APB: Finally, I Can Be A PUNK!

[Signe]

All Points Bulletin (APB) is an original MMOG for PC and 360 being developed in partnership with Webzen of Korea. APB is a city based community game where players choose between playing the criminals or those out to catch the criminals; carry out or thwart opposed crimes and build up areas of the city you control, all with unprecedented levels of character and vehicle customisation.

Go on, hit me.  I dare you!

[NiX]

Did they use the name knowing it's an old ass arcade game?

[Azazel]

That man needs more hats. And about 30% more pants.

[Kageru]

That's just what the xbox needs, another "sim-thug" game.

[Signe]

What does his arm say?

[Venkman]

Wasn't this originally from the GTA folks, or someone who inspired GTA? Why does this sound so familiar? Why, I ask you!

[Azazel]

What does his arm say?

TRIBE

[Signe]

What does his arm say?

TRIBE

Thanks!

And, yes, GTA folks.

[Wolf]

Wasn't this originally from the GTA folks, or someone who inspired GTA? Why does this sound so familiar? Why, I ask you!

It was announced a couple of years ago at E3 and is made by Real Time Worlds - the guys that made Crackdown for the 360. I think that's the new studio of the creator of GTA.

[Azazel]

I thought it looked quite Crackdown actually.

When did the GTA-guy set up this studio?

[Sky]

I dunno, the thought of shooting online thuglife douchebags in the face has a definite appeal.

[Ironwood]

Oh For Fuck's Sake.

[Wolf]

ok I have an important question - Can you go Downtown for money?

[Signe]

ok I have an important question - Can you go Downtown for money?

If you don't mind the risk of cancer, you big girl you.

[Azazel]

There's always the other option....

[Nonentity]

Man, if this game is anything like a Crackdown MMO (Minus the superhero stuff), you can totally sign me up.

Realtime Worlds has proven to me they have a solid foundation for a sandbox, which I believe could translate nicely to an MMO field.

[Big Gulp]

But the question is, can I be a dirty cop who forces underage girls to make out while he masturbates?  Or can I be a cop on the edge who makes his own rules, regardless of what the chief says?  Can I team up with a buddy of mine and play the unstable, ex-sneaky forces guy who puts his own gun in his mouth between bouts of taking out the human trash?  Can my buddy play a cop who's getting too old for this shit, and just wants to retire to his house boat?

These questions need to be answered.

[Ironwood]

But the question is, can I be a dirty cop who forces underage girls to make out while he masturbates? 

Er, in what other media did this happen ?  Enquiring minds need to know.

[Big Gulp]

Er, in what other media did this happen ?  Enquiring minds need to know.

Bad Lieutenant.  Harvey Keitel is suitably creepy.

[Yegolev]

Perhaps it will be more like the Lemmings games in some way.

[Azazel]

Er, in what other media did this happen ?  Enquiring minds need to know.

Bad Lieutenant.  Harvey Keitel is suitably creepy.

I recommend viewing. Once at least.

[Velorath]

IGN just put up a fairly extensive article up about APB.  David Jones is a talented guy, so I'm curious to see how this turns out.

Interesting bits for the lazy:

On one aspect of the character creation tools:

Then things got impressive. There's a vector graphics and primitive shapes tool similar to what the Forza franchise is famous for. Tattoos can be made and applied -- and they look incredibly real when laid down on the skin. You can also put those same decals on any piece of clothing or any car you own, spray paint them on a wall, trade them with friends or sell them. The entire Forza livery tool is in APB (though we're not sure how many layers you can stack) in an expanded form and it's just a subsection of the game. "One thing you want to do in your clan is draft a good artist," says Jones.

Just how powerful is this character creation tool? Jones went on to show a "clan" he created specifically for GDC. He called them the Geek Squad. It consisted of Peter Molyneux with an "I heart Fable" shirt, Warren Specter, Richard Garriot and Miyamoto with a Mario t-shirt. Also, Miyamoto wasn't wearing any pants and had mushroom boxers. All of them were instantly recognizable and remarkable.

On the soundtrack:

The idea of players creating the world goes a step further with the music. RealTime Worlds is working with Last.FM on an intriguing way to add tunes to the game. The radio in the car will play songs from your hard drive. If a friend gets in and they also have the same MP3, the game will play that song for them. If not, it will search for a song by the same artist. If that still isn't found, it will pull one from your collection that is closest in style.

No levels:

There is no leveling in APB. Jones called grinding a broken gameplay concept and went on to explain why using World of Warcraft as an example of repetitive, thoughtless gaming. "It's called a grind for a reason and we have to find a way around there," says Jones as he pointed to Counterstrike as an example of an online game with infinite replayability and no repetition. The strength comes from human interaction and having a unique experience every time.

The difference between a new player and an experienced one.The hook to APB then is not leveling your character up and increasing stats on a spreadsheet. Personalization drives characters, Jones believes, and so as you get good and progress in the game you look cooler. A starting player will have nothing more than jeans and a t-shirt and stand out as a chump. An experienced player, well let's just say the difference is completely obvious from the start.

Basic gameplay concept:

To begin, you choose to play as either a member of law enforcement or a gang. Everything here is player driven -- you won't be running around taking quests and reading extended text stories from NPCs. To keep things from falling into anarchy, a few basic rules are in place. The enforcement side has law and order built into the rules. The gangs have to act like organized crime where permission to commit a crime must be obtained prior to the act. If you're playing as a gang, your job is to commit crimes and steal things. If you're playing as the enforcement, it's your job to stop them.

