The Goal of Complete Freedom

[28RedEyedCrows]

Oh, well that's it! I couldn't think of why it was so damn hard to get him; it's cause it's 'The Warriors' and he had a gun and you didn't! OK, thanks!

[DreamsLieHere]

 

I would like to add a suggestion where GTA implements a player creation option. Below you will find features I feel should be included in this aspect of GTA.

 

*Multiple voice personalities.

    -Perhaps include female voice options or even a well known actor as one of the choices.

*Gender roles. Male and Female. Gay, Straight or even Bi.

    -(GTA does include homosexual characters see Florian Cravic (IV) and Asuka Kasen (3))

*Personality traits.

    -Examples would be nervousness, psychotic, happy-go-lucky, gullible, paranoid etc.

*Body physique.

    -Examples would be strong, small, lanky, disabled, athletic.

    -Perhaps even niche modifications similar to FIFA 08 where you can customize nose size, eye colour etc.

*Scarification.

    -Tattoos, branding, combat wounds or even missing limbs (Phil Cassidy anyone?).

 

An example of how this would effect game play.

-Say if you picked a homosexual male, perhaps there would be a variation of the game where you end up having to seduce a man in order to get documents/kill him. Or perhaps if you picked a paranoid disabled guy, he may kill allies and foes which results in fostering his paranoid mind, and the characters would show pity towards him for being disabled.

 

I will edit my post at a later date to include pros and cons.

Heck, that would be great!

 

Anyway,

 

GTA's always been a freedom game. It has always been. I know, 28, that you're seeking for the most freedom you can get in GTA. But, come to think of it, does R* really have a choice?

 

I'd think of GTAIV as a building block, to start out with. Remember, that it's their first attempt at GTA next-gen, so, yeah, it may be good, it may not have as much stuff to do, but hey, at least it doesn't suck as a start!

 

IMO, the reason why everyone's whining and complaining is about the high expectations fans have.

 

Compare this to GTAIII. When GTAIII was about to be released, (Did it even have an announcement?) did anyone give a f-ck about it, besides some hardcore pre-GTAIII fans and normal gaming fans who were just looking for some game to get?

 

Until the reviews came in, it was a massive hit. Big gaming sites, magazines, poured in reviews for the game.

 

All positive.

 

With this spreading the word for GTAIII, it soon became the best selling game of 2001.

 

Now, let's take a look at the case with GTAIV.

 

GTAIV, when it was announced, basically everyone in the gaming community (except small girls xD) went frantic, with magazines posting news and screenshots and stuff. Even with GTAForums going abuzz with discussions. The expectations were WAY higher than GTAIII.

 

Example:

GTAIII: "I do not know. Possibly a 3D city, but creating a city the size of GTA2 would be too difficult, so a smaller city should satisfy me"

 

GTAIV: "I want a humongous city, with lots of branching highways, big-ass skyscrapers, planes, Airbus A380s, Harley Davidsons, humongous amount of peds"

 

Well?

[28RedEyedCrows]

DreamsLieHere: Good post, and I agree with basically everything you said. I'm a little confused though; what were you (or were you) asking, exactly?

 

In regard to one thing you said, about Rockstar having a choice: they really do. It shouldn't be the way they go, but, with the establishment of bigger, better and more cinematic stories and characters: it's completely possible (though probably misguided) for them to focus MORE on these things and less on the freedom aspect. I think some of us out there are a little afraid about that which is why many are putting out so many ideas for the future. Although 'IV' is on a next-gen console, and I don't fault them at all for the story and character development, I wouldn't be surprised, if because so much time went into it, (just as the city details) that it didn't take away from additions that would involve more 'free playing'. I agree, that 'GTA IV' is a solid game as a first for the next-gen consoles which is why I try not to pick on it, it's a great game. I just hope it is just that: a first step.

 

What I don't want to see Rockstar do is what many people have complained about before: OK, we've established many good things in 'GTA IV', so now, in the next GTA, let's ADD to what is already there. Where as I did not expect them to keep everything that was in 'SA' and transfer it to 'IV', since it was a whole new world, I will be really dissapointed if they do like they've done in the past, and remove good features that were in 'IV' when the next one comes out. I don't want to have to sacrifice my 'friends' for a military base. I don't want to have to sacrifice my 'gun shop' for the addition of stealth kills. You know what I mean? When we pick up the next GTA in the series, there shouldn't be the fear of them taking out things we loved in 'IV'. This has happened in transitions of the previous 3 games, even when they are on the same console: such as people being able to rob stores, then not be able to, or do rampages, then not be able to, etc.

