Ellix
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Posts posted by Ellix
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I just wanna point out that the spot in the first video is still unbalanced af and it's 2020 already
Nostalgia is good and all but I think it's better to take a look into what can be done in the future instead.
There is still A LOT to bring in the game's true potential
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Please buff Tommy Gun
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It definitely CAN run on PS5 and the specs should provide a decent performance
Could also be cool if it will be cross play with PS4 - I think it's even mandatory.
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1 hour ago, TheMessiah said:So what we testing?Only asylum no doubt..financial and waterfront will be ready 2026.Btw i remember 2 years ago in the 1st Q&A with Kempington how he said : "One of the best things is that everything is 90% done" Yea..2 years later only asylum is done which was develop by G1/RP.Guess how close are the big maps to release..
90% Being all the work since 2013-2014
That's 6 years of work.
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In case someone wonders what's this about...
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Perc yourself for removing this effect
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The district starts to look kinda whole with the new props
There is still a lot of work to be done but I can actually finish it.
Next thing will be texturing and then trying to make good UV's for lightmaps
(Last part will be kinda hard for me to do as I'm not experienced but we'll see)
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Hi. I logged in to that server but I don't see the place you vote at.
Maybe it's a case of waiting but I don't see the mentioned servers.
So yeah..
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I was subscribed to him before I even though he plays APB so for me it was a huge surprise that he made a video about this game
I like his content and I think some of his fanbase DID indeed play the game after they watched it.
Also I think PoundOfFlesh appearance in this video created too much drama...
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1 hour ago, MisaAmaneUA said:If you need any assets from apb versions 0.6, 1.1.0, 1.4.3 or 1.9.1 let me know. I can send you all those clients. Also it's possible to export buildings from 'districts' in version 0.6
Thanks for the offer
I have someone who helps me with that right now
But I will definitely contact you if I will need any help!
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Great Q/A!
A lot of questions were answered and the answers were right on point. It looks like this game will have a lot of improvements as some are already planned and a lot seems to come down the road.
Hopefully we will see the game rise from the dead once more sort to speak
Also thanks a lot on talking about Midtown a bit @MattScott
I am very happy with your answer and I will keep working for this project so it may become usable if it's ever going to be needed
Much love
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Amazing display of what is yet to be tested by the whole community.
I looks good and apparently plays good!
I think this update will bring in some of the people that been avoiding APB for now and it only brings joy to my heart that things gonna improve overtime
As it seems there will be an easier process to create new content from now on which is also great!
Well done LO! You didn't disappoint me one bit!
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So this is what Matt thinks about the project right now
https://clips.twitch.tv/LivelyRepleteLeopardUWot
I must say though that I'm still gonna finish it so if they decide that it's needed - this thing will be ready to be baked!
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Just now, TheMessiah said:this car with the spoiler after the police car is the new one?anyway wish you all the best
You can't really call it new.. It's been in the files since 2008..
But yes
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Just now, TheMessiah said:u cant duplicate this things if u need more?have no idea just askin
You can hehe
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Ok so with the help of my friend I was able to export a ton (about 1300 to be exact) props files
This is Prop Yard #2 and it has 4 times of what I had until now
It has almost all of the props and I think it will be enough to fully populate Midtown!
There are even some unused props as well!
And also 2 unreleased types of vehicles from back in RTW days!
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5 hours ago, RaikeN said:The progress of the engine upgrade is amazing!!! Just a general question. Will APB be upgraded to UE4 some day?
Wouldn't it not make more sense to upgrade to UE4 instead of 3.5? Or is it easier to upgrade to 3.5 first and then to a later version?
This is no criticism, just a question. I have no experience with game engines.
A team in Australia had worked on it for little bit. (Then later the project was paused and IP was sold)
It would take much more effort to export the game to Unreal 4 then Unreal 3.5 as the code used is not in the same language and much of functions of the engine are different.
They're not saying it's not gonna be done at some point though.. Just further in the future maybe
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Good news!
With a help of a friend who asked me to stay anonymous I was able to get some of the modles I've been missing and most importantly APB's MATERIALS!
That means that I may be able to texture the whole district as well as design it some more with the props I've been missing!
Stay tuned
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This is gonna be good
Honestly can't wait
Let's all agree though that the work isn't final and there is still stuff to do so take all this as a subject to change
If there will be bugs - it's normal
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11 hours ago, TheMessiah said:when is next stream?post here pls when ur about to do it
The work is mostly done and I'm not quite sure what I should stream though..
Currently I do some bug fixing and small changes.
If I will do something interesting I will stream
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Udpate!
I did some settings magic and now all of the models have collision per face
That means that it can actually be ported and be a bit playable!!
