Games

[David]

Rockstar Q&A:

“So can you switch characters? Trevor Michael and Franklin - can you play all of those guys? And everybody has their own missions???!” – @GTAVISBEST
"How is changing between characters going to work during missions?" – HIBMFL
“Do you have to switch characters constantly?” – killer772

Michael, Franklin and Trevor have their own separate lives with their own sets of friends and acquaintances, and even their own preferred ways of spending their free time. When you’re not on a mission, you can freely switch in real-time to any of the three characters to drop in and out of their lives letting you see what they’re up to. And because they have their own schedules, you’ll never know what they might be doing – you might drop in on Michael in the middle of a family dispute, interrupt Franklin chatting up some ladies, or Trevor on the run from the law – or whatever else these guys do in their free time... How and when you switch between characters when you’re not on a mission is completely up to you.

In addition, each of the guys has their own missions and side jobs. There will be times on a mission when you play as one character, or as combinations of two of them, and sometimes as all three, always being able to switch between the characters mid-action. Off mission, it’s up to you. You can play as one character on his own or hang out with either of the other two or both of them, or you can switch between any of them.


"If I play as Trevor, can I zoom out, find out where Michael is, and then go and kill him while playing as Trevor? #GTAV" – @GTALAD4EVA

In the open world, the characters are meant to be living their own ongoing and unpredictable personal lives, so understandably it’s not always easy to track one of them down in the vast city of Los Santos or the many towns spread about Blaine County at any given moment, but you will be able to find them. Having found them, (or simply after calling them up and arranging to meet them), you’ll certainly be able to hang out with them, annoy them should you choose, and maybe even assault them, but you won’t be able to kill them. They all have remarkable powers of recovery and good health insurance. The game is based on playing all sides of these three characters’ interwoven stories rather than having generic, interchangeable leads, so permanently killing a major character in that way wouldn’t make sense. If a player is determined enough though, they may well find a way to badly injure one of the characters and switching to that character would just put you in the hospital to continue where you left off.


“Would you be able to tell me to what extent are weapons and vehicles customizable?” – @kieranmgklaceup

Without going into detail just yet, we can tell you that both will be very customizable – with a range of weapon upgrades as well as some very deep car customization. Stay tuned for more very soon.

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/a ... -gtav.html

[icycalm]

When you’re not on a mission, you can freely switch in real-time to any of the three characters to drop in and out of their lives letting you see what they’re up to.

What "THEY" are up to. "I" am supposed to be "THEY", you morons.

"To see what 'THEY' are up to", lol.

What a bunch of dickheads. This is going to be worse than Chinatown Wars lol.

[recoil]

Footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-xHcvug3WI

[icycalm]

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/gta5/ ... _port.html

GTA 5 PC petition highlights demand for port
Over 210,000 people have supported the call for Rockstar to release Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC.

GTA 5 for PC isn't currently on the cards - but it certainly isn't because demand for the title doesn't exist.

A Change.org petition calling for Rockstar to release a PC version of GTA 5 has gained the support of over 210,000 fans, with the goal to reach 300,000.

10,000 new signatures have been added in the last 10 days.

The petition points to the popularity of the modding scene for earlier GTA titles.

But a PC port could already be on the way. A job listing found earlier this month suggested Rockstar may be bringing both GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption to PC.

Check out the gameplay trailer below to see what PC gamers are currently set to miss out on.

GTA 5 releases on September 17 for Xbox 360 and PS3.

[recoil]

Grand Theft Auto Online Announcement Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEGtoYs_8A

In Grand Theft Auto Online, you'll have the freedom to explore alone or with friends, work cooperatively to complete missions, band together to participate in activities and ambient events, or compete in traditional game modes with the entire community, all with the personality and refined mechanics of Grand Theft Auto V.

Access to Grand Theft Auto Online is free with every retail copy of Grand Theft Auto V and launches on October 1st.

[David]

Some more online multiplayer details:

Rockstar has designed a free-roam matchmaking system that takes various factors into account, such as prioritizing friends and crewmembers, and ensuring that nearby strangers of the appropriate skill level are used to fill space when the situation calls for it. It's not quite like Destiny or The Division in the sense that new players are swapped in for old ones as you move about the map, but the game does ensure that players can all easily fast travel toward each other when a mission is set to begin, and that players who finish a mission together resume a free-roaming session as part of the same group.

