GTA4 Missions

[Gerard]

We're all too familiar with the mission structure of the current GTA games - start off with nothing, betrayed or set-up, have to meet random people, work for them, gain some money and eventually kill everyone to become top of the tree.

The storylines of the earlier games were even cruder, just doing missions for random people constantly.

Do you think this structure will be changed in GTA4, and what will the storyline and individual missions consist of?

For example, would you start off at the top of the tree with people trying to knock you off, or would you be the son of a big boss and have to fight to inherit the gang when he dies, or would you be a cop turning corrupt?

[Dave1]

In my opinion, I would like to start off with a little cash, If you start out with no money with will take all the fun out of it.

If they where to make it where you start at the top and some how loose it all, I think that it may be fun but still lacking the full gta feel.

[GTAFlashfire]

That would be more realistic crimson but it wouldn't be that fun, maybe your choices dictate whether lose it and you try to get it all back but your performance and choices influence what happens, thats the way to give a game the most replayability. We'll just have to see.

[Gerard]

Yea I agree with you there. In current GTA games (eg SanAn) there is only one path to the end. I know we have more freedom than most games, with the ability to do individual missions any way you like and the freedom to roam in between, but there still is only one storyline and nothing changes it.

The ability to change what happens later on should be incorporated. If you kill someone important then perhaps that should have repercussions later on (eg a new leader of the gang, and that gang hating you and sabotaging missions you do for other gangs).

But again that is still following the same pattern - doing missions for a number of gangs.

Is there any risk of you being a GOOD guy in the next game? Like a good cop or businessperson? Is that a choice we could make ourselves in the game?

[GTAFlashfire]

The ability to change the path you take has been on wishlists for GTAs for a long while. Rockstar should really add the feature. And I agree that we should be able to choose being good or bad.

Edited July 19, 2006 by GTAFlashfire

[Harwood Butcher]

Yeah thats what I was thinking. Every mission can turn out differently depending on how you handle the mission. You can turn sides and kill your partner or you can kill the person you're working for or just do the missions like you're used to be doing. I think that would make the storyline the way we want it. If we dont like a certain person that we are working with then we can kill them if we want without having that "Mission Failed" thing come up. In VC I would have killed off Lance in the first mission id do with him and see what would happen if I were doing missions alone for Diaz...to see if he would kill me. Hell it would even be cool if you can do the intro to the game instead of watching.

[GTAFlashfire]

You mean like change how the game starts off?

[Gerard]

Yea, the introductions looked fun in VC and SA. Just shoot Tenpenny and Pulaski before they cause all the trouble. Hey you're going down for shooting a cop anyway, why not three?

Mind you, in many games you just get plonked in the middle of nowhere with no explanation then have to suddenly shoot your way out. I don't want GTA to lose its story, I just want to be able to influence it.

Of course we aren't going to be born and go to school and make every decision - we are going to join our character partway through his life and stuff will already have happened.

Maybe there will be a choice of places to start from, a choice of pasts. Would that just make the game too complicated, and mean that we missed out on a lot of gameplay just because of the past we picked? Is that even a bad thing?

[GTAFlashfire]

Remember when I said replayability, you can play the game again and catch up on the path you never took. You talked about killing Tenpenny, they are the main antagonists of the story, you can make some choices and change some things but at the end of the day some things have to stay the same.

[tilly]

how about start out as an old gta player like tommy (rich) then he has a child then after a few missions you skip some years and your kid is older (kid is only in cutscenes) and you do some more missions and then you skip years and go to a long cutscene where you (old guy) dies and your kid (in 2006) is about 20 or older.

He becomes the player with some money (not alot) because in court the old guy (your father) was proven to have commited suicide, but you think you know many people who could have killed him and you have to pick who to trust and not the rong people or you might get messed up some how and however you go about the game the story gets alot wierder and weirder every second you do something. (maybe interactivity in game and cutscenes like if you kill a bunch of people and go to your next mission, that guy says a tidbit on what you did like "i heard about that bomb u set" or "nice killings back there man"

talk about this, i think its a great idea to change the whole GTA story structure (that was BORING and REPETITIVE) to make it all new and interesting.

i didnt like the work your way up in respect in game, but i did like the at least having to work your way up in the whole game i dont think the gang leaders son (being that you dont have to work except for killing the others who are gunna be gang leader when he dies) wouldnt be a great idea.

[Gerard]

Yeah I think there are some nice ideas there, although I'm not looking for details of specific missions.

