Grand Theft Auto / GTA Online

[Alex79]

Did a brilliant online mission where one group is racing to the docks on dirt bikes and the other team is trying to shut them down in fighter jets. Absolutely brilliant fun, genius mode.

I'm actually enjoying the death matches too, my only gripe is that they have auto-aim still enabled and enemies show up on the radar which just seems bizarre. Plenty of free roam mode hilarity too.

[NokkonWud]

Did a brilliant online mission where one group is racing to the docks on dirt bikes and the other team is trying to shut them down in fighter jets. Absolutely brilliant fun, genius mode.

I'm actually enjoying the death matches too, my only gripe is that they have auto-aim still enabled and enemies show up on the radar which just seems bizarre. Plenty of free roam mode hilarity too.

That's "Top Fun", it's bloody brilliant. There are another two of those Top Fun II and Top Fun III that I know of!

[Alex79]

Just really enjoyed one of the single player hesit style missions, where you raid the Government building, it was epic! One question, I know you can replay missions, but can you replay the heist missions and choose the alternative style to how you originally played it? To use an example everyone will have done by now so's not to spoil anything - the jewellery store, I guess most of us chose the stealthy option by gassing the place, can you replay it all guns blazing style or only how you originally played it?

[AndyKurosaki]

Afraid not, once you've chosen an approach, that's it. Choosing to replay it will only let you do the choice you originally made. Only way around that is to have a save file before you decide what approach to do. Then load that file and choose the opposite way.

[Alex79]

That seems silly. Online is a hoot though, killed so much time over the weekend on it. Hopefully a patch will allow you to quickjob to the Top Fun mode. I swear I lose money out my account when I'm not playing though. I definitely had over ten grand last night, this morning less than two...

[AndyKurosaki]

Do you bank your cash when you've finished a session? Open your ingame phone, go on Internet, click on "Money and services", then Maze bank. Hit "deposit funds" and stick what you want in.

[NokkonWud]

That seems silly. Online is a hoot though, killed so much time over the weekend on it. Hopefully a patch will allow you to quickjob to the Top Fun mode. I swear I lose money out my account when I'm not playing though. I definitely had over ten grand last night, this morning less than two...

You can quick job Top Gun I, II and III
It's also possible to bookmark it so that it's even easier to see on the map.

[AndyKurosaki]

Haven't had chance to try Top Fun yet, only seen it come up once on my selection list.

[Beck]

I finished gta v nearly 2 weeks ago and found it a drag after the 1st quarter of the game. I just can't understand what all the fuss is about. Everyone around me is going on about how excellent it is but I just can't find any motivation to enter los Santos again.

I found the game to be very repetitive and lacking new mechanics. The new heist missions were amazing, when I did the first one i was so impressed with the game. However there's only four or five throughout the whole story mode. What's with that?

The story didn't interest me in the slightest and seemed to go off in these weird tangents. I couldn't give two hoots about the playable characters which was disappointing.
Don't get me wrong the game looks and sounds great. The world is vast, populated and realistic. The voice acting and scripted parts were amazing, as expected of Rockstar. That stuff is all cosmetic though and whilst these areas are brilliant and enjoyable they don't make a game.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older and don't find this sort of game as appealing as I used to. Or maybe it is because I got caught up with the hype train which I think put an unrealistic expectation on the game.
I don't think nostalgia has helped either as I have fond memories of the last games.

Gta v just hasn't done it for me, I was hoping for a story as good as red dead redemption. With the visuals and detail of L.A. Noire but it feels like I got a nicer and more detailed version of gta iv.

Hopefully the dlc will be more appealing.

[ratsoalbion]

That's a shame, I've enjoyed it quite a bit although more for the majesty of the game-world and the possibilities within it than the story itself. I also felt a lot more for RDR in that respect.

Out of interest, did you play and/or enjoy Saints Row III or IV? Quite a few people seem to get a lot more fun out of those than they do from GTA.

[Beck]

I was given saints row 3 as a gift, I had never played the previous ones or even knew much about it before playing. I went in with low expectations and really enjoyed it. It was bat shit crazy from the get go and a hoot.

I actually held off playing saints row 4 so I would start gta v fresh lol.

I feel I have been a bit harsh on gta v, Technically it is an amazing feat.

[ratsoalbion]

I think that's fair to say, but that doesn't necessarily equal enjoyment for everyone.

On the other hand I'm confident in predicting that our Jay will be having an absolute wail of a time with his new copy today just playing around and soaking in that world.

