June 2019 - Engine Upgrade progress (screenshots & video)

[notMateo 23]

What I really want to know is how this engine update is going to affect the future of the game. Overtime, I think APB's problems have grown to not only include the obvious culprits such as bad performance, cheaters, and balance, but now envelop things like a dated gameplay experience, very bad presentation, and a dwindling niche community. What I mean by this is that APB isn't the fresh chicken it used to be, and I don't know how much the engine update is going to alleviate this.

 

While I appreciate what LO is doing with this game, I still have nagging fears that it's gonna be all for nothing just due to the age of the game, unless complete systems start to get replaced in the game. Of course, I'm also not saying "LO NEEDS TO FIX THE GRAPHICS, THE GUNPLAY, AND PLAYERCOUNT IN THE NEXT YEAR" or anything that vindictive, I'm just saying that we're at the point now where the game feels like it'll be held by back signs of it's age. 

 

So I guess I have some questions for LO; What does this engine update actually do for the future of APB? Again, I'm grateful for what you've done so far and I'm not asking for immediate fixes, but I am curious about the general roadmap of this game. Will this just stay a "classic" feeling game? Do you have plans to change any of the core gameplay systems or iterate on what already exists? 

 

I'm really sorry if I sound condescending or like I'm asking for Moar, I'm just curious about where the game is going now that this long project is finally out the window. I don't remember if this was covered in previous blog posts- it's been a long 4 years or whatever.

[ShunTara 5]

Why does the console version look way better than the PC version upgrade?

Even the UI design , menu's and fronts on the console look more up to date and look better?

 

also from that video, the game looks pretty much the same, the lighting and bloom quality is barely showing, night time needs to have more bloom quality.

Also, when is the engine upgrade going to be release in 2020? geez.

[vsb 6170]

14 minutes ago, notMateo said:

unless complete systems start to get replaced in the game.

this is one of the largest reasons for the engine upgrade, it will allow the garbage systems we have now to actually be tweaked/changed entirely without destroying the rest of the game

 

given how often this is discussed and how old you are as a player its odd that you dont know this already

[HardStyler3 36]

looks nice but i hope you are testing framerates in all hardware configurations 

 

so intel + nvidia 

intel + amd 

amd + amd 

amd + nvidia 

 

games these days dont get enough optimization for amd gpus anymore.

 

they have an easy to use gpu optimization tool called radeon gpu profiler on their open source platform gpuopen

https://gpuopen.com/radeon-gpu-profiler-1-5-1/

 

 

 

[SkittyM 287]

2 hours ago, ShunTara said:

Why does the console version look way better than the PC version upgrade?

Even the UI design , menu's and fronts on the console look more up to date and look better?

 

also from that video, the game looks pretty much the same, the lighting and bloom quality is barely showing, night time needs to have more bloom quality.

Also, when is the engine upgrade going to be release in 2020? geez.

It really doesn't, none of console looks better than the PC upgrade.  Everything visually is locked on console for starters.  The console UIs aren't bad but they are not designed for a mouse/keyboard at all.

 

Can't wait for the team to start working on visuals more, tired of filters and crushed darks galore.

[Snubnose 639]

On 7/2/2019 at 4:57 AM, MattScott said:

Hi all,

 

I think SPCT are all done showing off progress for the moment, but @rooq took the time to edit down a flythrough for everyone who is interested.

You can see it here on the Little Orbit YouTube channel:

 

I'm looking forward to using this thread as a "starting point" so that we can show more progress with lighting and post processing soon.

 

Thanks,
Matt

oh btw, what happened to dynamic lights for vehicles? G1 told us they're gonna make it happen, but it seems like it was never a thing...

are there plans to bring us dynamic vehicle lights? (so head- and taillights cast light... also, sirens casting light would be awesome!)

[Fortune Runner 796]

On 7/2/2019 at 12:22 PM, BlueB said:

Woah engine was real... cant wait to get a new monitor to properly watch vid and pics.

SPCT are all players who are involved with testing for bugs and other issues.

Did you think SPCT were lying when they said for months they were still testing?

4 hours ago, notMateo said:

What I really want to know is how this engine update is going to affect the future of the game. Overtime, I think APB's problems have grown to not only include the obvious culprits such as bad performance, cheaters, and balance, but now envelop things like a dated gameplay experience, very bad presentation, and a dwindling niche community. What I mean by this is that APB isn't the fresh chicken it used to be, and I don't know how much the engine update is going to alleviate this.