 

Anyway, so again, I refuse to be hard on 'IV', but I think I'm very critical to what is going to happen with the next game in the series. I also don't expect it to be as big as some of the ideas on here, but it'd be nice if we could at least add on to what is already there.

 

I hope in a round about way this kind of answered anything you may have been asking.

Edited July 6, 2008 by 28RedEyedCrows

[28RedEyedCrows]

Because I'm thinking about it:

 

Since the addition of country/desert in SA, I thought it would be really cool to establish a game near the Mexican border. You'd have one large city in America, but then you'd be able to drive down across the border to another small city in Mexico (along with bars and rest stops along the way). You could add all kinds of drug/gun smuggling missions, not to mention a nice stretch of desert and some cool areas. Inspiration from movies like 'El Mariachi', 'Dusk Till Dawn' and 'Desperado' might fit well.

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

Yeah the mexican border idea is pretty good. Some guy before made made a good topic. which

suggested San Diego/Tijuana. it would be pretty cool. and i totally agree you should be able to

stop and have a drink in the Titty Twister

[28RedEyedCrows]

I KNOW they could get Cheech to be in the game too!

 

 

"Vampires? We don't have no stinking vampires! It's GTA!"

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

I really want the geographical diversity back though. Vast open expanses, plains. mountains, forests.

small towns, rivers, lakes, as long as there's something worthwile in these places for us to do. The towns

in SA were lame, all looked pertty much the same. None of them had a distinctive feel to them. and had

nothing to do, except go into a Burger shot or Clucking bell. Which isn't fun at all, unless you can rob them.

and even then it shouldn't be the only thing there. There should be interesting people to meet, just like the

random peds in GTAIV

 

Imagine rowing down a river in the swamps and hearing a pair of banjos in the distance, now that's fear,

if you have seen the relevant film that is..

 

Imagine coming across hidden encampments in the forest, or witnessing criminals digging a shallow grave,

before spotting you and chasing you outta there.

[gtaman4523]

brilliant you guys are awesome; rackets, kiddnapping,worrying about your most important gang member dying/ getting busted , being a good guy its all great .

[28RedEyedCrows]

gtaman4523: Hey, thanks a lot! It's cool getting any kind of positive feedback. Glad you like our ideas!

 

Tony: I'm happy to see I'm not the only one who enjoyed and sees potential in the country areas. I've got some ideas I'll share later. (got to get some sleep) Just for something to chew on, if you were limited to the kinds of environments you could have (desert, forest, mountain, etc.) what would you pick? Maybe out of 3 or 4, similar to SA.

[mkey82]

Concealing weapons would definitelly add to gameplay, you would have to plan ahead. This is how I would allocate weapon slots

-two or three smaller weapons including but not limited to all kinds of pistols and smaller cold weapons (knifes, scissors, saw, small hatchet, tomahawk , screwdriver)

-one bigger weapon you could put under your coat for keeping it near hand. Do you remember the movie Terminator where Michael Biehn sawed of that shotgun handle and kept it under his arm? This is what I'm talking about. There are various short rifles that can be used it this situations.

-one more large weapon that you could hold in your hands for a while. Be it an RPG or an assault weapon or a mere chainsaw.

 

I was thinking more about trunks than bags. You could leave your stuff there before the mission and pull it out on spot. Ammo should be limited to something like 5 to 7 clips per weapon. Note one thing also, in the cop scenario, you wouldn't be in problems for having weapons on you. People could react on assault rifles in urban areas, but there shouldn't be any wanted level.

 

28Red, with the wanzer thing you depicted, it would be even more cool if you could go through the same missions from two different perspectives. In first case you are a criminal, you shoot on some cops and have them cornered. Then that big thing comes in blasting and you have to retreat. In the second pass, you are taking fire as a cop and you call for that reinforcements. The mission would be to hold out before the reinforcements arrive. When the wanzer gets there you start too push forward while those assholes start to flee. I'm beginning to like the futuristic setting more and more, but the music theme remains the big issue. Maybe this time around they should disregard the time table and just use music they want in there. I'm glad you stood by that idea Tony.

 

This whole deal gives us a nice setting. The police could be treated as oppressors in service of some government, while criminals are in fact fighters for freedom. This would give us a nice moral dilemma when playing the cop storyline.

