To do or not to do (MIDTOWN)

[Xegethra 22]

On 9/24/2018 at 6:26 PM, Revoluzzer said:

On UE3.5 or 4 this might be possible.

Missions could/should still be limited to the district they're started in (which in turn is based on which contact you pledge to), but you could simply drive into an adjacent district, possibly without a loading screen at all.

The reason APB originally didn't have this, as far as I'm aware, is that their version of UE simply didn't support modern game-world "streaming". I believe the current districts are essentially still built as individual "rooms" that load when you enter them, which is how UE handled environments at the time.

Maybe they could use those inaccessible tunnels tha NPC cars drive through. You go in one and you get a selection of which district to go to....currently only the one but swapping between just those two with the tunnels would be nice. I don't think they should let you travel to other parts of the same map though, you'd never chase anyone down. And maybe you can't use them when on a mission.

I like the current map sizes, not too big or too small really. Of course I like big cities, but in this online game I rather like the maps being smaller subsections of a bigger city. The tunnels and scenery give off a feeling that the city is much bigger and you're just screwing around in that one bit of it. More maps to play on would be nice, I'm all for it, you could have anything, ghettos, suburbs, high streets whatever and while they are separated, those tunnels would help to make them feel connected and the scenery would also help you to imagine the city in between them.

I don't want a gigantic map for this game, for reasons people have already mentioned. I am happy with the current way it is, the illusion is intact because if you have a "full" city to roam around in, like say Los Santos in GTA....it feels incredibly small, because it is....there is no illusion to make it feel like a believable city. It's no bigger than any district in any real life city....and as APB is set within separate districts, the map sizes are alright.

[Ellix 415]

On 10/5/2018 at 11:44 PM, Sneerz said:

I don't think expanding the game's playable area is a bad idea at all, but there are so many other issues that take priority over any type of expansion like this. You also have to consider the development cost and the money the game is bringing in at its current state. The original game cost $100M to develop (obviously too much), but creating a new map, especially with modern textures and assets for UE4 would take a lot of time and cost a significant sum.

I'm not looking to get payed
(If anything I'd like unlimited G1 or somethin')
But all of the content that will be made is a donation for Little Orbit

 

On 10/6/2018 at 7:37 AM, Isais said:

You'll need to redo the topology. I'm seeing 7 sided ngons on the buildings. 

Yes
Also I hate tingles....

[Fortune Runner 796]

On 10/7/2018 at 7:54 AM, Xegethra said:

Maybe they could use those inaccessible tunnels tha NPC cars drive through. You go in one and you get a selection of which district to go to....currently only the one but swapping between just those two with the tunnels would be nice. I don't think they should let you travel to other parts of the same map though, you'd never chase anyone down. And maybe you can't use them when on a mission.

I like the current map sizes, not too big or too small really. Of course I like big cities, but in this online game I rather like the maps being smaller subsections of a bigger city. The tunnels and scenery give off a feeling that the city is much bigger and you're just screwing around in that one bit of it. More maps to play on would be nice, I'm all for it, you could have anything, ghettos, suburbs, high streets whatever and while they are separated, those tunnels would help to make them feel connected and the scenery would also help you to imagine the city in between them.

I don't want a gigantic map for this game, for reasons people have already mentioned. I am happy with the current way it is, the illusion is intact because if you have a "full" city to roam around in, like say Los Santos in GTA....it feels incredibly small, because it is....there is no illusion to make it feel like a believable city. It's no bigger than any district in any real life city....and as APB is set within separate districts, the map sizes are alright.

Disclaimer : not a troll post it really happened

History lesson : mid 1990's roughly around 1996 central california
Location :  Fresno California and surrounding cities

Details :
Back then the gangs were at war with the police..... they  literally had either a rocket launcher or grenade launcher I  forget which but the had one of those for sure......
Police locked down  city blocks and evacuated residents and went to full blown war APB style with the gangs.
The barricades blocked any access to other streets so the gangs couldn't get in or out easily.
Eventually it was not the police but the Yakuza who killed all the gangs not locked up in central California (something about the drug trade )

I know this because i lived in Fresno County at the time....
History lesson over......

