prison

[gilbert604]

Alright so I believe it would be a cool concept to throw into the game. Imagine having some sort of consequence after you've been arrested by the police. This would depend on what you did and how many stars you have. For example, you're busted for a DUI so you're taken into custody...given a fine and you're in the drunk tank with the option to skip. The bigger you're crimes, the bigger the consequences are. Eventually if you take the crimes far enough, or you've repeated them enough, you end up in the state penitentiary where you're either expected to pay bail or escape. You also can learn things while in prison. In my opinion, stealing cars can be boring because it's constantly the same...but each car has it's own alarm system, especially when you get to the luxurious and exotics. Prison is like a school for criminals. So you're cell mate could show you a thing or two, maybe it has to do with breaking into cars, or telling you about a contact for drugs, etc. I'm not suggesting you spend 25 years in prison because your murdered someone. You usually have tons of money to begin with, I think trying to escape from prison or have you're friends bail or help you break out like that one mission in gta iv would be really cool.

Edited February 25, 2011 by aldyguy

[silentsharklol]

Seems like an interesting idea, I dont see why it couldn't work.

[The_Mario_Man]

Going to the prison every time you get arrested would be kinda annoying after a while. However, if there's some sort of plot attached I could see it working. Say at some point you are arrested 'for real' and you spend a few missions confined to the prison grounds, doing jobs for a few other inmates, and ultimately leading a breakout. I could see some fun with that.

[AceRay]

great idea, but not for GTA. If I'm thrown into prison in GTA for the whole game, I won't like it cause there are no cars. if I'm on the street one minute and in prison for a couple of missions, I won't like it even more. Its forcing me to do misions. If I'm in prison for getting arrested, I would HATE it, cause then I would have to wait around to get out to go on a spree again.

Maybe a different game, but NOT gta

[gilbert604]

This is just an idea that could be used in one way or another...For the most part it wouldn't change your gameplay from 1-3 stars because when you look back, you spawn in front of the police station to begin with...it's a cut scene which you could skip...much like a mission cut scene. "If I'm thrown into prison in GTA for the whole game" - You wouldn't be, if it were to be incorporated R* could do in in 2 basic ways, either the world outside the prison would halt or it would keep going as a result of you getting busted you would lose out on missions which don't have a huge affect on the gameplay. Who here remembers breaking into Area 69 on SA? That has to be one of my favourite missions of all time, it was original as well... and you benefited from it with a jetpack. The concept I'm talking about is the same except reciprocated because you're escaping rather than breaking in. It's a rough idea, but it could be builded on and perfected.

[cactus.]

LOL! I'd been wanting to create a topic about this, so I wrote up my Introduction and then right before posting it, I found this topic created on the very same day. Oh well, here's what I got on Prisons..

 

 

Since GTA is an ever-evolving crime simulator, I think the possible role of Prison is worthy of discussion.

 

I know a lot of GTA fans are adamantly opposed to serving time in prison because it would be “too realistic” (i.e. tediously boring, annoying, etc.). Obviously, the system can’t be realistic because simply killing a police officer (as everyone is bound to do at some point) would earn you a life-sentence if caught. So, there would clearly have to be some flexibility in serving time for a crime. How much time you serve is really open to debate and, unfortunately, I don’t have any concrete ideas to offer as of now because I’m more interested in exploring the role prison can play and why it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

 

I really hate to make a reference to RDR, but I think it’s fair to say that game gave us some clues regarding the creative direction that R* is heading in, because it shared that “realistic” vibe with GTA IV. Red Dead Redemption teased us with prison by offering the cut scenes that alluded to the passage of time. It almost felt as if you were really paying dues for your crimes, and I think R* have the potential to not only take this further, but make the concept of serving time fun and practical too.

 

Solitary confinement in a cell would certainly suck, so let’s forget about that. But the prison yard is a venue for various activities that can help pass the time.