 

Along with police and private security companies, there should be security on corporate levels. Private police force or even private army. While security companies wouldn't have rights police has (for example, in a shoot out, it could happen police opens fire on private security guys), private army/police would have all kinds of different possibilities cops don't have. Better training and equipment along with the right to use them. Some armored vehicles, while cops would be riding standard cop cars. Better wanzers, helis and such. They would only serve the interest f their company, not civilians. Regular police would be under them in chain of command and would let them be, avoiding any conflicts. As a cop you could come into disagreement with them and have to battle it out. In this case a regualr wanted level seems a bit obsolete.

 

 

And i must say the ED-209 idea is f*cking inspired, and has made me realize that i definitely want to play

GTAX haha. I would love to see that, i like the idea that we might aqquire small 'Electro magnetic pulse

grenades' which would interfere with their circuitry, and make them unable to distinguish between who's

a threat and who isn't. Essentially shooting the sh*t out of everything.

Very nice image you painted. Basically, a wanzer let loose in the open environment. This is what I call a good f*cking game

 

One thing about stealing cars. It should be done in a bit more secluded spaces. For example, garages and under the bridges or something. It's silly seeing Niko look around before he smashes the window with his elbow in plain daylight. You could steal cars from anywhere, but it would be more noticeable in plain sight then in an underground garage. Also, they should introduce the time it takes to start the engine, so car jacking should be our main preference as it's faster and you can take off at once.

 

Should we start to work on the name of this creature of ours? GTA X is OK, but we need something more direct. GTA The last resort; GTA quarantine ; GTA the good and the bad; GTA battle of <insert town name here>... these suck, but you get the picture.

 

Rovers idea is great, but the problem would be the voicing. There is a lot of talk and I don't see them doing that (like most of the stuff we garbled here anyway ) but it would add loads to gameplay. Maybe our characters should be silent types, that don't speak a lot, but when they do they say it perfectly. Silent Bob, anyone ?

 

28Red, the final boss in Final Fight was in a wheelchair and he was one tough bastard. About disabled stuff and the wall. Well, if you can't mount it, you should find your way around it. Even though these days prosthetics can do miracles. For example, there is this guy that could compete on Olympics (NOT para-Olympics) in some running discipline even though he doesn't have both legs from knees below.

[28RedEyedCrows]

mkey82: Thanks for putting in such a nice, in-depth post! Glad you're liking our ideas more! I've got to wake up some and then I will respond.

 

Just a note: I'm glad you referenced that post of Tony's, cause I almost missed that one completely! I've done so well, but that one I meant to go back and read after responding seriously to WantedAssailant's. Anyway, so Tony: I'm glad you like the poster! (sorry I missed that) and it's cool that you both like the 'police robot' idea. A+ on the EMP grenades!

 

Anyway, I'll get back soon and will just update this post if nothing is updated in the meantime.

 

Oh, and...regarding "GTAX": I was going to make it GTA: 20XX on the poster, but the big X just fit better. I usually hate the X thing cause it's so overused! I just didn't want it to bleed all over Ken Watanabe's head!

Edited July 7, 2008 by 28RedEyedCrows

[gtaman4523]

idea : sometimes enimies could put car bombs on your gang members cars and yours. next time you are going for a ride ... check your car

[28RedEyedCrows]

gtaman4523: That's a good one! Thanks for adding that. Sometimes when we get into all of these ideas, we forget about simple, cool things like that.

 

WARNING: Ginormous Post Ahead!

 

Alright, I wrote a bunch of crap out again, so here we go!!! Just kicking out more depth into the ideas!

 

 

'The Robot'

RP-69: (Riot Pacifier)

Construction: Robotic Head/Body, Two Static Arms, Two Legs

Weapons: Twin Gattling Guns (arms), Tear Gas Launcher (on shoulder/back)

Special Abilities:

1. Thermal Vision: You can hide from it, but make sure you're behind something and not just in the shadows.

2. EAS (Enhanced Audio Sensors): If it's near you, keep quiet while hiding or say goodnight. (other loud noises will disrupt this as behavior seen capable in 'Manhunt 2')

3. Voice: In good Robocop fashion, it has a booming robotic voice saying things such as, "submit or die." or "Target acquired." (specific sayings would give you a heads up if you were hiding from it and it spotted you. It would be more serious while the cops would say the more humorous lines.)