 

While I appreciate what LO is doing with this game, I still have nagging fears that it's gonna be all for nothing just due to the age of the game, unless complete systems start to get replaced in the game. Of course, I'm also not saying "LO NEEDS TO FIX THE GRAPHICS, THE GUNPLAY, AND PLAYERCOUNT IN THE NEXT YEAR" or anything that vindictive, I'm just saying that we're at the point now where the game feels like it'll be held by back signs of it's age. 

 

So I guess I have some questions for LO; What does this engine update actually do for the future of APB? Again, I'm grateful for what you've done so far and I'm not asking for immediate fixes, but I am curious about the general roadmap of this game. Will this just stay a "classic" feeling game? Do you have plans to change any of the core gameplay systems or iterate on what already exists? 

 

I'm really sorry if I sound condescending or like I'm asking for Moar, I'm just curious about where the game is going now that this long project is finally out the window. I don't remember if this was covered in previous blog posts- it's been a long 4 years or whatever.

You're asking a very broad question that involves many many different components.
 

Short answer is the Engine Upgrade is the main foundation needed to work on many other problems with APB.

Its not a magical fix but only part of the whole of what is needed to be done.

But nothing proper can move forward without this Engine Upgrade happening.

15 minutes ago, Snubnose said:

oh btw, what happened to dynamic lights for vehicles? G1 told us they're gonna make it happen, but it seems like it was never a thing...

are there plans to bring us dynamic vehicle lights? (so head- and taillights cast light... also, sirens casting light would be awesome!)

Thats kinda not involved with the Engine Upgrade but if they can get to it then that would be nice.

[SkittyM 287]

1 hour ago, Snubnose said:

oh btw, what happened to dynamic lights for vehicles? G1 told us they're gonna make it happen, but it seems like it was never a thing...

are there plans to bring us dynamic vehicle lights? (so head- and taillights cast light... also, sirens casting light would be awesome!)

As i recall, it was going to happen but was never part of the initial thing.  The focus was always porting the game to 3.5 and using some 3.5 specific features to boost performance.  Dynamic vehicle lights was one of those "after launch" plans.  Still should be if Matt wants it.

[notMateo 23]

6 hours ago, Glaciers said:

this is one of the largest reasons for the engine upgrade, it will allow the garbage systems we have now to actually be tweaked/changed entirely without destroying the rest of the game

 

given how often this is discussed and how old you are as a player its odd that you dont know this already

Often or not, when you haven't been part of a community in a while, things start to slip. I know that this is the first step, but probably just because it's the first step it makes me wonder.

2 hours ago, Fortune Runner said:

 

You're asking a very broad question that involves many many different components.
 

Short answer is the Engine Upgrade is the main foundation needed to work on many other problems with APB.

Its not a magical fix but only part of the whole of what is needed to be done.

But nothing proper can move forward without this Engine Upgrade happening.

You're right, it's far too broad; if I were to get one single question to ask LO, I'd probably ask them something along the lines of "Post-engine update, are there any plans for changes to the movement system, be it a full rewrite, a full 'from-scratch' redo, or simple QOL fixes currently in talks at LO?". Right now I personally feel like everything is in limbo of whether this "foundation fix" is going to give us these large remakes or just really good fixes to what already exists. Not that I don't have hope in whatever LO has planned, I'm just curious- with a little bit a fear truthfully.

[BlueB 35]

4 hours ago, Fortune Runner said:

SPCT are all players who are involved with testing for bugs and other issues.

Did you think SPCT were lying when they said for months they were still testing?

You're asking a very broad question that involves many many different components.
 

Short answer is the Engine Upgrade is the main foundation needed to work on many other problems with APB.

Its not a magical fix but only part of the whole of what is needed to be done.

But nothing proper can move forward without this Engine Upgrade happening.

Thats kinda not involved with the Engine Upgrade but if they can get to it then that would be nice.

Yes.

[Maeryth 7]

wow, i rellay like this modifications. that's a great job.

Thanks for all!

 

 i'm really happy for it!

 

[_chain 176]

oh hey look. it finally looks like an old ps3 game. 

[CookiePuss 5373]

31 minutes ago, _chain said:

oh hey look. it finally looks like an old ps3 game. 

