APB: Finally, I Can Be A PUNK!

[taolurker]

Well, congrats to you, Evil Red John!  Everyone is having news lately.  New jobs and new babies for everyone!  (not me!)

That's not a new job, I just didn't redname him until it was relevant.

Shouldn't there be some kind of bribery involved, where you're able to get a series of beta invites for the forum in exchange for a red name, or something?

Well I know why it did for me. Because I just checked my beta application and somehow had to reregister and fill it all out again. :(

I definitely remember signing up for beta once previously, but just did again anyway (mostly because of my sys specs changing).

[Signe]

Oops.  I suppose it's my fault it's in the wrong place.  But it was almost three years ago.  I was young and rebellious!  (and didn't notice)

[LC]

Oops.  I suppose it's my fault it's in the wrong place.  But it was almost three years ago.  I was young and rebellious!  (and didn't notice)

I don't think we knew about the 100 man servers back then.

[tmp]

Aren't what you call APB "servers" more like instances anyway? from their faq:

"Each game world or server has a limit of 10,000 players concurrently online. These players will be playing on district maps which each hold up to 100 players for action districts or 250 players for social districts. Each world has 100’s of these district maps so although a single action district has a 100 player limit, there is no limit to the number of other players you will encounter. "

It'd be kinda like demand Guild Wars not to be discussed in MMO forum, they run on similar model.

[LC]

Aren't what you call APB "servers" more like instances anyway? from their faq:

"Each game world or server has a limit of 10,000 players concurrently online. These players will be playing on district maps which each hold up to 100 players for action districts or 250 players for social districts. Each world has 100’s of these district maps so although a single action district has a 100 player limit, there is no limit to the number of other players you will encounter. "

It'd be kinda like demand Guild Wars not to be discussed in MMO forum, they run on similar model.

I don't believe GW belongs on a MMO forum either.

[Ingmar]

You'd need to exclude ST:O and even City of Heroes then as well.

[LC]

You'd need to exclude ST:O and even City of Heroes then as well.

Thats fine too.

[tmp]

9 mins of gameplay video featuring worst criminal and driver, evar.

bonus: hot pink cop car at 1:45

[HaemishM]

You'd need to exclude ST:O and even City of Heroes then as well.

Thats fine too.

Please stop talking now.

[TripleDES]

Damn you, EJ. You've been here since 2007 and didn't "help" us get into beta 

Anyway, I've finally managed to get it. Not sure what to make of it currently, considering these strange testing schedules. Summer is being thrown around as release date. You'd think the servers would be up permanently by now, especially since there's still supposed to be an open beta, too.

[EvilJohn]

I prefer lurking to posting in most cases. (is that like saying 'I like to watch'?)

I was given some PM advice recently that I believe is pretty dead on... I intend to limit my involvement so you don't get an influx of annoying posters looking to get answers that they can't get elsewhere.... that said, I will do my best to alleviate major confusion with replies where I can.

Also, perhaps to set expectation - don't look for me to write posts trying to sell or pimp the game here - we have a community team and website(s) for that.

Mainly, I am interested in viewing reactions and reading feedback in hopes of making the game better.

Oh, and the debate on the MMO classification - we don't call it an MMO internally or externally ourselves... but it's not my place to tell you what to call it.

And I blame Signe, does she still eat brains?

[Furiously]

Yes.

[Signe]

It's complicated.

[LK]

 

[Furiously]

It's complicated.

Sky, Signe and myself would be happy to explain our positions on her zombieness for.... hmmm what would be a good trade....

[WayAbvPar]

I intend to limit my involvement so you don't get an influx of annoying posters looking to get answers that they can't get elsewhere

I was MIA for most of the WAR tardicide- can you bring SOME in for me to abuse?

[NiX]

That was fairly entertaining, thought he stress brought to Schild and Trippy wasn't.

[Nonentity]

And I blame Signe, does she still eat brains?

Her smiley is still here.

[Hoax]

That was a good video but it really reminded me how much I hate watching video of people who aren't good at the game they are playing.  Companies need to make a point of using their best testers for the gameplay demos.

[Pennilenko]

Companies need to make a point of using their best testers for the gameplay demos.

I totally agree that video felt awkward.

[01101010]

Companies need to make a point of using their best testers for the gameplay demos.

I totally agree that video felt awkward.

No kidding. Take a lackey to try out the drugs before you buy mass quantities - same principle. That video would have been so much better with a ghost cam.

[Ghambit]

 

[LK]

This is PC-only? I could dig this on XBox. But patching would be a bitch I imagine...

[NiX]

PC only. I think there were rumors of a 360 version floating around awhile back.

[TripleDES]

That was a good video but it really reminded me how much I hate watching video of people who aren't good at the game they are playing.

Dieing a lot or not killing a lot doesn't currently mean that you're bad at the game.

[Draegan]

Well this game looks much better than I thought it would.

[Sky]

That video pretty much took away any urge I had to play this game. The driving looked atrocious, physics clunky, and polish to be added.

Not helping my bias against group-only games, either. But beyond that, it just didn't look fun. Potential, but if you can't get the driving right, why bother moving forward with development?

[NiX]

So, because the driver was bad, you're writing off the driving?

Fool proof logic!

[Pennilenko]

I caught an NDA break that gave tantalizing details, but out of respect for schilds stance on NDA breaking I will not divulge details.

[Sky]

So, because the driver was bad, you're writing off the driving?

The physics seemed really loose, I'll grant it might be a shitty car. Seems like a starter car, maybe. But there was a lot of fishtailing and oversteering that didn't seem entirely the driver's fault. And the slow backing after hitting a wall, the angle of deflection could be a bit better. I've been playing Burnout Paradise lately, and the collisions seemed pretty poor, like hitting a parked vehicle brings you to a stop and barely knocks the parked vehicle back.

Just seemed underwhelming, when it should be a major component. The music stuff is cool, but I'd put in resources to make the driving game better rather than waste them on a side "cool" feature. Said as a musician who'd really like to play with the music editor (if there are less electronica-y themes to be made).

[Lantyssa]

It's multi-player cops and robbers with a GTA flair.  Were it a racing simulator I could understand, but that seems nit-picky for what its aim is.

[TripleDES]

The problem is to make collisions work properly in the game world with both NPCs and players, the driving seems to be entirely done on the server, which then steers your car on the client. Lag makes it horrible to drive. With low lag, they're somewhat manageable, altho they're not as nimble as GTA3/VC/SA (which struck the right balance). Things probably weren't lagfree during the recording.

[tmp]

The music stuff is cool, but I'd put in resources to make the driving game better rather than waste them on a side "cool" feature.

Tbh i don't know; while yes, getting the basics down is kind of a no-brainer, the idea of having your own music theme play for the guys you kill...

[Azazel]

You'd need to exclude ST:O and even City of Heroes then as well.

Thats fine too.

Let us know when you start your own forum.

fakeedit - what Haemish said.

[Ghambit]

Much of the handling of vehicles is determinant on the type of car as well as the upgrades available (dont forget there's a whole "tuner" metagame going on).  This means driving is wildly varied and a balancing act for the devs to deal with; make things too easy and there's not enough variation between equipment...  make em too hard and it becomes woefully unrealistic.  It's more like Wheelman than anything else.

In other news:  Realtime would be foolish not to do a Cyberpunk (not S-Run) xpac. for this game.  It's a ridiculously obvious content direction to go and wouldnt be hard to implement given the foundation they've got in place.  I just KNOW they're thinking about it.  EJ??  What say you?