4. Tear Gas: this will be used when the robot is having trouble finding you and thinks you're in a specific location. (apply IV's basic grenade behavior) It is also used for actual riots instead of the guns when necessary. Causing the target to cough or blinding them is beneficial to the RP since it can apply it's thermal vision or even it's 'EAS' while smoking out the perp. Tear Gas should have a good spread, but not be overly used (no rapid fire tear gas please!), allowing the suspect to combat it by using gas masks or thermal vision of their own.

 

Notes: I'd like it to be unmanned as it is far more frightening to confront something that you know doesn't give a sh*t whether you live or die, and also doesn't have a face. It might be cool to drive one of these things, but I am sure in a futuristic scenario, there could be some other kind of vehicle for this. This should be about as scary as facing down Judge Dredd: Rare and powerful.

 

Also, since 'GTA IV's' A.I. is generally good in many cases, it might be funny to apply a behavior that if the RP is shot so many times (even accidentally by the police) it will turn around and just blast the hell out of whoever was shooting at it before returning to it's initial target. When this happened, and the RP turned on them, the officer might say things like, "oh crap." or "I really need to stop doing that." The other police would not react by shooting at it though, realizing what happened, and maybe say things like, "stop pissing off the RP, dumb ass!," or "call the ambulance! He did it again!"

 

Regarding the excellent EMP idea, you could have some fun with that. For example: the criminals are held up in the small building firing out of the windows. After the RP has showed up, the criminals have taken cover after it has started blowing through the walls. After the Pacifier's guns stop to cool a moment, one of the perps throws an EMP grenade toward the RP. It goes off, and where in most cases the RP will shut down for a period of time, or be damaged, sometimes it might simply go crazy. In that case, the RP will just go wild, spinning and turning in every direction while the guns fire wildly, maybe even locking on to incorrect targets. This could cause you to take advantage of a situation where the RP has started firing directly at the cops, blowing up their cars and everything else. When this happens, the cops should detect it specifically and react by trying to stop it, taking cover or running. Some more sayings like, "why does this always happen when I'm on scene?!" or "Oh, my ex-wife is going to love hearing about this," would be applied.

 

Other Note: The RP might also be known as the RPR, (Reaper) or, for true & genuine, tasteless Rockstar humor, the Raper. lol

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I tend to take a lot of pride in my music recommendations, so I hope you'd like these if you heard them in a dark and colorful futuristic scenario. I'm sure once you get down to the more common stuff, you could go a lot of places, so I focused mostly on the Rock/Metal and Trance/Downtempo. These are things I usually listen to when I am writing or designing graphics that need that kind of theme.

 

GTA: 20XX - The Music:

(of course this could be even longer, but I'm trying not to get too carried away)

 

Downtempo & Trance:

1. Deep Forest

2. Psychetropic

3. Juno Reactor

4. The Crystal Method

5. BT

6. Traci Lords (Yes, really! Songs like Control, Fallen Angel & Say Something)

7. Banco de Gaia

8. Paul Oakenfold

9. Paul Van Dyk

10. Orbital (especially from their 'Blue Album')

11. Kirsty Hawkshaw (such as Battleship Gray & Blackout)

12. Lamb (such as Five & Gabriel)

13. Origa

14. Leftfield (songs like Swords)

15. Goldfrapp (they had one of their good songs in IV, but only in the strip club private dance)

 

Heavy Metal & Rock: (w/Apocalyptic or Dark Sounds)

1. Skunk Anansie (songs like Selling Jesus & Carmen Queasy)

2. Sevendust (songs like Black)

3. Sister Machine Gun (songs like Torque & Hole in the Ground)

4. KMFDM

5. Stabbing Westward

6. Gravity Kills

7. Juliette Lewis & the Licks (she's got the right sound, + she's featured in 'IV')

8. Econoline Crush (such as Surefire, Home & Devil You Know)

9. VAST

10. 30 Seconds to Mars

11. Billy Idol (from his last album, songs specifically Scream & Evil Eye)

12. Nine Inch Nails (from 'Year Zero' or 'With Teeth' albums especially)

13. Kasabian

14. Love & Rockets (from their Sweet F.A. album, very eerie)

15. My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult (songs like Dope Doll Jungle, Sex on Wheels & Feel the Bite)

16. Cold (especially from their early albums, very dark)

17. Orgy (such as Platinum or Revival)

18. Marilyn Manson (specifically from the album containing Coma White)

 