 

 

For starters, the prison yard is like an open playground for inmates to interact. This would make way for some interesting encounters with other inmates, who could in turn become new contacts, or simply lead way to little side missions such as hits on other inmates in exchange for respect. The more respect you get, the less other inmates try and mess with you. Essentially, survival becomes an issue for you in prison and you’d have to partake in some activities in order to gain the respect of others and, ultimately, protect yourself.

 

You could spend the time playing some mini-games such as basketball (as previously seen in San Andreas, but could be expanded upon for small sided teams and keep score), card games, or even the favorite prison board game: chess.

 

 

Playing games like these could act as a gambling system for 1) respect, and 2) small tools like brass knuckles, self-made knives, and even cigarettes, which can be used as the in-house currency.

 

Furthermore, prison is a place where people have lots of time for self-reflection and sometimes prisoners come out mentally and physically stronger. I think we can all agree that spiritual enlightenment has no place in GTA, but physical improvement? I say bring back the self-modification feature from San Andreas and allow the character to work out!

 

 

Besides, working out in prison beats paying a gym membership fee any day.

 

Lastly, prison should not necessarily be forced upon anyone. Going to prison would piss off a lot of loyal GTA fans and understandably so. Therefore, I think it’s fair to have in place a few reasonable ways to avoid serving time, and here’s how I see it:

 

1. Escape

 

I think breaking out of prison could be an insanely fun, yet seemingly impossible, task to complete. Such a task would include meticulous planning, making the right contacts, acquiring the right items (keys, weapons, etc.) and flawless execution. This would be a very rewarding way to get back out on the outside!

 

2. Pay Fines/Pardons

 

Upon being “busted” by the cops, you owe a certain amount of money depending on the severity of your crime (again, as we’ve seen in RDR). You can pay this up front and be a free man again, or serve time for it. Also, throughout the game you could, hopefully, do some work/favors for the Police Department or some corrupt government officials and receive pardons in exchange, which can be stored and used for those rainy day massacres. I think this lends a greater sense of independence to the player by way of choosing to save your money and do the time, or pay off your crimes and return hastily to the streets where you can continue as you please.

 

Prisons have yet to be introduced in GTA games and I believe they can open up new fertile ground for game play. Basically, there can be practical, constructive, and even fun ways to serve time in prison and not have it ruin this great game.

 

*Disclaimer*

 

This is not supposed to be some definite framework for prison in GTA, but merely some ideas that I’ve been wanting to talk about lately. There are some talented folk on these forums and I’ve no doubt that you guys can help make sense of this idea! Discuss

Edited February 26, 2011 by TheCacti

[wannaslide]

i love the idea of prison . it was in mafia 2 and i reckon it worked awesome .

[ChossenOne]

Exactly, if it's worked into the main story like Mafia 2 it'd be pretty fun. Not just willy nilly for any crme you commit.

 

I still think prison is "too realistic" for GTA, it wouldn't feel right.

 

 

[Negro Bandito]

Maybe you can bail yourself out, sneak out or just wait 1 in game day to be released.

 

And if you feel like going to prison just to do it, you can turn yourself in.

 

 

[AussieDude]

How about one of your guys back stabs you and rats you in to the cops With 6 or 7 Missions then being played out inside Prison.

[Vega LVI]

It's a good idea for two reasons:

 

1. It would be a new thing to do in GTA.

2. It would be cool and fun to try out.

 

It's bad for four reasons:

 

1. It would get tiresome after two or three times inside jail.

2. It would be too much of a hassle for Rockstar to create this complicated thing, which may take from the game's story, gameplay, etc.

3. Players would get irritated going to jail for this long time after getting busted.

4. Players may have trouble bailing out which may make them start a brand new game or just ditch the game completely.

 

So there are pros and cons, but in my opinion it wouldn't work. But, it's not a bad idea.

[cactus.]

