Thoughts on GTA:SA

[Brad2600]

I like ramming into cop bikes to start all out wars with the pigs.

 

The freeway is a very fun place to cause trouble.Just park a car across the lane and run towards the brush. Cars will crash into each other and cause a massive pileup. Then, whip out your rocket launcher and watch the fun begin!

 

[Stingray]

For anyone else still thinking about getting the game, it is worth it. I finished that dance thing on the beach in one try. Probably because I know that triangle is the top button (looks like an arrow pointing up), X is always at the bottom, and the two you have left are square (left button) and circle (right button). Fairly easy to memorize so you don't have to look.

 

I don't know if I'll ever win that stupid low rider race or help that fat guy kill the guys on the train as I drive the motorcycle, but there are so many other things to do that It doesn't matter that much at the moment. Right now I'm taking over territory previously owned by rival gangs. Pretty fun.

 

Too bad you live way out on the east coast. I'd be happy to do the lowrider race & the train mission for you if you'd do that #$%& dance mission for me. I got so frustrated with that mission that I don't even play this game any more.

 

-S

[Chrispy]

I have lost interest in it. I haven't played it in the last couple days.

I beat it but after I beat VC I played for many more months, but not with SA. I think it's becasue I played Halo 2 with my buddy and today I just found out I was getting an X-Box for Chrismas and now I'm all excited about that.

 

Eventually I'll play the story line over, but for now it lays dormant in my PS2.

[Cobra Commander]

Yea I havent played in a week or so just got to a point and had to play something else. I do this with almost all my games though. I got probably 3 or 4 titles on the shelf that I'm 75 to 90% done with?

[+Random Terrain]

I finally got to the part where I own a crappy garage. I just drove 3 billion miles to take a picture of some guys, but I didn't see the third guy, so I have to do it all over again. What fun!

 

There have been too many racing challenges and although there are parts of the game I like, I have an overall distaste for the perfection that is still required for many missions.

 

Once you do everything in one section of the game, you still get down to one f*cking thing that you must do before you can move on. Not my idea of fun. Unless they add mission skip or the option for a game character to do the mission for you as you go along for the ride, this will be the last GTA game that I will ever buy.

 

If I don't shoot down those tiny planes over Zero's building or take the pictures right this time, I might just quit and only go back to the game when I feel like blowing up stuff. How hard would it be to add a mission skip? I'd take whatever penalty they thought was appropriate. Pay money, lose respect from the respect meter, or whatever.

[AncillaryDrone]

Random, I just wanted to let you know that you DONT have to do the biplane shooting mission to advance. The RC missions dont advance the storyline.

[Stingray]

 Unless they add mission skip or the option for a game character to do the mission for you as you go along for the ride, this will be the last GTA game that I will ever buy.

 

Ditto. Actually even if they do add mission skip I may not buy another one. I really lost interest in this one pretty quickly.

 

-S

[kisrael]

 Unless they add mission skip or the option for a game character to do the mission for you as you go along for the ride, this will be the last GTA game that I will ever buy.

Ditto. Actually even if they do add mission skip I may not buy another one. I really lost interest in this one pretty quickly.

I thought it was all pretty great. Buck up and tackle the missions! It's worth it!

[Cobra Commander]

Whats all this about mission skip again, WTF. Its a game its suposed to be at least a little challenging. I've never played a game where I didnt have to do some things at least a few times before I advanced. Sure some of the missions are kind of goffy, but there are plenty of things to do when you get tired of doing missions. Go explore, go on a killing spree, or just pimp it.

 

I do miss the rampages from the previous games though.

[Artlover]

Whats all this about mission skip again, WTF. Its a game its suposed to be at least a little challenging.

Challenging, yes. Fustrating or nearly impossible, no.

[kisrael]

Whats all this about mission skip again, WTF. Its a game its suposed to be at least a little challenging.

Challenging, yes. Fustrating or nearly impossible, no.

