Taxis

[ikt]

Hello

 

What did you think of Taxis in IV? I found that they made other awesome ways of transport obsolete. It's just too easy to get in a taxi, skip, get on your location and start shooting. So many things wasted. What's the use of the subway when you have taxis? Searching for a station and get in a train. Also Romans cabs. What's the point of calling Roman, when you can get a taxi within 5 seconds, anywhere. Okay, it's free, but if you have over $500000, $100 is not much. Especially in later missions, where you get 50000 for each mission.

 

Taxis have been awesome and useful, but take away a lot of the gameplay. Missions are reduced to hail taxi, skip to dot, kill everybody. Going to friends and such is too.

 

In my opinion, there should be a lot LESS taxis. You should have to call the cab depot (much like you have to call Roman), and skipping.. well. Disabling it would be sh*t too. Maybe limit the amount of skips in one gameplayday to 2 (for emergency things, like going bowling with Roman while you're in west-Aldernet and he's in Broker (it's impossible to get there in a car within 1.5 RL minutes)), and charge much more for it. (tripple the amount), since you don't know what's going on.

 

What do you think?

[xxcyylonexx]

Im ok with the taxis, i never used them anyways. i liked driving myself more. There could be a little less though. and maybe a cash cab too.

[DCTF]

I think the taxis were great, but as you say, they kept the player away from the subways quite a lot. I sometimes dived into subways if an entrance happened to be nearby when I was getting swamped with police, but that was it.

 

A bit more realism could have made them work though. What I remember of NY taxis was how incredibly frustrating they were; you'd have to hail 5-10 taxis just to get one which was prepared to go in the same direction that you wanted. The rare occasions when the first driver would agree to take you felt special.

 

This could have been interesting in GTA IV, since unlike real life you could steal the cab or kill the driver had they been stubborn, but in the game the taxis were always in the same areas that were heavily policed. This would be a good balance in the game, I think.

[cactus.]

I thought the taxis were one of the best new additions to GTA. I loved them. Driving across the city has its own perks and I did enjoy that as well, but after some time I'm just ready to zip across the city without the long journey.

 

I agree that taking taxis was simply too easy and therefore seemed to hinder the others modes of transport. However, I think if R* made them a little - just a little - less reliable people would begin to really consider their options before traveling. For example, taxis could sometimes be less accurate when dropping you off at your desired location, as if they got a little lost or something. Also, if R* is trying to make the city feel unsafe and unpredictable to a degree, they could make it so the taxis sometimes take you somewhere isolated and then try to rob you, perhaps with other people waiting to rob you too.

 

Anyways, I never even thought that taking a taxi killed the experience of going across the city. Many times I'd use the time to catch up on text messages or return phone calls if necessary, and, of course, admire the passing settings.

[AceRay]

it makes more sense than the teleporting campfires in RDR for fast travel. I think its great, I loved it. Usually, I don't like fast travel, because it usually removes the character from the situation and acts as a teleporter. Taxis are good as fast travel devices because they are believable, and it felt right using them.

If they took out taxis, I will be angry. best feature of GTA4 by far.

[d0mm2k8]

Reminds me of the BioShock Vita-Chamber argument.

 

You don't HAVE to use them.

[jnzooger]

Missions are reduced to hail taxi, skip to dot, kill everybody. Going to friends and such is too.

Tell that to anyone playing BoGT for achievements/trophies.

 

Personally, I only ever used taxis after a mission to get back home to save. (I don't use autosave.) And even then, only if I don't have a cool ride I want to keep or quick access to a heli. And in TLaD, I never left my bike behind if I had it for the mission.

[GTA 360]

I would never use the subway trains anyway, they don't go to enough places and you need a car when you get off to go the your destination anyway. And I like the taxis the way they are, you can always rely on a cab to come when you need a car, then kick the driver out and drive to the dot. I never use the taxis for there intended purpose though.

[VercettiCrimeFamily]

Never did use the subway trains , i find its just an extra feture but on the other hand if you could drive the train then i would use it..

[Mokrie Dela]

they're very useful for friend activities - and adds to realism. It's a great feature that needs no change, except maybe "follow that car"

 

Maybe if you pay them enough (like 1000) they may run from the cops for you...

 

 

Same feature should be done with buses (like trains, stopping at stops). But it's not broke don't fix it.