Many of these missions are simply ambient events you can trigger on the fly. Let's say you run into one player and decide to challenge them to a race. You pull open the map, drop a waypoint--user-created events and game modes are a big theme in GTA Online--and the two of you are on your way. But be careful, because you might just pass by a third player with a six-star wanted level fleeing from a swarm of cops. Nothing ruins a street race like colliding head-on into a police cruiser.

Those types of serendipitous encounters are one of the ways Rockstar is hoping to make the world feel more alive and unpredictable, while the potential for adversarial behavior between players is another. Maybe you and some buddies want to throw on a couple masks and hold up a convenience store for a quick bit of cash. Easy money, right? Well, the player who physically receives the money from the cashier gets to decide how it's split between the team. If your buddy stiffs you on your share of the profit, you can either chase him down and steal it for yourself or keep your hands clean by hiring a hitman to take him out--it's your call. The game even tracks who your rivals are and lets you know when they've come online so that you can exact a little vengeance.

As a free-roaming experience, Grand Theft Auto Online is full of all these little opportunities for running into other players and mucking about in the sandbox. (Pro Tip: Deposit your money into your bank account as often as you can. When another player kills you, they can snatch the wallet right from your dead body.) But there's more to it than unorganized chaos. Like GTAV's story campaign, GTA Online features a mission progression where a series of larger and more elaborate heists offer you the chance to pad your bank account and cement your status as a master criminal.

These are missions unique to multiplayer and as such they've been designed for a cooperative style of play. One of the missions Rockstar showed was a large-scale operation requiring a crew of players to sneak into an airport, take out a crew of armed guards, and fly away in a military cargo plane. If that weren't challenging enough, the players also had to fly it clear across the map and successfully land the thing in a ramshackle airstrip out in the middle of nowhere.

...

At the heart of GTA Online's progression system is an economy that allows for some very interesting ways to invest your money. You've got the standard purchase options that any GTA veteran will expect to see, including weapons, vehicles, and a slew of player homes. But GTA Online also allows for some very creative investment options.

Take vehicles, for example. Now that player-owned vehicles occupy a permanent place in the world--they no longer disappear into the ether when you leave them somewhere--you can insure your fleet of cars to make sure all the money you've spent on upgrading them doesn't go to waste should you happen to encounter any wayward rockets. Things are sure to get even more interesting sometime after launch when the stock market is implemented: Instead of protecting cars, you'll be able to engage in a bit of lighthearted market manipulation by investing your money in a car manufacturer and running around town destroying every one of those models you come across. Suddenly that company is going to be pumping out a whole lot of new cars. Nice time to be a stockholder, eh?

...

With each mission, you'll be racking up a form of experience called RP, or reputation points. The greater your reputation, the more characters you'll meet. The more characters you meet, the more favors you can call on. If you're fleeing from another player, you can call up a buddy to hide your radar blip. If you're looking for work, you can have them send you a list of cars to steal. And if you're truly desperate, you can call up a private security company to quite literally bring in an airstrike.

What's crazy about all this is that you can call in these favors whether you're messing around in free-roam, or competing in an organized deathmatch or race or any of the other match types. Rockstar is aiming to make these systems as universal as possible, blurring the lines between what makes sense in the open-world and what works within the confines of a proper multiplayer mode.

Rockstar is hoping to extend the life of these multiplayer modes by way of user-generated content, giving players the tools to create their own match formats and share those game modes with other players.

http://uk.gamespot.com/features/why-grand-theft-auto-online-is-crazy-enough-to-work-6412714/

[movie]

http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/15/gta-onl ... s-garages/

[El Chaos]

Streaming issues hit PSN digital version of Grand Theft Auto V, video demonstrates why the disc release is better: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... d-GTA5-PSN

Also, DF's face-off: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... 5-face-off

However, it's apparent that the PS3 version has an undeniable advantage in one area: even to the naked eye, ground textures on 360 are blurred as a result of what appears to be unoptimised asset streaming. Glitch or not, this basically amounts to concrete and grass textures appearing fuzzier beneath the feet of Trevor, Michael or Franklin, while the PS3 version's remain crystal clear. The 360 does command a minor advantage in frame-rate during synchronised play, but for shoot-outs and high-speed hurtles down the city streets, the PS3 can sometimes pull ahead in these metrics - though the difference is rarely perceptible either way. Since all else is identical across the board, the PS3 version is recommended on the grounds of image quality if you have the option.

