[cousinletsgobowling]

As the time slowly passes till we got more info concerning V one thing we can be sure of is this will most certainly be the last game of this console cycle.

I look forward to seeing what Rockstar have up their sleeve but at the same time I dread it because when you see the time Rockstar takes to develop something like GTA you know its going to be a long wait. And after V is released I feel its going to be an even greater wait for VI.

So Rockstar have to make V a game you can keep on playing, even when you finish the main campaign and rank up in the multiplayer. It's got to be that kind of game where your never going to be tired of it and keep playing it for years to come and still keep entertaining us. Let me explain.

In the past games were simple. There was virtually no story. The simple graphics actually made you imagine the kind of story you were playing. The fact is, back then we didn't care about story. If we could shoot it, we were entertained. And we mostly kept replaying it cause it was simple fun and also to beat our highest score. Fast forward to now and we have these complex mega plots that seem more entertaining than anything Hollywood could throw at us these days. Yes I suppose thats game evolution but how many people actually restarted these games again when it finished. Let's have a look at the last GTA, IV.

I've only ever played the main campaign twice. The second time was to choose the different option concerning Deal or Revenge. People who finished IV know what I'm talking about. And to get the Liberty city minute achivement/trophy. After that, nothing would compel me to restart the game again. Of course I kept playing if after it ended to finish the side-missions etc.

But even doing that got to be really stale after awhile. You might think this weird but I really enjoyed the activities with friends/girlfriends the most in IV. Not because of the activties but because of the conversations your characters will have. When it got to that stage when there was no more conversations and it was just silence as you drove to your activity it became really weird and a little depressing.

Now granted there is only so much voice acting, missions and cut scenes you can cram into one game the problem is, it all ends. Thats why I was so happy to buy Episodes from Liberty City. More missions, more stories. Then that ended too. IV and its expansions was one of the very few games where I didn't want it to end. I wanted it to keep going. Thats why we cram these boards with topic after topic because we are secretly itching to play V and immerse ourselves in that enormous world but in the meantime we hope this messageboard might fill that void (Yours included)

Now it's a fact but the only games people play for years on end is MMO's and Multiplayer. Now granted, GTA is no MMO. It's a sandbox and I'm hoping Rockstar add a little something to make that main campaign more interesting.

So here's what I think they should do. I believe RDR set a template for how Rockstar games (concerning the main storyline) should be. I'll keep it simple. When you think the story is ended...it continues. That is after the credits have rolled, more missions pop up. Second, with the rumours of multiple protaginists I think this could definitely give the game more staying power. I can easily imagine over 200 missions all up. Ok. Phew. I wanted to continue with multiplayer but I think I'll stop here cause its topic could keep on going

This post has been edited by cousinletsgobowling on Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 11:33

[TheRedBull]

I love your idea. And considering that the screenplay has over 1,000 pages, you might just be right.

[baguvix_wanrltw]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but - what you're saying boils down to: I want more side missions. Correct?

In that case, yeah, more side missions (or "random encounters") couldn't hurt but even they will end after a while.

[cousinletsgobowling]

QUOTE (baguvix_wanrltw @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 12:01)

Please correct me if I'm wrong but - what you're saying boils down to: I want more side missions. Correct? In that case, yeah, more side missions (or "random encounters") couldn't hurt but even they will end after a while.

No. That wasn't my point. Side-missions are there just to be completed to get 100%. I'm just focusing on the main campaign.

[Mainland Marauder]

I'd like to see more of the side missions and things you can do to be a little more free in form. You do it to make money and just do it, not just once to get closer to 100% completion.

QUOTE (cousinletsgobowling)

You might think this weird but I really enjoyed the activities with friends/girlfriends the most in IV. Not because of the activties but because of the conversations your characters will have. When it got to that stage when there was no more conversations and it was just silence as you drove to your activity it became really weird and a little depressing.

I think this did a lot to develop the characters beyond mission cutscenes, both Niko and those he dealt with.

You are always going to have a defined amount of spoken dialogue in the game. Once you've heard it all, you've heard it all. Other game elements can theoretically be run forever but you're only going to hear new lines for so long.

[baguvix_wanrltw]

QUOTE (cousinletsgobowling @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 11:31)

When you think the story is ended...it continues. That is after the credits have rolled, more missions pop up.

So... you want the credits to roll before the main campaign is actually over? Ah... huh.

In Red Dead the "real" final mission was technically a random encounter/side mission as well (see http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Remember_My_Family).

And then the credits rolled. And then? All you could do was side missions you missed, go hunting etc.

I really don't get your point. Could you point me in the right direction?

Mainland Marauder: I agree.