 

As for making other forms of transport obsolete - now it don't. The player is rarely FORCED to use a cab. i dont think you ever HAVE to (i used a moped in Vlad's mission)

 

As for trains - they also shouldn't change, apart from letting you move around RDR style inside

[ikt]

Well, train stations should be more accessible. It's a shame not a lot people use it, the subway system was awesome. As for other ways of transport, I'd like to see busses. Much less cabs are welcome too. But I think that's not the way it's meant to be. Rockstar couldn't have ment for 10 cabs to appear behind you back all at once, with 3 police cars accompanying them. Cabs like they're now are okay, but R* should optimise the spawning system for less police and taxis.

 

As making other ways of transport obsolete, it's the players decision. A lot of people seem to play "Grand Hail Cab", instead of "Grand Theft Auto"

[Long Haired Freaky Guy]

I think R* saw their own mistake in how easy it was getting into a taxi and just skipping around the map, hence the taxi fare was rasied in the two add-on packs...that actually made me stop getting in them until I was desperate, but yeah, in IV I just skipped everywhere.

 

 

For example, taxis could sometimes be less accurate when dropping you off at your desired location, as if they got a little lost or something

 

If we're going for realism in GTA, then I don't see this been possible at all. Taxi driversusually know their way around, and am sorry but if a taxi driver dropped you at the wrong position, you wouldn't get out would you? You'd make it so he went to the correct location.

 

The only way I can see us using taxis less is by making them spawn less?

 

[cactus.]

I think R* saw their own mistake in how easy it was getting into a taxi and just skipping around the map, hence the taxi fare was rasied in the two add-on packs...that actually made me stop getting in them until I was desperate, but yeah, in IV I just skipped everywhere.

 

 

For example, taxis could sometimes be less accurate when dropping you off at your desired location, as if they got a little lost or something

 

If we're going for realism in GTA, then I don't see this been possible at all. Taxi driversusually know their way around, and am sorry but if a taxi driver dropped you at the wrong position, you wouldn't get out would you? You'd make it so he went to the correct location.

 

The only way I can see us using taxis less is by making them spawn less?

ah I didn't know the fares had gone up in EfLC. That certainly seems a more reasonable solution than a lost taxi.

 

I'd suggested the "lost taxi" idea just cause in RDR sometimes the taxis don't take me all the way to my destination (despite that it's right along the road). While I believe it's prob some glitch in the game, it kinda felt like the driver didn't want to travel all the way for some reason.

[Official General]

This a very intersting subject indeed. Now I will add my piece....

 

I personally thought that the taxis were a great feature to have in GTA IV, it worked very well. Yeah sure enough, its great to drive around the city and see the wonderful scenery, but lets face it, Liberty City was such a huge place that sometimes one could not always be bothered to drive. The taxis were a great way of getting somehwere quickly when you felt like skipping to a destination. This feature should not be changed, there is no need to spoil things by removing such a useful feature.

 

The option is there for you to use the taxis, or to drive a car yourself, or to use any other form of transport - you are not forced in any way to use taxis. So, based on this fact, I cannot really agree with the claim that the taxi feature often renders other forms of transport useless.

 

As for the subway system in GTA IV, I really liked it too. It was actually one of the best features of Liberty City's infrastructure in my view. However, I do have one major criticism of the subway in LC - the subway lines should have had much more stations, I felt that there was not enough of them. I reckon if the LC subway had more stations in more locations around the city, I would have definitely made much more use of it. Rockstar should also have included an overground commuter rail system to get from LC to Alderney, that would have been very nice to have.

 

And I agree with the guy who mentioned buses. I've mentioned this myself many times before. We should be able to use buses to get around. I wanna see a bus system in a similar way that you can use the subway system. GTA IV should have enabled the player to also use buses as a form of tranpsort around LC aswell.

 

A ferry-ride system to cross from one island to another would be a great addition too.

[Mr.Moffat]

I agree taxi's were great and need to remain, they were never forced and were a great way of getting places fast if it was need, so keep them ( just fix the AI a little lol)

 

THe subway was fantastic, it was very detailed, you even had to change trains every once in a while, they also added to the vibe of LC, walking along and hearing the rumble of the subway beneath or walking beneath the elevated line and hearing the loud clatter and seeing the shadow cast on the road beneath brill!