#progress

[damn2112 49]

Why the hell are people so obsessed with graphics? They are acting like its gonna make the game better than it currently is. People being concerned about a games graphics instead of how it plays. Its exactly why most AAA games come out shit these days.

Edited July 6, 2019 by damn2112

[killerskull 111]

Is there a reason for no AA in the video?

[Fortune Runner 796]

1 hour ago, damn2112 said:

Why the hell are people so obsessed with graphics? They are acting like its gonna make the game better than it currently is. People being concerned about a games graphics instead of how it plays. Its exactly why most AAA games come out shit these days.

have you seen the civilian faces up close? its scary.

thats why i can understand that graphics matter as well

[TheMessiah 430]

My forecast what will happen in the game next 6 months:

This summer-probably some other season event plus maybe some changes to riot.They will keep working on 3.5.This autumn-halloween event and maybe around these times(october-november)public test for 3.5.Early winter(december 2nd part)xmas event.After dat in january 2020-3.5 finally released

If engine upgrade is not in package with new matchmaking and 2 new contacts - gonna sux.Otherwise u not gonna give reasons for all the players who will come back to stay very long

[Kewlin 692]

On 7/6/2019 at 12:53 AM, killerskull said:

Is there a reason for no AA in the video?

 

Current APB doesn't have AA, and I'm pretty sure the EU still doesn't have AA yet.

 

So yes, the reason is that AA doesn't exist in APB.

 

 

*EDIT* See below

Edited July 7, 2019 by Kewlin

[SkittyM 287]

59 minutes ago, Kewlin said:

 

Current APB doesn't have AA, and I'm pretty sure the EU still doesn't have AA yet.

 

So yes, the reason is that AA doesn't exist in APB.

Current APB has AA?  Nobody uses it cause it's unoptimized  But it has 2x and 4x i think.  Depending on hardware i think you can get 8x too.  Idr but 2x and 4x for sure.

[Kewlin 692]

32 minutes ago, SkittyM said:

Current APB has AA?  Nobody uses it cause it's unoptimized  But it has 2x and 4x i think.  Depending on hardware i think you can get 8x too.  Idr but 2x and 4x for sure.

 

NGL, I thought that was removed because it was so bad, but there's 4x and 8x, yeah.

 

But as I said, APB doesn't have AA, let's be honest. IIRC it's not only unoptimized, it actually makes the game look worse.

[killerskull 111]

10 hours ago, Kewlin said:

 

Current APB doesn't have AA, and I'm pretty sure the EU still doesn't have AA yet.

 

So yes, the reason is that AA doesn't exist in APB.

 

Oh dam, its been soo long since Ive logged in that I completely forgot that theres no AA. I guess I got used to having broke edges/lines everywhere when I used to play. 

[Kylegrey2 31]

I think it looks fantastic. The only concern i have is will it run smoother? The ddos issues have been improved quite a bit and i thank you for that. But if the game continues to run poorly after the upgrade i will be dissapointed. I have a modern system that greatly exceeds the games system requirements yet it ran better on my old pentium 4 system... keep up the good work. Fingers crossed.

[Kewlin 692]

1 hour ago, killerskull said:

 

Oh dam, its been soo long since Ive logged in that I completely forgot that theres no AA. I guess I got used to having broke edges/lines everywhere when I used to play. 

 

Brah, brah, there is AA, Skitty corrected me.

 

It's just a beta feature that's really bad.

[killerskull 111]

3 hours ago, Kewlin said:

 

Brah, brah, there is AA, Skitty corrected me.

 

It's just a beta feature that's really bad.

 

cool cool cool cool cool. Ok so it wasnt my failing memory. Good to know. Im sure they will get that in eventually.

[SkittyM 287]

15 hours ago, Kewlin said:

 

NGL, I thought that was removed because it was so bad, but there's 4x and 8x, yeah.

 

But as I said, APB doesn't have AA, let's be honest. IIRC it's not only unoptimized, it actually makes the game look worse.

I don't know how it makes the game look worse when it actually cleans up the jaggies a lot.

 

AA Off


AA on 8x

 

The only problem with it is that it's not really optimized, but on my hardware (x2 1070/R7 1800X) the impact isn't noticeable.  Does vary on setup.  The only OTHER issue it creates is random green artifacts on NPC edges.  Otherwise the feature does work and does what its supposed to do, its just really old and dated.  Don't think games even use 8x AA anymore, usually jumps to either Nvidia's or AMD's forms of AA after 4x.