Open Beta AMA

[CookiePuss 5378]

16 minutes ago, AlishaAzure said:

Is gonna be rimane together SPCM, i don't really care about who is inside rn.

No offense for you my friend. 

I don't understand what you are saying.

[SmilyFace 300]

1 hour ago, CookiePuss said:

I don't understand what you are saying.

No worries anyway, we are going off-topic, so im stopping here.

[Resine 144]

Did any of you try to code anything in their life, even following simplest tutorial of any language? It takes one wrong symbol to become superman or ruin the whole thing, and it's usually later option.

 

RTW made a gismo creating their own tech because there weren't any. APB's only sin is that it was created before tech was ready for it.

 

Now with limited resources G1 and now LO tries to re-code clusterfuck of code to make it work at least decent. Addressing stutters, lags, fishing out bugs and anyone with half the brain could imagine that everything can go wrong at anytime.

 

It's not like they can't give you estimated date, probably they could, but if something acts out you would be out there for blood if the update would be delayed again.

On the other hand Soon tm becomes a meme and no one takes them seriously.

 

Imho it must be stressful if no mater what you do you will be fucked.

[Chinook 144]

Should I dart left or right?

 

That IS THE question.

[TheMessiah 430]

The thing im interested right now is how far are the big maps finan/waterf from finished?How long till closed beta at least if not open beta(public test)Answer that so i can make my general idea how far is 3.5 from final release..

 

edit: this is from last engine upgrade news

Quote

A client fix related to fixing hitches every time a new player loads into the district (this is the client taking a hit to generate the customizations for the new character)

I think this is one of the things that cause most performance issues for everybody in live game.All players loading to a district with all the crap on theyr characters and cars.If you able to fix dat or at least minimize the affect - gonna be incredible

Edited May 24, 2020 by TheMessiah

[Mitne 724]

LO in my opinion right now should ignore all this comments full of spite.

We entering open beta of engine long awaited, can't be any more happy for this game.

It might not turn around what is going inside game (again pointing out that what is going on is right now, full fault of it playerbase, no matter how manipulative and hypocrite you are - the only fault of LO is having staff so little, they can't take care of everything within game) but it shows that LO as developer is trustworthy.

 

Can't wait to test beta. Hope my shit of laptop will run it.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Mitne

[Infinito 100]

15 minutes ago, Mitne said:

LO in my opinion right now should ignore all this comments full of spite.

We entering open beta of engine long awaited, can't be any more happy for this game.

It might not turn around what is going inside game (again pointing out that what is going on is right now, full fault of it playerbase, no matter how manipulative and hypocrite you are - the only fault of LO is having staff so little, they can't take care of everything within game) but it shows that LO as developer is trustworthy.

 

Can't wait to test beta. Hope my shit of laptop will run it.

I feel the same way

[Keshi 436]

On 5/22/2020 at 6:34 AM, Resine said:

Did any of you try to code anything in their life, even following simplest tutorial of any language? It takes one wrong symbol to become superman or ruin the whole thing, and it's usually later option.

 

RTW made a gismo creating their own tech because there weren't any. APB's only sin is that it was created before tech was ready for it.

 

Now with limited resources G1 and now LO tries to re-code clusterfuck of code to make it work at least decent. Addressing stutters, lags, fishing out bugs and anyone with half the brain could imagine that everything can go wrong at anytime.

 

It's not like they can't give you estimated date, probably they could, but if something acts out you would be out there for blood if the update would be delayed again.

On the other hand Soon tm becomes a meme and no one takes them seriously.

 

Imho it must be stressful if no mater what you do you will be fucked.

+1

 

On 5/25/2020 at 5:01 AM, Mitne said:

LO in my opinion right now should ignore all this comments full of spite.

We entering open beta of engine long awaited, can't be any more happy for this game.

It might not turn around what is going inside game (again pointing out that what is going on is right now, full fault of it playerbase, no matter how manipulative and hypocrite you are - the only fault of LO is having staff so little, they can't take care of everything within game) but it shows that LO as developer is trustworthy.

 

Can't wait to test beta. Hope my shit of laptop will run it.

I hope my 7700k gtx1080 can have a stable 144fps...

[Luminesca 102]

On 5/22/2020 at 1:34 PM, Resine said:

Did any of you try to code anything in their life, even following simplest tutorial of any language? It takes one wrong symbol to become superman or ruin the whole thing, and it's usually later option.

 

RTW made a gismo creating their own tech because there weren't any. APB's only sin is that it was created before tech was ready for it.

 

Now with limited resources G1 and now LO tries to re-code clusterfuck of code to make it work at least decent. Addressing stutters, lags, fishing out bugs and anyone with half the brain could imagine that everything can go wrong at anytime.

 

It's not like they can't give you estimated date, probably they could, but if something acts out you would be out there for blood if the update would be delayed again.

On the other hand Soon tm becomes a meme and no one takes them seriously.

 

Imho it must be stressful if no mater what you do you will be fucked.

Why yes I code so yeah typos are easily solved because most code editors are good at seeking these out and eradicating them but illogical badly optimized code can only solved with human mind. 

Edited May 28, 2020 by Luminesca

[R3ACT3M 489]

On 5/27/2020 at 9:26 PM, Luminesca said:

Why yes I code so yeah typos are easily solved because most code editors are good at seeking these out and eradicating them but illogical badly optimized code can only solved with human mind. 

Some aren't so good *COUGH COUGH* ALIENS COLONIAL MARINES *COUGH COUGH* ONE LETTER TYPO BREAKS ENTIRE GAME AND THEY NEVER FOUND OUT *COUGH COUGH*

 

who said that

[Kevkof 806]

This comes as no surprise, but I collected all the questions and answers from the AMA and will post them here for all to see.