 

It's bad for four reasons:

 

1. It would get tiresome after two or three times inside jail.

2. It would be too much of a hassle for Rockstar to create this complicated thing, which may take from the game's story, gameplay, etc.

3. Players would get irritated going to jail for this long time after getting busted.

4. Players may have trouble bailing out which may make them start a brand new game or just ditch the game completely.

 

1. Perhaps so for some players, just as many other features are for others (e.g. i grow tired of the races very quickly; they feel more like a chore than a fun mission).

 

2. I don't reasonably see how "this complicated thing" would prove too much a problem for R* to create...

 

3. This is very possible and downright probable, but I think this burden could be alleviated by two ways: paying a fine to skip your jail sentence, and acquiring pardons from other missions that you can later use as "get out of jail free" cards.

 

4. I see your point and it's fair. This happened to me a few times when I'd begun to play Red Dead Redemption and I found myself with fines larger than my wallet and it caused me to re-load my last game. Nonetheless, this game turned out to be one of the best games of the year, so clearly it didn't prove to be such a hindrance or put a dent in the game's fun factor.

[GTA_stu]

Prison hasn't really been fully explored in GTA, and yet there is so much potential. There is so much to parody/make fun of it's unreal: The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption are the first 2 things which popped into my head. Then there's general prison pop culture references like dropping the soap, bitches, the prison rat, corrupt wardens etc. you could even have a mini-game where you have to smuggle some drugs in, but you don't use your pockets if you know what i mean. The last 1 was just a joke but there is certainly a lot of things R* could use.

The only problem is how to work the sytem of prison into the game. And for me, i don't think it can be. Not in the sense that if you get busted you go to jail anyways. But i think a mission invloving prison could work. I think to get the proper experience as a prisoner it would have to be more than 1 mission inside though so that you get a sense of time. But GTA is a very non-linear style game so forcing players to do multiple missions when they may want to be running around the street etc wouldn't work.

So my solution is that you don't do a prison mission as a prisoner, but as a guard. For exanple you could have a friend or associate inside and you have to bust him out. To do this you impersonate a guard and then complete a shift at the prison. Whilst there you then have to perform various tasks designed to help you plan the break out. So therefor you can experience all the fun things of a prison, along with all the potential for parodies and jokes. And yet it doesn't have the gameplay problems that actually being incarcerated would bring.

[HoboDealer]

I'd love the idea of breaking out and trying to stay under cover for a while. Laying low, change your appearance, grow a beard etc. If you owned any mansions, the police would be all over it and you'd have to find a small unknown hideout for a few days until the police give up search. And if the police get a good look at you, you could instantly get 3 stars or something.

[xOMeGa]

I think that it will be nice if it's introduced like in Mafia 2,as a part of the storyline.

During a mission you get arrested and you have to do missions into the prison.And after these missions you return in freedom.

[cactus.]

Regarding Prison and the storyline, I'd always thought it'd be cool for the very first mission of the game to be inside prison, doing a few odd jobs for fellow inmates, and then bust out.

[xOMeGa]

Regarding Prison and the storyline, I'd always thought it'd be cool for the very first mission of the game to be inside prison, doing a few odd jobs for fellow inmates, and then bust out.

*this

 

[VercettiCrimeFamily]

I would like the idea if you could escape and if you have an option of 'Escape Difficulty' so if you can't be botherd and just want to get back into the game, You can set the escape difficulty to Easy. Or you can bail out for a certain amount of cash?

 

I think this would be a great feature for GTA games in future

[cactus.]

I would like the idea if you could escape and if you have an option of 'Escape Difficulty' so if you can't be botherd and just want to get back into the game, You can set the escape difficulty to Easy. Or you can bail out for a certain amount of cash?

 

I think this would be a great feature for GTA games in future

That's the thing. I don't think it would be fair for prison to be forced upon anyone, and therefore the player should have some reasonable ways to bypass it, such as paying fines thus skipping any prison sentence, or using pardons that you could collect by doing favors/jobs for the Police Department or corrupt government officials.