Frustrating, maybe. I still think for a typical gamer it's just a little bit of perserverance. Something are geared a little too tough, but overall everything is pretty do-able if you take a systematic approach.

[+Random Terrain]

Whats all this about mission skip again, WTF. Its a game its supposed to be at least a little challenging. I've never played a game where I didn't have to do some things at least a few times before I advanced.

Yes, and that's sad. We are living beyond the year 2000. Games should be better than this. More options, more fun and less frustration. In this GTA game, there are some things that just don't interest me. I like the idea of a semi-realistic world that you can explore, but I never really liked racing games that much and I sure don't like to be forced to do them perfectly. The game should give you the option to keep trying or either skip it or have a game character do the mission for you. For example, you could hire the best game character for that job to do it for you as you hang out a window shooting at people (or something like that).

 

Games of the future can keep the 'do it 'til it's perfect' option for those who have been brainwashed into thinking that kind of thing is fun, but the rest of us need more options or we will stop spending our money on these types of games. When I play a game, I want to have fun. I want to feel better after playing a game, not worse. I'm sick of game designers who act like an abusive parent with OCD who constantly demands perfection. F*ck them and their demands. I want to have fun. I don't mind a challenge, but that challenge should adjust to fit each person either naturally by changing the game as you play (based on your performance) or by giving you various options at the start and end of a mission. This GTA game does not adjust enough naturally. When they say the game adjusts slightly if you are having a hard time, they really do mean slightly. Not good enough. Give us more options next time or this is it.

 

As I said before, It's nice to have a game where you have a world like this where you can make your own fun if you want. Although the part of the game that I liked the most seems to be over. I liked the gang war part where I was taking over territory. Now that I'm this far, that's it? No more gang wars? I liked seeing my progress on the map and I also liked zooming over to a place where a gang is trying to take back a section I already took over. Any way to bring that back?

 

 

Sure some of the missions are kind of goffy, but there are plenty of things to do when you get tired of doing missions. Go explore, go on a killing spree, or just pimp it.  

 

I do miss the rampages from the previous games though.

That is the nice thing about this game, that you can make your own fun, so it's still not a waste of money, but this is the last time I'll buy one unless they change their ways. I want to do the missions, but only if they will adjust them to fit me better through the ways I've already described.

 

 

Random, I just wanted to let you know that you DONT have to do the biplane shooting mission to advance. The RC missions dont advance the storyline.

Thanks. That's good to know.

[IronMongeR]

Maybe you're just not very good at the game?

[Stingray]

Games of the future can keep the 'do it 'til it's perfect' option for those who have been brainwashed into thinking that kind of thing is fun, but the rest of us need more options or we will stop spending our money on these types of games. When I play a game, I want to have fun. I want to feel better after playing a game, not worse.

 

Thank you for putting this perfectly. I'm sick of buying games that are so frustratingly hard that they just make me angry. Getting pissed off isn't fun. Call me strange, but I play games to have a good time.

 

-S

[kisrael]

Whats all this about mission skip again, WTF. Its a game its supposed to be at least a little challenging. I've never played a game where I didn't have to do some things at least a few times before I advanced.

Yes, and that's sad. We are living beyond the year 2000. Games should be better than this. More options, more fun and less frustration.

Jeez, it's really a great game. Which might make it all the sadder for you that you're stuck, but whatever.

In this GTA game, there are some things that just don't interest me. I like the idea of a semi-realistic world that you can explore, but I never really liked racing games that much and I sure don't like to be forced to do them perfectly.

It doesn't demand "perfectly" by a fair shot...it's just a bit of focus.

The game should give you the option to keep trying or either skip it or have a game character do the mission for you. For example, you could hire the best game character for that job to do it for you as you hang out a window shooting at people (or something like that).

I guess what it comes down to is I don't ultimately see it as THAT that tough. And having mission skip would actually hurt the sense of accomplishment for a lot of people.

 

What I think this game really needs is mission select, but that's a different story.

Not good enough. Give us more options next time or this is it.