 

A download to the transcript is also available here

 

And the full version in spoiler as always.

 

Post Link
Q:
The game has way too many debts you need to deal with, since you are dealing with technical debt right now so I am going to ask another, the focus will be the game longevity.

Not sure if below are asked before, since I didn't check all these AMA before.

Q1 - Population and roadmap post engine update

Due to lack of major content update, this game lost its player base over time. Solving technical debt will not attract a lot of new players, how will you market the game in order to try getting the population up gradually? A road map will be nice to have for anyone who still care about the game.

"Major Content Update" should include one of the below, but not limited to

New weapons

New maps

New mode

New mechanics or reworked mechanics.

Any reworked playable content

Q2 - Server response rate and network optimization

Server response rate is independent of ping, while ping is one of the key factor to good online experience, if server response rate performed badly, then it is useless regardless how low the ping is

Right now the game has a bad server response rate, it has something to do with the data and request handling optimization, even with low ping you will see delayed response in many different action

The real question is : Have you considered to optimize the network performance of the game? Engine upgrade will not make difference in server performance, only client.

Q3 - Mechanics, Progression and New player retention strategy

Right now it can be hard to make new players stay at the game, let's just say the game is not a typical TPS game you can see on the market, but still it's unique.

The progression is a big problem, new players without premium might experience an extreme slow grind.

What are you plans/views on new players retention strategy? Are there any mechanics you would like to review or rework?
A:
This is a series of beefy questions, so I'll start here, but I'll have to come back and try to answer them one at a time as time allows.

RE: Population and roadmap post engine update

While we have paid off a lot of technical debt, we still have a lot of design debt to fix due to how outdated some of the systems are. I think *some* players have left due to lack of content, but I feel like more players have left due to awful matchmaking, problems with griefing/tks/harrassment, poor new player experience, bad game play / mission balance, and poor support for newer hardware.

My post engine upgrade priorities are:
- Cross world character sharing
- Anti-griefing / tk system built on top of our /report system
- Matchmaking improvements by dynamically expanding and contracting threat during peak and low periods of the day instead of rigid Gold, Silver, Bronze threat segregation
- Matchmaking improvements across all servers by phasing players into matches removing the need to spam the most populated district to get good matches
- Reworking the initial rank and role grind to level the playing field better for new players
- Improved new player experience / tutorial
- Rework and improve mission content for more variety and balance
- Addition of two new contacts along with the new EMP
- New vehicle

Thanks,
Matt


Post Link
Q:
Will you implement a mandatory two-step verification system to all players to make it harder for hackers to create new accounts (since they need a phone number and it can't be reused)? They recently did it in Call of duty: Warzone

As well as IP Address/ Hardware bans and shadow banning?

How are you planning on bringing back the population to the game

What new innovations can we expect with the engine upgrade?
A:
Hi there,

First question: There is value in mandatory 2FA and more verification around new accounts, but this is a complicated issue. We get a lot of customer service tickets surrounding this system already. So it needs a bit of improvement before we start pushing it more.

Second question: We have a lot of tools around how bans are implemented. But rather than focus on more ways to ban players, I want to start focusing on more discrete ways to curb bad behavior such as locking players from a specific type of district or preventing specific players from interacting.

Third question: I could spend the entire 2 hours talking about my plan to bring players back, but I'll try to summarize here.
- Get the engine upgrade out so we support modern hardware and the code is easier to maintain across all platforms
- Fix the issues that cause established players to leave and new players to abandon.
- Fix streaming issues like griefing and sniping, and then expand our streamers through some new partnerships that should provide some exciting incentives
- Spend the money to run ads and drive awareness. We have more than 10M registered players over the last 10 years, and many of them have said they want to come back after improvements are made. Our job is to reach them and show off all the things we have done once the game is ready. I have already laid the groundwork for the initial campaigns.

Last question: I don't want to over hype the new engine, but faster load times, smoother frame rates, are the better utilization of modern day hardware are the immediate benefits. Beyond that the new engine supports more modern standards for importing art assets which will help generate content more quickly, and it has lots of systems that are near completion related to better matchmaking and networking support.


Post Link
Q:
Hello! Just wanted to leave a positive note; I always wanted to play apb but it felt outdated and p2w(not anymore) but thanks to this engine update I heard about apb again and am very hyped. I loved the transparancy from your side, that is what all companies need to look up to. Thank you for all your efforts.

Again, keep up the good work please. This game has great potential, thank you for seeing the beauty in it.
A:
Thank you for the kind words. I give the team all the credit for the effort they have put in to learn the mechanics of the game and to steadily improve the aspects we can as fast as we can.


Post Link
Q:
Why update to UE 3.5 instead 4.0?
A:
This question comes up a lot.

Mostly the foundation for the Unreal 3.5 upgrade had already been laid for consoles. So I felt that was the easier target to hit. In my opinion we need to upgrade as soon as possible due to all the new hardware and how often Live crashes due to 64-bit incompatibility.

But beyond that, to really take advantage of Unreal 4.0, there are two major hurdles that would need to happen:
- A complete remaster of all the art assets to support PBR materials/lighting
- Lots of code re-writing to fit the Unreal 4.0 architecture

In a perfect world, I would still like to get the game there, because I think the experience in Unreal 4 (or Unreal 5) would be amazing. But that's not anywhere on my roadmap currently.


Post Link
Q:
Will localization remain editable after the engine upgrade?

Are you going to work on fixing the weapon balancing anytime soon?

Are you planning on implementing further methods of combating cheaters, namely the very few cheaters that manage to circumvent the current anti-cheat?

