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MattScott

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Posts posted by MattScott

  1. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    Just for clarity we do have multiple teams in-house and we multiple external teams working on different titles. For instance, Descent is being done by a studio in Austin, TX.


    We picked up Unsung Story in August 2017.

    We picked up Descent in October 2017.

    We picked up APB and Fallen Earth in May 2018.

     

    Descent launches in Q1 2019, so we're basically done and just polishing that title.

     

    I get a couple messages a week recommending titles that are being abandoned by other developers.

    But our plate is very full at the moment, so we are not adding anything new.

     

    Thanks,
    Matt

    • Like 7
    • Thanks 4

  2. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    It's been a while, so it's a good time to update this thread with new stats.

    I mentioned back at the end of September that we were in the process of hiring 3 new CS staff.

    Their training is now over, and I feel like we can finally see the results.

     

    Here is a set of monthly stats from before they were hired:

    1393 New Tickets
    1282 Solved
    4822 Interactions with players on tickets
    Net result: +111 Tickets

    On weeks like this, we actually lost ground, because we ended up with more tickets than we started with.

     

    Here are the monthly stats from 1 month after they were hired:

    1224 New Tickets

    1536 Solved
    4038 Interactions with players on tickets
    Net result: -312 Tickets

    In this case, we gained ground by end up with 312 less tickets than we started with.

     

    Right now we have 2358 total tickets open (unsolved).

    1944 of those tickets have not been touched (contacted).

    208 of those tickets are waiting on responses from players.

     

    We have more changes coming to our Support site, that will help players properly categorize their issues to help get those tickets into the proper queue and addressed faster.

     

    Many players ask what our most common tickets are, so here is a breakdown:

    • Issues getting into their account 31%
    • Scammers / Reports on other players 25%
    • Issues with gameplay 20%
    • Issues with purchases 14%
    • Tech support 10%

    Thanks,
    Matt

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 3

  4. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    I've gotten several requests to talk about our progress on the integration of Unreal 3.5 and our goal to merge the PC and Console codebases. I'll do my best to breakdown for you where we are currently and where we are heading on our path to upgrade and sync the game’s core foundation.

     

     

    First, a little context:

     

    THE PC VERSION: Currently, APB is running on a heavily modified version of the Unreal 3.0 codebase. APB is made up of many custom systems including the personalization tools, symbol editor, music editor, and various modes of play. Due to supporting 3.0, this older version of Unreal only supports exporting these assets in a very limited number of formats.

     

    THE CONSOLE VERSIONS: Currently, this version of APB is running on Unreal 3.5. This codebase was originally created for Xbox360 and PS3. (Epic has since funded external development to port their engine to XboxOne and PS4.) Due to this and development constraints, APB on Console is a bit more limited in scope. It was released without the music editor and minimal usability in the symbol systems. This has resulted in rendering bugs, slow frame rates and inconsistent textures.

     

    The important thing to understand is that there is a significant difference between PC and Console versions. We are working to merge the two but still have some work in front of us to actually sync the codebases and align progression paths.

     

     

    Second, let's talk about where we are on PC for Unreal 3.5:

     

    As it has been mentioned before, I don't think this is going to be a massive upgrade visually. Some players may not even notice. However Unreal 3.5 is built for 64-bit systems, and it has a multithreaded renderer, so my hope is that it will take advantage of newer GPUs and computers.

     

    Reloaded had already done a lot of work on this upgrade before the consoles were released, however since the music editor was never included with console, it was also missing from the PC Unreal 3.5 code base. Additionally, there are also ~40 external libraries that needed to be upgraded.

     

    At this point, we have finished rebuilding the music editor and all but one of the external libraries are upgraded. After that we know there are several graphical issues, and some frame rate issues we need to address.

     

    Based on where we are in the process, I have recently started reaching out to specific community members about reforming the SPCT. Our goal here was to choose veteran players that covered a wide range of play styles who could devote time to testing with us and give in depth feedback. They are under NDA, none of them will be able to publicly discuss what they are working on.

     

    [ ON A SIDE NOTE, PLEASE DON'T MESSAGE ME ABOUT JOINING THIS TEAM - I'LL CONTACT YOU IF WE HAVE OPENINGS ]

     

    This early round of testing is to help us get performance stats across several hardware configurations, so we can compare against the current Unreal 3.0 PC build. It is my hope to start this in the month ahead on a locked down OTW server. From there, I really can't give an estimate on when we'll open access to that version of the game to regular players. It really depends on how testing goes. Even if we allow players onto OTW to help finish testing on Unreal 3.5 for PC in early January, I doubt this will be ready to launch publicly before the start of Spring 2019.

     

     

    Lastly, let's talk about where we are on console:

     

    You can read more about the XboxOne and PS4 project back in my July update.

    https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/7/30/end-of-july-update

     

    In order to update each console, we have to do the following:

    1) Upgrade the projects to the latest Visual Studio compiler

    2) Upgrade the manufacturer's SDK and integration

    3) Upgrade all the external libraries

    4) Testing end-to-end by our QA and then fixing the defects

    5) Certification testing by Microsoft and Sony and if they kick back the build, we go through a round of fixing and testing again

     

    Last time I gave an update, we had already upgraded Visual Studio, and we had also finished the PS4 SDK. We were working on updating the XboxOne SDK, and we had about 32 external libraries to finish upgrading. As of today, we have finished upgrade the SDK, and we are down to ~11 external libraries remaining to upgrade for each console. Some of these are small and some are rather large.

