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GTA creator opens up on APB

By Guy Cocker, GameSpot UKPosted Jul 15, 2009 4:02 am PT

DEVELOP '09: Realtime Worlds' Dave Jones uses keynote to discuss origins of forthcoming cops-vs.-criminals MMOG, suggests sci-fi settings limit audience size.

BRIGHTON, UK--As the creator of Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto, and Crackdown, Dave Jones is well positioned to talk about innovation and shaping the future of the industry. Nevertheless, this is the first time that the Dundee native has ever attended the Brighton Develop conference, let alone spoke at it. To mark the occasion of his first keynote at the show, Jones focused on the development of a 100 percent online game, with his upcoming action title All Points Bulletin at the centre.

Dave Jones at Develop 09.

The highlight of the talk was a 10-minute expose of APB, which launches in early 2010. The game is designed around the concept of "creativity, celebrity, and conflict." In terms of creativity, the game will offer an in-depth avatar creator, which also stretches to vehicles.

Some of the most interesting customisation in APB looks to come from the audio side. Jones confirmed the integration of music-streaming service Last.fm (which is owned by GameSpot's parent company CBS) for the game, so when players link their APB accounts to the service, they will be able to enjoy their favourite music in the game. There's also a simple music composition tool included in the game, and Jones showed how users will be able to compose "Another One Bites the Dust" or the theme from Super Mario Bros. These customs sound clips can then be cued up to in-game events, for example, playing whenever the gamer kills someone. "You could become the Mario assassin," joked Jones.

On the technical side, Jones said that his new favourite piece of technology was the server that APB will run from. "There will be no lobbies in our game," said Jones. "There will be asymmetrical matchmaking, looking at your skill level and bringing in lots of players or just two depending on the situation. APB will also be a truly persistent world--GTA and Crackdown were not." He then showed how the game world is alive even when players aren't on the server, with AI cars and people going about their business in the city.

Jones also found time to talk about his previous game, Crackdown on the Xbox 360. "Crackdown sold 1.5 million copies, which was just enough to break even," he said. "You have to be top 10 these days," he claimed, talking about retail charts. He specifically bemoaned used game sales--often a favourite complaint from speakers at Brighton--as well as the difficulty in selling a new IP.

Jones also had plenty of advice to give from the lessons he's learned over his 20-year career. When he set up DMA Design, which would go on to make Lemmings and GTA, Jones was a student and received £0.75 ($1.20 at today's exchange rates) per game he sold. "I plagiarised and that's fine--it's OK to learn from the masters," he said. "Actually, a lot of people said GTA1 was a lot like Pac Man, and it was." Jones added he was amazed at how similar game development is now, with the advent of the iPhone, in terms of production and royalties for development teams.

Jones also talked about his design principles, listed in order of importance: attention to detail; simple building blocks, compound effects; great training; keep it contemporary; humour; innovate, forge a genre. Attention to detail is the most important facet of design according to Jones, but his most interesting, and potentially controversial, advice was on keeping games contemporary. "If you want to break down barriers, reach the biggest audience, [then] keep it contemporary," he said. While he acknowledged their place in the industry, he railed against sci-fi games in particular, which he feels have too many barriers to entry.

He also talked about looking at developing for other platforms. "We looked at Wii, and it's great for Nintendo, but I like to make games that I play and so does our team," said Jones. "iPhone is also interesting, but I think it's for the up-and-coming guys--a great one for students to cut their teeth in."

Eventually, the team settled on an online game. "Online has huge scope for innovation," he elaborated. "If you look at Gears of War and Halo, then you see [online] is truly where players spend their time." There are also selfish reasons, he admits. "Client piracy is not an issue, and the economics are more favourable to developers."

130 Comments

  • Blood_Diamond

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 5:39 am PT

    *fingers crossed* the first non sci fi MMORPG that could drag me in

  • SephireX

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 6:18 pm PT

    I disagree about the sci-fi thing. Most people can be attracted to playing in a sci-fi world, once it is interesting and there is depth. People watch sci-fi movies all the time and sci-fi games such as Mass Effect and Halo have done very well. However, I like being a gangster in games, well a smart gangster. I don't like playing as a scumbag thug but I like being the bad guy. I think the gameplay will make or break APB. It needs to have great gun-play, depth and competitiveness and it needs to be fun of course. It has potential but until I see it in action, I will find it difficult to be too hyped.

  • 1-800-Homicide

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 5:12 pm PT

    this game is gonna wreck on everything, guaranteed. all it is is a 100% customizable grand theft auto. which GTAs did dave jones make?

  • Jaxith

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 10:24 am PT

    I realize he's a major player in the industry, and most of his points are all well and good, but I disagree with his opinion on the Sci-fi genre. The success of games like Mass Effect, and Halo pretty much go against the entire idea of them having such "obstacles". Furthermore, when you think of what he might mean by "contemporary", two things come to mind: Military Shooters... and 'gangsta' games.

    Military shooters are a dime a dozen, and as for the whole 'gangsta' thing... well... Contrary to popular belief, not everyone wants to be a thug. Some people like to play as a good guy, and so I go back to the Sci-fi genre. The heroes of sci-fi games are pretty much always just that... Heroes.