Not sure how hard it will hit the performance though or if it's even related but that's something!
Edit:
Also tried to do the same thing on Unreal 4 and it works!
I have to say that the UE4 version runs very good but you have to consider that there are no textures,all of the props and it's in general a better engine then current APB.However collisions work now perfectly and I'm happy with that
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21 hours ago, Queen of Love said:Bro! the texture work could be imperial
we should need 1M of hours for paint/pose/mapping all the textures
for have 1 prop complete textured from base model this require 3-4h (T-T) with a texture ready to use!
I thought about what you said and actually tried checking out what can be done
In theory you can texture everything in Sketchup and then export it as materials.
You simply color the blocks with a paint bucket,rescale and move the textures to your need which takes 5 minutes to do THIS for example...
Now only if I had original APB materials that would be much easier for me to texture the whole district then building UVs
In this case only thing that will be harder to do is collision.
3 hours ago, N66 said:This is very impressive work, regarding the models / BSP issue, it doesn't have to be done manually, I am certain that surfaces can be extracted and recreated as BSP with automatic UV mapping, it only needs a good programmer to write a tool for it, they also have divide it to sublevels anyway, texture it... so on, it needs work to be seen in game, but most certainly, this is a huge part of it, and an impressive one.
In my opinion, APB needs new districts more than anything, we have tons of guns, tons of ranks, tons of clothing and kits, decent amount of cars, but only 2 mission districts, I think it'd multiply the variety in gameplay, with new uses and strategies for everything that's already in the game.
We really need to push this to LO, give them our feedback, maybe it'll help them decide.
Is this something to be scratched as impossible or can the work be completed and integrated?
From what it looks like from what they building in the new engine they are using static meshes
Which in example with above said can be easily done with some collision work.
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A fan-made project to bring a new district to APB:Reloaded
____________________________________________________________________________________Intro
Hello there my name is Nick also known as Ellix. For the past few years I've been working on something that I am really passionate about and would like to share with you today.
This is Project Midtown - A project that I started to work at back in 2015. The idea behind this work is to make a new district for APB:R which will go together with other mission districts. It will bring a brand new area of gameplay for the players and will be a host for 2 new organizations - 1 criminal and 1 enforcer.
Trough the years of development I've posted few threads both on the old APB forum and a new one about this project. In my last thread I asked you guys if I should continue working on this project and what you think in general. I really loved the response which was done with both praise and criticism so I decided that one day I will keep on working on this project and so I did.
Today I stand at a point where I can finally say that the project stands at a good spot to share again! So today it will be shared with with you what's been done so far, what I think will be the future but most of all I would like to hear the response of the community and the developers to see if my work can be actually used in APB:Reloaded or should be something fun that I've made and left aside for good.
I must say that I'm very excited to share this project with old followers and maybe even new ones but please TAKE ALL THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.This is not a professional project, it's not done by the developers of the game and very likely to never be used.
But in any case I'm very excited about my work and would like to hear the community's opinions about it.
So let's begin.
About the work
Project Midtown was something I started back in 2015 when I was still in high school. It started like something fun that was done in my spare time and I had no idea at all if it will one day turn into something.
One thing was sure though - I loved this game and always knew that it has much potential. I also loved the APB lore so when I first heard about an unreleased district for APB it was very exciting!
For those who don't know Midtown District is something that was planned and worked on in the early RTW days (RTW aka the original devs of APB).It was never used but some of the assets that were made for that map were later used in Financial district. However it doesn't mean that the district doesn't exist. You have evidence in ingame e-mails and props inside the game that Midtown is real in San Paro!
However work on Midtown was never complete. It was nothing less then a test map that never got to a playable point.
The idea however excited me and I was up for discovering more about this district!
I started the project my getting all the data that I could about Midtown.
Like I said there were lots of e-mails that cross-referenced Midtown and there is a lot of information in the game. I gathered a file of info about the district's lore which you can find HERE. All of this is from the game and was a starting point for me.
And so I was ready to start working...
The process
I didn't have any modeling knowledge (Still don't really do). So I decided to try something else.. I looked for easy to use architecture programs that I could use to build a city and stumbled across Sketchup!
Also I didn't model it right away in the Unreal Engine. The reason for that is that APB is using it's own version of Unreal which is hard to make custom content for..
So the best I could do is to make a mockup of a map that can later be used to create the actual map.
For me Sketchup was really easy to get into - it's a very easy program to start building in and I decided that it was good enough for me to try and build few blocks with it.
At first there were many issues with my modeling as I left lots of garbage and artifacts on my creations. I later discovered that there is such thing as flipped faces and so on.
Years passed though since then and I now have a bit more experience with my tools so it's not as messy as it used to be back then..