     

    Unlike upgrading an external library for PC (which is mostly done), the process is a bit different for console:

    • Add and configure new platforms and configs for PS4 and XB1
    • Get the code to compile for PS4 and XB1
    • Modify project files for maintainability to simplify upgrading in the future
    • Hook up the game to use the new library
    • Fix any compile or link errors

     

    It's difficult to estimate how much longer we have. There are several developers working on the external libraries now.  Based on how our progress has been so far, my best guess is one more month, but it could take as long as two. That means we will potentially start testing early next year. If that happens, then we might be able to submit for certification in the February 2019 window with an update shortly thereafter.

     

    It's important to note that we just want to get the same build submitted and passed. There may be a couple small optimizations, but the plan is to pull in new content and fixes on our 2nd first party submission.

     

    That means we're currently looking at a March or April target for 2019. Given where we started, I am pleased with the progress. As we get closer, I will keep you up to date. Thanks for joining us on this exciting journey.

     

    Thanks,

    Matt

    • Like 36
    • Thanks 21

  7. Posted

    Hi all,

     

    I want to try and at least acknowledge the OP's post.

     

    Honestly, it's hard to think about raytracing or DLSS with the game in its current state.

    We've got to finish UE3.5 to consolidate the code.

    We have RIOT coming out next year as a big content upgrade.

    We have UE4 after that...

     

    My personal opinion is that players want the game to be fast, responsive, and accurate.

    It seems like they will sacrifice the graphics to ugly minimal settings in order to get that.

    So I doubt there is a lot of bang for the buck developing out either of these two rendering systems.

     

    Having said that, I think if APB was a PVE game, or had a mode that was less competitive, then it might be worth investing in either system.

    Just my 2 cents.

     

    Thanks,

    Matt

    • Like 4
    • Thanks 3

  8. Posted

    Hi all,

     

    I appreciate all the feedback - even the ones that hate this event.

    Clearly what worked well with a small internal testing group, didn't hold up at scale.

    We are looking at everything, and hopefully we'll have a chance to tweak things to make these matches work a little better.

     

    Thanks,

    Matt

    • Like 4
    • Thanks 5

  11. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    You can get the complete details about Autumn Assault here:

    https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/11/16/new-apb-event-autumn-assault

     

    The weapon skin change was a bit last minute, but ultimately we didn't want to ruin the exclusivity of that skin for the people that got it before.

    I appreciate the perspectives of those players who raised this issue on the forums.

     

    Clearly this is heavily inspired by the Butcher skin, but a bit more thematic to the event.

    autumn-assault-skin.jpg

     

    Thanks,
    Matt

    • Like 5
    • Thanks 1

  13. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    I'm happy to weigh in on the OP's original question.

     

    Yes - we do ban players for harassment.

    Yes - we do read the reports that are submitted to Support.

     

    Obviously, we're still working on our Support turn around time. It is still unacceptably high. That staff keeps growing, and we continue to train and find new ways to optimize our ability to properly research and respond to tickets. However, once we have researched the activity/chat logs for the reported player, we do reach out with warnings or other actions.

     

    Usually we go through a process of warnings that explain what they did wrong.

    If they continue, then we give a 1 day temp ban.

    Then we give a 7 day temp ban.

    And if they still can't seem to correct the behavior, we do a permanent ban.

     

    After slogging it out for 5 months and getting hundreds of these reports, we have also developed new tools from scratch that will allow us to respond faster to these kinds of issues. This includes a new customization review tool that allows our team to look at symbols and clothing across an account without having to manually get into the game. We are also waiting for some final dev resources to free up, so we can finish off the new /report system.

     

    TL;DR - If you are using racial slurs, hate speech, telling people they need to commit suicide or generally being a toxic, abusive, harassing player, then you are putting your account at risk.

     

    Thanks,
    Matt

    • Like 8
    • Thanks 2

  15. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    We have paid attention to the reaction to how the Dailies worked with Epidemic, and we won't (hopefully) be making those mistakes in the future.

    Unfortunately we cannot extend the event due to other things we have planned.
    We did end up giving away an extra weapon skin to anyone who logged in.

    I am sorry to anyone who wasn't able to fully level their Epidemic rank.

     

    Thanks,
    Matt

    • Like 7
    • Thanks 3

  17. Posted

    Hey there,

     

    On 11/10/2018 at 12:27 AM, Zolerox said:

    I'm working on a "Steam Version" of this guide

     

    The main parts are copy posted but I've added my own stuff includeing Screenshots of every activity, weapon skin and reward  (work in progress)

    Even threw together a quick icon

    zLFiSXS.png

     

    EPIDEMIC - WALK THROUGH (Steam Version)

    I just had a chance to check this out our Steam page - great job! I appreciate the help.

     

    Thanks,

    Matt

    • Like 2

  24. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    Let’s calm down. It’s 2:30am in Paris, and I have a morning flight back to the US - yet here I am getting up to speed. 

     

    The player has privately messaged me, and I am discussing the situation. 

     

    I want everyone to know there is a lot of missing information in this post.

     

    Thanks,

    Matt

     

    Edit: Looks like someone else involved messaged me - not the player. I hadnt read it yet, I was just waking up. My intention wasnt to misrepresent information. I am contacting them now.

    • Like 6
    • Thanks 4
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