[PhilWillKill]

I want to know what other peoples' thoughts are on the stealing mechanism of cars and whether it should be improved or changed.
(I've searched and only found a thread about jacking cars which is relevant, but in this post is a separate topic)

As we all know Grand Theft Auto involves, well, stealing cars. For as long as I can remember the basis has always been the same:

• Approach a parked car
• Press the "steal" button
• Watch a short animation where the door/window is opened/broken
• Protagonist enters the vehicle
• Short delay whilst the protag "hotwires" the vehicle
• Drive away in the stolen vehicle

Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, I just feel that this very simple process (or sequence) has been ignored in a way. With all the effort that was put into devloping IV and striving for realism was it overlooked? Now I know people get up-in-arms when the fundamentals of a game get changed but I think this could be a good thing being that it is "Grand Theft Auto", so please allow me to explain.

These ideas came about whilst watching a program on Nat Geo about grand theft auto (the crime not the game). An ex-con who has now gone straight was explaining what he used to do and was filmed walking down a street detailing the different methods of stealing vehicles. He picked one car as an example and said "I used to steal a load of these, they are the easiest car to steal. You know [looking at the door] I could use a pair of scissors/screwdriver/coat hanger and be away in this car in under a minute.".
Further down the road he approached a new (less than a year old) pickup truck, "Now this car...it's brand new. It has all kinds of anti-theft devices, probably several killswitches and electronics that prevent it from being stolen...but with a laptop and the right software I could steal it. It'd take me a couple of minutes but once I've linked my laptop up to it and run a few bits of software/code I could disable the killswitches and steal it. No problem".

---

What I was thinking is if the mechanism for stealing cars altered slightly. For example, perhaps there could be a levelling system (bare with me) similar to the basic system in San Andreas where at the start of the game you would only be able to steal the oldest/worst cars (circa 1980). Then once you steal 5 cars it improves your "stealing ability" and the "year range" or "era" from which you can steal cars would increase by 5 years, so you can now steal cars that were manufactured up to the year 1985. Eventually once you've stolen 35 cars (which let's be honest you could achieve in a matter of an hour if you were "spamming" the levelling system) you can steal the most modern vehicles and super-cars.

Alternatively the other idea I had was influenced by game mechanics such as the lockpicking system in the Elder Scrolls games and from the Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy/Heavy Rain games. I wouldn't want it to be exact as that would be plagarism, but a cool controller orientated mechanism for the hotwiring system.

• Approach a parked vehicle
• Press the "steal" button
• Watch a short animation where the door/window is opened/broken
• Protagonist enters the vehicle
• Analogue sticks are locked for the hotwiring mechanism (can't pan the camera or turn the steering wheel)
• Rotate the right analogue stick in a 360 degree motion. When it passes a randomly determined zone, say 280-285 degress, the rumble function is activated (or onscreen indicator if controller doesn't have rumble function).
• Press and hold the "gas" button = car starts and analogue stick control is resumed
• Drive away

It wouldn't take long to hotwire a vehicle but just adds a little more depth as opposed to press button, wait for 5 seconds for animation, drive away. The above steps could perhaps involve both analogue sticks, so you have to find two "sweet spots" before you can turn the ignition? Or perhaps this could only work on older vehicles that have no electronics (like in the documentary I saw).

Then for the most recent/expensive/sports cars that would probably have electronic anti-theft devices, when you enter the car instead of getting the hotwiring mechanic, you get out (bring up) your mobile phone - which is more than likely going to be a smartphone or a parody of one. Select a menu item or app called "JuanKey" or similarly comically named app, where you either hold down a button or (god forbid) QTE event for several button presses. Once complete, the car can be started and driven away.


I know it might seem a bit much but once you've done it a couple of times it would become second nature and you wouldn't even notice it?

I personally loved breaking into a parked car in IV without realising the policeman on the other side of the street, and you pull away just as the cop has caught hold of the door handle to pull you out, dragging him along with you prior to executing a tight-turn and flinging him off in the process. With a mechanism like this in place it would make the player scout the area a little bit more if you knew it was going to take you slightly longer than a few seconds to steal a car?


I'd love to hear your opinions. And I apologise for the long post but hope it is something different to the usual stuff

[Tradey4Life]

Yeah great idea but ONLY in expensive cars, sports cars etc.. Think of it like an imobiliser, would be annoying doing it to every old car on the street though.

[r0eladn]

I like the idea of being able to steal old cars when you havnt got any skill, and if you have build up skill, you can hotwire more expensive cars.