 

Buses need to added I agree, there were reports that buses were usable in an early build (backed up by the sheer amount of bus stops around), but were taken out( probably technical reasons, although I find it odd that buses were omitted completly from traffic, shame would have really added to the city to see buses just drive around at least.

[EvilDynasty]

in bohan, some areas lack taxis...

[Official General]

I agree taxi's were great and need to remain, they were never forced and were a great way of getting places fast if it was need, so keep them ( just fix the AI a little lol)

 

THe subway was fantastic, it was very detailed, you even had to change trains every once in a while, they also added to the vibe of LC, walking along and hearing the rumble of the subway beneath or walking beneath the elevated line and hearing the loud clatter and seeing the shadow cast on the road beneath brill!

 

Buses need to added I agree, there were reports that buses were usable in an early build (backed up by the sheer amount of bus stops around), but were taken out( probably technical reasons, although I find it odd that buses were omitted completly from traffic, shame would have really added to the city to see buses just drive around at least.

Another thing about the subway, it would have been good to walk around and explore the interior of the trains aswell.

 

@ Mr Moffat

 

I know what you mean about the buses. Ok we could'nt use them in GTA IV as transport, but I really didn't like the fact that you hardly ever saw buses driving around in the streets, or amongst the traffic. I really have no idea why Rockstar failed to notice this and address the issue.

 

However buses would sometimes appear out of nowhere in the streets, whenever you drove around. But this was quite rare.

[Mr.Moffat]

 

I know what you mean about the buses. Ok we could'nt use them in GTA IV as transport, but I really didn't like the fact that you hardly ever saw buses driving around in the streets, or amongst the traffic. I really have no idea why Rockstar failed to notice this and address the issue

 

Ya, I mean I stand by being actually being able to ride buses, may have been due glitch issues or difficult to program or something, but to why they were completly removed is strange. Maybe they had trouble navigating streets and getting stuck, but there is pc mods that enable them in traffic and they seem fine? it's a mystery alright!

[kailomonkey]

I've always wanted working buses. Remove the skip on taxis and people won't take them But that won't be popular... Maybe a balance of skip and norm, like a 4 speed experience. Or cost goes up huge amounts to double speed!

 

Actually, not skipping sounded like an unlikable idea but really, if no time lapses atall yet you can skip the scene, that's a really big hole in reality. If you want a taxi to get there really fast in game time, you should have to watch since if you asked a taxi to tear across town you'd probably keep your wits and attention. If you don't care about the time lapsing, then no need to hurry the taxi and you then would be more inclined to not notice the journey and be allowed to skip seeing it, but plenty of time and money would go.

[jf6293]

I agree, taxis were awesome, but they took away from some of the game, having less appear would help that.

 

I agree with kailomonkey too, a bus line would be awesome to have, with a set route, so its different from the taxis where you go where ever you need

[Long Haired Freaky Guy]

I think R* saw their own mistake in how easy it was getting into a taxi and just skipping around the map, hence the taxi fare was rasied in the two add-on packs...that actually made me stop getting in them until I was desperate, but yeah, in IV I just skipped everywhere.

 

 

For example, taxis could sometimes be less accurate when dropping you off at your desired location, as if they got a little lost or something

 

If we're going for realism in GTA, then I don't see this been possible at all. Taxi driversusually know their way around, and am sorry but if a taxi driver dropped you at the wrong position, you wouldn't get out would you? You'd make it so he went to the correct location.

 

The only way I can see us using taxis less is by making them spawn less?

ah I didn't know the fares had gone up in EfLC. That certainly seems a more reasonable solution than a lost taxi.

Yeah, it's mentioned on the Weazel News website from the start of the game.

[GTA 360]

If you had to call the depo and wait for the cab to get to you, maybe less people would use them, it may take longer than driving yourself, juat have a few driving back to the taxi place that you can hail. Or simply rename the game Grand Hail Cab, that would work.

[The_Mario_Man]

Well, NYC is littered with taxis. I guess they were just trying to fit the bill. Where I'm from (DC metropolitan area), you usually can't just hail a cab from the side of the road. You'd have to go to one of their parking areas, or call the depot/driver. Buses and trains are usually the best way to get around here.

 

I would like to see a functioning bus/train system in the game, perhaps with a website where you can look up routes and schedules, or a number you could call to see when the next bus arrives near you.