I learned the tools just by keeping working on Sketchup. Never actually took a class or anything. I just had an idea and some willpower to actually do it..
I never really intended to finish the project so I only did about 1/5 of the whole work from 2015 to 2018. Together with real life issues I abandoned the project completely
However from August 2019 when I finally decided that it's about time for me to finish it and had a lot of free time I said to myself that at least once I MUST finish one big project in my lifetime. So I did.. And for the last half of a year I tried to work as much as I could for about 5-6 hours a day (With breaks of course) and finally last week I came to the point that it feels like something ready.
And although it still feels like there is work to be done I think today is a good point to review the project together with the community.
* Some of you may already seen the progress as I was spamming the Twitch channels of APB with this
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In the end I think that the thing that cam out of it is something interesting...
Status today
So today I would like to share with you what I have:
The modeling is ready! All of the buildings are modeled and placed. I also added some props and placeholders for props to make the map a bit more balanced and alive.
This doesn't mean however that the work on it is done:
-There are no windows or shops in the district. It's something that I haven't added because even though I have the models for most of them the size and scale is off and it's not something good if you want to use the map to model it in the engine later.
- There are no textures on the map as I don't own any of APB's materials or know how to UV properly
- I miss some props that should go into some areas. Some of them are vital for balance and for the looks of the place
- Overall balance of the map is not done completely as you need to actually play the game in order to place the objectives at balanced places and also there are areas that can look balanced or unbalanced at first but actually are the opposite while you play
In 2 words lots and lost of smaller and bigger changes in order to make the map usable.
Speaking of usable...
The model is currently a Sketchup creation. It means that it can be exported as a 3D model (For example in FBX format)
I don't actually know what the new APB engine will use - BSP or actual models for the maps however 1 thing is sure..
If it's models - There still should be UV and shadowmaps done for all of the map
If it's BSP - You need to convert everything into BSP which is not a 1 click process..It actually requires you to place the 3D model and use it as a guide to reproduce it in BSP.
In both cases it's not as easy as to just take what I've built and use it and I understand that.
But I hope that I've made something that can be used to build something that is actually usable later ingame
Here are some more images both from a mockup in Unreal 4 that represent the map
Some Midtown lore and how the map is built
So as I mentioned earlier I was using the released top down map and the ingame e-mails to make Midtown. (Which again you can read about from this file)
I tried to stick as much as possible to the lore of the district.However few changes that are made are:
- The overall layout of the map (It's similar to the original but changed)
- I took the original Midtown map layout flipped it and changed the roads but kept overall oval shape
- Bankside is now actually..at the BANK (shore) side which is West and not East.
Overall though I tried to stick to the lore:
This for example is where the district is located according to a map found in the game.
Some of the building and spots I made from the lore are:
Letsby Court in Pocket
Birches out by the campus (Suburbs)
University of John Holland and a campus near it
Opera House in Northen Quarter (Cinema nearby as well)
Satori strip (Which was modeled after an old concept art)
Site of an old hospital next to Satori
Joker gunworks old factory
And of course..
Green street and Green Projects (Gang turf)
There are more..
I tried to stick to the lore as much as I could. Even a bit of so beloved by LO - Red Hill is showing..
I also left a spot for something different.The big cyan square on EAST of Midtown is actually a SPPD keep HQ.
I though it will be a good idea to reuse the enforcer social district at least as a distant scenery
If not as a (Not inside actual district) Fightclub map later on..
In general I think my creation will fit with the existing lore..
Size
Overall the gamplay area is about Financial's size
Organizations and contacts
The two organizations for Midtown are SPPD and RedRain
San Paro Police Department while currently (according to the lore) being out of order may still be roaming around Midtown and trying to protect the people.
Some of them can be found in other Enforcer organisations but some of them may still run a small bit of operations somewhere in the city. So I think Midtown is the right home for those people.
Red rain being a gang that rules Midtown is looking very gangster type of criminals.They are quite stylish and own quite a bit of money and turf in Midtown so they might be a little more organized then your avarage crim.
One iconic member is YoDawg
His model seems to have once existed in APB's files so I bet LO will still have him somewhere..
Other contact designs can be those who we see a lot in some APB art such as some works of the old devs.
Here are some examples that can be used as a design..
This of course requires from the devs some work as not all of the clothing items are now available but I hope that we will see those types of contacts in the district..
I made it that in Midtown it's possible to host up to 10 contacts for each faction
That is however a lot of work and content that needs to be made so I bet it will be alright to start just with 4
Here are the spots however..