[movie]

http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/23/gta-onl ... ns-rumour/

A file pulled from Rockstar’s website seems to show that GTA Online players will be able to buy in-game cash with real money.

A Reddit user found and analysed an XML file from Rockstar’s website, which seems to show virtual items available for purchase in Grand Theft Auto 5′s online component.

These items seem to include “cash packs” in denominations of $100,000, $200,000, $500,000 and $1.25 million.

“Cash is king in this town. Solve your money problems and help get what you want across Los Santos and Blaine County with the purchase of cash packs for Grand Theft Auto Online. All purchased cash is automatically deposited into your character’s bank account. Spend wisely, cash therapy is fleeting,” the description in the XML file states.

The news has not been confirmed, but has produced a predictably angry reaction among those who dislike microtransactions, especially given that some players have struggled to earn in-game money in single-player.

[David]

Grand Theft Auto Online: Half a Million GTA$ Stimulus Package this Month

Given some of the recent technical issues during these first days of GTA Online, and now that things are starting to look much smoother (touch wood!), we are planning to provide a special stimulus package for all who have played or will play Grand Theft Auto Online this month. We will be dropping a cool half a million GTA$ in the GTA Online bank accounts of all players this month, starting as early as next week.

In order to keep the current worldwide in-game economy balanced, we will be providing this GTA$ to players via two deposits of $250,000. We will announce specific dates as soon as possible, but are currently hoping to be able to make the first deposit by the end of next week (after we’ve confirmed that issues causing game progress loss have been fixed) with the second instalment to happen by the end of the month. For players who experienced cloud server errors, connection issues, and lost game progress and characters in these first days of GTA Online, we hope this GTA$ helps to facilitate a fresh start or makes your continued life in Los Santos and Blaine County extra sweet.

Below are a few more details on how it will work. Stay tuned for tips on how to make the most of GTA$ cash, info on ways and places to earn more cash fast, as well as updates on all the new GTA Online content additions we’re working on for this fall and beyond.

You must play or have played Grand Theft Auto Online at any time during the month of October 2013 in order to qualify for the GTA$500,000 deposit in your in-game bank account.

Players will first have to install a forthcoming GTAV title update which we expect to happen next week. That title update (1.04) is expected to fix the remaining instances of issues that have caused vehicle purchase loss and will also enable the functionality through which we’ll be providing this GTA$ stimulus cash to players.

We will announce at the Rockstar Newswire when each deposit is made. Each of the two GTA$250,000 deposits will be made by Rockstar and should automatically appear in the in-game GTA Online bank accounts of eligible players. Beyond downloading the forthcoming title update mentioned above, there should not be any additional special action required by eligible players to redeem.

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/a ... -this.html

[Masahiro9891]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-10-10-sources-grand-theft-auto-5-out-on-pc-early-2014

Sources: Grand Theft Auto 5 out on PC early 2014

Rockstar will release a PC version of Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2014, Eurogamer understands.

Multiple industry sources have indicated the open world game, currently available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, will come out on PC in the first quarter of 2014.

The release plan mirrors that used for Grand Theft Auto 4, which released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 29th April 2008 before launching on PC in December 2008.

A PC release should come as no surprise. In August GPU maker Nvidia's senior director of investor relations Chris Evenden mentioned a PC version of GTA5 during a financial call.

"[PC] gamers are preparing their systems for a strong roster of games coming this fall, including blockbuster franchises such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Grand Theft Auto 5 and Assassin's Creed 4," he said.

After Evenden's quotes were picked up by press, Nvidia issued Eurogamer a statement saying they were made in error. "Nvidia does not have information on any possible PC version release of Grand Theft Auto or its availability," a spokesperson said. "We deeply regret the error."

When approached for comment, Rockstar pointed us to an "Asked & Answered" session published on the company's Newswire website in July.

"The only versions of the game that we have announced are for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 which are set for a September 17th worldwide release," Rockstar said at the time. "We don't have anything to share about the possibility of a next-gen or a PC platform release at this time and we are completely focused on delivering the best possible experience for the consoles people have right now."

Nearly 600,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling on Rockstar to release GTA5 on PC. They will get their wish.

[icycalm]

lol I just figured out why they keep insisting so stubbornly that there is no PC version on the horizon, even though everyone knows there is. They want you to buy the game twice.