Rap/Heavy R&B: (I won't really touch this, cause I don't have a lot, but here are a couple)

1. Mos Def

2. Roni Size

3. Ice-T (his classic hard rock stuff)

4. Timbaland (songs like Scream)

5. Nicole Scherzinger (specifically Whatever You Like)

6. Ice Cube

 

Millennium Hits (general and calmer stuff):

1. Depeche Mode

3. Bjork (such as Army of Me & Enjoy)

4. Coldplay (such as Trouble)

5. Keane (such as Atlantic)

6. Morcheeba (from their 'Who Can You Trust?' album)

(you could add a lot of random stuff in these kinds of areas)

 

To go along with Tony had said, including a genuine oldies station of music from the 30's and 40's or even 50's would be cool. That would be very 'Blade Runner'. A country station should be there with darker songs from Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline types for the outskirt areas. I think they should keep a cool reggae station like Tuff Gong and have a really cool DJ with a darker kind of tone. Rap would be fine, but it should have that hard techno twist to it like Roni Size or be in the more intellectual realm such as Mos Def. Pop could be really crazy stuff made for the game. The score itself might resemble Ghost in the Shell's or something like some guys Tony had mentioned earlier which I didn't know but liked.

 

I think the DJ's for the Metal/Rock stations should sound really cool and be anti-government, almost as if they were pirate radio. Not too far off from Iggy Pop. You might even make it a woman such as in 'The Warriors' or a historical figure like Tokyo Rose, but screwing with the police. I always loved that image. It could work for the Reggae station as well. The trance DJ could be a REALLY smooth sounding woman, with a little less humor than normal, or just a cool guy with a voice like Lance Henriksen as opposed to the semi-crazy european types they like to put there. The trance/downtempo I chose isn't as repetitively mindless as some of the more recent stuff in GTA. (I hardly listen to Eurochoc or whatevrr it is) It would be more like GTA2 and III. (I loved the fast stuff in 2) I think the funny ones should be on the whacked out pop stations, similar to the 'Loonies' station, and maybe a little bit on the top 40 & oldies stations. (actually, the oldies station may be automated, similar to what they did with 'The Journey' station in 'IV'.

 

Ok, I need to quit for now! That covered a couple of things!

 

Add: I like Puressence too. Good and different kind of band that doesn't seem to be too well known, at least where I am.

 

Add: Gosh, Tony. You always have so many ideas in your posts I miss stuff! I should give you credit for coming up with the 'EMP drives robot crazy' idea. I just re-read that post to make sure I didn't miss anything, and of course I did!

Edited July 7, 2008 by 28RedEyedCrows

[Dylan Knight PSN:Dilz]

wheres the guns n roses

[28RedEyedCrows]

lol There's freedom to add a lot of stuff. I'm just trying to get a sense of atmosphere.

[Dylan Knight PSN:Dilz]

what about going to concerts like glastonbery

[28RedEyedCrows]

I don't know Glastonbury specifically, but going to concerts, especially in this kind of atmosphere, is an awesome idea! It might take the place of something like the Cabaret or Comedy Club, but allow you to free roam like you could in 'The Warriors' when that band was playing. You could really play up the big lighting and effects on stage to go along with the heavy music and have a large, wild looking crowd to wade through. Pissing off the security by running on stage or something would be fun. There are good examples of concerts/themes like this in 'Strange Days'.

 

Add: Oh yes, and being outdoors at night with a lot of smoke in the air from fire effects and smog; seeing the choppers flying overhead to make sure it doesn't get out of control; having cops standing around outside of the crowd area; all would be really cool! So outdoors, yes! You could also have the bands really chanting anti-establishment stuff as well, since much of the police force would ACTUALLY be corrupt in this game.

 

Add: mkey82: You had some very good stuff I didn't get to yet, but just wanted to say your ideas like the 'different perspectives' and weapons ideas were really good. Being able to purchase a kind of trenchcoat to conceal larger weapons underneath it would be nice.

