CCCToad on 8/11/2011 at 08:06
Well, its all well and good, but I'd advise against getting your hopes for this huge gameworld up too far.
I was pretty excited when I saw the trailer, then I remembered that they can only cram in a single Xbox disc's worth of content. Which means GTA 4-size.
henke on 8/11/2011 at 09:03
Not neccessarily. The 360 version of LA Noire came on 2(or was it 3?) DVDs.
Sulphur on 8/11/2011 at 10:35
Oh, you can create huge gameworlds regardless of disc size all right. Just repeat the textures and objects ad infinitum.
CCCToad on 8/11/2011 at 15:18
Quote Posted by PigLick
You know what I hated in gta4 is whenever you stole a parked car you inevitably had to smash the window in, I would like to see something like Chinatown Wars where you had to hotwire and pick locks, making stealing cars a little more of a hassle.
I got in the habit of just shooting out the window if I was in a hurry. It saves you a few precious seconds if you've got fuzz hot on your tail.
EvaUnit02 on 8/11/2011 at 17:04
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
Thanks for repeating me. I didn't say the entire series was stale. I specified a fair whack of the new stuff - I just don't like any of it.
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
A stronger focus on serious storytelling than ever before;
nuanced world detail (internet, TV) + character interactions and behaviour (Euphoria engine); Multiplayer; semi-realistic physics (eg for driving); GPS navigation; the aforementioned cover mechanics; an overhauled aiming system; overhauled drive-by controls.
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
Gameplay mechanics for GTA are getting
old and the
new stuff they've pulled out of the bag thus far
(dating, personalisation, friends, hobbies etc) ain't that fun.
Ummm, no. I didn't mean the fucking god awful social simulator crap. I meant this:-
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QZKOLANGiI?version=3&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QZKOLANGiI?version=3&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
The driving, aiming and physics getting a bit of a do-over isn't innovative, merely a refinement of what's already been around for
three games.
When the the hell did I say that they were innovative?
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
Many of the latter examples are
entirely iterative, sure, but they still went a long way in improving the overall game experience over the GTA3-verse titles.
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
As for "serious storytelling", I personally didn't find Niko's story more engaging or better told than previous GTA games. In fact, I found it to have the opposite effect. The prior games were at least honest about the fact that you were the best of a bad bunch of gangsters in terms of your player character - it is a game series called Grand Theft Auto after all. A series famous for stealing cars, kerbstomping hookers and indiscriminately blasting passers by. Why do I want to play some guy who doesn't want to be bad? That's the whole fucking cornerstone of the series.
I totally agree with you here. Niko's narrative and character portrayal was totally add odds with the player's actions during gameplay. This is one of the points on which I praised Chinatown Wars:-
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
The story is cliched and unremarkable, but at least there's no schizophrenic tone like there has been with the last several few GTA's. Unlike with Nico, CJ and Victor (reportedly Red Dead Redemption's John Marsden is cut from the cloth. I've yet to play to play that game, so I can't confirm), the characterisation of Huang in the cutscenes isn't at odds with what the player's actions. Huang is just a mobster thug who wants to avenge his father's death and settle the drama-filled power struggle for the triad leadership. He isn't trying to turn straight, leave behind a life of violence/crime/etc.
gunsmoke on 8/11/2011 at 20:37
Quote Posted by henke
Not neccessarily. The 360 version of LA Noire came on 2(or was it 3?) DVDs.
It was actually 3!
ercles on 8/11/2011 at 21:58
Hang on EVA, are you saying that ragdoll physics was the big addition to the series that GTA IV introduced?
EvaUnit02 on 8/11/2011 at 22:43
Haha, god no. I mean how life like the Euphoria middleware makes A.I. behaviour and how they're affected by the world. It's small details like that which is provided by the aforementioned that go a long way in adding to the overall immersion of GTA4's world. Again, utterly iterative but it does make a huge difference.
It was the best example video that I could find in my quick search. Everything else was mostly just Euphoria tech demo videos.
CCCToad on 9/11/2011 at 12:40
Not sure if I'd call it "lifelike", but it definitely enhances the game. Its amusing to see somebody clinging onto your vehicle for dear life, to see Niko bouncing around on the ground while trying to stop moving, or watching pedestrians get bent up over your hood when you hit them.
Yakoob on 9/11/2011 at 13:48
Quote Posted by Angel Dust
* You've got to whack a guy. Give the target a simple schedule (day/night, work/home etc) and let the player decide when, where and how to take them out. Guns blazing in a restaurant in broad daylight? Wait for him at his house? Ram him off the road? Plant a car bomb?
I've been thinking of a Hitman-style game that works in this way, just create a full city with even very basic AI consisting of a weekly work-schedule cycle, and just give the player random targets out of the whole city. But the issue I could never get over is that, as you begin to make the world more complex and realistic, as you give the player more freedom, you are in fact vastly simplyfing the ensuing gameplay.
Yes I could totally stalk a guy for a week, find his favorite resturant, sneak into it disguised as a waiter one day and put posion in his food. Or I could just drive him over in a car and drive off. Or get a sniper rifle and shoot him from a roof of a building. Or walk down the street and stab him in the eye with scissors.
Even in real life, killing someone is pathetically easy if you think about it. The issue is getting away with it. And in games like GTA, where you consistently get away with jacking cars, driving people over, carrying unconcealed guns etc. the fear of repricautions of taking the easy way out simply don't exist. And if you were to introduce those, you would then in turn completetely destroy what the series is about.
And another issues is creating the "getting away with" mechanics. Ya it may be obvious for cases like stabbing someone on the street, but how would you handle the case I first mentioned, with poisoning his lunch? Now you need some kind of way of tracking evidence, witnesses, virtual ai-driven police, etc. etc. etc. If done right this could be a really compelling mechanic, but I think it would be either so complex to be full of bugs/loopholes, or too simple as to be gamey and exploitable (i.e. GTA star system).
