GTAIV release thread - TTLG Forums

Yakoob on 24/4/2008 at 03:26

Scots unable to immerse himself in a game.

june gloom on 24/4/2008 at 03:49

dethtoll wondering what immersion and "gamey" have to do with one another

Scots Taffer on 24/4/2008 at 04:12

Scots immerses himself in the warm and fuzzy glow of dethtoll's zing

Aja on 24/4/2008 at 04:17

Quote Posted by dethtoll

dethtoll wondering what immersion and "gamey" have to do with one another

Why don't you ask Looking Glass Studios?

june gloom on 24/4/2008 at 04:30

I did, but they're defunct so I didn't get any answer

Jetsetlemming on 24/4/2008 at 04:49

Quote Posted by Aja

Or maybe it's just that my idea of "do whatever you want" isn't really the same as "kill people in thousands of ways". It's a sandbox that I don't want to play in.

Because GTA doesn't let you explore a large living city (or state), drive dozens of different cars, boats, helicopters, and planes, line up unique and awesome jumps and tricks and reward you for finding the best ones, have incentives to explore and discover with the hidden package system, or tell a neat story at all, no.
It only has that one thing that it shares with just about every other popular game, shooting. Oh lawd. :rolleyes:

Scots Taffer on 24/4/2008 at 05:57

Let me just cut to the chase and point out the difference before Aja and the gaming elite collective have an apoplexy -

games produced by LGS such as Thief etc are games that are designed for immersion, atmosphere and rewarding gameplay

games produced by Rockstar such as the GTA series are games that are designed for the express purpose of letting you have fun, drive around, listen to music, soak up some cultural backwash, blow shit up and do it in a very sandbox manner, NOT necessarily for the same design reasons as thief

so problems with this would be

thief with bouncy physics and utterly retarded AI :mad:
and gta with ridiculously difficult combat due to realistic bullet ballistics :mad:

not

thief has lots of shadows and feels slow paced :(
or gta has gamey feeling card handling and all i can do is blow shit up :(

henke on 24/4/2008 at 05:58

Quote Posted by Aja

If there's more to GTA than driving around and killing people, I haven't seen it.

You driving around for a few hours in GTA3 and finding nothnig to do put kill people says more about your imagination than the game. When I play GTA I like to do (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhavs82s4sk) this kind of (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLDy8eWCnr0) stuff.

Ladron De La Noche on 24/4/2008 at 05:59

Whoa! Take 2 Games on the active hunt, all leaked videos down on youtube.com and those posted by Scots.

Find some videos, so we may view.

Alright, found some. (http://www.wegame.com/watch/GTA_IV_real_gameplay_x360_today_not_Saint_Row/) Click or don't (http://www.wegame.com/watch/GTA_4_MORE_REAL_GAMEPLAY_9_min_Intro_included/) click. You decide. ;)

Aja on 24/4/2008 at 06:18

Quote Posted by henke

The thing is, all of what's in these videos has been done so much better in other games. Give me a copy of San Francisco Rush or skate any day over this.

Scots I don't understand your post. Bullet ballistics are one thing, but realistic weight to the cars makes the stunts all the more satisfying. Why do you think skate sold so many more copies than the new Tony Hawk? (I know I'm running this example into the ground, but it seems apt here) Have you ever played a game where the main character has no shadow, and as a result it feels like they aren't actually in the gameworld? This is how GTA has always felt to me. It is what I mean when I say "gamey", and I think it's a very valid complaint (most reviews even mention it, though they're quick to dismiss). I brought up LGS not because all of their games have intellectual, esoteric appeal, but because all of their games give the player a very solid sense of actually being IN the game.

And if a game can't get this fundamental aspect correct, then I tend to lose interest very quickly.