Ooh, an ultimatum.

 

I agree it might be better if it had some wuss options, though I worry I'd be too quick to use 'em. But I still think this is game is a tremendous and fun thing.

As I said before, It's nice to have a game where you have a world like this where you can make your own fun if you want. Although the part of the game that I liked the most seems to be over. I liked the gang war part where I was taking over territory. Now that I'm this far, that's it? No more gang wars? I liked seeing my progress on the map and I also liked zooming over to a place where a gang is trying to take back a section I already took over. Any way to bring that back?

It comes back after San Fierro and Las Venturas, in fact, taking over certain % is a requirement to get to the final missions.

[Chadivision]

It seems strange to me that people in an ATARI forum are complaining about having to do the same difficult task over and over again. That's what we grew up on. The only difference is that now you can actually win. If I didn't want repetative, frustrating games, I would have to throw away my entire 2600 collection (including "Backfire".)

 

I have been stuck on missions plenty of times, but that's what I love about GTA. You can just go do something else for a while and come back to it later. Also, don't overlook the possibility of using a new strategy. Some missions (like the dance mission) are just a matter of getting it right, but others allow you to approach the situation in different ways.

 

I got stuck on the level where you have to use the forklift to load the crates into the back of the truck. I was loading the crates and letting the other guy do the shooting. After I realized that it wasn't working I tried getting off of the forklift and shooting the enemies and loading the truck during the time that it takes for the enemies to regenerate. After I changed my approach it only took me a couple of tries.

[+Random Terrain]

It comes back after San Fierro and Las Venturas, in fact, taking over  certain % is a requirement to get to the final missions.

That's nice to know, if I get that far. On my third try, I just had a guy jump off a motorcycle onto a truck and on our way to the garage, a taxi zoomed in front of me and everything blew up. I'll try again tonight since that mission wasn't too hard.

 

 

For the rare ones around here that basically talk about leaving games hard and screwing everyone else, I say that's great for pampered kids who have parents that bought them just about every new game that has come out on every console and PC since 1989, but some of us have gone years between new games. Some of you might have evolved super-human skills from non-stop game playing, but there are a lot of us out here who don't have as much experience and some of us have other disadvantages such having a hard time processing what we see fast enough to make perfect turns in a race (for example). There should be nothing wrong with making a game for people with various skill levels. I thought that most games would be more inclusive by now.

[Stingray]

Some of you might have evolved super-human skills from non-stop game playing, but there are a lot of us out here who don't have as much experience and some of us have other disadvantages such having a hard time processing what we see fast enough to make perfect turns in a race (for example).

 

And some of us just don't have the same reflexes in our mid thirties that we had back when we were teenagers. Pretty sure that's why I find the dance mission to be impossible. **shrug** I'll play something else.

 

-S

[+Random Terrain]

It seems strange to me that people in an ATARI forum are complaining about having to do the same difficult task over and over again.  That's what we grew up on.  The only difference is that now you can actually win.  If I didn't want repetitive, frustrating games, I would have to throw away my entire 2600 collection (including "Backfire".)

That's what I've been talking about. It's almost 2005 and most game designers haven't evolved in that area. We have better graphics and we can run around in semi-3D worlds now, but it's basically the same old sh*t.

 

I hate most Atari 2600 games. The ones I love have randomness in them so it isn't the same old thing every time. I hate games that make you redo a level until you get it right. Lame-ass game designers have trained millions of people that the 'die and remember' type of games are fun because they rarely give us anything else.

 

To me, it's not fun to redo a level over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over until you get it perfect. It's about as fun as reading the last sentence out loud.

 

 

I have been stuck on missions plenty of times, but that's what I love about GTA.  You can just go do something else for a while and come back to it later.  Also, don't overlook the possibility of using a new strategy.  Some missions (like the dance mission) are just a matter of getting it right, but others allow you to approach the situation in different ways.