Are you planning to nerf car gameplay further? For example by lowering car health?

Are you going to nerf/rework how grenades work in APB?
A:
Hi there, this is a great question. Unfortunately the new architecture for Unreal 3.5 encrypts nearly all of the game files to make them tamper proof. While that is critical to lock down shaders and other files that hackers like to alter, it has the unfortunately side effect of eliminating the ability for players to modify their own localization files.

There are two kinds of self loc alterations that I see in the community.

The first is to shorten text and stream line descriptions. I think once the smoke clears and we have room to start quality of life changes, we should look at doing some of this ourselves.

The second is to support a language that we don't have loc files for, and I am very interested in expanding support for more languages once the game engine and launch content is stabilized.

EDIT: I'm actually fact checking this with my team. We may not be locking down loc files in APB 2.1. I'll try to update this once I get confirmation.


Post Link
Q:
I'm not sure, but I heard that the new engine is running on DX11.

Why didn't you made it in Vulkan API, or worst case scenario, DX12
A:
Hi there, xLayt gave the right answer. There just isn't good support in Unreal 3.5 for newer graphic standards. However we are on Unreal 3.5 targeting the latest DX11, and we have also added custom modifications to support deferred context, multi threaded rendering, and more compute shaders.


Post Link
Q:
1. Where do you personally see APB in like 2 years from now?

2. How you see the current state of the community, since some people seem to have a VARIED amount of different opinions. It seems to be in which people you meet/talk to in what your own opinion is going to be like on the game and it's community in the current state.

3. Would you be able to share more background info on like a roadmap for APB or some technical streams or showcases in how it works behind the scene? I guess I am asking for a bit more open or transparency.
A:
1. This is a fairly broad question, so I think I can only give a broad answer:
I'd like to see a game that is easily accessible across multiple platforms which can interact in a shared trading economy. I want the game to be fun to play and watch with a nice progression that balances play for new and old players alike.

2. I try very hard to balance my own opinions about the state of the game which have developed over the last 2 years vs. opinions I hear from the community. To that end we are gradually opening access to our Discord server so that more players can be involved in direct discussions with my team. I think the community is in a better place, but we still have a long way to go in terms of addressing some of their complaints. I'd like to believe that the more we peal back the development process, listen to community feedback, and then make solid changes - the more things will get better.

3. I have tried to steadily add more streams and showcases to our calendar. This is a process of trying different things, seeing what the community likes, and then working at it so that we can repeat those events consistently. This AMA is one of those attempts to close the gap with players and provide more information about where we're headed. Definitely more streams and Q&A sessions planned for the future. More most of all, I want to open our Discord to all the players once we can properly moderate that environment. I generally enjoy chatting with players and talking about what we're working on.


Post Link
Q:
How have you been?
A:
Hah! Honestly, I'm a little tired. I have been less available to the community for the last week or so because was working on the UK timezone (even though I'm still in California). So the midnight to 10am schedule is a bit tough. But that's done for now.

I think my schedule will get less crazy once the Open Beta starts. Right now it's all-hands-on-deck.


Post Link
Q:
Thanks again for everything you are doing Matt and giving APB another chance.

Just wondering what your plans are in regards to progression and new player retention? Currently progression, contact and role, is a huge grind and very underwhelming in regards to unlocks/rewards. You had mentioned you were heading in the direction of a post I made recently touching on this issue. Just looking for some more details and if we can expect these changes upon stable/official launch of the engine upgrade.
A:
New player retention and progression/role balancing are officially added to the roadmap for after the engine upgrade launches. I see it as a major area where we can help make the game generally more fun for everyone.

This is not something I would have touched a year ago, because we didn't have enough experience with the game. But I think we're in a good place to start tackling these issues.


Post Link
Q:
- Will weapon re-balance be a high priority task right after releasing the engine update? Right now balance is a huge mess. PMG, HVR and Obir are way too strong imho.

- Do you plan to add new or change existing missions in the distant future? I feel like there's a lot of missions where enforcers have an advantage over crims.

- How about new discricts in the future? Afaik there's a community lead Midtown Disctrict project, will you consider cooperating with them and adding it to the game? It will be a great opportunity to increase the number of players and add a ton of new content at once.

- I'd really love to have more viable vehicles. Will you consider buffing cars like Moirai, Kurai, Cisco, T25 and others? They're currently insanely weak and barely anyone uses them. Vegas, Pioneer, Espacio meta is pretty boring.

Finally, i would like to thank you and whole Little Orbit for doing a great job with the engine. Thanks to you a little light appeared in the tunnel and there's a hope for the game to rise again!
A:
Hi there,

I appreciate the support. These are some lengthy questions and I'm already worried I'm not going to get through enough questions.

I wouldn't say weapon balance is a mess. It *was*. But I think we're in a better place. Having said that, we're not done. We will definitely be doing some more weapon balance post engine upgrade. This has to be done in waves so we can see the meta shift around after each round of changes. For the next round I'd like to focus on a couple minor buffs to under utilized guns alongside some careful nerfs to address the remaining over powered guns.

We definitely need to make a pass on missions. My initial priority will be to balance out the existing content and see if we can revive older missions that were broken.

I have been in contact with the community led Midtown District, but I've also gone on record that I feel like a new district right now would be catastrophic. That would further split our already small player base. So a new district will need to wait till we've done our job to properly grow the concurrency.

Lastly, there is a new vehicle in the pipeline, and then we'll look at a vehicle balance pass. That's not something I think we could have done properly until now.


Post Link
Q:
~~I played APB for years on PC and played a little bit on consoles since I have a few friends there as well.