Edited July 7, 2008 by 28RedEyedCrows

[gtaman4523]

i read at the start of about having your g.f / family member being kiddnapped but i think that you could do that to other people to get ransom money or kill them and the other mafia person would be intimidated . wat do u think 28rec ? this leads me to another idea

Edited July 7, 2008 by gtaman4523

[28RedEyedCrows]

gtaman4523: We shot out so many ideas about this early on, I can't remember everything, (regarding WHO would be kidnapped) but what you're saying sounds good. I honestly think anyone in the game should be able to be kidnapped/held hostage for ransom or for revenge (against a crime family/enemy like you're saying) I think Tony was the first one to really coming up with a lot of in-depth stuff regarding that, but anyway, it would make for a lot of cool scenarios and ways to grab people. If you had a crew (or even by yourself) you could drive up in a van, knock someone out and throw them in the back. (grabbing people and dragging them off would be a new action) You could use the trunk to hold people. (or simply bodies) Etc. Etc.

 

To make the whole thing work, I suppose you'd take them back to a more secure safe house and tie them up somewhere. (like in the mission for Packie) You'd then call a random person/enemy who would be related or friend of the victim and then ask for a certain amount of money. The action would then to have to go to an exchange point (you could pick from a selection) and pick up the money. There would be several things that could happen: Everything would go smoothly and you'd make the exchange; You could get the money but then drive off with the victim just to be an a$$; you could have killed the victim earlier and bluffed that they were still alive (maybe though you would have had to have them talk on the phone or send a picture to the person making the money drop, again, like Packie's mission); the person making the drop might even attempt to kill you or call the cops on you, setting you up, etc. Yeah, it would be a good addition to any GTA.

 

These are the kinds of general ideas that should be powering the whole series since it's based off crime. In the old days of the PC GTA's, they used to promote things like kidnapping, (even though it only happened in a mission or two) but they don't do that anymore.

 

Add: As long as they didn't get too ridiculous (GTA is semi-dark, but not really gross) they could have it where you'd kidnap someone then beat the crap out of them for info, or for revenge. It would probably work similar to what happened when you first met Dimitri & Faustin.

Edited July 7, 2008 by 28RedEyedCrows

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

'John toughguy' awoke, with a searing pain that seemed to be penetrating his whole brain. he could feel his temples pulsating. were his eyes open? .. had he gone blind? .. no, he wasn't blind, he could vaguely make out shapes. But where was he? ... his eyes began to regain the ability to focus, hindered a little by the steam billowing out of the large steel

pipes above his head. He could feel cold concrete pressed hard against his cheek, and the dank smell of decay in the air. This was an alleyway..

like any other. The forgotten space between buildings where waste was discarded, the space where nothing mattered, and

you could get rid of the unwanted objects that had no place in the real world. With an immense amount of effort he managed to raise himself to a seated position, the temples began pulsating faster and he grimmaced. Maybe it was the pain behind his eyes, or maybe it was that moment where the memories of the night before came washing over his mind and penetrated his thoughts...... They couldn't have arrived there that quickly, they must have been waiting...

 

/player gets flashback

 

He brings the hoverbike, to a stop across the street from the plaza. Nerves gripped him as they always did before a job. As usual he told himself, even the hardest and most resolute of men had felt that fear.. it was the ability to overcome that feeling that set the brave apart .. As usual he would use it to his advantage. He slid his hand under his Trenchcoat and his apprehensions subsided a little when he felt the cold steel, ready, certainty at arms length. He scanned the street and the entrance to the plaza, but failed to see anything out of place... He should have noticed then that it had been too quiet, not the usual hustle and bustle that one comes to expect of a den of iniquity. But it was all too easy to think with perfect clarity in a flashback.... Then things become a little hazy... There had been guys everywhere, everything had been a little too precise to have been a coincidence, One second an eery silence, and the next......

 

/back to the alley

 

He reaches inside his coat.. sh*t.. No certainty to be had this time. He may aswell have been naked. He wasn't used to feeling so vulnerable. How the hell had he gotten out of there? what had struck him in the head? Where the hell was he?...

there were too many questions to which he didn't have an answer. Had the target been there? No, he was sure he hadn't seen him.. He reached into his trouser pocket and felt a small piece of tin foil. he felt some of that certainty return to him, like a welcoming old friend as he unwrapped the piece of foil, with all the precision of a nano-surgeon. Even the sound of it was comforting, as was the gleam of the tiny hexagonal pill contained therein. His mouth and throat were dry, but he managed to generate a suffcient amount of saliva. It stuck in his throat for a second, almost as much as the overwhelming sense of failure that rose to prominence within him. But it was Ok.. in about fifteen minutes he'd feel better, or more accurately he'd feel very little, which was good enough... he waited .....