[icycalm]

Played the first two missions last night, and after a good day's sleep I am ready to spend a few hours properly playing it. So far so decent. The scale and detail of the world are awe-inspiring. I haven't been to LA since 1999 and the game brought back some memories. The new engine is also amazing, but I am gonna talk about it at length in the review. The problem is the plot and the three characters. Also, you need to play around considerably with the settings to make sure you are not playing a casual game. With all the settings turned on the game is borderline casual. I may post some more comments later, we'll see.

[icycalm]

Played a couple more missions. It took me a while because I play with the map off and don't use the Autosave/Retry options. The engine and detail of the world continue to amaze me, but the plot is so bad that so far the game can't even be said to have any.

The radio seems awesome too. "A protester was shot dead today at a protest against violence."

A few seconds later:

"A protest broke out today against the death of a protester at a protest protesting against the protest against violence."

Even if I stop playing the game I'll spend a few hours in a parked car listening to the talk shows.

[icycalm]

Or "legalize medical cocaine" lol. The 60 bucks are worth it just for the satire.

[icycalm]

I tried to pick up the game again today, at the fourth mission, "Complications" (third if you don't count the prologue, I guess), and the game seems to get stuck on me. I steal the car, drive back to the lot with Michael's gun stuck to my head, and then he tells me to "pull over now" or some shit. So I pull over, and nothing happens, and a couple minutes later I get the game over screen because I "failed to follow Michael's instructions" or some shit. I replayed the mission half a dozen times, and tried "pulling over" everywhere I could think of, both on the car lot and eveywhere around it, yet the game still keeps failing me.

Is there some "pull over" button I am not aware of? Or doesn't "pull over" mean what I think it means (i.e. "stop")? I tried exiting the vehicle after I've stopped, but the game won't let me. I tried ramming it through the dealership's windows, because that's the next step according to various guides online, but that's not working either. I tried googling to see if it's a bug, but didn't find anything.

I've got the 360 Games on Demand version. If no one can help me I guess I'll order the PS3 disc version, since Chaos said earlier that there are problems with the PS3 downloadable one.

Or I might just say fuck it since the game's shaping up to be quite boring.

And apparently after three or so failures you're given the option to "skip" the mission lol. What they should do with Kinect 2 is measure your heartbeat rate, and if it's near to sleeping levels they should give you the option to skip the entire game.

[icycalm]

Tried it one more time and got past it. I watched a video of the mission being cleared, and the guys in the video were following the GPS and getting to the dealership via another route than the one I was using. On top of that, the target areas in this game are these tiny little yellow circles that are basically impossible to see without the map AND GPS on. So I switched them on to pass the mission, and then switched them off again.

The next mission with Michael and the boat looks fun, but awkward as hell while juggling two characters. I tried it once and then switched the console off and loaded up a movie. It really is as boring as GTA4 so far.

[icycalm]

Did a few more missions. I think I am at 6 or 7 percent or so. It's growing on me, a little. It's definitely better than 4, but, so far at least, not by very much.

It sure is strange taking one of my characters to another of my characters to give him missions, and then having both of my characters do the mission together. Why not also control their adversaries? And the entire fucking town while we're at it? Grand Theft Sims V. Rockstar should collaborate with Will Wright on this joint.

[icycalm]

Some relatively minor but still noticeable and unwelcome changes from previous games:

When you go to talk to someone about a mission, the game often pauses and speeds time forward to make it daylight or dark, depending on the time of day the cutscene takes place in. And what is my character doing during this time? Just sitting there waiting for no apparent reason, while in previous games if you got to a character when they were unavailable, the game simply told you this and you had to find a way to kill some time, or go do something else. Moreover, if you arrive at the mission with a cool car, sometimes the game will replace your car with the character's standard car for no apparent reason (perhaps this is triggered only whenever a support character is supposed to be riding along with you for the mission). All this makes the game feel even more scripted than usual -- and that's on top of how much more scripted 5's missions are compared to 4's (as 4's were compared to 3's) and the insane level of handholding that's going on in them that makes David Cage's games seem like Deus Ex.

[icycalm]

On the plus side, the cutscenes sometime feature little Half-Life 2 type semi-interactive segments. I.e. you can move around, and follow along, etc. some character while they are talking. This is a considerable plus, but it pales in comparison to the negative impact of the minuses I outlined above.

[icycalm]

Or buying and selling stocks, WHEN YOU ARE ALREADY LIVING IN A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR MANSION AND DRIVING THE MOST EXPENSIVE CARS AROUND. That's what GTA has been reduced to: anything to avoid you noticing how utterly boring the main game is.