The dance missions are fairly easy for me (so far) since I know the buttons without looking. I have trouble with things like racing. The game doesn't show enough detail out in front and far enough away, so crap pops up on you without any warning. When I rented the last two GTA games on the Xbox, I thought I could see farther than you can with this one. Maybe that's an Xbox thing. Maybe you'll be able to see farther with the Xbox version of GTA: SA.

 

I'm trying to plow through the best I can so I can get to the other gang wars that kisrael mentioned. Once I get there, I might stop doing missions and just keep fighting over territory.

 

 

I got stuck on the level where you have to use the forklift to load the crates into the back of the truck.  I was loading the crates and letting the other guy do the shooting.  After I realized that it wasn't working I tried getting off of the forklift and shooting the enemies and loading the truck during the time that it takes for the enemies to regenerate.  After I changed my approach it only took me a couple of tries.

Yeah, I did the same thing too. And when chasing the train with the fat guy on the motorcycle, I got sick of doing it for the 1 billionth time, so instead of getting on the motorcycle, I used the Jet Pack cheat, flew over the guys on the train, killed them all, flew back to the fat guy and continued. You can find different ways with some missions (with or without a cheat), but other missions seem to be more strict.

 

 

On a semi-related subject, when do you think they will make Grand Theft Auto: Total Destruction where everything is breakable or able to be blown up? There are some things in the current GTA game that are fun to blow up or smash, but it would be cool if you could do more. I want to smash into a house with a big car or tank and have the walls crumble as realistically as possible. If I catch a house on fire, the house should burn (not just one special house during a mission) and it should show permanent damage or burn to the ground unless the fire truck comes. When I visit a place such as a restroom, it would be cool to smash things such as the toilets and sinks and have water shooting everywhere. I'd also like all windows to shatter when you hit them. And how about trees that look a little more real? I'd love to chop down trees or burn them. This would be a not-so-Hollywood game where it was more about destruction and less about cut scenes and story.

 

I would buy that game even if it had frustrating missions. I would smash and burn down the whole city for the fun of it.

[Artlover]

On a semi-related subject, when do you think they will make Grand Theft Auto: Total Destruction where everything is breakable or able to be blown up? There are some things in the current GTA game that are fun to blow up or smash, but it would be cool if you could do more. I want to smash into a house with a big car or tank and have the walls crumble as realistically as possible. If I catch a house on fire, the house should burn (not just one special house during a mission) and it should show permanent damage or burn to the ground unless the fire truck comes. When I visit a place such as a restroom, it would be cool to smash things such as the toilets and sinks and have water shooting everywhere. I'd also like all windows to shatter when you hit them. And how about trees that look a little more real? I'd love to chop down trees or burn them. This would be a not-so-Hollywood game where it was more about destruction and less about cut scenes and story.  

 

I would buy that game even if it had frustrating missions. I would smash and burn down the whole city for the fun of it.

 

I think you read my mind. I would LOVE to have a game like that only I want more then just destruction. I'd want total emulation of the real world in every shape & form. Like being able to kidnap someone and torture them to death then mutilate them. To beable to walk into a food store and mix all the bleeach and ammonia together and create a toxic gas cloud that kills everyone in the store. Even more things that I doubt I could suggest without offending and pissing off all the overly sensitive and sexualy repressed people around here. I want to live my dream of being a total scumbag mass murdering serial killing rapist piece of worthless crap in a 100% interactive virtual enviorment. And a customizable profile. I want the game to refer to me as "Captain Death Monger".

[kisrael]

That's what I've been talking about. It's almost 2005 and most game designers haven't evolved in that area. We have better graphics and we can run around in semi-3D worlds now, but it's basically the same old sh*t.

It's so not. Those "semi-3D" worlds have a ton more options than most old school games. There's "emergent gameplay" possible that wasn't in most previous generations.

I hate most Atari 2600 games. The ones I love have randomness in them so it isn't the same old thing every time. I hate games that make you redo a level until you get it right. Lame-ass game designers have trained millions of people that the 'die and remember' type of games are fun because they rarely give us anything else.