[Mainland Marauder]

I think an example of what he might mean is - just an example - rather than just having a list of cars to steal, export and cross off a list, you might find and steal cars anytime to sell/crush/whatever.

The home invasions in SA are an example of this sort of side-mission style, and you could do those right away and however many times you wanted to make money.

[baguvix_wanrltw]

Thanks for explaining but how is that different from hunting in Red Dead? You could do that as long as you liked too.

And I still don't see how any of that could be counted as part of the main storyline.

Oh well, maybe the OP comes back and explains this further.

[Mainland Marauder]

QUOTE (baguvix_wanrltw @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 06:25)

Thanks for explaining but how is that different from hunting in Red Dead? You could do that as long as you liked too.

It's not, really. In fact Red Dead pulled this style of side mission/activity quite well.

If the OP wants unlimited missions and unique dialogue, it's just not possible.

[CaptRobau]

QUOTE (TheRedBull @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 11:44)

I love your idea. And considering that the screenplay has over 1,000 pages, you might just be right.

I did a rough calculation that showed that GTA IV's script was around 600 pages (based on paper thickness and the image we saw of the comparison between IV's and III's script). That's almost a 70% increase. I think we're in for a lot more (side-)missions this time around.

[Linki]

Maybe I'm just weird, but I've loved GTA because they never "ended" (after the story finished) to me. I would just keep roaming the open world and do my own thing.
In fact, I always preferred playing AFTER the story and all the side-sh*t was gone - I felt free! No obligations. Just roam the world and let your imagination run wild!

I personally despise most collectibles and side-missions, and would prefer them gone and or at least made interesting. As for a way to make the game seem more endless for other players, I think an improved money system would help. Make it so you lose money easier, or make it harder to find it. Just something to make it seem like you have a "goal" of sorts.
If the story calls for your protagonist to have his own empire, that would help with holding some players attention with frequent management.

[Vormek]

QUOTE (TheRedBull @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 11:44)

I love your idea. And considering that the screenplay has over 1,000 pages, you might just be right.

Source?

[r0eladn]

QUOTE (cousinletsgobowling @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 11:31)

Ok. Phew. I wanted to continue with multiplayer but I think I'll stop here cause its topic could keep on going

Could you share your ideas on multiplayer?

Cause i think the most replayability is in multiplayer.
At least for me it is, just like in IV.

I spend some time doing the story of IV, and then spent way more time on multiplayer.

[Honest Bill]

In RDR you could still do bounty missions which didn't require any nique dialogue, and also the random generic occurrences like people tryingto rob you etc, i expect GTAV to expand on these sorts of things.

They could easily do it without creating any extra spoken dialogue.. for example, jobs given to you by e-mail... Like the Brucie missions, but there's no reason these couldn't keep randomly generating..

Then there's the turf wars like in SA.. This could be greatly expanded upon to make something that's actually worth replaying..

Business ownership.. Just trying to keep your illegal enterprises afloat, random attacks could happen on them or random busts by the police, with a couple of different methods of resolution.. eg bribes, assassinations etc.

then there was the courier who drove from LS to SF every week.. There are lots of ways they could expand upon this.. maybe you could hack in to Gruppe Sechs' computer system and find out where there current routes are.. you could trigger these any time you want..

newspapers like in RDR could be a good source of missions.. say you read the days newspaper and it says someone is coming to town on thursday to give a speech to lobby for better financial support for the police for their war against organised crime (or substitute whatever random reason).. No missions need necessarily be triggered here, but you could choose to go there on thursday and assassinate him, or forget about it and et him give the speech, in which case you will undergo a few busts on your businesses.

Friend's activities where you can rob places.. there might be an industrial area with lots of generic warehouse buidings, all have generic warehouse interiors, but you could call up your friends (note you call them and not vice versa) and ask them if they know of any shipments.. they reply i heard of one coming in tonight at ... Generic warehouse 13B et voila you have a warehouse to rob and some generic goons to alleviate of their shipment of crates with nondescript merchandise inside

leveling up your own gang members, who can die like in TLAD, but with a deeper customisation option, where you can actually give them training in certain things and buy them specific weapons, all of which can be lost if they die and you have to start with a new protégé

[Iroquois]

good idea OP; I always wanted a GTA where the missions never stopped; a game that continue to evolve around you.

[baguvix_wanrltw]

QUOTE (Iroquois @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 13:07)

good idea OP; I always wanted a GTA where the missions never stopped; a game that continue to evolve around you.

We would all like that, the problem is that it's impossible (unless R* made a "GTA World", wouldn't release any new GTAs anymore and only added endless DLCs to "GTA World").


Honest Bill: even the E-Mails need to be written by hand to make any sense, unless of course you'd be happy getting "I need car <insertrandomcarnamehere>" emails 12 times a day but that would suck after a very short while imho.