Now my point.... in a city the way you guys talk -  unmovable barricades on streets would work fine in APB like it did back in real life. ATF and freeway cement barricades did the trick just fine for containment.
Tunnels can work but so can barricades like mentioned so that not all streets can be used to make the city "alive"

[Ellix 415]

3 hours ago, Fortune Runner said:

Disclaimer : not a troll post it really happened

History lesson : mid 1990's roughly around 1996 central california
Location :  Fresno California and surrounding cities

Details :
Back then the gangs were at war with the police..... they  literally had either a rocket launcher or grenade launcher I  forget which but the had one of those for sure......
Police locked down  city blocks and evacuated residents and went to full blown war APB style with the gangs.
The barricades blocked any access to other streets so the gangs couldn't get in or out easily.
Eventually it was not the police but the Yakuza who killed all the gangs not locked up in central California (something about the drug trade )

I know this because i lived in Fresno County at the time....
History lesson over......

Now my point.... in a city the way you guys talk -  unmovable barricades on streets would work fine in APB like it did back in real life. ATF and freeway cement barricades did the trick just fine for containment.
Tunnels can work but so can barricades like mentioned so that not all streets can be used to make the city "alive"

Nice Idea 
However it's not that needed..
The district select window is quite enough in my opinion
If anything it should first be expanded..
 

[MattScott 15242]

Hi all,

I love this post. and have enjoyed checking it occasionally to see the responses from players.
I figure it's probably time for me to weigh in.

First, I think the OP did a fantastic job organizing information and data about Midtown. We do have quite a bit in the archives, but the work was all temporary and never intended for the final product.

Second, I don't think the current version of the game would benefit from LO building out Midtown right now. In my opinion we need to make sure there is enough content in the current 2 action zones so they can progress characters and get matches. Having said that, we do have some ideas for possibly incorporating Midtown in the future when the game has different matchmaking and streaming systems. As others have mentioned, I also think it would be fun to free roam and drive all over the map from district to district.

Thanks,
Matt

[Akahi 25]

4 hours ago, Fortune Runner said:

Now my point.... in a city the way you guys talk -  unmovable barricades on streets would work fine in APB like it did back in real life. ATF and freeway cement barricades did the trick just fine for containment.
Tunnels can work but so can barricades like mentioned so that not all streets can be used to make the city "alive"

I like this idea . The only thing I would suggest with it is to make it possible that the barricades are used for missions and no one outside the mission can be effected by it. Reasoning is that I can see alot of folks using it to just block up everything for kicks an in the meantime no one would be able to get around.

[Knite 158]

17 minutes ago, MattScott said:

Hi all,

I love this post. and have enjoyed checking it occasionally to see the responses from players.
I figure it's probably time for me to weigh in.

First, I think the OP did a fantastic job organizing information and data about Midtown. We do have quite a bit in the archives, but the work was all temporary and never intended for the final product.

Second, I don't think the current version of the game would benefit from LO building out Midtown right now. In my opinion we need to make sure there is enough content in the current 2 action zones so they can progress characters and get matches. Having said that, we do have some ideas for possibly incorporating Midtown in the future when the game has different matchmaking and streaming systems. As others have mentioned, I also think it would be fun to free roam and drive all over the map from district to district.

Thanks,
Matt

Scuttlebutt on Midtown used to be that it's the precursor to Financial, and it in itself as a district doesn't exist; can you comment a little more given that you mention it now as a separate district?

Also, while we're on this topic, Asylum was originally supposed to be the Crim social district, and this:





was supposed to be the Enforcer social district.

Whatever you have to do, please get this into the game somewhere down the line! Edited October 9, 2018 by Knite

[MattScott 15242]

NOTE: I was not on the original RTW team, nor was I on the Reloaded team, so much of this is internal hearsay.

As I understand it, Midtown was a development area for the game's work in progress assets. Most of the buildings were used in Financial, although a couple unique designs remain.
Technically we did find it on a map sketched in between Financial and Waterfront, and it is referenced in the lore as a separate place.

The idea of Criminal and Enforcer Social Districts were too fragmenting to the player base, so those districts were scrapped.
The Criminal Social District was used to create Asylum.

The assets for the Enforcer district are still there, but for reasons I wont go into, they aren't very usable as in-game models.
We would be better off doing something from scratch using that district as inspiration.

Thanks,
Matt
 

[Fortune Runner 796]

On 10/8/2018 at 6:55 PM, Kadama said:

On 10/8/2018 at 2:14 PM, Fortune Runner said:

Now my point.... in a city the way you guys talk -  unmovable barricades on streets would work fine in APB like it did back in real life. ATF and freeway cement barricades did the trick just fine for containment.
Tunnels can work but so can barricades like mentioned so that not all streets can be used to make the city "alive"

I like this idea . The only thing I would suggest with it is to make it possible that the barricades are used for missions and no one outside the mission can be effected by it. Reasoning is that I can see alot of folks using it to just block up everything for kicks an in the meantime no one would be able to get around.