[Darkshade12]

All the people under 18 please avoid the showers......

[wannaslide]

Regarding Prison and the storyline, I'd always thought it'd be cool for the very first mission of the game to be inside prison, doing a few odd jobs for fellow inmates, and then bust out.

this would be awesome ,you can gather your first few contacts in there .

 

 

maybe prison should be an option , say you get busted by the police , then a option comes up saying , "go to jail" or "skip jail " you just pick witch one you want then continue on , i think it would get annoying if you had to pay to stay out of jail , because if you have no funds then you would have no choice to go to jail . or atleast have this option once the story mode is over .and maybe only if you get busted with 3 or more star wanted level .

[cactus.]

Regarding Prison and the storyline, I'd always thought it'd be cool for the very first mission of the game to be inside prison, doing a few odd jobs for fellow inmates, and then bust out.

this would be awesome ,you can gather your first few contacts in there .

 

 

maybe prison should be an option , say you get busted by the police , then a option comes up saying , "go to jail" or "skip jail " you just pick witch one you want then continue on , i think it would get annoying if you had to pay to stay out of jail , because if you have no funds then you would have no choice to go to jail . or atleast have this option once the story mode is over .and maybe only if you get busted with 3 or more star wanted level .

But there has to be an incentive to serve your time instead of just "skipping," or else everyone would just skip and it would kinda render the feature useless to a certain degree.

 

Take the taxi cab for example, I usually just skip the ride because I can afford to pay the extra cash. But at the beginning of the game I opted to not skip in order to 1) save the few bucks and 2) check out the scenery.

 

I liked how in Red Dead Redemption you collect pardons and then use them in order to avoid paying the huge fines and getting busted. This would be a great feature to carry over into the GTA series I believe.

[fiidm14]

I think that should maybe use the prison like they did the army base in Vice City Stories as maybe 5 starter missions and then become an area where if entered you gain wanted stars.

[Negro Bandito]

I would like the idea if you could escape and if you have an option of 'Escape Difficulty' so if you can't be botherd and just want to get back into the game, You can set the escape difficulty to Easy. Or you can bail out for a certain amount of cash?

 

I think this would be a great feature for GTA games in future

That's the thing. I don't think it would be fair for prison to be forced upon anyone, and therefore the player should have some reasonable ways to bypass it, such as paying fines thus skipping any prison sentence, or using pardons that you could collect by doing favors/jobs for the Police Department or corrupt government officials.

But me, and i think most people just reload their save files after being busted or wasted anyways to avoid losing weapons and their rank..

[Darkshade12]

It could be like oblivion you get arrested and appear in your cell and when you approach your bed you can instantly serve your time. But you could hang around in prison if you want and talk to other prisoners and start riots and stuff. If you attempt a breakout insted of instantly serving your time you should be able to get all your items back by collecting them from the evidence locker. You could have bonuses for breaking out like new friends that give you bonuses (Like Car bombs or guns).

[cactus.]

I would like the idea if you could escape and if you have an option of 'Escape Difficulty' so if you can't be botherd and just want to get back into the game, You can set the escape difficulty to Easy. Or you can bail out for a certain amount of cash?

 

I think this would be a great feature for GTA games in future

That's the thing. I don't think it would be fair for prison to be forced upon anyone, and therefore the player should have some reasonable ways to bypass it, such as paying fines thus skipping any prison sentence, or using pardons that you could collect by doing favors/jobs for the Police Department or corrupt government officials.

But me, and i think most people just reload their save files after being busted or wasted anyways to avoid losing weapons and their rank..

what rank?

 

I don't think so, and here's why: you can't go to prison if you're dead I think most people will find themselves fighting to the death in order to avoid prison (especially if they don't have any money whatsoever). And then voila, they die, lose a little money for the hospital fee and then back on the streets with weapon in hand.

