APB - All Points Bulletin

[Zellery]

I'm surprised Gertsmann managed to get up off his comfy couch to do anything.

I won't stand for this Giant Bomb bashing.

Besides, Ryan is way fatter than Jeff.

[Garth]

Realtime's Dave Jones defends APB

Realtime Worlds' Dave Jones has responded to criticism of APB in a wide-ranging interview due to be published on Eurogamer next week.

Jones blamed disappointing review scores on "misconceptions" and "huge expectations".

Eurogamer gave the game a 6/10 this morning, criticising the combat, matchmaking, and vehicle handling, but praising it for "the vast amount of intelligent thought and clever design that has gone into the structure of the game".

"It's not for absolutely everybody," Jones admitted. "If some people are diehard FPS guys and Modern Warfare is their life, they're going to struggle to make the change.

"But Splinter Cell players, or guys who are in to more tactical combat and they just love being online with their friends in a multi-player game, we're finding we're really resonating with those guys. There are a lot of misconceptions.

"Funnily enough I'm just reading the Eurogamer one just now, and there are misconceptions about more powerful characters and more powerful guns.

"There are no more powerful characters and there are no more powerful guns in the game. But people die and they see a rating on a player. Rating has nothing to do with the kind of equipment they have. Our weapon system is exactly the same as Modern Warfare. We don't have more powerful weapons. We just have a different range of weapons."

Jones said APB suffers in comparison to Grand Theft Auto, a series he helped create while at DMA Design (later Rockstar North).

"Some people had too high expectations. The game years ago was initially tagged as GTA MMO, which we'd never said. Obviously people put two and two together - our history and the fact it was online - and said, 'Oh it's going to be like a GTA MMO'. I think that's set huge expectations. That's not what we were building, so I was expecting that."

Despite the less than stellar reaction to APB thus far, Jones remains upbeat.

"I remember on GTA 1, people laughed at it because it was a 2D game when Ridge Racer appeared. They laughed at the screenshots. They said, 'These guys are crazy releasing a 2D top down game'. But once they played the game a fair bit they go, 'Well actually it's kind of good fun'. And they saw past that. Crackdown was the same. Every game - I think it's a bit of a curse of mine. We just try and make sure we do something different every time."

Expect more from our interview with Dave Jones when it goes live next week.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dave- ... efends-apb

Any other reviews out yet or is it just Eurogamer and PC Gamer?

Edit: not even an official thread for this on GAF? Shocking. Less than positive reviews, game time fees, quiet release - it's bombing, isn't it?

[rudderless]

I've not played it for very long so far, but I've not been particularly impressed, it has to be said. That said, MMOs require a quite significant time investment before they reveal their charms.

[7] from Edge, though.

[Hound]

I was playing last night. I like the mission structure and world but found the game itself really hard and quite complicated!

[Andrew Mills]

Just got this from OnlineKeyStore for the small sum of £16.99 (which isn't too shabby). I'm hoping there's the ability to display peoples creations via a web page, as I'm interested in developing my web/guide coding skills with something like this (also perhaps a guide that you can track players stats in real-time - as you can in games like BFBC2).

[Andrew Mills]

Sod the double posting, but I actually enjoyed this (played for 3hrs non stop and I may jump back on it in a bit). Would be better with a mic and headset and a few people who want to work as an actual strawberry floating team, but yea, much better than I expected it to be. No strawberry floating clue how to unlock better weapons as an Enforcer though, that's doing my strawberry floating tits in...

[tomvek]

RTW promises “major” APB driving and combat overhaul

Following middling launch reviews and public push-back from Realtime Worlds boss Dave Jones, the developer has promised major upgrades to crime MMO APB, including changing vehicle handling and “looking at almost every aspect of combat”.

Driving and combat were the two areas most heavily criticised in launch reviews, and it seems the developer was listening.

“We’re already underway on a major overhaul to vehicle handling to make cars more responsive and less slippy overall,” said RTW’s Neil Castle in a note on the game’s site.

“You’ll still be able to power slide around corners in stylish fashion, but steering is more responsive overall and easier to get the hang of early on.”

Castle added: “We’re looking at almost every aspect of combat – how it looks, feels and sounds, as well as weapon characteristics and tactics. Weapon changes will be put up on the Public Test World to get some feedback in due course.”