That's able to be done by making it similar to an instance affect where it  would apply to the mission and not people  in other missions or greys that way.

 

On 10/8/2018 at 7:18 PM, MattScott said:

NOTE: I was not on the original RTW team, nor was I on the Reloaded team, so much of this is internal hearsay.

As I understand it, Midtown was a development area for the game's work in progress assets. Most of the buildings were used in Financial, although a couple unique designs remain.
Technically we did find it on a map sketched in between Financial and Waterfront, and it is referenced in the lore as a separate place.

The idea of Criminal and Enforcer Social Districts were too fragmenting to the player base, so those districts were scrapped.
The Criminal Social District was used to create Asylum.

The assets for the Enforcer district are still there, but for reasons I wont go into, they aren't very usable as in-game models.
We would be better off doing something from scratch using that district as inspiration.

Thanks,
Matt
 

To clarify : does that mean  Little Orbit would consider a whole new Midtown to  be made to expand APB ?

Edit :  missed the other post sorry thanks for answering

Edited October 10, 2018 by Fortune Runner

[slvyt 72]

I would not have seen this if Matt had not commented on this, all i want to say is wow all the concept art and map designs/concepts are truly amazing, great work @Ellix and to the others who have help with the project. 

[iTzBlackout 139]

3 hours ago, MattScott said:

The Criminal Social District was used to create Asylum.

Maybe that also answer my question why Asylum looked different in the past. Still it's possible that it already was the fightclub version, but was downgraded cuz engine limits and gameplay.  https://imgur.com/a/67WLK3f

[-Rachel- 129]

5 hours ago, MattScott said:

NOTE: I was not on the original RTW team, nor was I on the Reloaded team, so much of this is internal hearsay.

As I understand it, Midtown was a development area for the game's work in progress assets. Most of the buildings were used in Financial, although a couple unique designs remain.
Technically we did find it on a map sketched in between Financial and Waterfront, and it is referenced in the lore as a separate place.

The idea of Criminal and Enforcer Social Districts were too fragmenting to the player base, so those districts were scrapped.
The Criminal Social District was used to create Asylum.

The assets for the Enforcer district are still there, but for reasons I wont go into, they aren't very usable as in-game models.
We would be better off doing something from scratch using that district as inspiration.

Thanks,
Matt
 

Please?

1 hour ago, iTzBlackout said:

Maybe that also answer my question why Asylum looked different in the past. Still it's possible that it already was the fightclub version, but was downgraded cuz engine limits and gameplay.  https://imgur.com/a/67WLK3f

Funny how the game looks worse now than it did then.

[Ellix 415]

6 hours ago, MattScott said:

Hi all,

I love this post. and have enjoyed checking it occasionally to see the responses from players.
I figure it's probably time for me to weigh in.

First, I think the OP did a fantastic job organizing information and data about Midtown. We do have quite a bit in the archives, but the work was all temporary and never intended for the final product.

Second, I don't think the current version of the game would benefit from LO building out Midtown right now. In my opinion we need to make sure there is enough content in the current 2 action zones so they can progress characters and get matches. Having said that, we do have some ideas for possibly incorporating Midtown in the future when the game has different matchmaking and streaming systems. As others have mentioned, I also think it would be fun to free roam and drive all over the map from district to district.

Thanks,
Matt

Thank_you_very_much_for_the_response! @MattScott
I will keep working on Midtown as long as I can
(As a video game designer student this project is the perfect sandbox for me hehe)

I hope that one day it could be used for something!
 

[Dragon 12]

17 hours ago, MattScott said:

Hi all,

I love this post. and have enjoyed checking it occasionally to see the responses from players.
I figure it's probably time for me to weigh in.

First, I think the OP did a fantastic job organizing information and data about Midtown. We do have quite a bit in the archives, but the work was all temporary and never intended for the final product.

Second, I don't think the current version of the game would benefit from LO building out Midtown right now. In my opinion we need to make sure there is enough content in the current 2 action zones so they can progress characters and get matches. Having said that, we do have some ideas for possibly incorporating Midtown in the future when the game has different matchmaking and streaming systems. As others have mentioned, I also think it would be fun to free roam and drive all over the map from district to district.

Thanks,
Matt

I agree, awesome work. Essentially it would be nice to merge the districts and make the map bigger, the same way you mentioned. Being able to level up contacts from that same server connection without switching district would make the quality of life better overall. Maybe at some point, we will be able to drive up to the social district and get out to continue on foot into breakwater marina and truly make APB an MMO Open World Game. I understand that this may be a challenge, but it is not impossible and will definitely help the game and LO's business.