As such, when can we see these updates move to consoles? I know that the upgrade is a huge process and I assume it's going to be quite some time after the PC engine upgrade goes live.~~

Anyways thanks for helping make one of my favorite games awesome!

Edit: scratch all that when can we see some fixes to console versions? They are a bit rough in terms of stability.
A:
Consoles are definitely something I wanted to talk about on the AMA. I want to acknowledge how bad the console version of the game is. Having personally worked on the new engine's renderer, I can't even see how those versions run as well as they do.

The publishing situation has complicated our ability to push updates. We submitted multiple builds to our publisher, only to have their QA kick them back. And in the meantime we had done more work on the new engine so it took a lot of effort to get another clean console build submitted - only to have it get kicked back again.

Our plan is to leverage the ease of pushing PC builds to properly get the crashes and bugs worked out in APB 2.1. Once we have a stable version, then we'll push builds to our console publisher again.

Once those are approved, the console version will be on par with PC in terms of all features and content. Day/night. Trading. Rendering optimizations. Lighting changes. New clothing and weapons. etc. After we sync things, then new features that come out on PC will also go to console.

Again, I want to apologize to the entire console community. That part of our development plan has taken so much longer than I anticipated. I see all the posts and tweets. We'll get it fixed.


Post Link
Q:
Is it possible later down the line for:

Better resolution on user created symbols?

More pattern space for more complicated symbols?

Thanks!
A:
Hi there, Yes. Some of this is already improved in the new engine. But in order to drastically improve resolution, we would need to quadruple the amount of memory used for that system, which isn't something we can do on current hardware.


Post Link
Q:
Is old log in screen and music gonna come back?
A:
I'm a big fan of the old login screen and music. There are some technical challenges because that runs a movie which is only 720p. But I would love to explore a way to replace what we currently have sometime in the future.


Post Link
Q:
Matt, how it's going with apb cross-play.
A:
Good. This is a major priority for me right after the engine upgrade because it will open up a lot more players to each other for better match making.


Post Link
Q:
The APB community is currently very experienced players and not so experienced players. The majority of experienced players refuse to team with new players and bunch together into solid teams in order to steamroll the new players. This is having a detrimental effect on the population, with new players opting to leave and play another game. Is anything going to be done to help rectify this issue with the new update ?
A:
The new engine wont directly address this, but matchmaking is the #1 priority post launch. We have to fix this before the game will start to grow again.


Post Link
Q:
Will we ever be able to purchase weapons from contacts that we previously bought from ARMAS, the same way as we can do with cars?

Also can we change all FightClub maps to 10 vs 10? Currently 20 vs 20 is way too many people, and whenever the districts die down to a comfortable 10 vs 10 its a way better expirience, in both terms of lenght of matches, and the spawns in the district.
A:
I'm going to spend a little time on your first question.

We have already been doing some work on this, and there is a pretty significant change to how items are attached to accounts/characters coming out in APB 1.20 (Live). This will affect all of the items that are awarded (like purchases from ARMAS and other areas) so that everything will be handled that same way - as an unlock. This means players wont have to hoard everything in their mail or manage full inventories.

The good news is that the first phase of this is coming in the next couple weeks. We are still working out the process for players to "convert" the old items into newer unlocks. It will also be accompanied by a rework of the Joker Store that I am excited for the community to experience.


Post Link
Q:
knowing your client ping times (and geo location)... is there are "fair" ping level that can be used to threshold game play interaction? for example, locking shooting until the player drops below that threshold?

so... you can't login to a region with an account unless your ping qualifies (no 500+ ms players). and then, once in-match play, if your ping exceeded a threshold for a certain period of time, your ability to shoot would be locked. it would unlock when your network returns to a reasonable time.

i realize this isn't perfect. but, it is one of many steps that go a long way in helping make more fair game play for everyone.
A:
We have recently expanded our ability to do more things in-game related to your ping or region.

I don't think we want to necessarily lock out players based on ping right now, but we are moving towards a system post engine upgrade that integrates region into how players are matched.


Post Link
Q:
What do the 2 new hair styles look like ?
A:
Hi there, I don't believe we have announced 2 new hair styles. Sorry.


Post Link
Q:
Hey Matt, Mitne here as always.

After EU comes out, is LO having any plans to bring back population onto servers?

What do you think is cause of toxic behaviour within APB? Is LO having some plans to deal with it, other than carrot and stick approach?

Edit: This random downvotes are the reason why I don't use Reddit.
A:
Hi Mitne,

That answer is yes, there are a combination of changes planned to the game to help make game play better, while also working with streamers and marketing campaigns to drive awareness.

I think toxicity in APB goes in waves. But in my opinion, most of it rises and falls related to bad interactions in game or disappointment in our progress. For the bad in-game experiences, there is a new anti-grief system that is in the early design stages that I'm very excited about. For our progress, I'm working hard to be more transparent and pull the curtain back so the community can see what development looks like. I think that helps them understand when some things don't happen as fast as they would like.


Post Link
Q:
Having just restarted the game after 10 years, the progression to even access some weapons is awful in my opinion. Many mods are locked away after verrry high kill counts with specific weapons, and even the progression feels uncertain and slow.

Having played maybe 20 hours over the past few weeks, I figure I would get the hang of things, but not just yet. Is there any plan to smooth this out to keep returning player's interest?
A:
This has recently been escalated to a high priority on the post engine upgrade road map. I think the existing progression and amount of grind doesn't fit with the kind of game I want APB to be. We need to level the playing field more between the accessibility of items between new and old players.


Post Link
Q:
Extended Inventory space?!!!
A:
We are addressing this, but in a different way.

Keep a look out for our announcement coming soon about changes to how items are handled in your inventory.