It sounds as though the entire game is now being tweaked, including missions, matchmaking, cheating, camping and more.

“That’s just a sample of the things that are currently going on here, and we’re already very excited even with some of the early prototypes,” Castle said.

“The APB Public Test World will host each of these changes in turn to allow players to give us their feedback before we make a move to push any changes live, so watch the website and forums for announcements about how and when you can get involved in upcoming PTW events.”

There’s no word yet on when any upgrades are to go live.

http://www.vg247.com/2010/07/13/rtw-pro ... -overhaul/

[Exxy]

Giant Bomb Quick Look

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-apb ... n/17-2889/

Looks rubbish

[Andrew Mills]

Giant Bomb Quick Look

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-apb ... n/17-2889/

Looks rubbish

It's much better when you're playing in a decent squad (or playing with people who WANT to be in a squad). Still haven't figured how the strawberry float you get new weapons, but I've went and bid on an SMG gun at the in-game auction house, so we'll see how that works...

[Fishfingers]

End of an Era

APB has been a fantastic journey, but unfortunately that journey has come to a premature end. Today we are sad to announce that despite everyone's best efforts to keep the service running; APB is coming to a close. It's been a pleasure working on APB and with all its players. Together we were building an absolutely amazing game, and for that, we thank you. You guys are awesome!

From all of the Realtime World staff we thank you for your continued support.

The servers are still up, so join the party and say goodbye!
- Ben 'APBMonkey' Bateman (Community Officer)

"I truly wish we had the chance to continue to craft APB into the vision we had for it. It has been a long & difficult journey but ultimately rewarding to have had the chance to try something bold and different. APB holds some great memories, from the last night of the beta, to the clans and individuals who amazed us with their creativity and sense of community. I am so sorry it had to end so quickly but hopefully the good memories will stay with us all for a long time. Thanks to all the team for the years of hard work, and to the players who contributed so much." - Dave Jones

“Please spare a thought to all the thousands of brave men and women of San Paro who despite knowing the odds, still dared to cross the street. They will be sorely missed.” - Johann van der Walt (Software Engineer: Living City)

“Thanks for sticking with us through the hard times guys, we put a huge amount of our lives into APB, but unfortunately we’re not going to get the chance to make it the game we all knew it had the potential to be. Thanks." - Rob “bobbyd” Anderberg.
"Thanks for being a creative and imaginative community, the cookies, feedback and ideas were appreciated." – Ben ' Giefster ' Skelly

"Working on APB was rewarding, frustrating, amazing, depressing, exciting, and overall, surreal. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it, but I’ve enjoyed it all the way. I hope the players enjoyed the time they had despite the short comings, and will remember the game in a good light for what it was meant to be, not quite what it turned out to be. Now just to get started on that Xbox version..." - Jon McKellan (the guy who did the loading screens)

“I had the great pleasure of working with some extremely talented people in both the Dundee and Boulder office, and for the longest time APB was our lives. It is truly sad that it ended this way ... but when you aim for the stars, you sometimes fall on your face.” - Ben Abbott, Live Producer.

"Press F to apply for Jobseekers Allowance."- Ben Hall (Development QA)

"In every way APB was a dichotomy. I have witnessed the project alter from a fragile and delicate entity used to show the world the depth of our vision through to the sturdy beast we released to the public. There were the unusual errors and crashes which are to be expected but it worked. Once in the hands of our community I have never seen something elicit such a polarisation of people. It was dismissed as overhyped and broken or else taken to heart to be loved and cherished, buoyed on by a fanaticism I was proud to have played a part in bringing to the world. Although still again among our players APB brought out both the poles in human behaviour. I bore witness to raw hatred and fury, arrogance and mean spirits but I was also delighted to experience the kindest side of human nature as players came to the aid of others when in a tight spot or they created works of art with the tools provided.

In all APB was a fantastic experience with an incredible team and it is one that I will always cherish and has added to who I am. Thank you everyone involved from our excellent players to our incredible dev team."- Conor Crowley (Senior QA, System design assistant, Tech support, in-game support, Overall CS, 1 man Publishing QA team, Tea Boy, Morale Officer)

"I’m sad to see the project go. Of all the games I’ve worked on, APB was probably the one with the most potential. I genuinely believe that given more time, we could have turned APB into the game we all wanted it to be. I’d like to thank the community for all their support, the good times I’ve had playing against them, and for the amazing (and often hilarious) user-generated content that they’ve created.

