The Jumpgate Evolution team has posted new screenshots in their gallery.

Also, check out our interview with Community Manager Nicole Hamlett if you missed it.

In honor of Halloween, the Jumpgate Evolution team is hosting a pumpkin carving contest. The theme is Jumpgate space helmet designs and the pumpkins can be modified with accessories. You have until Nov. 12, so start thinking about your pumpkin project. And yes, there are prizes:

The winner will receive a £25 / $40 / €30 gift voucher for Amazon, a Codemasters-NetDevil goodie bag containing some games, some shiny loot as well as some other swish stuff including a much sought after Beta key, a custom forum avatar and user title.

Full information and rules can be found here. Also, while you're at it, don't forget about Blizzard 's own pumpkin carving contest. The deadline for that is Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Recently we were given the opportunity to sit down with Nicole "Awen" Hamlett, Community Manager for Jumpgate Evolution to talk about the games past, present and future. During the Interview we touched on PvP, the differences between the three playable nations as well as the ins & outs of character progression.

Allakhazam: Hello Nicole! Thank you for sitting down with us to talk about Jumpgate Evolution. The game looks absolutely amazing!

Nicole Hamlett: Thank you! The team is working very hard to ensure that not only does it look gorgeous, but that it also functions well. I'm glad that you like what you see so far. I definitely can't wait for all of you to get into the game and see more.

Allakhazam: Jumpgate has long been an innovator for space-themed MMOs. Can you give us some background information about the franchise?

A new interview with Michael Rowland, Codemasters Online's producer on Jumpgate Evolution, has been posted in the Developer Blog section of the official Jumpgate Evolution Web site. He said that the team has just completed the Alpha milestone in the MMO and that the group is working to ensure that the servers are ready to go for Beta. While he could not confirm when the Beta test will begin, he did hint that some may see the Beta this year.

The majority of the interview focuses on Rowland's position, but he did emphasize that he is excited for the dog-fighting battles and PvP.

It’s that Wing Commander/Freelancer game people have been secretly wishing for with the persistent online world the early games were missing. I already have my joystick set-up to take on the early testers in our closed beta and prepping myself for some awesome dog-fighting and PvP.

The full interview can be found below or here.

The Jumpgate Evolution team is hosting a wallpaper creation contest in which talented fans will be able to showcase their artistic skills. You can use images from the screenshot gallery, a computer program, or even an old-fashioned pencil and piece of paper to make your wallpaper, as long as it's related to Jumpgate Evolution.

The competition begins today and ends Oct. 13, which is when the winner will be announced. For the full rules, check here or keep reading after the jump.

Jumpgate Evolution (JGE) is a space science fiction MMO being developed by Netdevil and published by Codemasters. At the recent Leipzig Game Convention I got a chance to see the game with Producer Michael Rowland and Marketing Manager Grace Wong, and it was truly amazing!

My first confusion was cleared up when they mentioned that this is not an expansion of the original Jumpgate MMO and while it's set in the same world but further down the timeline, it really is its own game. The story has taken more of a streamlined interest to players who'll be populating the world as pilots, and for those familiar with games such as Elite and Privateer, you won't be sorry you checked this title out.

With action/twitch based real time combat, the universe is yours for the exploring, killing, scouting, and many other path options that are available via the license program. You see, every character will be a pilot, but in order to differentiate yourself from your fellow players you'll be able to specialize in certain areas.

Basic item use is granted with little to no experience in the licensed area but using more powerful items and equipment is given only to those who've progressed through their area of expertise and proven themselves worthy of handling the responsibility. To further these pursuits players will be given licenses in their specialized area(s), though how many areas one can specialize in has not been talked about yet.

26th June (2pm GMT) – Codemasters Online & NetDevil are pleased to announce that BETA signups for their hotly anticipated MMO Jumpgate Evolution are now live alongside the brand new global community portal at www.jumpgateevolution.com

Launched this week, the global community portal is the premier destination for all news and information on Jumpgate including access to the hotly anticipated BETA which will be going live in the coming months.

‘We are excited to launch our new global community destination for fans of Jumpgate Evolution,” commented Edward Relf, Director, Marketing, Codemasters Online. “Since its announcement earlier this year, we have been overwhelmed by the support for the game and are pleased to be working with NetDevil to bring something truly unique to the MMO market. We are expecting unprecedented levels of demand for BETA and urge anyone interested in playing the game to sign up as quickly as possible at the new website www.jumpgateevolution.com.”

How do you choose which features to include in your MMO experience, given the complexity of certain examples of the genre?

I think the way to think about it is, an hour of development time per hour of user enjoyment. What you want to do is provide the most amount of fun for the least work, especially because every time you add something you risk breaking what's there.

Figuring out whether battle stations are worth it, for example; you ask people, and if they say 'yes' you try and include them. Customisation? 'Yep, that's cool'. What about... homing missiles? 'No, we don't really care about that.' So its really about asking people. Then you test, and see if people play it. But really its all about trial and error.

It's always fun to read producer's thoughts about games, especially with NetDevil's previous game experience, and their outlook on giving players what they want!  This interview is a fun read, and while it doesn't give away any special Jumpgate Evolution secrets, it's enough to make you want to play right now!