Post Link
Q:
1. Sorting/Filters/Favourites for the weapon list?

2. What about chaos district? It was kinda fun and gamersfirst intended to bring some district wide turf wars mode based on it. Will we ever see anything like this again or a improved version with turf wars?

3. Won't the new planed thread system always match good players against other good or so called "swety" players?

The whole skill based matchmaking backfired miserably on the new COD MW title. Mostly because high skilled players are thrown into matches with campers or other dispiceful playstyles that just played to win. Basically griefing the game and removing all the fun from it.

How do you prevent that from happening? Say someone is a good player and doesn't want to play the few meta weapons that are in the game. Said person just wants to have some fun now and then. Now he will be mostly facing people tryharding with exactly those meta weapons... On the other hand for a medicore player it will be impossible to get better at the game if not facing better oponents now and then...

4) You have to implement something that prevents me from facing the same oponent three or more times in a row. Even now there's more then one group enemies in the district but it happens quite often, that the game just throws you in against the same group like 3 or more times. It drives me nuts having to play aginst the same players multiple times.
A:
We definitely need to address sorting/filtering weapons. That screen is pretty bad.

We have a placeholder on our design schedule for a Chaos/Turf Wars mode based on some of the sub systems that we built for RIOT. This is on the back burner for now until we launch the new engine, improve matchmaking, address progression, fix the new player experience and deal with in-game griefing/abuse better.


Post Link
Q:
Greetings! Thank you for organizing this AMA and — as cheesy as it may sound — for deciding to pick up this game those two years ago and giving it a chance despite the awful rep it tends to get (what with it burning through two companies, but let's not dwell on that too much).

I don't actually have that many questions, I think. I've been mostly satisfied with LO's handling of APB and the dedication towards shipping the Engine Upgrade. I suppose I'll just get straight to the questions.

1) The recent news about in-game advertisements is an interesting development for the game; it's nice that LO will be able to make money off of APB independent of Armas sales... though it does leave me wondering about some aspects of it. Are there any plans as to how this concept will be realized?

Will the ads show up in the game world in ways such as putting them on billboards, or will we have them show up on the interface (which I consider to be the worst case scenario)? If so, will they replace the existing in-universe ads for fictional brands and products in San Paro?

Would there be a way — or interest in implementing a way — to disable the advertisements, such as through Premium purchases?

2) At the moment, without committing to anything: does Little Orbit have any interest in creating a competitive scene and/or environment in APB in the future?

3) Not related to the game itself, please don't feel required to answer this: What are the best and the worst flavours of pizza you've ever had?

Once again, thank you for the AMA and thank you for the things you've done for this community over the last 2 years. The free premium during the pandemic is a particularly noble act too, so massive thanks for that!

To everyone over at Little Orbit: Have a nice day; stay safe!
A:
Hi there, lots here.

1. The new in-game ad system partnership is still being implemented, and while there are clear benefits to reducing pressure on player purchases, I want to go slow here and make sure we don't ruin the aesthetic of the game. I think if done right, this could fit right into the game. The plan is for ads to show up on a portion of our billboards. We will still leave many of the fictional brands and products of San Paro. In my ideal world, I'd love advertisers to try and match our art style or even play with their campaigns to lean into the APB world. But honestly, I'm not how much leverage we will have to do that.
I am definitely considering an ad-removal benefit for Premium users. We have been reworking how to balance Premium, and that's a no brainer.
Lastly, there is a huge benefit of the new in-game ad system that wasn't talked about in the press release. Our partner has an entire ecosystem of streamers and influencers that love to stream their games because they get credit for all the eyeballs that see the same in-game ads through Twitch. In fact, Anzu has offered to help fund and build an entire campaign for us once the system launches that will help us advertise and drive awareness. I am cautiously excited about what is in store.

2. I'm currently mulling over the question of how much we want to lean into the competitive scene for APB. I think there are some changes we need to do to make that happen first, but I don't want to affect regular game play. I still see a lot of value in the players who just like to get on and mess around.

3. My favorite pizza toppings are ham and pineapple. My least favorite is bell peppers.


Post Link
Q:
Will there ever be a truly open world mode? Where all criminals are shootable and you gain xp by doing so? Sort of a GTA V Online feel. Oh and also getting more cash rewards from missions would be nice.
A:
I don't think our architecture can support true Open World. However, I am interested in exploring more activities that players can do in mission districts.


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Q:
Matt your corona hair is gorgeous
A:
Thanks. It's quite a bit longer than it looks in the shot. It's been six months since my last hair cut.


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Q:
Could you please give an update on the upcoming EU EAST server?
A:
I just spoke with our provider on these. Apparently there was a delay getting circuits into the new facility. All the hardware is racked and ready. Unfortunately I don't have a firm ETA from them. I'm guessing weeks not months.


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Q:
Just 2 questions...

• Any plans on a functional anti-cheat being added to the game?
• Is there a possibility of banning people who use macros and triggerbots?

A huge amount of Some people use third-party software (and have been doing it for years) to exploit the game without consequences and it would be nice to actually make the game fair for all. No respectable/competitive shooter allows triggerbots to run wild and unpunished like APB does

Thanks!
A:
I have a post coming up to talk about anti-cheat. We are going to be making some changes there in the hopes of addressing macros and triggerbots better. I can say we will be doing more bans for triggerbots. I think the goal is simply kick users that have macros enabled.


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Q:
Problem with russian nicknames. Can u give free nickname change for russian nicknames?
A:
This was the original plan. However, there are other problems with that approach.

Instead, we are fixing the issues with messaging and reporting Russian names. And we have a new naming system in the works that will address all the reserved / abandoned names.