A longer introduction cutscene would explain a bit more - I don't tend to 'get' everything in them until I've played the game a while then go look at it again. Maybe at one point in the cutscene you could pick something from a list so you have at least SOME control.

I suppose working your way up the ladder gives you something to do, but I think it could be implemented better than just doing missions for gangs.

I also think its very unrealistic that YOU as the character have to do everything yourself. Okay sometimes you get driven somewhere or get information from someone, but whenever you start a gang war (in SA) its you versus about eighty Ballas and you don't get very much backup. Maybe someone else in your gang could do stuff, and maybe get it wrong sometimes and you have to arrange to get it sorted out?

[tilly]

dude gerard, why do you have to have like..... always perfect ideas. yeah it would be great if you could get more respect and money instead of just working for gangs/people, maybe by freeplaying you could get story respect and maybe thers a constant goal to reach. yeah and the peolpe should work for u too. that would be cool to have a list of things you want them to do for u. and gang wars were dumb. get my idea from the "unwanted gta4 things" topic.

[Chris]

I don't think it will be changed, at least not in a major way.

GTA will always have the same non-linear form of gameplay running through it. I can't see them venturing too far outside of this tried and well tested formula. Having said that, they do need something new.

While it may be a crap suggestion, and I'm not saying this is how I'd want it. But perhaps you would be able to choose which in game character you want to play as at any given time (obviously when not on a mission). But then eventually you would always return to the main protagonist to complete the last few missions.

So say you do the first few missions with Mr Vercetti. The you get bored and decide to play on as Claude. Changing characters at different points in the game would mean a unique experience for every player of the game.

This is quite unlikely to happen though. It would be a major pain in the arse to code for a start. And would each character have completely different missions? The storyline would make no sense though... They could have the same missions I suppose, but approach them ina different way, and in cutscenes different things would be said, such as giving an alternate way to complete the mission. Depending on the particular characters style of play.

For example, to kill a gang leader:

Playing as CJ: You would have to get a group of homies together and perform a drive-by.

Playing as Tommy V: you would have to plan a well organised mafia assassination attempt.

Playng as Maria: You would have to strip for the gang leader to distract him while an accomplice would shove a dildo up his arse so far it would get stuck and he'd have to go to hospital and have it removed but then he develops complications and dies.

This isn't necessarily how I want it. It's just a random thought I just had. I'm not actually sure if it would work well or not.

[Gerard]

"GTA will always have the same non-linear form of gameplay running through it."

The storyline is actually very linear - you branch out a lot to do side missions and you can do some bits of the linear story in different orders - but it very much happens in (overlapping) chunks.

In San An you have to return, then sort out whats going on, then set up some business ventures... (not going to finish because spoiler)

That is a storyline, and that is exactly how it will happen for everybody who plays the game. We will have unique experiences in what we do inbetween, but interaction between main characters is purely in missions which you either pass or fail.

Wouldn't it be great if we could come here in late 2007 and say things like this:

"Oh this mission i got was so cool - I accidentally killed the mafia boss so the entire mafia were after me and Toreno so I had to rescue him and take him to a hideout but we got ambused by the mafia"

Missions that make themselves because of stuff thats happened? It isnt that crazy - people in the streets might start off walking but they might run away if you start shooting or they might attack you if they notice you're from an enemy gang. Why can't missions do the same if something major has happened?

[Slayer]

I'd like to start the game on the top, play a few mission, and lose it all. Then start as you did in every previous GTA. I just like when you begin in a dark alley, with no money or weapons and with serious wounds. And then you have to get out of there alive and climb to the top again...blah, blah, you know it

Just playing the game on the top all the time wouldn't make it as interest as the old way would, imo. There aren't much things to do when you have everything right from the start.

[Gerard]

That's a great idea.

Working your way back up to where you came from is a good enough goal, and then you can go even further. It even gives enough opportunity for the player to decide how they want to do that, and there are loads of paths you could take, eg going and killing the rival gang leader yourself, or making loads of friends to help you do it, or becoming the leader of other gangs to bring a super gang against your rivals.

Plus its similar to VC where you lost all the money and drugs and had to work all over again to get it back to end up where you started

[tilly]

I don't think it will be changed, at least not in a major way.

GTA will always have the same non-linear form of gameplay running through it. I can't see them venturing too far outside of this tried and well tested formula. Having said that, they do need something new.

While it may be a crap suggestion, and I'm not saying this is how I'd want it. But perhaps you would be able to choose which in game character you want to play as at any given time (obviously when not on a mission). But then eventually you would always return to the main protagonist to complete the last few missions.