It's things like the water and weather effects that really blow me away, perhaps in part because I started playing open-world games in 1985 when they looked like this:

[Alex79]

Things I want from GTA 6 :

Useable hot air balloons
The stand up comedy venue from GTA 4
The police bikes from GTA San Andreas
Police / Ambulance / Fire truck missions
Completely different cities accessed via train or air travel
Maybe a European city
Windsurfing
Kite flying
Zombie themed DLC
All buildings enterable

[NokkonWud]

Things I want from GTA 6 :

Useable hot air balloons
The stand up comedy venue from GTA 4
The police bikes from GTA San Andreas
Police / Ambulance / Fire truck missions
Completely different cities accessed via train or air travel
Maybe a European city
Windsurfing
Kite flying
Zombie themed DLC
All buildings enterable

Playable female
Dynamic, growing families
Always online
Online radio (dynamic tunes!)
Jobs
Bigger worlds
Car interiors
Jetpacks
Wingsuits
Monster Trucks
Trial Biking
Go Karting
Paintballing
Insurance Fraud
Crew/Friend Apartments
Rare Active World events (Tornado / Earthquake / Volcano)
Drug Empires
Sports Events
Sports Betting

[JaySevenZero]

Started playing this yesterday and a good portion of my time so far has been spent just wandering about looking a the sheer wealth of detail Rockstar have invested in this world. Admittedly, something they have done in all their open worlds but this is the pinnacle of their achievements to date - from the fake billboards, film posters, in-game websites and shop fronts - even the notice boards inside some of the buildings. This morning I was mulling about in Vinewood Hills and realised that there's little or no repetition in the buildings in that area, something that upon inspection could also be said about RDR and perhaps LA Noire to some extent too but for some reason it stood out to me more in this than the others. I've spent some time just standing near to NPCs and listening to their at times quite amusing conversations.

[NokkonWud]

Started playing this yesterday and a good portion of my time so far has been spent just wandering about looking a the sheer wealth of detail Rockstar have invested in this world. Admittedly, something they have done in all their open worlds but this is the pinnacle of their achievements to date - from the fake billboards, film posters, in-game websites and shop fronts - even the notice boards inside some of the buildings. This morning I was mulling about in Vinewood Hills and realised that there's little or no repetition in the buildings in that area, something that upon inspection could also be said about RDR and perhaps LA Noire to some extent too but for some reason it stood out to me more in this than the others. I've spent some time just standing near to NPCs and listening to their at times quite amusing conversations.

Yep, the lack of repeated buildings is something I clocked early on. I've seen very, very little of it, even now after almost 2 days of Multiplayer game time.
Like you I spent the first few days doing little but walking around and seeing stuff. It's unbelievable. I'm still impressed even now.

[Beck]

It's things like the water and weather effects that really blow me away, perhaps in part because I started playing open-world games in 1985 when they looked like this:

Amazing how far games have come. That game is older than me :p

[Flabyo]

It's very recognisable as a place. After a little while playing you start being able to find your way around without resorting to the GPS because every street is visually distinct. To be fair to them (and I have to say this cause an old colleague of mine is one of their world artists) they achieved much the same with GTA 4, but Los Angeles is less repetitive than New York so is a little easier to remember.

Where it stands above GTA4 for me is that you can feel the touch of a level designer literally everywhere. It would be easy to just leave the alleyways behind the buildings empty, but every nook and cranny has had someone go in and do a little set dressing. This is insanely time consuming to do, even if you come up with ways to procedurally generate some of it.

Even out in the sticks to the north someone has usually gone in and added a couple of beach towels to small cove, or a burnt out car in a drainage ditch under the railway tracks. The only place I've seen any obvious repetition is underwater, when you do one of the optional quests that has you go around the whole world underwater you'll start to see the same wrecked boats.

[DomsBeard]

I think I mentioned it before but I was in LA in June and after a quick play of GTA 5 at a friends I was astonished to see Venice beach so ridiculously accurately recreated. Benches, trees and the car park we used were there. The first thing I'll do when I pick it up is drive where I drove to see how close it is.

[Flabyo]

People I know familiar with LA tell me that it's kind of a 'greatest hits' version. All the important stuff is there in roughly the right places, but all the bland miles of housing estates between them have been removed. (I've had a lot of people tell me the least believable aspect of the game is that you can actually drive from place to place without spending hours in traffic...)