    Now, I'm really just a goodie-good at heart, so you can probably guess what sort of games I tend to gravitate toward. With that said, I'm actually looking forward to APB. It seems like alot of effort and some good ideas are going into it, though honestly, I wouldn't be even the slightest bit interested if it didn't seem like you had at least some capacity to play the role of one of the good guys. Whether I like the game or not remains to be seen, though I do regardlessly expect the game to be a good game, and hope it succeeds once it's released.

  • Uthek

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 12:33 pm PT

    Uh... client piracy not an issue? Yeah no online game has ever been used with pirated software. *stares at WoW and RO for starters*

  • scarface_dm

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 9:33 am PT

    This game is going to be amazing, I love the fact you can listen to a music track in your car and the other players in the game can actually hear it as you pass by....thatz sweet. Im glade its coming to 360

  • Alucard_Prime

    Posted Jul 19, 2009 6:16 pm PT

    "Well to all those wondering why gamespot sucks these days, the answer is in this article. They are owned by CBS, that explains a lot."

    Since Gamespot sucks, please enlighten the stupid people such as myself, as to which web site(s) is better.

  • dg3215

    Posted Jul 19, 2009 10:02 am PT

    Well to all those wondering why gamespot sucks these days, the answer is in this article. They are owned by CBS, that explains a lot.

  • Cicatraz_ESP

    Posted Jul 18, 2009 7:47 am PT

    I love good scifi flick, and especially a good sci fi game.

    And that's all I have to say on this matter.

  • pakhair

    Posted Jul 18, 2009 5:12 am PT

    I agree with him on a lot of things......

    I hope APB doesn't disappoint us, Many games have promised a lot but when they r released, They r epic failure......

    I hope this doesn't happen with APB........

  • Taegre

    Posted Jul 17, 2009 11:22 pm PT

    I agree with him on how we need more games set in a contemporary world, but I don't see how a sci-fi setting turns players away. A majority of the gaming audience plays for escapism, and sci-fi and fantasy are the definition of escapism.

    Actually, it's ironic that he's calling out sci-fi for having too many barriers to entry while plugging an MMO, the most technically and financially inaccessible game genre out there.

  • Tygraph

    Posted Jul 17, 2009 9:49 pm PT

    When has GTA or Crackdown failed someone? I think I've made my point
    Think of the GTA everyone wanted before. MMO. Now this is it. He knows what's up!

  • mcspaddin

    Posted Jul 17, 2009 7:21 pm PT

    looks good im interested to see how the server matchmaking system will work

  • AnarchyRising

    Posted Jul 17, 2009 2:21 pm PT

    I agree with Gamesmasterx on the comment about "one shot one kill". Realism to that extreme is fine in a single player game if it is more of a "sim" than a run and gun. I actually like Face of Mankind (am i the only one hehe) and it wasnt FAR from one shot because of the massive wars. You took 5 bullets and thought you took one. All in all though; i think APB will be completely great provided its done right... and i think it will be.

  • S3XYT1M3

    Posted Jul 17, 2009 11:03 am PT

    the customization on this game looks amazing

  • Gamesmasterx

    Posted Jul 17, 2009 8:52 am PT

    @Hobbitslayer18

    Yes, at last, someone who agrees with me.

    The only thing you missed out that i don't like is how easy it is to be killed, I know that in reality a single bullet can kill you, but who wants a realistic game? Seriously, walk to a little place called outside. (Rather large actually) Why have something that tries to come close to reality when we already have it, why not make something slightly more far fetched, at least something fun.

    I don't know, maybe regenerating health and an infinite ammo unlock/cheat and then I think I would have loved it.

    Though i could be wrong since GTA3 wasn't like that but i liked it.

  • Hobbitslayer18

    Posted Jul 17, 2009 3:28 am PT

    @ban_fur

    Good that you mentioned it, but I still don't trust this guy, I would rather have the creator of Gta: VC and Gta: SA make this game and gta 5.

  • ban_fur

    Posted Jul 16, 2009 4:30 pm PT

    I think most of you don't realize that he is the creator of gta 1+2 the top down games, he has nothing to do with gta 3 and up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jones_(game_developer)

  • Hobbitslayer18

    Posted Jul 16, 2009 2:15 pm PT

    @Gamesmasterx
    @DaneGamer

    Guess great minds think the same, cause that's exactly what I feel.

    Gta4 wasn't bad, it had good graphics, but it just had too less options, the only thing you could do with your cash was buying clothes, guns and food.
    While in Vc you could buy shops wich would earn you money after some missions, same for SA, with the only difference that you only had to buy them and didn't need to do any missions so it would earn something.

    The combination between forest, beach, desert and city are great, and that's what I hate about LC, because it's only city.

    Also the characters from the previous PS2 console were a lot more interesting, I will never forget Tommy Vercetti, Ken Rosenberg, Carl Johnson, Big Smoke, Sweet, Ryder, officer Tenpenny, and many more.
    And the most fun thing was that a lot of characters from the other games appeared in the latest game of them, like Ken Rosenberg (gta: VC) in SA, or Claude and catalina (gta 3) in SA.

    One of the most important things I hate about Gta4 is that the action is slower than their precious games, it takes ages to take your gun, aim it at the enemy and gunning him down, sometimes it even looks like they are just absorbing the bullets cause it takes way too long to put them down.

    And at least we have the storyline, which could have offered a lot more interesting characters or an interesting plot, cause everything was so predictable. The only characters I liked in Gta4 were Little Jacob and Badman.

  • vexum

    Posted Jul 16, 2009 2:12 pm PT

    @ali-009: you're pathetic

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