Well, except for spike pits, usually it's "get hurt and remember". There are three benefits to that:

* it pads games. frankly it's tough to generate enough pure content that if the user sees each thing only one it's going to be a short game

* it gets the user to pay more attention to parts of the game, otherwise people just blow through and hardly see anything

* it gives a sense of satisfaction when completed

 

On a semi-related subject, when do you think they will make Grand Theft Auto: Total Destruction where everything is breakable or able to be blown up? There are some things in the current GTA game that are fun to blow up or smash, but it would be cool if you could do more. I want to smash into a house with a big car or tank and have the walls crumble as realistically as possible. If I catch a house on fire, the house should burn (not just one special house during a mission) and it should show permanent damage or burn to the ground unless the fire truck comes. When I visit a place such as a restroom, it would be cool to smash things such as the toilets and sinks and have water shooting everywhere. I'd also like all windows to shatter when you hit them. And how about trees that look a little more real? I'd love to chop down trees or burn them. This would be a not-so-Hollywood game where it was more about destruction and less about cut scenes and story.  

 

I would buy that game even if it had frustrating missions. I would smash and burn down the whole city for the fun of it.

That's a cool idea. I'm not sure when computer processors and memory/drive space will be up for it...hell, on PS2, the series has had a hard enough time keeping cars there when your back is turned! (I think they improved that a lot with GTA:SA, but there were still a few moments.) Trying to keep a city all in memory, or at least all the changes, rather than reading to from ROM, would be hugely difficult.

 

The other problem is kind of one of realism. In some weird ways its more realistic to not have things be so permanently destroyed...I mean, if you were to do that in real life, eventually you'd be hunted down and arrested or killed. So I guess if you get to be unarrested and unkilled so much, it's only fair that the city be the same way...or if you have unlimited molotov cocktails...

 

Heh, in some way you're thinking of a kind immersive sim city, minus the god's eye view and control

[Stingray]

heh, in some way you're thinking of a kind immersive sim city, minus the god's eye view and control

 

YEAH! Now that would be fun! No plot, no story, just a city where everything is breakable (or at least as breakable as it would be in real life) where you're free to do as you like. I like the idea of things you destroy not immediatly going back to their normal state, but it would be neat if "repairs" took place gradually over time. As you said though, the current generation of systems probably aren't up to this level of realism.

 

-S

[kisrael]

heh, in some way you're thinking of a kind immersive sim city, minus the god's eye view and control

 

YEAH! Now that would be fun! No plot, no story, just a city where everything is breakable (or at least as breakable as it would be in real life) where you're free to do as you like. I like the idea of things you destroy not immediatly going back to their normal state, but it would be neat if "repairs" took place gradually over time. As you said though, the current generation of systems probably aren't up to this level of realism.

Probably not the next one either!

 

I think 3D worlds are still very very "cheaty", and to do what you're talking about would require physics based everything almost. Basically it's ragdoll physics for EVERYTHING.

[Stingray]

Probably not the next one either!

 

I think 3D worlds are still very very "cheaty", and to do what you're talking about would require physics based everything almost.   Basically it's ragdoll physics for EVERYTHING.

 

Yeah, you're probably right about that. I'll probably be in my 50's before game systems can actually do this, but assuming I'm still around, I'll be elated when a game like that actually arrives.

 

-S

[+Random Terrain]

Oh yeah, and Artlover reminded me, I want to be able to have people that have more places to do damage on their bodies. Instead of just head and chest, I want to be able to cut off or shoot off arms and legs or if you shoot a guy in the side, he has damage right there. You could shoot a guy all over and watch chunks and blood and stuff fly all over. I hope these consoles hurry up and get more advanced.

 

And back on topic, I'm at the casino now. I passed all of the flying tests at the school and I just got done scaring a guy tied to the front of a car. I also played video poker, but I can't play blackjack yet. I hope the new gang wars are soon.