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Q:
I just want to say that I’m really glad APB will finally see the light of day after years in the shadows. I’m also grateful for all the work you guys as a team have put into improvingthe game at its current awful state

I mostly have questions about consoles and about post-engine upgrade changes:

1 - You talked about Consoles and pc having the social district cross-platform in the future, but what about Ps4 and Xbox One having the mission districts cross-platform so we could have a combined population for the two consoles?

2 - Will we be seeing the loyalty rewards make a comeback? (Or added to consoles?) I really liked the idea of recieveing a unique version of an in-game item for spending a certain total amount of money into the store, but i feel maybe it could use a but of an update as such items could be a little TOO expensive for even a couple weapons looking too similar to their purchasable counterparts.

3 - (on loyalty rewards topic) If the loyalty rewards do ever make it to consoles, will the players who already spent the money still recieve the rewards they’ve earned?

4- After the engine upgrade, will we finally see some proper weapon animations, reload animations, and some actual proper item proportions on characters? Some weapons just look HUGE and just awkward on some characters.

5- Also after the engine upgrade, do you think it’ll be possible we can get an increase in character complexity in the future? As much as I do believe the creations can already get impressivly complex, I still think they can get more conplex with the newer engine since decals are “baked” on the item in-game. (Idk im no tech wizard)

I have a bunch more questions but those were the onoy ones in my head at the moment...

Honestly, there a T O N of content the can still be added into the game in terms of Weapons, Vehicles, Clothing, and maps. A lot of the current clothes weapons, or vehicles can definitly use a redesign update. And also, give the other little cars some kits c’mon.

Thanks Little Orbit
A:
Hi there,

I'll do my best on these questions, but I'm starting to run out of time.

1. The goal is to allow full cross play between consoles including mission and fight club districts. I think combining those populations is good for everyone. However, we are waiting on Sony approval to do that.

2. I definitely want to do something for loyalty, but I haven't come up with a plan that feels rewarding enough yet.

3. I would love anything we do to be retroactive. Sometimes that's not always possible, but we'll do our best. You guys supported us and you deserve the rewards (especially for supporting console)

4. Totally agree. This is on my radar, but its lower on the priority while we fix matchmaking, role/rank progression, new player experience, and griefing.

5. I think we're already hitting the ceiling on some hardware. It will be difficult to expand complexity without dropping support for some players, which we dont want to do right now.

We'll get to content. We have two new contacts and the EMP ready to go, and then a new vehicle not long after that.


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Q:
u/mattpscott I want apb to do well. One of the reasons why I'm not coming back and many other players are due to there not being any competitive aspect to the game. There is no leagues or any sort of leader board it's just us playing missions endlessly will you be changing that?

The other reason is the fact that you guys are promoting people that have openly cheated in this game and put videos up of them cheating. I think that's another reason why people don't want to give you guys a chance since a company doesn't enforce on cheaters will never survive in the game industry. You guys need to be more ruthless like Valve or else you will fail and the old players won't trust or give you a chance.

I also wondered if we will have any sort of racing district in the future which the old company wanted to do but never had the chance too?
A:
Hi there,

We are looking at some competitive aspects. You'll see the beginnings of that announced soon. But before we deep dive this area - we need to be better at managing cheaters, which I will also be addressing in a post soon.

With respect to promoting cheaters, I'm honestly not sure what you mean. If you'd like to send in a support ticket with a better explanation, I'll personally take a look.

Racing districts continue to float around as an idea. It's a little lower on our immediate roadmap, but I see how that could be a lot of fun.


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Q:
Will we see any physics based stuff in the game?

Clothing, Hair, and perhaps the infamous breast physics?
A:
Alas, the physics in Unreal 3.5 are very expensive to run. I'm worried that we would see significant slowdown if we went in this direction.


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Q:
Will console players receive loyalty reward that pc players can acquire? I've spent well over 700 in game over the years and wanted to know if I could obtain them via update?
A:
This is something I would love to do if its feasible. I'm mostly just focused on getting the new engine on console first.


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Q:
We've been beta testing fightclub a lot recently but what about finanical and waterfront? When are these going to be tested? Also, how close are we to seeing the new engine on live?
A:
This is a great question, and one that has come up more recently.

We made the strategic decision to focus on getting at least 2 districts out the door for Open Beta. So our attention has been on fixing crashes and get the bugs worked out there. It doesn't do anyone any good if we hop from task to task without ever finishing something. As soon as humanly possible, we will switch back to mission districts to polish those up. There were just a couple more complex tech problems that we needed to solve first.

I can't honestly say when mission districts will go live. My hope is that we've already solved many of the issues with all the work we've done to get Asylum and Social ready.


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Q:
Hello I was wondering if we could have this implemented in a future update for the clothing store and I think many people will agree with me to have this in game. I want to suggest having a "hypebeast" clothing pack. Which can include but not limited to the following

Bucket Hat, not metal bucket of course for male and female like this one https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0073/9580/3195/products/WaveBucketHatBeige2.jpg?v=1539742004

An Oversized hoodie for females like this one https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c4/72/60/c472607f31316de792561c153e1154fb.png

A oversized parka jacket for males https://image-cdn.hypb.st/https%3A%2F%2Fhypebeast.com%2Fimage%2F2017%2F11%2F2017-best-outerwear-options14.jpg?w=1600&cbr=1&q=90&fit=max

A pair of generic hype shoes to avoid copyright infringement https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/585962909167910939/712216277548269628/NMD_CS1_Primeknit_Shoes_Black_BD7733_01_standard.png

A pair of combat joggers for both males and females with those loose belts like this

male: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1675/0735/products/pants-combat-joggers-v2-black-s-urban-street-wear-fashion-apparel-techwear-streetwear-13229670924334_900x.jpg?v=1571632571

female: https://www.asos.com/us/asos-design/asos-design-combat-jogger-with-pockets-and-chain-detail/prd/13510005?channelref=product+search&affid=14070&mk=abc&ppcadref=9874769239|101109607195|pla-336992994613&gclid=CjwKCAjwiMj2BRBFEiwAYfTbCglqMXPJRk9-hm4oMiOSqb1kCkclv_1-KZ7yynpyAbKig_Z-gQnpDxoCmOAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
A:
I took note of this comment and have passed it along to the team to review. Thanks for the suggestion.