I’d also like to thank the rest of the team for all of their hard-work, and for generally being great people to work with. " -Bryan Robertson (Gameplay Programmer)

[Mafro]

Jesus Christ, that went well. How long has it been out? Two months?

[Hulohot]

They're actually closing it all down?

[TheTurnipKing]

What choice do they have? They're pretty much out of cash.

[Alpha eX]

Does it have an offline mode?

[Andrew Mills]

Does it have an offline mode?

I don't believe it does. Makes me glad I got it from onlinekeystore for only £16. Not as hard done by as others who paid full whack and never got their moneys worth.

[Fishfingers]

If anyone wants to try APB the game is now FREE to play until the servers are turned off tomorrow.

Get the client from here: http://eu.apb.com/downloads/eu-installerMS

[Harry Bizzle]

Seems like an utterly pointless gesture.


Shocking stuff. I thought they said something along the lines that the game has one of the highest spends per user for an MMO?


edit: Less than a month ago, it says 130,000 users spending on average $28. That's over $3.5 mil. I honestly don't know bugger all about what they have to pay but surely there's money to be made in that?

[Fishfingers]

Seems like an utterly pointless gesture.


Shocking stuff. I thought they said something along the lines that the game has one of the highest spends per user for an MMO?


edit: Less than a month ago, it says 130,000 users spending on average $28. That's over $3.5 mil. I honestly don't know bugger all about what they have to pay but surely there's money to be made in that?

No, if you read the release what it says is that there were 130,000 registered accounts. Of those, those who were paying spent an average of $28 per month. The number of the members who were paying for subscriptions was never defined by the administrators.

[Tafdolphin]

Christ, this is an even bigger mess than Hellgate! 2 and a half/3 years of hype building for 2 months of activity!

[Christopher]

The fat lady hasn't opened her mouth yet.

Massive multiplayer game APB: All Points Bulletin is to close less than three months after it launched.

It took five years to develop the online role-playing game where players fight each other in the virtual dystopia of San Paro.

The closure of the game comes after developer Real Time Worlds (RTW) went into administration, with the loss of 250 jobs.

RTW was founded by Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto creator Dave Jones.

"I truly wish we had the chance to continue to craft APB into the vision we had for it," wrote Mr Jones on APB's official forums.

"It has been a long & difficult journey but ultimately rewarding to have had the chance to try something bold and different.

"I am so sorry it had to end so quickly but hopefully the good memories will stay with us all for a long time."

Real Time Worlds had been heralded as one of the UK's video game success stories.

It was founded in 2002 by Mr Jones after he left Dma Designs (the firm behind the first Grand Theft Auto that went on to become Rockstar North) and recruited many staff from Rage Software after it went bankrupt in 2003.

However, major commercial success eluded the company and the release of APB in mid-2010 attracted mixed reviews.

A few weeks after the launch of APB, Dundee-based RTW went into administration.

'Sad loss'
Johnny Minkley from gaming website Eurogamer told BBC News that he was not surprised at the closure, although the industry would be "sad to see the loss of RTW in this way".

"When a firm is in administration, you always hold out hope that parts of it will survive," he said.

Earlier this month, RTW's social game Project:My World was bought for an undisclosed sum. However, attempts to sell APB as a going concern appear to have failed.

A source close to the development team at APB told BBC News that administrators were looking to sell the intellectual property rights to APB. One company mentioned as a potential buyer was US-based Epic Games.

"Epic are a smart company... and have a reputation for being shrewd operators," said Mr Minkley.

"They have good brands such as Unreal and Gears of War and a ready-to-go engine that could fit into the APB Brand.

"Since Epic built the technology behind APB, it would certainly require less of a leap to get it up and running again.

"Whether the potential is enough to outweigh the challenges of reviving a failed project is another matter."

Dana Cowley, a spokesperson for Epic Games, declined to comment directly on that issue.

"Mark [Epic Games CEO] absolutely loves APB, and everyone here loved what they saw," she said.

"We've got our hands full of Gears of War 3, Bullet Storm and the recently announced Project Sword, said Ms Cowley. "If any talks like that are going on, then they would be confidential."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11333582