps a mercenary waiting for a freighter pilot who needs someone to fly shotgun for them on a dangerous mission!

Jump to Lightspeed: $25
Monthly Fee (for online play only, broadband internet required): $6/month
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In case you're wondering, the reason i priced this at such a low figure was for the reason that the game itself isn't a "full" game - it's basically a playable demo of the full game. The $6 a month isn't very much, but would easily pay for upkeep of the servers, etc etc. It'd be enough to keep SOE and lucasarts happy, i think!

And, let's face it - SW & Sci-Fi are *BIG* markets. And right now, just how many DECENT space-based games are out there that offer Combat, Commerce AND Community? (The Triple-C phenomenon...) There's ONE that i can think of, and it's EVE online. Only playable on the PC (at the moment!) -- no one in the market would be able to come close to this level of immersion AND playability in a multi-format game. And, quite probably, nothing else would for a LONG time. Other games will appear on the market to copy the success of this, but they'd need to start from the beginning - with what im suggestion, the groundwork, artwork and 90% of everything else is already in the game. It's great!
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:ROs::

o SOE make an absolute fortune with initial sales of a multi-market game
o Monthly subscription keeps massive profits soaring in
o Makes SOE look "good" in Gamers' eyes by releasing something for *everyone*
o By making JtL Standalone an interactive element to SWG: GG, SOE makes the current playerbase advertise SWG for them (see Pros Notes #1)
o Increased activity in space, more immersive for everyone
o Boost the flagging in-game economy
o Everyone wants Space Stations anyway - here's the excuse they need for it!
o SOE hire me as a Dev. for my awesome ideas, i quit my boring day-job!
o Many people want "just a quick game" - this gives them that opportunity without having to do too much for it, or buy a full game that they will only play a small portion of
o Minimal effort required on SOE's part; some coding and marketing.
o Players that no longer want the GG but still like SWG have another option besides quitting, allowing SOE to rake in higher profits
o Unlike many other multi-format games, a console's controller will not hinder JtL.

****Pros Notes #1
When the Standalone JtL players see all the different weapons, armours, clothing, hairstyles, professions (and, for the marketing dept: JEDI), im willing to bet many people would simply buy SWG in full (even more money for SOE! And *no* effort required!)



::CONs::

o SOE would need to vastly improve capacity and stability of the JtL servers
o Careful balancing required of the economy part; potential to wreck in-place economy
o Internet side of the programming would require some extremely fine tuning due to the 3 different formats
o Many new players with stupid names (this is more a personal grudge, than a "con")
o Standalone JtL players may feel jealous of their full-game-playing friends, but their option is simply to buy SWG!


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Playing the Game:

What i envision is something like the GG's start, only you're given a voucher for a ship chassis, through the generosity of the Empire (dont worry - it'd only be a Z-95). You get a very, VERY basic loadout to start with and you have to work your way up from there.

EVERYONE would start off as a "self-employed gun for hire" type idea. You'd do very easy, very standard missions from an npc or two until you reach a certain level (ie, ready for your first skillbox) or XP amount.

Once that happens, your mission-NPC tells you that there's one or two or three people interested in your skills, and perhaps you'd like to work your way over to the cantina for a drink and a chat. The NPC would tell you to go talk to the cantina's barman.

Once you talk to the barman (after some fun dialogue in the true tradition of SWG! hehe), he tells you that there are three people interested in hiring you;

Colonel K'Dioj (an Empirial Navy Recruiter) [near the door, with 2 stormtrooper guards]
Captain Chuon Edes (a retired RSF pilot) [standing/sitting by the bar]
Farran Star (a rebel pilot) [sitting by a window in a corner]

...at which point you then choose your career path. As a "joining our club" gift type thing, each one would offer you a choice of 3 ship components (these would be the equivalent of a "decent" tier 1 component), better weapons, shields or engine. You can only choose one - but by accepting the gift, you sign up to their cause and can only resign if you are willing to loose all your skills that you have gained (your original Tier 0 ship, the Z-95, would be a Deed in the same way as the Luxury Yacht is, meaning you never lose it).

After a few missions from your initial recruiter, you'd get sent all over the galaxy to different people and places, recieving missions from all sorts of different NPCs and suchlike. I'd like to see a small storyline in-built here, perhaps along the same lines as the "new player tusken zealot quest" that's in the GG right now, just to keep the JtL Standalone players interested at the start, perhaps giving them a badge or something.

With addition to this, i want the ability for GG players to be able to hire out "lots" in the larger space stations, to set up how they please (perhaps as mini-instanced areas?) and use as shops. When a new player sees the finery that his peers are wearing, they'll want to buy new clothes! And if they're not happy with their haircut... or eyecolour...or they simply want to buy some nice new shields from that Shipwright down the corridor, who's to stop them?

After that, it's all down to the Triple-C phenomenon to keep players interested. Pretty soon they'll decide to go off exploring on their own, and that's really what SWG is all about - the thrill of being completely free to explore, but having the added incentive of knowing that your efforts will be rewarded with better ships, components and suchlike.

Just a little idea i had.
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þ :NOTES:
þ In case you hadn't caught it, "GG" stands for "Ground Game".
þ The standalone gamers' actions may NOT effect the GCW.
þ The standalone gamers MAY take part in voluntary PvP.
þ A mission that someone takes will have the same level of difficulty and spawn rates and everything else NO MATTER THE FORMAT.
þ Interaction between Standalone JtL and SWG GG users is definately encouraged, through as much interaction as possible (Combat, Commerce, Community).
þ ALL ships are available to ALL players, regardless of format. None of this "you must buy SWG: TTE to fly the Tie Interceptor" rubbish! That would be foolish on SOE's part.
þ Not sure about this: Perhaps let JtL Standalone players have the option to play as a social character on the stations if they dont feel like space: Medic, doctor, entertainer, shipwright, etc. Maybe.
þ The "free gift" from the recruiters would not allow faster than light travel - getting that requires a looted or crafted engine. I'd suggest making it so that the Z-95 can NOT handle inter-system travel, meaning that new players are insulated from the big bad galaxy until they're (mostly) ready for it!
þ If the servers can take it, have a "hotel corridor" idea in an area of the space station - inside is an instanced zone that you can set up as you like - it'd be "your" house. Somewhere to keep items you've bought off the bazaar, or just a place to kip. No one likes logging out in public.
þ Things like new components and chassis can ONLY be bought from either shipwright vendors in the business/trade area of the space station, OR from the bazaar, which is resupplied only by other players.
þ As a throwaway thought, im so confident that dock-able ships will be implemented that i didn't even bother adding it into my above post for consideration.

Sounds alot like EVE Online with a Star Wars covering.

What happens toJTL as it exists today, andthe thousands of players that purchased it?