(Yellow spots are gas stations)
Gameplay predictions
I designed the map as a mission district just as Financial and Waterfront are however I'm quite sure that it can be good even for Riot (with some work) if it's ever getting re-released
I tried to balance the ranges so there will be enough for each class - meaning that there are long,mid and cqc areas on the map. I assume that there will still be weapon changing tactics so there will not be spots where you will do fine just with one same class of weapons and the map overall supports a lot of team based tactics such as snipers covering cqc players,spots covered from different angles and so on..
I put some great work into trying to balance the spots of the map so there will be no camping spots. In theory there should always be at least 3 paths to get into some spots and no higher grounds to camp with items at (as much as it was possible).
The map supports lots of CAR SPAWNERS and paths that you can use in the middle of the blocks to get inside with your car with or drive trough.
In general I think the map is a bit harder to master for a new player as in some cases it's using tactics of approach that require some "parkour".
So my though if this is going to be released that the level cap should be limited to at least R30 however that's just my opinion.
Again - the layout is a subject for change and there still needs to be work but you can already see for yourself which type of gameplay they represent which in my opinion is a good mix between Financial and Waterfront..
Overall you need to play this map to know anything for sure but those are just my thoughts as a developer.
And also- There are a bit of sewers :3
Logisticszzzz
This project requires the new engine being built. And I think this is obvious that the current one can't support such a thing.
Only assuming that everything goes well and the population will be slightly bigger this can become a reality!
However in that case the game needs some new content!
I think that a new district is something the playerbase really needs as for the past 10 years we've seen just the old 2 mission districts,Fightclub and a small glimpse of a new gamemode.
I hope that a new area can be a good update for the game.
All this of course requires a lot of new content for people to actually get from the new contacts. That means more development time of course but I think in the end it will be worth it.
If the project will get built as an actual map I think it's best to first start off with Anarchy mode for the playerbase to actually test the map and see if it plays well. (All this of course after SPCT and devs themselves)
This whole project is something for the FAR future of APB and it requires a lot of things to get just right.
But I'm hopeful - otherwise I wouldn't keep doing what I did!
"So what's in it for you?"
Let's suppose that LO is seeing a potential in this.. What do I want for my work? Am I willing to get paid?
Well yes and no.
What I would want to receive IF the project will get approved is not hard stacks of cash.
I'm willing to give this out for FREE as a love latter to my beloved game that I play for 8 years now.
The best way to repay me for the work done is to accept me as a game tester for APB (SPCT) to actually test this map and maybe repay me in some amount of G1C.
Again! I will accept rejection as well as I understand that this is just a fan made project and it's nothing professional.
In any case it was fun thing for me to do and it's a good project for my personal portfolio as an environment designer.
So in conclusion..
First of all I had a lot of fun with this project!
This was a blast for me to actually do something this big. A lot of time and effort was put into it and for me personally - I'm happy with the current result.
I don't really know what's the future for this.
Will it be accepted? Is it realistic?
I don't really know. But that's not the important thing.. The important thing for me is that I'm done with a project! Maybe the first time in my life.So I personally feel really pround
The answer is something to look into and I'm very hopeful but no matter the outcome - I will be happy with anything.
Dear LO. I hope you will see this post and consider using what I've done in the game. As a long term fan of APB I really would like to help the game if you let me and it will mean the world for me if you can use my creation.
Dear community - I hope to see your best response. Good or bad please be honest. It will really help me for this project and for anything I do in the future.
Feel free to ask me any question about the map!
I would like to use this opportunity to wish everyone an easy quarantine. Stay safe guys!
Thank you everyone who's been reading and following the progress of Project Midtown!
-Ellix
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Project Midtown 2020
in Breakwater Galleria (Creations/Fan Art)
Posted
Just a note of what I'm doing right now.
It's been a month since I haven't touched the project. Due to my real life work I haven't got much time to work on Midtown anymore...
However I took upon myself to redo a part that should have been done years ago
Right now I'm fixing all the roads to be the same size as in the base game.
This is a frustrating process so far as I discover issues with elevation and such.
However what it means is that the sidewalks will have 1 to 2 meters more of area which means I may need to expand or subtract some buildings
Right now I also plan to remake 3 areas in the eastern part of the district which have a bit too much of open space..
After that there will be a long process of cutting holes in the buildings to place windows and also re-placing all of my current ripped models with new ones that are the same size as in the game
After that there is a long process of texturing everything with PLACEHOLDER textures that can later be swapped to original APB materials in a editor like Blender or 3DSmax..
All this requires buildings to be split into chunks for the texture to be detailed..
In 2 words there is still a lot of work and I don't have the time to do this fulltime anymore.
However I must try completing this process. According to Matt's words there is a SMALL chance for this to be implemented but in FAR FUTURE.
So I guess there is plenty of time.
I will try to keep the thread more updated with the project's progress in the future..
Thanks
-Nick