We were shown a video to demonstrate how the gameplay works. The gang, having decided upon a target of an armored car began moving into position. Without having committed a crime yet, the enforcement is oblivious. As soon as the gang commits the crime, an APB goes out.

Here is where APB is so clever. The servers automatically match a similarly skilled set of enforcement agents to deliver the APB to in a dynamic form of matchmaking. You'll never have a clue who you'll get matched up with. It's all done automatically based on stats.

After the APB was sent out to a clan of enforcement agents, we watched a chase scene unfold. Cop cars converged on the van. One gang member drove while two others hung out of the sides firing guns at the officers. A cop car tried to block off an alley at one point…another time one took a jump over a barrier to get closer to the criminals. The scene ended with the gang making it to the drop off point at the same time as the cops and a shootout began.

Other stuff:

Since it is all driven by experience and skill, APB won't always match teams up with even numbers. We saw another example of four new criminals (in t-shirts and jeans) trying to steal a television. As soon as they smashed a car through the store window to get at it, an APB went out to a single enforcement agent. The new players feel like they have a chance since they have numbers while the experienced player can show his skills. This mission ended with the cop killing all four criminals with a rocket launcher.

This guy was stealing a TV while a car chase from another crime sped by.The idea is that some players will build up massive reputations in the game. Perhaps one player will be known as a criminal impossible to catch, and his appearance will tell the tale in a heartbeat. The trick, though, is that like Counterstrike each mission is unique. With real people on the other side, you can't ever be sure about the outcome.

[K9]

Will I be able to play a pimp as a pet class?

[Merusk]

Ok, so he mentions the "experienced" cop taking out 4 "noob" thugs.  What's going to happen 2 months into the game when the cop: thug ratio is 1:250 and it's 4 'experienced' thugs against the lone cop who bothered to login that day.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

PvP games with hard coded sides and no equalizing mechanism don't work very well.  This is not a new lesson.

[cmlancas]

That's what I call law enforcement:

This mission ended with the cop killing all four criminals with a rocket launcher.

 

[Sunbury]

I was wondering if the city was hyper-instanced with the APB mechanism, so the criminal / cop matchup happened in a instance, but I guess not from a image tag:

This guy was stealing a TV while a car chase from another crime sped by.

I wonder if the buildings only 'unlock' when a criminal gets a mission like CoV / CoH.  I always wished I could just wander / poke around in CoX buildings without a mission, but could not.

It still sounds like an interesting new design, I hope it goes to beta at least to see how it works out.

Still, playing as a cop, you sit around waiting for an APB?  Doesn't sound like much fun if trying to play at 6am EST on a Sunday morning.  Can cops invade criminal hangouts?  Can they set up roadblocks to block access, etc.

Besides having your character 'look cooler' as they 'get experience' I wonder what the goal is.  Also is there an advantage to 'looking cool'?  You'd think it would be better to lay low and keep the jean and T-shirt look to not draw attention.

[K9]

Besides having your character 'look cooler' as they 'get experience' I wonder what the goal is.  Also is there an advantage to 'looking cool'?  You'd think it would be better to lay low and keep the jean and T-shirt look to not draw attention.

Maybe it'll have an EVE-esque skill based system, with skills that allow you to use weapons better, drive new vehicles etc. Maybe criminals will get skills like 'forgery' and 'confidence'. That would be rather cool actually.

[UnSub]

That's what I call law enforcement:

This mission ended with the cop killing all four criminals with a rocket launcher.

 

McCain's new "Tough on Crime" Bill saw immediate results. 

[Mrbloodworth]

I have been watching this one for a while. Sadly, little is known, or told about it for, well, years now.

EDIT: Ok, well thats new info!

Some things i do know. Thugs get to have "Turfs" and there is Thug on Thug hate for territory. Cops have precincts, no cop on cop hate here, but apparently there is a rating system for each precincts (Funding and gear availability). Cops can go after Thugs hideouts, but they need probable cause ETC... (A kind of build case, make mission system). No levels, no skills, but there are ranks in both Thugs and cop organizations. Thats about all i knew other than it should play like GTA, in one large open world. But this is all really old info, and could have changed.

[Kamen]

Here is where APB is so clever. The servers automatically match a similarly skilled set of enforcement agents to deliver the APB to in a dynamic form of matchmaking. You'll never have a clue who you'll get matched up with. It's all done automatically based on stats.

I'm guessing an overwhelming majority will want to play as punks.  If that is true won't they have to sit around waiting until a evenly matched law enforcement team can be found?

[Ratman_tf]

[tmp]

Since it is all driven by experience and skill, APB won't always match teams up with even numbers. We saw another example of four new criminals (in t-shirts and jeans) trying to steal a television. As soon as they smashed a car through the store window to get at it, an APB went out to a single enforcement agent. The new players feel like they have a chance since they have numbers while the experienced player can show his skills. This mission ended with the cop killing all four criminals with a rocket launcher.

That's Darwin's Awards material. 4 idiots wasting a car to steal a TV? Although the Judge Dredd-like approach to crime solving is equally amusing. 

[WayAbvPar]

That's what I call law enforcement:

This mission ended with the cop killing all four criminals with a rocket launcher.

 

Was it this guy?




If I can be Dirty Harry I will be a lifetime subscriber kthx.

[Moosehands]

I loved that game so much.

[AcidCat]

I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out, I like the concept. Definitely want to play as The Man though!