 

/Player is now in control

 

Feeling refreshed he walked through the long and winding alleyway, and past the rotting and decay, past the stagnant puddles and unkempt paving. He heard a wheezing cough and peered through the debris of newspapers and what appeared to be some kind of foam insulation. and was suddenly overcome by the pungent odour of rum and tobacco. The man stared up at him through wide eyes. John couldn't tell if the man was startled or just delusional

"What do ya want?"

The man clutches at his meager possesions

"where's the nearest terminal?" John demanded

"Hey pal" the old man scoffed "Information is power.. you wanna know something you gotta pay for it... ten credits"

 

/Player is given two options

Pay the hobo

Threaten the hobo

 

John's expression changed and he reached forward and grabbed the old man by the throat, he looked into the mans eyes and left him with no room for doubt, that he wouldn't be asking him nicely again. Sternly John asked

"where is the nearest terminal?"

"Ok, Ok" the man spluttered, "there's one on the corner, take a right when you get on to the street"

John retained his firm grip, he was reluctant to let go.. He felt the anger subsiding and withdrew his hand still staring at the man's eyes, as he struggled for air, the man gathered his breath and clambered to his feet, without looking back he made a run for it and left John there, staring at his own hand. What he felt was the same conflict of emotions he often felt. Pride.. he was proud that he had controlled himself.. But he regretted it. He knew that he wouldn't be able to shake the feeling of rage that had gripped him. Perhaps if he had kept squeezing, the feeling would have gone away... But he knew deep down that it never did.... Just the stimulants... that was his problem...

 

/Player gains control again

John got to the end of the alleyway, and stepped out onto the street... The real world ... The comforting sounds of people going about their business. The sounds of electronic advertisements and jingles. The imposing glare of the neon signs and the buzz of the cars propulsion engines as they skipped across the suface of the road. this was the 'Big futuristic metropolis'

that he knew. and he followed the directions given to him by the old man.. He hadn't lied there was a booth on the corner. He had better check in.. Oh sh*t what was he gonna say to 'Captain Shoutsalot'? he was already on thin ice.. Just have to bite the bullet and explain. He entered the booth and his hands hovered above the terminal hesitantly.. No.. He had to check in, there wasn't any other option. He entered his personal security code and logged in. He punched in the access number and the automated secretary, almost instantaneously appeared on the screen

"Good morning, John Toughguy, 'Generic private security agency name', Captain shoutsalot's office, how can i help you?"

"I need to talk to the captain"

"please enter your security access code"

John enters the code ominously

"One moment please"

 

Shoutsalot came on screen looking furious

"Captain about last......"

"DON'T SAY A GOD DAMNED WORD TOUGHGUY... UNLESS OF COURSE YOU'RE ABOUT TO TELL ME THAT YOU TOOK DOWN 'EVIL YAKUZA UNDERBOSS 2'"

"I don't know what happened.. it was a setup... i tried......"

"STOP RIGHT THERE TOUGHGUY.. SETUP, SCREWUP IT'S ALL THE SAME TO ME.. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH CRAP I GET FROM THE GOVERNOR DEFENDING MY DECISION TO USE GUYS LIKE YOU?"

"Listen Captain i can get the guy i just need....."

"NO MORE CHANCES TOUGHGUY, YOUR CONTRACT IS HEREBY TERMINATED, WE'RE USING OUR OWN GUYS FROM NOW ON, THERE'S NO ROOM FOR YOUR KIND.. YOU CAN HAND IN YOUR GUN AND HOVERBIKE AT THE NEAREST AGENCY DEPOT"

"Oh yeah.. about that....."

"YOU USELESS f*ck TOUGHGUY... I'LL SEND YOU THE BILL, DON'T BOTHER CONTACTING ME AGAIN, YOUR CODE HAS BEEN INVALIDATED"

 

Screen fades and returns to John Toughguy, personal homepage..

 

John looked at his mailbox and saw he had one impending message. who could that be? only the agency sent him messages... when he accessed the message his heart sank immediately... Oh sh*t.. he didn't need this.. not now... He was gripped by fear, and felt uneasy. Maybe he could pretend he never saw it... No that wouldn't work.. You didn't just ignore a message from them.

 

/Message reads

Clearance code 547393 098648

marked at the bottom with an isignia of a yellow 'Z'

 

 

Dum dum daaaaaa!!!!!!

 

[28RedEyedCrows]

 

Dum dum daaaaaa!!!!!!

LMAO!

