GTA:IV Official Thread

[Yewone]

I still think the disappearing cars are intentional.. just imagine how quickly the map would get cluttered if every car you got in and out of stayed there for the rest of the game (or even a few hours). Wouldnt take long for it to look like a car park.

Whilst I'd also like the gameplay posibilities it would open up, I actually think it would cause more problems in doing so

[phresh]

Listen, the game is fine. It's amazing. It's one of the best games ever made.

Just buy it.

Taking into account I don't have a 360 or a PS3 it isn't that easy!

Bah pc version

Can you really wait that long?

If I get a solid frame rate then yeah. If I had a 360 or PS3 already then i'd be all over this like a bad rash, but paying upwards of £200 for a game which could cost me £30 in a few (long!) months does change the scenarios somewhat.

[utopastac]

I think it's because it gets so many of the bigger things right that the smaller things are even more annoying. It feels incredibly dated in some respects in my opinion.

Edit - The fluctuating frame rate is pretty annoying.

[dizogg]

Nah I think Kerraig means he recons the area before starting each mission like some kind of mental army OCD cunt.

[robdood]

I still think the disappearing cars are intentional.. juss imagine how quickly the map would get cluttered if every car you got in and out of stayed there for the rest of the game (or even a few hours). Wouldnt take long for it to look like a car park.

Whilst I'd also like the gameplay posibilities it would open up, I actually think it would cause more problems in doing so

We're not asking for that. We're asking for like, the last 5 or 10 cars at most

[robdood]

I think it's because it gets so many of the bigger things right that the smaller things are even more annoying. It feels incredibly dated in some respects in my opinion.

Oh, definitely. Especially since now the inital 'woah' factor has worn off for me.

I can't understand why there aren't mid-mission checkpoints, having to drive all the fucking way back somewhere after a fail all the time is a bit annoying.

[Super Craig]

2) How do you kiss Michelle? The only thing I can ever do is drop her off at her house and then "try my luck" (and she always puts out, that slag), but I've never been able to kiss her.

The first time I tried my luck, I was knocked back and then Nico asked if he could at least have a kiss.

[mmcg]

STOP FUCKING COMPLAINING

[Guest]

NO!

You're all right. U-1 is wrong. You should be able to steal a MILLION cars and have them on screen. Then blow them up!!

OTHERWISE THE GAME IS WRONG AND CHEATING AND EVERYONE AT R* DESERVES TO BE FIRED!

If I get a solid frame rate then yeah. If I had a 360 or PS3 already then i'd be all over this like a bad rash, but paying upwards of £200 for a game which could cost me £30 in a few (long!) months does change the scenarios somewhat.

How much was your PC? WINK

[utopastac]

Oh, definitely. Especially since now the inital 'woah' factor has worn off for me.

I can't understand why there aren't mid-mission checkpoints, having to drive all the fucking way back somewhere a fail all the time is a bit annoying.

I almost stopped playing really early on after failing the Easy Fare () mission for that reason. I know it's only a short drive, but doing it again just seemed so pointless.

I'm not going to like this, am I?

[kerraig UK]

Well why not re-align your next, next gen ideals. Perhaps they wanted to do it, you know, but couldnt?

For goodness sake! You'd have thought that Rockstar are pretty good, have a few people working for them, and they certainly would do it if they wanted to!

erm, except saints row is 2 years old, cost less than a third of the budget to make, took half as long to program, and it managed to get a lot of that stuff right.

[Judgement]

What is the crazyness about frame rate i keep reading about. I have been playing everyday since i got this on Tuesday and not once had any frame rate problems.

[kerraig UK]

The cars shouldn't disappear, it breaks the illusion of the world. There's obviously a technical reason it happens though, I doubt they would 'accidentally' do something like that.

However, it IS cheating because before you attempt a mission you have no idea what the objective will be or the areas that would benefit from being blocked. You can only know those things after failing the mission once.

I do agree you should be able to do it though

Actually, i parked my car round the back the FIRST time cos thats the way i came from. when i saw the van sitting there, oddly parked, I somehow knew it was gonna be a chase mission and blocked it on. I didnt just so it on a retry

[Yewone]

We're not asking for that. We're asking for like, the last 5 or 10 cars at most

Ahh..In that case then I agree

Im still gutted that they havent included petrol stations and fuel guages in the cars. Especially after reading in the Edge article that Houser wanted to include them but got knocked back by the rest of the team.

[dizogg]

erm, except saints row is 2 years old, cost less than a third of the budget to make, took half as long to program, and it managed to get a lot of that stuff right.

Yeah and the Saint's Row framerate is fucking shit. The game is enjoyable but is nothing compared to GTA4, for one the characters and storyline in Saint's Row are pretty much universally shit and cliched.

[utopastac]

What is the crazyness about frame rate i keep reading about. I have been playing everyday since i got this on Tuesday and not once had any frame rate problems.

I do worry it might be my 360 to be fair to the game. I also have never played a GTA before, so my expectations weren't tempered by a 'at least it's better than before' attitude.