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Q:
Hello Matt! Hope you have time to relax with all this work going on

Now i have been bugging G1 for years with this question and even some of your GM's lately but cant seem to get a clear answer.

So my mousewheel unlocks and spins for a solid 30 seconds with a good flick and if i bind my mousewheel to shoot and do that its basically a autofire button like a lot of mouses have now a days.

Is this allowed to use or not? I have never gotten a clear answer and i have not used it in the fear that it might get detected as a macro thx
A:
This enters the gray area. Personally, I think we have to draw the line somewhere. When we get to crosshair overlays or mouse hardware, I think we're getting into the weeds. I can put a piece of tape on my monitor and get the same affect as an overlay.

To balance your mousewheel, I think we can look at specific mechanics on guns that misfire if you shoot too often and other ways to combat that.


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Q:
Question:

Are you guys interested in allowing APB to be lightly modded in the future? Are there any plans in place for this?

The reason I ask is because there are plenty of things I'm sure that you guys don't feel are necessary to fix, but are all around simple fixes.

Examples include things like changing textures, fixing UV maps, compatibility patches, fixing models or re-skinning weapons, changing firing sounds, editing animations, etc... We have a really talented group of players in APB, and a lot of them are talented in these areas specifically.

I got the impression that you guys ignored/put less effort into some less important aspects of the game in the engine update, and textures seemed to be one of those aspects that you guys didn't put as much effort into changing. (Don't get me wrong, I get it, no problem, it makes sense) I feel like the playerbase would be the perfect people to solve some of those small issues. Just see how popular the advanced launcher is now, and how popular modding is in games like Fallout and Skyrim.

Alternatively, do you guys plan to add more player made content to the game? (ex: contests for new premade outfits) so that you can utilize your player base's creativity more?

Those are my questions.
A:
The short answer is: Yes, I'd love to engage the modding/art community for our game more. And I agree that we have some very talented players out there.

We did sideline a lot of art upgrades to focus on shipping the new engine.

Having said that, I have been struggling to figure out the right systems and steps to do that successfully. I certainly dont want to waste the effort of players by finding that we can't incorporate the work they've done. Similarly, I don't want to create copyright or ownership issues on our end either.


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Q:
APB is the kind of game that has its potential majorly in the creative side of the game, yet I always felt like this game sacrifices immersion and creativity over competition.

With creativity I don't really mean on the player's end, the systems are there for the player to be creative, but I always felt that there was a lack of vision on the developer's regarding the creative future of APB. The lack of depth in the game's mechanics/gameplay also really doesn't help.

The creativity and vision on the developers' end is crucial for a lot of things in an MMO. Even player distribution.

As such, the following thing I wonder would be;

Instead of balancing weapons every year (sorry, it's not a nudge in your direction), how does LO intend to balance immersion and creativity against competitive play? More towards competitive play? Or more towards world building?
A:
I've seen a common thread during this AMA about competitive vs. casual game elements. While both of those things get discussed internally, I haven't taken the time to really process where I want APB to sit on that spectrum. It's a good takeaway from today for me.


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Q:
A small update to improve the new player experience could be tweaking equipment to help us fulfill missions quicker. Veterans have all the best laptops for hacking, or crow bars of breaking and entering making these missions much more challenging.

Are there any plans to make these pieces of equipment easier to earn for newer players and give them something to look forward to sooner in their progression. It wouldn't effect combat balance.

Given they often play a smaller role to missions than say having an ideal legendary that fits the map layout- it could be something that gets players of low and mid rank to work towards and feel good about seeing get upgraded. Personally- equipment like this being locked behind X-times burning an objective isn't the best as a player may encounter many more of one objective over another- so they unlock some equipment far sooner than others.

A solution? Make the rank I, II, III and IV, equipment purchaseable from a vendor at rank 25, 50, 75, and 100. They'll have access sooner without it feeling out of reach. Your thoughts?
A:
I'm running out of time. But this is definitely being looked at post engine upgrade. I agree it's an area that needs reworking. I want to focus on skill rather than equipment as the gap between new and old players.


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Q:
https://www.pcgamer.com/naturalvision-evolved-makes-gta-5-look-like-a-modern-pc-game/

this is a "community" effort to update the graphics for GTA... which are MASSIVE.

is this a possible approach for undertaking such a change to APB?
A:
I just saw another post with a similar comment. Definitely something I need to explore a bit more, so we can put a better plan in place.


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Q:
What are LO's plans for monotization?

Same old or something fresh?

Also what about cosmetics and other stuff through challanges?

I have pretty much bought everything in armas and joker store through my 10 years of apb is there any hope for me to get new stuff to grind? Love the crown because of all the work it took to get it and id love to see more hard to get stuff
A:
There is something significant in the works that I'm not quite ready to discuss yet, but we will be announcing it in the next couple weeks. You'll know it when you see it.


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Q:
First question: What do you guys have in store for the console version after they get patched and fixed.