Turf wars were not endless either iirc, once you owned all territories they didn't happen anymore (or did they? I think they didn't but it's been a while...)

Basically they could always generate new "get this car", "kill this dude" etc. missions but where would the fun in that be if there was no connection to the storyline?

If it should have a connection the devs (or actually writers) would have to write each and every one of them, meaning they couldn't possibly be endless anymore.

For example the drug wars in TBOGT really got boring after 25 max, I think I did around 70 but always had the same exact dialog (only 5 or so possible dialogs) and just couldn't get myself to listen to the same sh*t again and again and again.

[Honest Bill]

They would need to be written sure, but how hard is it to write a few short lines? One person could write thousands of these in one day.. And even then i wouldn't mind a generic one..

And yes in SA your territories could be attacked and regained by the enemy.

And as for connection to the story, it depends on the story. If the story revolvres around running a criminal organisation, then it's easy to see how all these missions could be connected to the main plot, which is all about survival and maintaining your 'empire'

I mean it's impossible for the to have an unending mission string with voiced content and unique missions.. they only have a finite amount of time to make the game, it's impossible to make it never end, the only way to do it is to give lots of generic stuff, which as i say could easily be connected to the story.

essentially if you're asking for the story to continue after the story, then all you're really saying (as someone already observed) is that you want a longer story, or want a break in the story where the credits roll and the protagonist's character arch finishes before the over arching plot..

Which is really just a story mechanic

You just can't have spoken dialogue or unique and fully story integrated plot randomly generate itself, and therefore Rockstar are restricted by their inability to create an AI powerful enough to develop it's own games independently of human input..

Instead of either 'get this car' or 'kill this dude'

Why can't we have

If player gets 'X' car, NPC1 tries to kill him, if player kills NPC1 'Z' will happen.

Why couldn't they string them together in this manner?

You're right about them getting boring, but if they had enough different and varied activities which all seemd to be linked, even though really they are quite random and generic, it could provide you with a more complete experience which would be greater than the sum of it's parts.

Aslong as they are careful to avoid too many specifics in the texts they could achieve this i believe

This post has been edited by Honest Bill on Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 13:48

[NightFever]

QUOTE (Honest Bill @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 12:57)

In RDR you could still do bounty missions which didn't require any nique dialogue, and also the random generic occurrences like people tryingto rob you etc, i expect GTAV to expand on these sorts of things. They could easily do it without creating any extra spoken dialogue.. for example, jobs given to you by e-mail... Like the Brucie missions, but there's no reason these couldn't keep randomly generating.. Then there's the turf wars like in SA.. This could be greatly expanded upon to make something that's actually worth replaying.. Business ownership.. Just trying to keep your illegal enterprises afloat, random attacks could happen on them or random busts by the police, with a couple of different methods of resolution.. eg bribes, assassinations etc. then there was the courier who drove from LS to SF every week.. There are lots of ways they could expand upon this.. maybe you could hack in to Gruppe Sechs' computer system and find out where there current routes are.. you could trigger these any time you want.. newspapers like in RDR could be a good source of missions.. say you read the days newspaper and it says someone is coming to town on thursday to give a speech to lobby for better financial support for the police for their war against organised crime (or substitute whatever random reason).. No missions need necessarily be triggered here, but you could choose to go there on thursday and assassinate him, or forget about it and et him give the speech, in which case you will undergo a few busts on your businesses. Friend's activities where you can rob places.. there might be an industrial area with lots of generic warehouse buidings, all have generic warehouse interiors, but you could call up your friends (note you call them and not vice versa) and ask them if they know of any shipments.. they reply i heard of one coming in tonight at ... Generic warehouse 13B et voila you have a warehouse to rob and some generic goons to alleviate of their shipment of crates with nondescript merchandise inside leveling up your own gang members, who can die like in TLAD, but with a deeper customisation option, where you can actually give them training in certain things and buy them specific weapons, all of which can be lost if they die and you have to start with a new protégé

This

[CaptRobau]

QUOTE (Vormek @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 12:46)

QUOTE (TheRedBull @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 11:44) I love your idea. And considering that the screenplay has over 1,000 pages, you might just be right. Source?

http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/6130/...e-script-likely

[Shockenheim]

QUOTE (CaptRobau @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 12:32)

QUOTE (TheRedBull @ Sunday, Jul 29 2012, 11:44) I love your idea. And considering that the screenplay has over 1,000 pages, you might just be right. I did a rough calculation that showed that GTA IV's script was around 600 pages (based on paper thickness and the image we saw of the comparison between IV's and III's script). That's almost a 70% increase. I think we're in for a lot more (side-)missions this time around.

Would be awsome!