"But now you owe 2 million dollars to the dude whose girlfriend's house you demolished for no apparent reason, that's why you need the money."

The designers of the game still haven't figured out that GETTING RICH is a million times more fun than GETTING OUT OF DEBT. Why not make the starting character Bill Gates for the next game, so that the only way there'll be any point to playing the game is if Bill does something so utterly stupid in the first five minutes that he loses all his fortune and is forced to suck cock for crack on street corners?

[icycalm]

Okay, I got to the first heist. You can choose how to plan it: whether to go in guns blazing or opt for a more elaborate, stealthy approach. You also pick crew members, and there's a tradeoff here in that the more experienced ones demand a larger share of the loot. All this is nice, but if the heist is piss easy anyway -- as I suspect it will be -- and all these choices amount to nothing, then all the planning will manage to accomplish is make me annoyed that I am being forced to go through it. We'll see. I'll take a break and do some more side missions before I tackle it. I've already done a couple and they are shit.

[icycalm]

Just got my ass wasted in an indoor drug deal fight involving flashlight-equipped shotguns. Two shots and I am dead. Fun times. Wish the entire game was like this. I could praise the depth of the engine all day long. GTA + Gears of War + Max Payne 3 + L.A. Noire + Assassin's Creed + Splinter Cell + awesome racing, bike and bicycle riding, jetskiing, and who knows what else. Each individual element is not quite as good as the game from which it's ripped off, but there has never been a game that combines so many of them, and so well, as this one. The engine is the one thing about this game that I can honestly call flawless, and one can only admire how much money and attention Rockstar has poured into it. And stuff like rain, lens flare, the water. Truly amazing stuff. I shudder at the idea of what GTA6 on PS4 will look like, and if even a fraction of the $60 I paid for GTA5 is going to go into that, it's money well spent, as far as I am concerned.

[ksevcov]

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2014/06/gra ... -xbox.html

Rockstar Games Announces Grand Theft Auto V Coming this Fall to PlayStation®4, Xbox One and PC

Rockstar Games is proud to announce that the critically acclaimed and record-breaking Grand Theft Auto V is coming this fall to the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and PC.

“Grand Theft Auto V looks and feels stunning enhanced by the power of these new platforms,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "We can’t wait for players to experience a new level of detail to this massive world."

Grand Theft Auto V will take full advantage of the power of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC with across-the-board graphical and technical improvements to deliver a stunning new level of detail. Increased draw distances, finer texture details, denser traffic, and enhanced resolutions work together to bring new life to the cities, towns, deserts and oceans of Rockstar North’s epic reimagining of Southern California.

Switch between the interconnected lives of Michael, Trevor and Franklin as they embark on a series of heists across Los Santos and Blaine County in the biggest, deepest and richest open world experience yet, with game world enhancements that include new wildlife, upgraded weather and damage effects, and an array of new details to discover.

The new generation upgrades also extend to Grand Theft Auto Online, an ever-evolving Grand Theft Auto universe. Rise through the criminal ranks by banding together to complete Jobs for cash, purchase properties, vehicles and character upgrades, compete in traditional competitive modes, or create your own content to play and share with the Grand Theft Auto community.

All new content and gameplay created since the launch of Grand Theft Auto Online, including an extensive array of new Jobs, an arsenal of new weapons, scores of new vehicles, new properties and player customizations will also be available for the PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One and PC with much more to come. In addition, the current community of players will have the ability to transfer their Grand Theft Auto Online characters and progression to their choice of PlayStation®4, Xbox One or PC.

Grand Theft Auto V for PC will also feature a video editor designed for advanced movie-making.

[Texas]

http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/14/gta-5-r ... ler-outed/

Grand Theft Auto 5 was confirmed to be coming to PC and current-gen platforms back at E3. The only release window that was shared back then was “Autumn,” but we could be looking at the actual release date, if this retailer is to be believed.

PCGamer spotted a listing on Danish retailer Coolshop, which also operates in the UK.

The listing used to show the date of November 14, but has now been changed to December 31, which is the usual place-holder date for undated titles.

PCGamer managed to grab an screenshot of the listing before it was pulled though, have a look:

gta.jpg (170.49 KiB) Viewed 20349 times

Interestingly, November 14 happens to be a Friday, which is the usual release day for games in Europe.