November Update: Engine Upgrade Images

Hello Citizens,

As most of you all know, we have been busy with our engine update over the last year and we are proud to see the improvements that have been made over this period of time. Previous blog posts has shown the update improvements to the social district and now is the time to present to you some updated comparison screenshots as well provide a brief comment on what was has been done to reach that improvement.

In order to accomplish what you see below, the art department has completed:

• Balanced color grading and saturation levels.
• Balanced fog and depth of field.
• Altered directional light color, light bounce, brightness and skylight shadow depth.
• Added dynamic shadowing to certain assets (such as the palm trees on the strip).
• Rebalanced sky
• Various material updates

While it's been incredibly slow to get here, we are making great progress and soon all of you will be able to enjoy a nicer visual experience, and our team will finally have the ability to implement new content and areas using the new engine systems.

MoK

Let the Trick or Treating Begin!

Hello Citizens,

Halloween is 8 days away but we at Reloaded wanted to start the festivities early and are pleased to announce that the Halloween 2015 begins today!

Returning with a vengeance is the Headless Horseman Event II, which will be packed with 4 new titles and a new customisable backpack for you to earn and enjoy.

We are as excited to bring back this popular event and looking forward to joining you all in this action packed, unique and fun arena where you can team up with friends, work your way to become the Horseman or run till the bell tolls and the nightmare is over.

So enjoy the festivities and looking forward to seeing you all online.

Till next time,

MoK

Halloween 2015 Horseman Event

The rules for the event are simple:

1. Collect X amount of pumpkins to become the HORSEMAN and start the event (Timer Starts).
2. The HORSEMAN must kill other players to convert them HORSEMAN’S army (SOLDIERS).
3. SOLDIERS must kill other players to recruit them into the HORSEMAN’S army.
4. SURVIVORS must avoid being killed, till time runs out (Timer Ends).

NOTE:  SURVIVORS blip on the HORSEMAN’S army's radar when the bell tolls, signifying that the HORSEMAN Event is coming to an end...keep fighting, running or hiding to survive.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

HORSEMAN

• BUFFED UP HEALTH, FLARE GUN and a custom steed ENVEGAS
• EARN POINTS BY KILLING SURVIVORS

SOLDIERS

• ABLE TO RE-SPAWN MULTIPLE TIMES WITHOUT PENALTY
• EARN POINTS FOR KILLING SURVIVORS

SURVIVORS

• EARN POINTS FOR SURVIVING
• EARN EXTRA POINTS FOR KILLING AND BECOMING THE HORSEMAN

PRIZES AND REWARDS

Achievements, titles and a new backpack can all be won and earned in this year’s event.

The titles are:

• SURVIVORS - HUMAN RESISTANCE
• HEADLESS HORSEMAN - VENGEFUL SPIRIT
• PUMPKIN SOLDIER - ONE OF MANY

For participating in the Headless Horseman Event 2015:

• HHE 2015 - BACK FOR MORE

NOTE: CAR SURFING HAS BEEN DISABLED FOR THIS EVENT ONLY.

Enjoy folks and have a happy Halloween.

MoK

A WHOLE LOT OF OCTOBER FOR YOU

Hello Citizens,

With all the work that has been going on, it has been a bit of time since I have spoken to you all. With the Halloween season upon us, now is a good time to get you all updated on what will be in store for this month.

PHASE 4 REVELATIONS PACK

Phase 4 of the REVELATIONS PACK will soon be released to all those who have purchased the pack.  Since the release is a few weeks away, we wanted to provide a preview of what you will receive.  

PLAGUE

Female

Male

WAR

Female

Male

FAMINE

Female

 Male

DEATH

Female

Male

WEAPON REBALANCING, WEAPON AND TTK DISTRICTS

Over the last few months we have gathered important information from both of our test districts.  We thank all those who took the time and energy to participate, your feedback was very helpful to us.  With that being said, all weapons that were being worked on will now be returning to the main game next week, weapon test and TTK districts will therefore be removed on the same day.  Of course no weapon balance is ever complete and we will update you on any changes that may happen in the future.

HALLOWEEN EVENT 2015 RETURNS

We are pleased to announce the return of the HEADLESS HORSEMAN event for this Halloween, details of start dates and prizes will be presented to you soon.  There is a lot going on this month and we will keep you informed as we move forward over the next coming months. 

This is shaping up to be a fun month, unfortunately with all the good news comes some bad. Jobs has been the producer on APB over this last year and a vital team member for many years previously to this and it saddens me to announce his departure from Reloaded Games.  He had some final words for you all before he left, which you can read below.

Hey San Paro!

After five years with the Reloaded Team, I’ve decided to cast my sails and embark on a new journey.

When we re-launched APB in 2011, I knew we had something special in our hands. Like many of you I fell in love with APB:R, made lasting friendships, and felt privileged to be a part of its community. I am proud to have poured my heart and soul into growing this game. And having contributed to nearly every aspect of APB – from coding to design to production – I feel that it’s the right time to begin the next chapter in my career.

