The Premier GTA IV Fansite Pre-Launch Party

[Chris]

Back in March, a number of webmasters from the biggest GTA fansites were contacted by Rockstar. This was to say we had been invited to experience Grand Theft Auto IV in New York City towards the end of April, before the game's release!

The other webmasters which received an invitation were:

• Adam, illspirit, Andy and Jevon - GTA4.net
  
• Zidane and Kodo - GTAGaming
  
• Psy - GTA4.tv
  
• Jordan - PlanetGTA
  
• G-WizZ - GTAWH
  

On Sunday, 20th April, I arrived in New York City with the UK webmasters (the others would join us the next day). On Monday and Tuesday we were able to spend literally all night playing GTA4 single player and multiplayer respectively, before leaving NYC on the Thursday. Some of the webmasters including myself have written about our special trip, so if you're interested in what went on, be sure to read our feature: The premier GTAIV fansite pre-launch party.

Other webmaster's stories: GTA4.tv, PlanetGTA, GTA4.net, GTAGaming and GTAWH

Feel free to use this topic to ask me questions on things I didn't cover in the article. Obviously we're not allowed to spoil or reveal any major details, so don't bother asking about those.

[Charger]

You Guys Are Fucking Lucky! R* are great people, I so far have read your article, GTANET's, and GTA4.tv.

Did you guys receive a copy of GTAIV after you left?

[Vercetti Gangsta]

Superb Hope you had fun

Just wanted to ask some technical questions:

1) Is there any environmental damage in the game? E.g. wrecking buildings in one way or another?

2) The damage done to objects and props - is it dynamic? Or is it the same damage each time you wreck the objects?

3) What happens if you heli-kill someone?

Edit: You should've asked about the PC version... But then again, maybe they would've shot you

Edited April 25, 2008 by Vercetti Gangsta

[GTA Don]

You are one lucky ****! I read the whole recount, and it seems like you guys had a great time. Rockstar truly own!

[mutu]

I read a bit of it, im gonna finish the rest later. It's very fun to read it with a lot of interesting information.

[Chris]

Superb Hope you had fun

Just wanted to ask some technical questions:

1) Is there any environmental damage in the game? E.g. wrecking buildings in one way or another?

2) The damage done to objects and props - is it dynamic? Or is it the same damage each time you wreck the objects?

3) What happens if you heli-kill someone?

Edit: You should've asked about the PC version... But then again, maybe they would've shot you

1) Not really, at least I didn't see any. Bullet holes and stuff appear in walls, roads etc.

2) Well on vehicles it's dynamic, and I'm pretty sure on some objects it's dynamic.

3) Haha, that has to be one of the most spectacular things I did. I flew a helicopter into a Police helicopter chasing me, it literally sawed it in half and we both dropped out of the sky. It looked awesome.

And yes I did, I briefly mentioned it on the Day 2 page.

[Vercetti Gangsta]

Ah thanks for the quick reply. I like the fact that vehicles have dynamic damage to it.

Oh I'd like to see what you said on day 2, but the link to the first part isn't working anymore for some odd reason:

http://www.thegtaplace.com/feature/gtaiv-f...e-beginning.php

Edit: I managed to get the link from the second part:

I asked about the release of the PC version of GTA IV, but unfortunately got the infamous "no comment" response.

Gah But at least that leaves us with more hope that they're actually working on something.

Edited April 25, 2008 by Vercetti Gangsta

[Switch Designs]

What a great experience for you guys. I know everyone on the list and as someone who has done so much for the community making over 150 mods for the gta 3 series, being admin first at www.gtagaming.com, and now being admin at www.thegtaplace.com as well as having my mods on every gta network site out there, I feel saddened that a company who I have the utmost respect for would leave me out of something so amazing.... All I have to say is BAH!

Switch Designs

The best in GTA modding!

Don't hate the modders hate the game!

[Chris]

Yeah sorry about the day 1 not loading, something messed up, it's working again now

And no Charger, we didn't get a free copy of GTA IV. To be honest I think they were all being manufactured when we were there so I'm not sure if we could have got one anyway.

[Mike356]

off topic but did you ask if they were gonna make a sas and was their an army base

[Chris]

I didn't ask about SAS. And I didn't see an army base but then I wasn't actually looking for one. I didn't explore all the islands either.

[Thomas.]

What did driving the cars actually feel like? I mean they have made it a lot more realistic according to various sites, was it better than before?

[Mike356]

what part did you start on and what part did you actully unlock and did you see the statue of happiness

[Connor]

Hahaha, that was so funny man, the questions that driver asked were hilarious. And aw, you got to sit with a room full of Rockstar guys, getting pissed, playing GTA IV...

[hahamu.dk]

Oh man, i'm so envious!

you have just expirienced my biggest dream, i wish it was me.

But thanks for sharing your expirience with us other people, now i can atleast imagine how it must have been.

[Artur]

Wow Chris you're pretty damn lucky I'm positive you had a fun time, I'm betting everyone here is jealous.

[Mike356]

while you were walking around could you hear the music coming from the cars

[fatalgamer]

Ah hey Chris. I wandering

1) Was there any popping, like stuff popping into view like cars , environment and stuff?

2) How is the cruisablity, is the accelerator trigger real sensitive, can can you drive real slow?The environment is so beautiful that I just wanna cruise throw real so and check out every detail. Can I do that?

3) Any significant glitches or problems?

I would appreciate your reply, thanks.

Edited April 26, 2008 by fatalgamer

[Chris]

What did driving the cars actually feel like? I mean they have made it a lot more realistic according to various sites, was it better than before?