[Similarities 226]

On 10/9/2018 at 3:59 AM, -Rachel- said:

Please? Funny how the game looks worse now than it did then.

A lot of that comes down to shaders, the RTW shaders were better but I don't think they'll ever be restored. I was working on my own shader library to replace the RTW feel and look while also being marginally more optimized than the current ones, but I will never finish it because of the ruling on shaders.

[Havana 216]

Awesome and long overdue. 

[Too_many_snowflakes 80]

You should send LO your resume.... 

[Seedy 324]

On 10/9/2018 at 3:18 AM, MattScott said:

NOTE: I was not on the original RTW team, nor was I on the Reloaded team, so much of this is internal hearsay.

As I understand it, Midtown was a development area for the game's work in progress assets. Most of the buildings were used in Financial, although a couple unique designs remain.
Technically we did find it on a map sketched in between Financial and Waterfront, and it is referenced in the lore as a separate place.

The idea of Criminal and Enforcer Social Districts were too fragmenting to the player base, so those districts were scrapped.
The Criminal Social District was used to create Asylum.

The assets for the Enforcer district are still there, but for reasons I wont go into, they aren't very usable as in-game models.
We would be better off doing something from scratch using that district as inspiration.

Thanks,
Matt
 

 

I will assume multi distance models were not made lol takes too much time to make them and no lore or ready made contacts lol .. i dont blame you

I wouldnt do it either.. I have around 600 building models in my game and I got around 60 done in 3 different levels of detail. Didnt complete the rest!

See video here for 1 level of detail and the pre release demo. 

 

My larger map (teriach island - around 1 mile by 1 mile) has 2 levels of details for allot of buildings, cars, walking and reactive AI in multiplayer. Will take another AGE to make get 3 levels of details for buildings with just me doing it.

 

Midtown will never be made by LO or anyone else (no offence to the dreamer doing it or @MattScott but you know the script). Its a pipedream. LBA took me 4 years by my self to make a Multiplayer 3rd person shooter that actually worked. With no lore. APB took 4 years, 400 staff and $100,000,000 to make with backing from EA. Forget Midtown. Hey if you want to send me the models and your supposed layout Ill build them in to my game so you can at least run around and shoot each other. Will only take around 1 year to make the non box like coliders, The actual roads and get AI walking around the paths will take a further year maybe ?? If Midtown ever gets past your images with anything resembling APB, I will eat my own shoes and video it to prove i done it.

 

Shit if you get Midtown to the level I got LBA, I will eat my own shoes.. never mind APB level!

Edited October 10, 2018 by Seedy
quick bla

[EMilika 41]

3 minutes ago, Seedy said:

what a sh1t

whoa and we think apb is bad.

[Ellix 415]

2 hours ago, Seedy said:

 

Shit if you get Midtown to the level I got LBA, I will eat my own shoes.. never mind APB level!

Challange@Accepted

[Ellix 415]

Thanks to @Jenz/Amaka I got ripped APB Models now!

 

 

Will use those as placeholders and sizing

It can help me place intractable items such as doors and ladders!

 

 

 

 

 

Already ported it to Sketchup by using Blender

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ellix 415]

A thread for images/video/art related to Midtown

 

 

[BrandonBranderson 672]

Hey wouldjalookitdat shameless self plug.

 

"Hey, give up on your project, but give me your work and I'll put it in mine"

Edited October 11, 2018 by BrandonBranderson

[Haganu 103]

On 10/9/2018 at 9:59 AM, -Rachel- said:

Please? Funny how the game looks worse now than it did then.

Thank the team under Monte late 2013 for screwing up the shaders beyond any repairs as far as we've all heard.

Now that it comes to mind. Is it actually beyond any repairs? Old G1 didn't like to be very honest.

 

@MattScott, what are the possibilities for the ingame shaders? It's not very relevant due to what little time we all hope there'd be left on Unreal 3 2007/2008, but I still wonder what the possibilities are for the dev team regarding shaders. Considering the Headless Horseman event has very dense fog and the shading definitely doesn't look vanilla, I'd assume the possibilities aren't as limited as we think it is.

 

 

Back to topic, the work done to recreate midtown is amazing. Those squares on the foliage (tree leaves and bushes) gives me PTSD from pso2 though lol.

Very enjoyable to read through this thread.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Haganu

[Ellix 415]

8 hours ago, Haganu said:

 

@MattScott, what are the possibilities for the ingame shaders? It's not very relevant due to what little time we all hope there'd be left on Unreal 3 2007/2008, but I still wonder what the possibilities are for the dev team regarding shaders.