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APB blog update outlines extensive game changes, new Asylum district
This week's APB Reloaded blog update is a big one, so big in fact that it required two devs to write it. GamersFirst CEO Bjorn Book-Larsson kicks things off with a look at the Asylum, a new area currently under development and slated to become San Paro's third play district. The Asylum will contain a variety of new game modes, and while the article is light on those particular details, it does feature a handful of screenshots showing off the locale's creepy confines. The meat of the blog entry comes courtesy of GamersFirst designer Zak "Qwentle" Littwin, who pens a lengthy missive focused on the major problems with APB's original incarnation (and consequently the major priorities for GamersFirst going forward). Littwin spends a good amount of time going over everything from the new mission and witnessing structure to changes involving APB's matchmaking and scoring systems. "While you can work out why you got what you did at the end of a mission, it's rather confusing. We want to make this score visible to players and highlight the amount of score you get when doing certain activities. We can then also increase the amount of benefit that score gives," Littwin says. Check out the full text at the APB Reloaded blog and have a look at the Asylum shots in our gallery below. %Gallery-115829%
GamersFirst talks APB core game changes
Fans of All Points Bulletin are in for a treat this week as GamersFirst has dropped a ton of new info about the game in its latest APB Reloaded blog entry. Zak "Qwentle" Littwin (former QA Lead at Realtime Worlds and current designer at GamersFirst) devotes a lot of virtual ink to APB's closed beta tweaks, and also hints at "much more extensive changes" in store for the game's open beta and release clients. Littwin teases a new game mode called Turf Wars as well as APB's first proper expansion which will feature a new district for the city of San Paro. First things first though; the meat of the blog entry concerns core gameplay adjustments that GamersFirst wishes to test in the closed beta. These include cheat detection (via Punkbuster as discussed last week), weapon modifications, and sweeping changes to the old game's progression curve. A few of the game's vehicles have also been modified. The original version of APB received a fair bit of criticism related to its driving mechanics, and GamersFirst is looking to rectify this in part by "giv[ing] each vehicle a lot of individual personality and specialisation and unique benefits, rather than everyone rushing straight to the Cisco/Bishada/Jericho/T25." Finally, Littwin touches on premium accounts and the challenge inherent in differentiating them from free-to-play services without unbalancing the game. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and read all about it at the official APB Reloaded blog.