So say you do the first few missions with Mr Vercetti. The you get bored and decide to play on as Claude. Changing characters at different points in the game would mean a unique experience for every player of the game.

dude chris that was my idea from a long time ago in another topic. you can fly to LC to play as claude (or many others) and fly wherever like VC-Tommy,Tommys son (dont remember others cuz havent played VC forever), SA-CJ, cesar,smoke,toreno. you have to go to there houses and walk in and knock on the door and then you will switch players and you will both walk out but your previous player will walk away and go straight to the airport and spawn back in his old house. and you could also play as unlockable (friends with - GTA style) new characters. and you would have different abilitys (you know, stats, respect, people you know, missions available) for each person.

I'd like to start the game on the top, play a few mission, and lose it all. Then start as you did in every previous GTA. I just like when you begin in a dark alley, with no money or weapons and with serious wounds. And then you have to get out of there alive and climb to the top again...blah, blah, you know it

Just playing the game on the top all the time wouldn't make it as interest as the old way would, imo. There aren't much things to do when you have everything right from the start.

yeah if you add that to my idea it would be totally awesome and keep me playing forever.

Edited July 19, 2006 by tilly

[Gerard]

dude chris that was my idea from a long time ago in another topic

Hey we're not here to fight over ideas, we're here to pick the best ones and put them together

So starting from the top and losing everything after a long interactive cutscene, working your way back up to the top again in your own way, making your own choices.

You would have to go see people yourself and ask them for money or men or help or to join, rather than just receive phonecalls which a monkey could answer, have to make your own decisions about daring to visit the mafia boss to ask him if you can borrow $1m to pay back the other gang etc.

I'm loving all these ideas. Keep em flowing people.

[sann mann]

I think that you should start out in a town that the character is familiar to. You start out being normal and everybody likes you until something tragic goes wrong. Your character should then have to fight his way back up to the top!

[tilly]

i was never fighting over any ideas i was just saying that i said the same thing (well thats what i meant), and that i have a few ideas to add onto it. I also wanna see if you can do revenge missions, i have a slight idea on how to do this but i want to see if anyone else has ideas about it. You could do some research and fight with and team up with and find out vital things about who killed your father, and then when you think uve got the right guy, you murder him hitman bloodmoney style with some rage involved.

[Gerard]

Two people coming up with the same idea is happening loads in our GTA4 wishlists. Maybe that means we're right

[GTAFlashfire]

Two people coming up with the same idea is happening loads in our GTA4 wishlists. Maybe that means we're right

LOL! Yeah, rockstar could get all the ideas for they're best game ever from us. If only they ran this site... Also in missions it would be cool to be able to pick whogoes along with you, and that could also affect the game later.

[tilly]

and also if you kill the rong person, they dont appear back at home, they go to the hospital, and sometimes they die. but it shouldnt totally ruin the game. there are so many things and ppl to get money from that it wouldnt matter much. yes if its sed twice, then its a great idea. R* should really read these forums. but not gtaforums stupid ideas.

i also have a good idea for the changing peoples mission, when you ask someone to do a mission (from your giant list of crazy things) they should either go by there self or if you switch to there character before they leave (if you see them walking outside there house (not rare) or near there house (sortof rare) you shouldbe able to switch then too the same way that you switch guns in the homie trade mod, you should also be able to do the mission as the person assigned to it, by you. (sortof confusing but i think u will get it.)

and you should be able to maybe overrun or do many different things to your freinds and stuff like:shoot them at there house, ambush there gang and act nice to them, take them to a bar to earn more respect from them and be able to do more things (i dont know rockstar will find out), or steal all there money and kill there freinds and family to get a better pshyco or crazy rating. and maybe that way you will be able to do more things with more people(maybe theres a guy that hates the person you just killed and wants to work for u, or theres a guy that heard about how nice you were to this guy, and he wants to work with you.) and if you kill the right people that you think are bad, then you might not need to go through those stupid OG loc missions just to be betrayed by him, if you kill him.

[chris82]

I think you should start out with a little money. ($4000-10000, depending on the time in which the game takes place)

You should work your way up like in previous GTA games. I also think some previous ideas are good, such as a mission changes if you do something major either for or against the gang you're working for.

Another thing is unlocking features and areas of the game. I think islands still should have to be unlocked, but some things that were locked at the beginning of SA, should have been unlocked. Clothing stores, clubs, restaurants, gyms, etc...should have been unlocked from the beginning.