 

I see you were busy too, Tony! I wasn't sure where it was going at first, but once you started inserting the parts concerning the player, that was really well done. So good job! I couldn't help but laugh at your generic names though.

 

Yeah, this is exactly the kind of scenario you should have in order to start from scratch, to build your character from the ground up. I liked how when 'John' faced the hobo, the decisions were kept simple. Although you could add more, it's much more technically realistic to do it that way while still getting the point across. I also like the fact that with this kind of character, down the road, he can really choose who he wants to be. I.e. good cop, bad cop, criminal, vigilante, etc. Like Blade Runner's 'Decker' or even 'Johnny Mnemonic' (without the cop aspect)

 

Did you ever actually play the game 'Flashback'? It's one of my favorite games ever, although it's old now. Just curious. Some of what you said just reminded me of it.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do that. It puts it more into the perspective of an actual, functioning game. (story included)

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

Haha yes Flashback was one of my favourite games.

I coulda gone on for an entire novel but i thought i'd better not haha

[28RedEyedCrows]

lol, yeah, let's try not to scare everyone off... Like we don't already have enough 'walls of text'!

 

FLASHBACK!

 

Add: I forgot to add, I was thinking about halfway through reading it that I wished I could really draw well. I could picture what you wrote pretty good, and it'd be nice to put that visual out there for other people. That's one reason I did the poster. Something to see than just read.

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

Haha but funnily enough i wasn't specifically thinking of that game at all until you mentioned.

which just goes to show how much you are influenced by the things in your past without you

even being conscious of it haha. But yeah you got my point. An ambiguous character whose

personality you get to choose, and who's psychosis is explained, but you could still get to like

him even if yoou decided to play as a bad guy

 

P.S walls of text are good, they scare off the semi-literate haha

 

P.S.S yeah i'd love to be able to draw to give a better view of my concepts. glad you could get

the general picture though

Edited July 7, 2008 by Tony Mozzarelli 80

[28RedEyedCrows]

You're right. I've got so many past things in my head, over time they just kind of bleed together to give you ideas. Flashback was one of those games I had for like, three systems (all different versions) so I thought of it instantly. There's all kinds of cool things out there that we forget. I don't know if you ever got to play them, but when I had a Sega CD, there were some hard to get and fantastic games with similar themes like that, such as 'Snatcher' (a 'Blade Runner' based game) and another one who's name I can't even remember, but had this great atmosphere where you were a kind of futuristic detective. Like, Green Dragon or something. I remember lots of green! It was one of those where when you played it, you just got totally immersed in it. Anyway!!

 

I totally agree with the 'ambiguous character' setup. By all means that's how they should do the next game. Although GTA is a good game how it is, it would be nice for Rockstar to insert more serious tones like what you're talking about and what they've had in their other games. (I.e. Manhunt & Warriors) The charaters/story in 'IV' wes a lot more enjoyable for me this time because it was more serious. I'd just like to see that carry over more to the other parts of the game.

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

Yeah and i liked a lot of your music choices too. Big fan of Roni Size. His music would definitely

fit nicely with a futuristic setting. I think that the dance station should reintroduce that crazy japanese

woman as the DJ,.

[28RedEyedCrows]

Glad you liked those. I don't have a lot of Roni Size's music, but I knew enough about him to realize he'd fit well. Yeah, there was a lot of great stuff in GTA2 (that IS the one you're referring to right?), it's just amazing.

 

Add: Did you catch that concert idea? It was just kind of thrown out there, but I thought it would actually be a really cool addition.

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

Yeah that's him. and Johnny Ricaro or whatever his name was, he was funny.

and that japanese guy.. "Teriake tastes like Sake" or whatever it was haha

 

That gives me a thought, ya know where i talked about the booths with terminals.

they could all play adverts through various screens with the little jingles, you remember

 

"Live high, live true, the zaibatsu"

 

 

Yes the concert idea was a great one too, and i too got the image of the one in Strange

Days, with skunk anansie, playing and teeming with crazy people and junkies, that's

exactly the kind of imagery i get when i think of the futuristic GTA

[gtaman4523]

on the concert idea i like it

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

I also like the idea that they would have an arena with big spectacles, like fighting in a gladiatorial

manner, maybe you could bet on the fights, bribe fighters, intimidate them. that kinda thing

 

 

Haha i just realized what i said. I'm not suggesting that the arena would be visually impaired

Edited July 7, 2008 by Tony Mozzarelli 80