However, what if an expensive car drives by and you throw the guy driving it out of the car, in this case, there is no need for hotwiring.

Do you have a solution for that problem?

[Alfabutt]

QUOTE (r0eladn @ Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 14:00)

I like the idea of being able to steal old cars when you havnt got any skill, and if you have build up skill, you can hotwire more expensive cars. However, what if an expensive car drives by and you throw the guy driving it out of the car, in this case, there is no need for hotwiring. Do you have a solution for that problem?

yeah the guy would call the police lol i dont think theres any solution to that, that would just be the easy option to steal a car in future maybe take the car back and analyse it so u could learn how to steal one in future? to the OP i like ur ideas but be careful ul get people saying its not the sims or its too realistic like the other thread that mentioned carjacking!.........some people

[LewisMiller]

It is a good idea but to long for me, keep it stupid simple I say.

[PhilWillKill]

QUOTE (r0eladn @ Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 14:00)

I like the idea of being able to steal old cars when you havnt got any skill, and if you have build up skill, you can hotwire more expensive cars. However, what if an expensive car drives by and you throw the guy driving it out of the car, in this case, there is no need for hotwiring. Do you have a solution for that problem?

I was only describing a mechanic for stealing cars, as I said someone has recently created a topic for jacking cars. Obviously jacking a car is different as the engine is already running so there is no need to hotwire it.

[PhilWillKill]

QUOTE (Alfabutt @ Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 14:12)

QUOTE (r0eladn @ Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 14:00) I like the idea of being able to steal old cars when you havnt got any skill, and if you have build up skill, you can hotwire more expensive cars. However, what if an expensive car drives by and you throw the guy driving it out of the car, in this case, there is no need for hotwiring. Do you have a solution for that problem? yeah the guy would call the police lol i dont think theres any solution to that, that would just be the easy option to steal a car in future maybe take the car back and analyse it so u could learn how to steal one in future? to the OP i like ur ideas but be careful ul get people saying its not the sims or its too realistic like the other thread that mentioned carjacking!.........some people

Yeah I know, some people want to actually get a job (in game) and work 9-5 like in the Sims but it has no place in GTA unless it was a one off mission similar to tailing a suspect... But something small like a hotwiring mechanism that takes just as long as it would to watch the "stealing animation" could easily be implemented and I personally wouldn't find it frustrating. Then again I'm a couple of hundred hours into Sryrim and have picked far too many locks to count and still don't find it annoying

[Gtaghost22]

Good idea.. but only if they did that with rare cars, it would be quite tedious if we had to do that everytime we steal a car. It will make people complain even more about realism lol, and i dont think R* will ever do that

[Alfabutt]

QUOTE (PhilWillKill @ Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 14:45)

QUOTE (Alfabutt @ Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 14:12) QUOTE (r0eladn @ Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 14:00) I like the idea of being able to steal old cars when you havnt got any skill, and if you have build up skill, you can hotwire more expensive cars. However, what if an expensive car drives by and you throw the guy driving it out of the car, in this case, there is no need for hotwiring. Do you have a solution for that problem? yeah the guy would call the police lol i dont think theres any solution to that, that would just be the easy option to steal a car in future maybe take the car back and analyse it so u could learn how to steal one in future? to the OP i like ur ideas but be careful ul get people saying its not the sims or its too realistic like the other thread that mentioned carjacking!.........some people Yeah I know, some people want to actually get a job (in game) and work 9-5 like in the Sims but it has no place in GTA unless it was a one off mission similar to tailing a suspect... But something small like a hotwiring mechanism that takes just as long as it would to watch the "stealing animation" could easily be implemented and I personally wouldn't find it frustrating. Then again I'm a couple of hundred hours into Sryrim and have picked far too many locks to count and still don't find it annoying

aint got skyrim yet although i dont have much to do in my day i compare skyrim to little big planet where u would need so much time to appreciate the game if u know what i mean. id love a real life simulator lol but obv with crime and sh*t so my perfect game would be sims, although i h8 that game sooooooooooo boring! + GTA that game (for me) would be epic, wont be on this gen though. i know why people say oh we dont want a life simulator but in my mind when im playing gta and for example u go to ur safehouse and look at the walls with wallpaper torn and nasty colours well depending on what person u are id like to fix that wall re wallpaper and paint lol i feel like im crazy sometimes suggesting that but thats me, it will take years to create a game like that but thats all it is....a game it wouldnt be boring to me tho, it would give me something to do say if i needed to wait for something in a mission like (ul get the plastic explosives delivered in a few days) ahh f*ck it il paint the walls lmao. stuff like paying bills would be boring but u no what it adds to the fact ul do anything to get that money, if all ur good at is shooting bad people then im gunna try my best to kill that old granny for my rent lol. i dunno i just got a crazy mind. anyway on topic when u talk about analogue sticks to hotwire do u mean something along the lines of the warriors when u stole a car radio....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8UFoZgCgMI