Second question: How will ddosers on pc, Xbox, and Ps4 be handled

Third question: Will loyalty rewards and free trials on armas come to console as well

Fourth question: Do you guys have any limitations with the console ports?
A:
Hi there,

The immediate goal with consoles is to sync the features and content with PC. That means console players will be seeing more than 2 years of content, player to player trading, all the joker store enhancements, and more. From there, they should get new things in lock step with PC.

DDOS issues on PC are largely non existent since our recent network move. The XBOX and PS4 issues will go way with the engine upgrade.

Loyalty rewards have come up a lot today. That's another area I'll put on my radar to explore a bit more.

There are some limitations with consoles, but I don't believe they prevent us from limiting any features or content that are in the PC version.


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Q:
Have there been any thoughts put into community driven clothing? Warframe has a number of very beautifully designed pieces of armor and other content that are submitted, voted on in a contest, and then offered in game or via Steam.

This could be a great way to get more unique content into the game and include more of the content creators in shaping the game while you and your team work on technical content. Your thoughts?
A:
This idea comes up very so often. It's not on the immediate radar, but it is something I'm in favor of exploring. We have some very talented players that can do amazing things with our tools. I'd love to see a better path for that content to be surfaced to the entire community.


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Q:
1. Will there be any development streams? (Design, Animation, Map Editing, QA, etc.)

2. What will happen to unused RTW content (availability to enter the side doors of the Benkz Mhuller M1 like in GDC 2008 videos, T-25 kit, etc.) and original art style of the game? (RTW Login Screen, Contact Clothing Design, UI)

3. If there will be a new vehicles, will there be a poll/discussion what will the vehicle be based on?
A:
Hi there,

1. I definitely want to do more development streams. They take a lot to organize, so we have been taking a conservative approach to see how to make them more sustainable long term and make sure they have enough content to add value for the community. Today is another experiment in more transparency with you guys.

2. We've dug into some of that content. Some is usable and some is not. I love the original login screen and music. There are some technical issues with bringing it back currently.

3. There is a new vehicle nearly finished. My team just hasn't had the time to finish hooking up all the parts and balancing it.


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Q:
Will be any way in the game after the engine upgrade that threat and rank will be displayed or it will be just like the console version?
A:
We're still figuring this out. Ultimately the concept of threat is changing so that it can be dynamically expanded and contracted based on player population. So we haven't decided how to surface that to players yet.


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Q:
1. Will you ever post ban numbers(Not names or why, just numbers) in the same way you do for support tickets? It would be a helpful way for you to be transparent and show the community that you are ACTUALLY doing something.

2. Will we see any improvement to anticheat post engine upgrade.

3. will we ever have the possibility of being able to re-arrange weapons in our locker? I have almost 90 weapons. I use like 10 of them. Having to scroll down to them instead of being able to move them to the top for the ones I like is irritating.
A:
1. This is something I'm still evaluating. I am as transparent with the community as possible, but there have been lots of problems with surfacing this information in the past.

2. I have a new post on anticheat coming which will be coming to Live soon.

3. We have a new inventory system coming in the next couple weeks that should alleviate your issue. I'm very excited to see how players react.


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Q:
I'll probably have to watch the vod since I'll be out of town but here's my question.

Summit1g had said on stream that he would come back to play APB when the engine update arrived. Have you guys anticipated a large number of people coming back to play the engine update? Will the servers be able to manage possibly thousands of people trying to get on the servers at once?

Was curious to know if this thought had been in the back of your mind at one point and what you expect to see in the near future.
A:
Good question. Yes. My network team has been hard at work for months planning. We have a large pool of servers on allocation to handle the increased load. Those will be added when the engine update comes out.


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Q:
- Is there any chance, that we'll get new contacts with new unlockable modifications?
- Will we get new weapons, which isn't a re-skin or a special version of a certain gun?
- Is there any chance, that the reload animation bug will be fixed?
- Maybe a car re-balance?

I really appreciate what LO did to the game, and I hope they won't give up on it.
A:
- 2 new contacts are already finished for launch after the engine upgrade, and there is a brand new EMP that can be unlocked through them.
- There is a brand new type of gun that was modeled with a fairly unique game play design. But we dont have the animations to support it right now.
- The animations need a big pass, but that's not high on my list of priorities right now.
- Alongside the new vehicle, we need to do a vehicle re-balance. That's on the roadmap.

Thanks for the kind words. I'll pass them along to the team.


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Q:
Has managing APB Been stressful since you acquired it ?
A:
Yes! But some of that was expected, and some wasn't. It's probably a good thing that I didn't full realize what I was getting into. Regardless, I feel like (1) we are making progress and (2) Little Orbit needed to go through this transformation to get current with where online games are (or should be) today.

 

[killerskull 111]

On 5/31/2020 at 7:32 PM, Kevkof said:

"Major Content Update" should include one of the below, but not limited to

New weapons

New maps

New mode

New mechanics or reworked mechanics.

Any reworked playable content

 

I would like to say that the easiest and most needed "new content" is NOT worthless contacts that give us new weapons and stupid mods. Its NEW MISSION MODES. We have 2 huge maps that need to be used. Bring in new missions that arent frustrating and are actually fun. We have loads of weapons, dont need more for now. We need missions because theyve remained the same since the beginning. I think bringing in new missions that new to old players can enjoy is important. Im not sure what these missions will be, thatl be on the teams creativeness to decide. Battle royale is trash, I dont think a map wide mode will work. 

 

I remember during early g1, in missions, you could call for backup and have a 15v15 missions. Yes it was broken and defending side always won but I frikkin loved it so much. It was an actual street war against the 2 factions and I loved it. Perhaps something like that?