GTA 3, great game...how 'bout some complaints? (1 Viewer)

[Derrik Draven]

While I enjoy the game big time, I do have a couple of personal complaints.
I think my biggest complaint is probably a personal preference but, I REALLY hate how fast the time changes take place in this game.

I'd be happy if it were half the speed that it is. Sunrise, sunset, nighttime, sunrise again. It just seems to go too damn fast. Same problem with the weather changes. I love the murky, foggy look that sometimes falls during the night and, it's cool just to get out of your ride and walk around, taking in the atmosphere. Only problem, the damn weather changes so fast, you're lucky if you get to enjoy it, literally, for a real time minute!
To be honest, and this is definitely an opinion of my own but, I would probably be happy to see the game run off of the internal PS2 clock. Meaning...real time day/night changes. Yeah I know the changes would be VERY slow. I work 2nd shift. I would see Liberty City at night almost exclusively. If I wanted to see it during the day, I'd just have to play during the day sometime. I don't know why but, I'd like it that way.
Textures...sometimes very bland. Guess that's a limitation of the hardware. The poly count of the citizens...very low. Guess the PS2 couldn't handle higher poly counts on the people, with all the other stuff going on. Framerate would chug? I wonder what this would look like on the Xbox?

Lastly, while I really love the vicious AI of the police in the game, I don't like the fact that they are almost impossible to loose once you get above a couple of stars without running over the "copstar" icons. Very arcade-ish. I've already been in situations where I had several cruisers after me, hid in a decent location, all the while the cops were just waiting for me to walk back out into the open no matter how long I waited. Another time I was being chased down an alley by a cop; ran over the star and he stopped chasing me. Very realistic. *cough coug*
Maybe it's a lack of my talent to loose the cops but, I wish there was a bit more depth to the AI when it comes to loosing the cops. Anyone can make a 'bot bad-ass enough but, it really takes some talent to make a 'bot more human with the ability to make mistakes.
Still, it's definitely a killer game...pun intended!

Anyone know if it is, in fact, heading to Microsoft's black box? I haven't read anything about that.
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"...better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it". - Slater, True Romance

 

[BrianB]

Anyone know if it is, in fact, heading to Microsoft's black box? I haven't read anything about that

XBox & PC next year sometime. The engine's based on Criterion's Renderware, so a port in theory shouldn't be too hard. I've no idea for sure.
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Nothing In Particular

 

[Jeremy Illingworth]

When I've got too many stars I drive my car until it catches fire (very easy for me) and then run away and steal a new one. Sometimes when it blows up it takes the cop cars with it. Or use your car to block an alley forcing them to chase on foot and then steal a new car on the street again. Or get to the spray shop. I have yet to use one of those star reducers.
I don't like the driving as much as Midnight Club. Its too sim in GTA3. I feel like I'm playing GT3. I want to slide around every corner with the greatest of ease and not fishtail into a building.
Have they announced how the XBox version will differ, other than more polys?
jeremy
[Edited last by Jeremy Illingworth on October 27, 2001 at 01:52 PM]

 

[JeffreyH]

I've had serious problems with graphical gliches. I found that most of this was due to my PS2 being dirty. It calmed down after a good cleaning. I've driven across rodes that weren't drawn in yet just blue and when using the sniper rifle I've had to wait while items such as mailboxes and fences are "drawn" in. In some parts of the city the PS2 is going nuts reading all of the information, working really hard. I've even drive into fences that I couldn't see because they have appeared yet.
I do love the driving, sliding around corners is easy once you know how much gas and brake to use.
The cops I'd have bad AI. I was at the police station positioned beside a wall and fence. The AI couldn't figure out how to get around it, they all kept running their cars into the fence while I threw grenades at them.
I don't think the PS2 can handle this game very well at all.

 

[Alex Spindler]

Hmmm, mine seems to be handling it quite well. You may wish to disable the Trails option to improve performance.