[Adriaan]

Yes I love the idea of stealing a car by using say a laptop or smartphone and hack into onboard security systems which people install in the U.S. I remember seeing this article and video last year of people doing just that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNDv00SGb6w
http://news.yahoo.com/texting-grand-theft-...-090246372.html

[meson1]

The idea of some kind of a car theft levelling up mechanic is an interesting one.

But you don't want to make the actual car theft mechanic too much of a minigame. It's one of those things that would be novel to begin with, but would get old fast and become too much of a chore. Remember that your character steals a LOT of cars during the course of the campaign and you don't want to interrupt the flow of the game too much.

Also, remember that in GTA:IV, there was an element of gameplay in which rapidly pressing forward and backward would speed up the hotwiring process. It was an optional mechanic. The car would still start if you didn't do it, but it might take 5 seconds to get it started instead of 1.

[PhilWillKill]

Kind of like the Warriors, but with the protag entering the vehicle after breaking the window. Similar to this video I found of Heavy Rain (never played it but I did play their first game Fahrenheit which has similar control methods) It just seems like it could so easily be done, but instead of the arrows there would be circular movement prompts or something?

Heavy Rain Car control

[_L1pE_]

I would prefer a system similar to CTW, which had 3 different minigames for stealing parked vehicles (depending on how new/old the vehicle is), they were very simple and never annoyed me.

[PhilWillKill]

_L1pE_ Adriaan and meson1

You're all in the same ballpark. Something which is simple, takes a few seconds and maybe even a disable setting in the options menu? As with all new features I think there should be an ability to turn it off if the player doesn't want it.

[HeNDo6750]

keep it like IV's stealing cars, where you walk upto the car, press triangle , protag looks around just incase any police in the area, smashes the glass, hotwires the car and drives away in a matter of seconds, with or without any wanted stars

Simple

Why change that for V, somebody tells me otherwise you don't want IV's way of stealing cars as i certainly do

This post has been edited by HeNDo6750 on Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 17:11

[1whitebuddah]

can i ask why you want this? this would get incredibly annoying considering you spend most of the time jacking cars, and having to press a load of random buttons every few minutes is not a good idea, especially if your getting chased by the cops.


i don't see how anyone would want realism in gta , the way some people talk about how they want realism in gta 5 is scary, the only way gta is getting realistic is in the physics of the game and the environment and that's only to make it believable not realistic

[woggleman]

The system is fine the way it is. Maybe you can hack the system to get into a military storage facility where you can get some planes and tanks but not for everyday carjacking.

[grope_4_that_date]

The system is NOT fine. I covered grand theft auto (the crime not that game) in my Wanted Level System topic. Here are some highlights:

• Stealing cars will become a measured statistic (similar to Muscle & Fat in San Andreas)
• New feature: Heat

QUOTE

Hotwiring This statistic would measure the players ability to hotwire cars. Hotwiring would be increased by stealing cars, or otherwise by completing missions. A 100% hotwiring statistic would allow the player to steal the car as quickly as 3-4 seconds. It would also decreases the probability of car alarms to about 10/100. Beginning of the Game Players are unable to hotwire cars, until they completed a certain mission (5th or 6th). However, players are able to steal cars off the street from the very beginning. Car alarms go off 90% of the time. Heat Heat is penalty for stealing cars infront of witnesses. It is represented by a yellow radius around the players icon (on the RADAR). Heat will not give an immedate wanted level, but it will if the police sees the player driving that specific car. Heat will only apply to the vehicle and not the player. Leaving the car or going to a Pay n' Spray will relieve the player of heat.

This post has been edited by grope_4_that_date on Tuesday, Apr 3 2012, 17:43

[superhobo666]

no no and no. Why do people want to change great tried and true methods of car theft? NO keep it simple, keep it the way it is, I don't want to spend 5 or 10 minutes trying to steal a car, games are about fun, that would kill half the fun.

if you want realism or simulation find/make a car theft simulation based on realism.

[Buffalo Soldier]

Not feeling the whole hot-wiring stuff, would get dull very fast.
But we need more animations than the silly Window Smash one.