I’d now like to introduce you to APB’s new Producer: Kullgar. As one of our most senior team members, he’s long been an invaluable part of the APB production staff who’s made extraordinary contributions from behind the scenes. And with over nine years of experience at Reloaded, you couldn’t ask for a better person to lead APB into the console generation.

Thanks to all of you again for your loyalty, support and friendship. I’m sure you’ll still see me around San Paro every now and then (especially if you own a PS4)!

Jobs

The entire APB team wishes the best for Jobs and welcomes Kullgar to his new role as producer.

Till later citizens,

MoK

SOMETHING IS IN THE AIR AND IT IS GETTING CLOSER

Hello Citizens,

This month’s blog post comes to you with a few announcements and some updates on what is going on in the city of San Paro.  We will be bringing players a new vehicle, an upcoming pack, updated weapon stats on the weapons that have been balanced previously and returned into the main game and the new TTK test districts coming this month.  Please visit the forum links provided to view more detail on what has been done and what you can expect to see in the next month. 

OK, let’s start with…

JUGGERNAUT PACK PHASE 4

This Wednesday will see the distribution of PHASE 4 of the JUGGERNAUT PACK containing the remaining 2 weapons, RABID and THE MANIC from the FANATIC BROTHER LINE.

THE IO GROWL

As well as the introduction of the new IO GROWL to our vehicle line up, available for purchase in ARMAS, in game and won as rewards during gameplay. 

The open 4 slot model will be an ARMAS exclusive and available on Wednesday Aug19th.  On September 16^th all players will be able to purchase an open 2 slot version in game using APB Cash and open 1 slot models, being available randomly during missions. 

THE PACK OF REVELATIONS PASS

We were not just happy with creating a new vehicle, we also wanted to kick off the next pack with some style.  Therefore the team and I are happy to present, the PACK OF REVELATIONS PASS on ARMAS.  This pack is unique in that, we wanted to offer a stronger visual variety of goods to the player and yet still maintain the overall APB Reloaded feel.  This PASS will be available to players this Wednesday as well, with each phase being released over the next two month. 

We wanted to share as much as we can before the items are released to the players and are happy to show you what has been created and worked on. 

With that said, I present to you the PACK OF REVELATIONS which contains:

PHASE 1 (AUG 19^th/2015)
THE CAR

PHASE 2 (SEP 2^nd/2015)

THE KITS

Which when combined together give you the "APOCALYPSE" 

PHASE 3 PACK EXCLUSIVE (SEP 24^th/2015)

Exclusive Primary and Secondary Weapons + Exclusive skins

PLAGUE MODEL– SMG
WAR – SHOTGUN
FAMINE – ASSAULT RIFLE
DEATH – SNIPER RIFLE

PRIMARY WEAPONS

SECONDARY WEAPON – PISTOL

PHASE 4 (OCT 28^th/2015)

ALL 4 HORSEMEN CLOTHING

(MALE& FEMALE VERSIONS)

WORKING CONCEPT VERSIONS, FINAL RELEASE MAY APPEAR DIFFERENTLY. FINAL IMAGES TO BE RELEASED SHORTLY.

NOTE: PURCHASE EARLY TO RECEIVE YOUR BONUS JOKER BOXES WITH THIS KIT AND EACH PHASE WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE 1 MONTH AFTER PASS DISTRIBUTION, MINUS THE REVELATION PACK EXCLUSIVES.

As you can see this pack has something for everyone and we are proud to bring this to you all.

UPDATE WEAPONS STATS

As was mentioned on some of the forums, we did not provide updated information and stats made to the following weapons.  To remedy that issue, we have provided all the stats and description changes that were done based on the information gained from the weapons test district.

NTEC	OCSP
COBRA-A	JOKER SR15 CARBINE
ISSR-A	VBR
SHAW	ISSR-B
ALIG	FFA-BULLSHARK
NSSW	VAS-C2
	M-1922

Information on the above weapons can be found via the link below

http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/386741-weapon-rebalance-pre-high-ttk-test-values/?p=4164741

Of course no weapon balancing is ever truly finished, but for the time being we will be removing the weapon test district and substituting it with:

TWO NEW TTK TEST DISTRICTS

Since my time here with the company, I and many others have looked at and debated the merits of a longer or shorter TTK and its relationship with players expectations and the weapons they chose to use.  Forum chats and feedback have been present for some time now and the upcoming month of September, you the community will have a chance to test out two TTK districts. One of the districts will contain RTW configuration, the other will contain a predetermined set up which will allow you the player, a chance to try out different TTK times and compare if they are better or worse than what is present in game as well as provide us statistical data on what was being used, how long and etc.

We will not only be reviewing forum feedback but will also have survey questionnaires sent to random players requesting more detailed information on their experiences between each test district.

As you can see we have packed in a fair amount of stuff for you to test, enjoy and customize.  Stay tuned for updates regarding our TTK findings and updates as they happen.

Till next time citizens,

MoK