[zy]

I think kerraig's point is being misconstrued, wilfully or otherwise. GTA has made a name for itself as a sandbox game. Freedom, tools, experimentation, AI, physics modelling, chaos! But increasingly, down the iterations, the mission design has taken a reverse tack and laid on the cut-scenes and constrictions at the expense of granting the player true freedom to solve the mission with the tools at their disposal elsewhere in the game.

It's no good complaining that we've never had it so good if you can look back at an umpteen-years-old Syndicate mission or a Hitman mission and say that we're being too demanding to expect those kind of player freedoms in this brave new next-gen world. If so, what was the point of getting here? So we can sit and watch TV within a videogame?

[Yewone]

I'm not going to like this, am I?

I suspect not

[kerraig UK]

Nah I think Kerraig means he recons the area before starting each mission like some kind of mental army OCD cunt.

Thats exactly what I mean. years of playing hitman has got me reconning areas before missions. I enjoy it.

another one i tried was calling the cops before a very obvious gunfight was about to kick off, walked up tot he arrow with cops looking for trouble, cutscene came in, then when it went back to the action the cops were gone

Why give me the option to call cops if I cant use it for game pertinent stuff?

[K]

So, Algonquinners (as in those who have made it quite a bit through the Manhattan style island), what did you choose in the major dilemma? You'll know the one.

I offed Dwayne to put the poor sod out of his misery, but Playboy's response made me feel sad and angry, in quite a special way. I guess Dwayne reacts in a negative way if you kill Playboy X?

I

killed Playboy X. It was a tough decision, but I decided I liked Dwayne more; he was more grounded and less up his own arse than Playboy, and I reckon I can trust Dwayne more.

He actually reacts fairly well; not happy, but gives you respect for doing a difficult thing. And then he gives you Playboy's apartment. I think i did the right thing, if killing someone on his best mate's orders ever counts as right.

[Super Craig]

What is the crazyness about frame rate i keep reading about. I have been playing everyday since i got this on Tuesday and not once had any frame rate problems.

It's not constant and it's sub 30 fps. It's less annoying than tearing but it's still distracting if you're one of the unlucky few who notice it.

[R0b]

TBH I'm annoyed that the game doesn't let me control everything by my thoughts, and I don't have flying cars and robot man servants in real life THIS IS THE YEAR 200* TOMORROWS WORLD SAID TI WOULD BE AND THEYU SLDILIE LIEEDDD!!!

These are entirely unlike kerraig's understandable want for the game, though. It's nowhere near as obscure and something that players have always complained about.

[robdood]

Actually, i parked my car round the back the FIRST time cos thats the way i came from. when i saw the van sitting there, oddly parked, I somehow knew it was gonna be a chase mission and blocked it on. I didnt just so it on a retry

Yeah I've noticed that a lot, the car I turn up in disappearing, or teleporting a bit down the road sometimes(?) - very weird.

I still it though.

[Straps]

How do you know what framerate it's playing at?

[kerraig UK]

Yeah and the Saint's Row framerate is fucking shit. The game is enjoyable but is nothing compared to GTA4, for one the characters and storyline in Saint's Row are pretty much universally shit and cliched.

Dude, but thats my point. Saints row didnt have the writing or the endless resources, but it got the fundamentals better than even GTA IV does. With an endless deadline and more money than god, it should have been better in EVERy area. the simple fact that a cheap knockoff does some things better is pretty embarrassing for rockstar

[robdood]

The last thing I would do is describe GTA4 as embarrassing

[kerraig UK]

I think kerraig's point is being misconstrued, wilfully or otherwise. GTA has made a name for itself as a sandbox game. Freedom, tools, experimentation, AI, physics modelling, chaos! But increasingly, down the iterations, the mission design has taken a reverse tack and laid on the cut-scenes and constrictions at the expense of granting the player true freedom to solve the mission with the tools at their disposal elsewhere in the game.

It's no good complaining that we've never had it so good if you can look back at an umpteen-years-old Syndicate mission or a Hitman mission and say that we're being too demanding to expect those kind of player freedoms in this brave new next-gen world. If so, what was the point of getting here? So we can sit and watch TV within a videogame?

thankyou so much zy. You're exacly on my page. I'm not saying the game isnt amazing cos it clearly is. just saying how much more amazing it could have been (best game ever material) if they'd paid a bit more attention to a few things like checkpoints and freedom of choice. Not TOTAL freedom, but more than 'cutscene resets everything'

[The-G]

Please tell me im not the only one finding this a lot harder than San Andreas? I'm struggling with Easy Fare >.<

[kerraig UK]

The last thing I would do is describe GTA4 as embarrassing

I'm not saying that, but I do think its a bit embarrassing that a cheap imitation gets some fundamentals better than the master. Just to find myself going "oh man, i wish that bit in GTAIV was a bit more like saints row" seems like sacriledge

[dizogg]

I think its the fact that its such a brilliant game that we expect things like Kerraig brought up to be in it. It builds such an amazing world that sometimes its a bit jarring and a pity when it goes "gamey". But it is just a game, and if you could do as Kerraig says it would ruin a lot of missions unless they were designed from the ground up like that. Maybe in the next GTA.