APB Reloaded Reloaded

[Zombra]

The original Grand Theft Auto MMO, APB, tanked on its first release in 2010. A new publisher rejuvenated it for a while and then it apparently tanked again. Now a new new publisher, Little Orbit (mostly known around here for attempting to revive vaporware kickstarter Unsung Story) has absorbed the old publisher and intends to revamp the revamp, changing the engine to Unreal and adding new content.

RPS source article

I liked APB for the short time I played it a few years ago. Obviously it's not as pretty as the more modern, higher budget, official GTA Online, but somehow it had more charm and felt more welcoming. The mission design was cool and the PvP felt great. Mostly vying for objectives on a huge world map, making multiple approaches to everything emerge naturally. Not a huge amount of variety but fun.

I may end up reinstalling this mother if Little Orbit comes through.

 

[Deathsquid]

Wow, get a load of that.

APB had some promise, too bad it was so badly half-assed. It's not as half-assed as GTA Online, which gets away with all the incredible bullshit of, oh, I dunno, everything? by the virtue of the base game and the brand, but holy fuck was it half-assed at launch, we couldn't ever get the fucking thing to launch in pre-release beta.

Engine change though? That's probably quite an investment, and MAYBE something that might finally get the game to function. Dunno what engine it was originally made on but I had a feeling it was just murdering the game itself.

 

[Derk Derm]

...Engine change though? That's probably quite an investment, and MAYBE something that might finally get the game to function. Dunno what engine it was originally made on but I had a feeling it was just murdering the game itself.

Game was made on a fairly early version of Unreal Engine 3 but with a bunch of custom tech built ontop, Reloaded Productions has apparently been working on updating the engine to UE 3.5 (alongside the console version releases) but there's been no news on that for years, until today that is.
Looking at the CEO's post on the official APB Reloaded blog, it seems that the first plan is to finish the 3.5 work THEN update to UE4.

On a sidenote: GamersFirst also owned Fallen Earth, with Reloaded Productions yet again being put in charge of development, looks like the buyout might cause some new things to happen on that front as well (though that discussion will have to wait for another thread)

 

[thesheeep]

I liked APB for the short time I played it a few years ago. Obviously it's not as pretty as the more modern, higher budget, official GTA Online, but somehow it had more charm and felt more welcoming. The mission design was cool and the PvP felt great. Mostly vying for objectives on a huge world map, making multiple approaches to everything emerge naturally. Not a huge amount of variety but fun.

Absolutely.
It was the GTA Online that never existed - actual GTA-like missions (even if only relatively straight ones, nothing fancy) involving driving through the city in a hurry, shooting from cars or on foot in the streets, crazy maneuvers.
And a customization that has never since been matched.
I really liked it until the lack of variety in missions and the "store" drove me away. Rentable weapons? Really?...

About the engine change... yeah, I'll give it a try when that happens.

 

[Watser]

APB: Reloaded - 705 hrs on record
That game is a LOT of fun with a group of friends. However, it's also an infinite source of frustration and anger. In fact, it's the best rage simulator I have played and this is an amazing feat since there is no competitive scene, it's all casual.

 

[Norfleet]

I also seem to recall hearing it was spyware that allowed random creeps on the Internet to spy on your desktop and computer.

 

[thesheeep]

I also seem to recall hearing it was spyware that allowed random creeps on the Internet to spy on your desktop and computer.

To be fair, you can probably find some tinfoil claiming that for every game and software in existence.

 

[Norfleet]

Yes, but this wasn't tinfoil material, this was apparently somewhat more credible than that.