 

[Derrik Draven]

I don't think the PS2 can handle this game very well at all.

Well, it certainly seems to be working DAMN hard to run it. Just listen to that dvd drive...
I guess everything has to be streamed in because there is so much going on, you just can't dump it into the limited amount of memory.
Now, if it had a hard drive...
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"...better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it". - Slater, True Romance

 

[BrianB]

Well, it certainly seems to be working DAMN hard to run it. Just listen to that dvd drive...
I guess everything has to be streamed in because there is so much going on, you just can't dump it into the limited amount of memory.
Now, if it had a hard drive...

GTA3 is streaming data almost constantly as you go from block to block in the city, yes.
A harddrive would be perfect for reducing the wear & tear...
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Nothing In Particular

 

[Kelly Scott Rickards]

I have heard the XBOX version of GTA3 will be out in feb or march 2002

 

[Aaron Copeland]

Hmmm...I haven't notice any of these graphical problems on my machine.
If they XBOX version has enough enhancements I'll probably pick it up for that as well.
I think it would be cool if on the XBOX version they gave GTA3 the abilty to play MP3s you have saved on your HD on one of the radios stations in your car. That would be cool.
Aaron

 

[Peter_A]

I ain't seen any of these graphical glitches either......
This is almost turning into a PC game discussion. Next thing you know, we'll be talking about getting the drivers updated for the PS2.
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Peter

 

[Dave F]

Man, what I really want to see is GTA4 on the Xbox, with 16x9, ripping WMA support, and online multiplayer! Playing online as a bunch of crooks in a city would be just insane.
-Dave
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DVD List
"The page you are looking for is here no more. Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'"

 

[Joseph Young]

I love the open ended nature of GTA3. My biggest complaint about the game has nothing to do with police A.I. I've gotten very lucky in that regard. With four stars, eluding the police is very difficult but with a little luck and some crafty driving, it can be done. Especially if you know where the ramps are located.. the police will try to follow you on the ramp and land upside down as you speed away.
My problem with the game is the targeting system while on foot. When I am standing in a crowd of people and I have to target specific ones (all whom are shooting at me continually), I've found that toggling the targets is very innacurate. While toggling through the 'innocents' to reach the few deadly sharpshooters in their midst, I've found the camera gets very herky jerky and more often than not, I end up with my back facing a virtual firing squad, desperately trying to toggle back to a viable target. I am actually stuck in the game (and have been for a while) on one of the early missions) for this very reason.
Is this just a 'you just have to get better, guy' situation, or are there any constructive tips on how to do this?
This is still the most fun I've had with a game in a while.
Cheers,
Joseph

 

[Dave Rhodes]

I myself have no problems with the graphics. Sure the people are low poly count and there is some draw-in when driving a fast car, but that's minor stuff. Every game I've played that has a full city (or tries to) suffers from the same kind of stuff, since the developer is pushing the hardware to what they know as the limit. Sure you could lose the draw-in, but you'd also have to lose the peds and you'd get a game that looks as bland as Midnight Club.
Losing the cops, even with five stars isn't all that tough if you know a route to the nearest paint & spray. Driving the Taxi isn't there just for making money, it helps you learn the parts of the city in the process. I have a hard time losing the athorities with six stars, since those damn tanks are instant death if you run into them.
The only real gripes I have is that the game needs a nice Biohazard style Item Box that's linked to the three hideouts where you can store the weapons you have that you bought but don't appear outside the hideout. That would be nice.
Another thing, I get hit by some cop cars some times and I get one star but it was the cop car hitting mine, not me hiiting him. That makes me mad sometimes, another thing, I was going after acar but not at the point of jacking it when a damn Colombian started shooting at me and a foot partol cop was in the area, and I got a star for being shot at, I never returned fire at all.

That's about it, for the most part, though, I think it's a fantastic game.
(Why is it when a game isn't up to par most morons blame the console, not the developer?)
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Dave