Oh yeah it's definitely better than before IMO, it just takes a few moments to get used to when you first start playing as it's quite a bit different.

what part did you start on and what part did you actully unlock and did you see the statue of happiness

If you mean in terms of where on the map you start, it's the south of the island on the right, Broker. I think the next place to unlock is the north of that island, Dukes.

And yes, I stole a helicopter and flew to the Statue of Happiness. Alison told me at the real Statue of Liberty that the in-game island was created exactly as it is in real life. And I noticed that when I went there in-game.

while you were walking around could you hear the music coming from the cars

I can't remember actually. Since we were all playing in one room we couldn't hear our own game too well. I'm pretty sure I could though.

Ah hey Chris. I wandering

1) Was there any popping, like stuff popping into view like cars , environment and stuff?

2) How is the cruisablity, is the accelerator trigger real sensitive, can can you drive real slow?The environment is so beautiful that I just wanna cruise throw real so and check out every detail. Can I do that?

3) Any significant glitches or problems?

I would appreciate your reply, thanks.

1) I didn't notice it much if there was. I don't think there was.

2) Yeah you can drive pretty slowly if you wish. The city is awe-inspiring at night, cruise through it then

3) Well, it wouldn't be GTA without it's glitches. There wasn't anything huge. Occasionally you'd walk out and a car would hit you real softly, but the character animation for falling/getting hit would kick in where you can't really control Niko, which is kind of annoying. Also, and this only happened once to me, but driving really fast, there was a small piece of road which didn't load properly, it was just grey - but that only happened once. Both PS3 and 360 can receive game updates though, so minor things like this could easily be fixed I would imagine.

[azn]

Chris..

-Did you see the World Trade Center?

-Approximately how smaller is Liberty City compared to San Andreas?

-Were there any references to GTA clones? Saints Row in particular..

-How difficult is the wanted level to evade?

-How effective is the new cover system? And how has the AI been improved over SA?

I could actually ask all day but I won't take up too much of your time

[Chris]

Chris..

-Did you see the World Trade Center?

-Approximately how smaller is Liberty City compared to San Andreas?

-Were there any references to GTA clones? Saints Row in particular..

-How difficult is the wanted level to evade?

-How effective is the new cover system? And how has the AI been improved over SA?

I could actually ask all day but I won't take up too much of your time

1) Um, no, and if you mean ground zero then I didn't see that earlier, but I didn't look for it (wasn't actually sure where it was )

2) Seriously, it really doesn't seem small, it seems huge. I couldn't say though. I didn't really explore everything.

3) There most likely is but I don't think I saw any

4) It's simple at 1 star, pretty easy at 2 as well, but from 3 onwards it starts getting challenging. You'll most likely need to use a pay n spray to get rid of 3 or more stars, unless you can find an amazing place to hide (under one of the bridges is a train track, so neither cop cars or helicopters can get you there)

5) Yeah the cover system works really well. Hiding behind a car or a wall gives you great protection, so you can just turn round / get up to shoot when they reload.

The AI is so much better. You'll first notice this with pedestrians as they go about their business. Some will be eating food, reading news papers. You can bump into them and they drop their food and they get angry with you.

Cops are better, they'll take cover behind their cars if you shoot back at them, and start shooting if you reload or start to run away etc.

[azn]

Chris..

-Did you see the World Trade Center?

-Approximately how smaller is Liberty City compared to San Andreas?

-Were there any references to GTA clones? Saints Row in particular..

-How difficult is the wanted level to evade?

-How effective is the new cover system? And how has the AI been improved over SA?

I could actually ask all day but I won't take up too much of your time

1) Um, no, and if you mean ground zero then I didn't see that earlier, but I didn't look for it (wasn't actually sure where it was )

2) Seriously, it really doesn't seem small, it seems huge. I couldn't say though. I didn't really explore everything.

3) There most likely is but I don't think I saw any

4) It's simple at 1 star, pretty easy at 2 as well, but from 3 onwards it starts getting challenging. You'll most likely need to use a pay n spray to get rid of 3 or more stars, unless you can find an amazing place to hide (under one of the bridges is a train track, so neither cop cars or helicopters can get you there)

5) Yeah the cover system works really well. Hiding behind a car or a wall gives you great protection, so you can just turn round / get up to shoot when they reload.

The AI is so much better. You'll first notice this with pedestrians as they go about their business. Some will be eating food, reading news papers. You can bump into them and they drop their food and they get angry with you.

Cops are better, they'll take cover behind their cars if you shoot back at them, and start shooting if you reload or start to run away etc.

Is the food detailed also? Like if they drop the food it is an actual object that won't disappear through the ground.

I'm guessing the AI will be like, gangs would stay away from open areas to do whatever it is they're doing, business men walk faster to get to work and are most likely on cell phones, tourists walk slowly with cameras etc. What would happen if you followed a random ped? Would they call the cops for stalking or would they eventually end up in a location to do something?

I actually have heaps to ask but there's just a million questions popping up in my mind all at once so I'll just keep it simple.

[Pandora]

I just read this and I'm so darned jealous.

Also, I might have to buy a 360 for this. Last game that got a 10 was Ocarina of Time I think, and IV looks absolutely awesome. I should have never doubted Rockstar, ever.

[Deji]

no fair! i didn't get it! lol...

[rappo]

Thank you for actually taking some decent photographs! Only Kodo brought back some good ones, too... Zidane's look like he applied a GTA IV screenshot filter on them - everything was blurry