 

A solution that could help prevent people from doing this, though, is to not make the fines too high. For example, getting caught for grand theft auto should earn you a fine of a couple hundred dollars and maybe your prison sentence is just a few in-game hours. On the other hand, if you get up to 5 stars and have killed 50+ law enforcers, then the fine could be more like between $5-10,000 at a maximum. Anyways, as the story progresses we ought to find ourselves with larger wallets and, hopefully, said fines would prompt us to re-load our last saved game when caught.

 

(p.s. I found myself re-loading my game quite often in RDR because I couldn't possibly pay the fine, then I learned to not stir up trouble without being able to back it up! I went out and earned some money before I began to go on rampages again.)

[The_Mario_Man]

Using prison at the very beginning of the game wouldn't be too bad. While in prison you would learn all the basics like moving, fighting, some minigames, and other activities molded to fit into a prison environment. As well as introducing us to a few characters. Eventually it leads to a breakout, where you learn more things such as shooting, and driving. Personally, I think it would build up some excitement towards actually seeing the city itself. Especially if it's a very well-made prison facility. Maybe you can get a glimpse or two of the exterior details from the courtyards and whatnot

 

Alternatively, prison might make well for the 'end' of the game. Protagonist ends up imprisoned, credits roll, we get an "X YEARS LATER" tag, and you're back on the street. Albeit slightly older. Perhaps the city would even change a bit - new peds/cars. Buildings that were under construction have since been completed, once busy areas are now abandoned and vice versa. Maybe the prison might even encompass the last handful of missions. This itself could allow for a potential DLC in which the protagonist deals with this environment, and how his friends on the outside have been affected.

 

Perhaps both could be used to give a sort of "right back where we started" feel to everything.

 

But again, as far as having to spend time in prison at every arrest, I don't think I'd enjoy it too much. Regardless of the details put into it. If given the option to skip the sentence, I'm sure most players would after the first couple of times.

Edited February 27, 2011 by The_Mario_Man

[cactus.]

But again, as far as having to spend time in prison at every arrest, I don't think I'd enjoy it too much. Regardless of the details put into it. If given the option to skip the sentence, I'm sure most players would after the first couple of times.

That's the thing; there has to be an incentive to either serve time or skip it, otherwise you're right, people would just skip and any work R* had put into it would be in vain.

 

One solution is that serving time enables you to avoid paying a fine which is relative to the severity of your crime (e.g. massacre of many police officers leads to a hefty fine of, say, $10,000. I only have $12k in the bank and don't want to lose most of it, so I opt to spend a couple in-game days behind bars in order to save it. In the meantime, I could work out, make some new contacts (ideally), experience some fun mini-games that are only found in prison, and so on.)

 

That's just one idea, the Pardon papers (as used in Red Dead Redemption) worked rather well too, and I don't see why that can't carry over into GTA. Then, there could be more than just one way to avoid prison and I think this would lend a greater sense of choice and freedom to the player in how they choose to play the game.

[Jesus Pineda]

i love the idea of prison in the story line. and yeah after a while it WILL get boring. but wat if there was an option to enable/disable the option. like if its enabeled yeah u can serve ur time by working out, b-ball etc. and if disabled u just pay a fine (depending on crime) and u free again i think it will benefit both sides of this argument. but only have that option if actually busted (caught alive) but if dead and w/ a wanted level u just watch a skip-able cutscene of doctors doing surgery etcetera and pay a fine. that would definetly be sweet.

[sonnyBlack]

It's a very neat idea, but as stated by a few posters already I'd only really like it if it was just as part of the storyline. I'd hate to have to put up with going to prison any time I get busted. This is more of a novelty type idea and after a while the novelty does wear off and it becomes more of an annoyance than a fun thing.

 

But I definitely like the idea of being sent to prison after a mission where you get caught in a police ambush or something. And instead of having a strand of missions that are to set up a kind of heist, it could be a strand of missions trying to set up a prison break. That would be so cool imo!