The driving experience

[lazloisdavrock]

LOL sleeping dogs driving was so freaking terrible. I could never get into the game because of it.

[golf wang]

I actually feel bad for some people who loved IV's driving. A lot of the time, it seems they can't enjoy other great games because they're too stubborn to adapt to driving mechanics that differ from IV's. Yet they almost ALWAYS tell people who didn't like IV's driving "You suck, you just need to get used to it", when they themselves don't even want to get used to any other game's driving style. Hypocrisy.

[Raavi]

I actually feel bad for some people who loved IV's driving. A lot of the time, it seems they can't enjoy other great games because they're too stubborn to adapt to driving mechanics that differ from IV's. Yet they almost ALWAYS tell people who didn't like IV's driving "You suck, you just need to get used to it", when they themselves don't even want to get used to any other game's driving style. Hypocrisy.

Truth be told, GTA IV's driving was unique and allowed for a lot of 'stunting'. The only thing that's better, (note: in terms of my personal enjoyment) is Forza Horizon's driving. I never could get into NFS or GT driving, the handling just felt off and way too stif for my preference.

[lazloisdavrock]

gran turismo 5 is awful IMO. Forza 4 is incredible.

[Revolution-XW]

The one thing I'm super worried about in Gta V is doing stunts with bikes, it's too heavy to do a full spin in mid air and a back flip with your bike, the handling was just aweful.

[djv3n0m]

I actually feel bad for some people who loved IV's driving. A lot of the time, it seems they can't enjoy other great games because they're too stubborn to adapt to driving mechanics that differ from IV's. Yet they almost ALWAYS tell people who didn't like IV's driving "You suck, you just need to get used to it", when they themselves don't even want to get used to any other game's driving style. Hypocrisy.

Truth be told, GTA IV's driving was unique and allowed for a lot of 'stunting'. The only thing that's better, (note: in terms of my personal enjoyment) is Forza Horizon's driving. I never could get into NFS or GT driving, the handling just felt off and way too stif for my preference.

You guys forgetting about the NFS Underground series the driving wasn't bad earlier in the series anyways..............

 

Back on topic i'm pretty sure they driving experience will be much better this time around let's come to an agreement not arcade like but not simulator either...Confident they will find the middle ground GTA 4 was almost there

[wwinterj]

 

I've tried so hard but there's just no way-- I will never, ever be able to understand how anyone could not love the driving in GTA IV. Especially compared to the garbage driving in all of the previous GTAs. It's just one more piece of evidence that most people are clueless and don't know something is great even when it's biting them on the ass.

That or you know people have different opinions. I preferred past GTA games driving than IV simply because the arcade feel is more fun to me so I disagree with you. I'm not going into detail as to why I don't like the driving in IV as it seems you are very closed minded and as you said you'll never understand. Still to each there own I guess.

[vwnut13]

Honestly, how many people on here have driven a car.

 

 

Take a 90 Degree turn going 30 mph without slowing down and see if your car stays parallel to the ground.

 

Next, try to take that turn going 50 mph, and see what happens.

 

 

 

Theres a little thing called countersteering that comes in useful in GTA IV (and real life if going around corners fast). Real cars don't go around corners at 115mph without letting off the accelerator while jumping curbs and taking out light posts like they do in racing games.

 

 

 

 

[Algonquin Assassin]

I guess one thing I love about GTA IV's physics is they're raw, edgy and unforgiving.

 

Honestly I really can't stand the hand holding, on rails, arcade nature of the physics that most open world games seem to employ.

 

I give props to Mafia II though. I love driving in that game, but I wouldn't hesitate to say GTA IV has the best driving physics this generation as far as open world goes. Still not quite there with some of the dedicated racers though IMO.

Edited June 4, 2013 by Miamivicecity

[GlitzyTomb]

What made it fun for me was getting to the point that I could drive pretty damn quick and rip through turns...and then Push It To The Limit.

 

Once you've got the controls down you can kind of figure out at what speed you can reliably take turns. Then you just keep pushing it.

 

Best part comes when you can juuuuust barely hang on. Swinging the ass of the car out and pulling it back in line just before you hit a light pole.

 

Good stuff.

[Algonquin Assassin]

What made it fun for me was getting to the point that I could drive pretty damn quick and rip through turns...and then Push It To The Limit.

 

Once you've got the controls down you can kind of figure out at what speed you can reliably take turns. Then you just keep pushing it.

 

Best part comes when you can juuuuust barely hang on. Swinging the ass of the car out and pulling it back in line just before you hit a light pole.

 

Good stuff.

It really gives a great sense of control doesn't it?

[Boss7dm]

for me GTA IV TBOGT driving is great .

 

 

my favourite cars on game to drive

[GrandMaster Smith]

I wonder if I'm one of the few that realized how in depth IV's driving actually was?

 

 

Releasing the gas for a split second in high rpm's would do a manual shift, pushing A (e-brake) on a hill would actually keep the car locked in place (and even had an audio file play for the e-brake clicking up), you could hear Niko shifting when going from reverse to first, slightly pushing the gas from a stop would act as balancing the clutch and gas pedal, doing this on an incline would actually cause you to roll backwards.. even cell phone calls would cause disturbances in speakers like in real life.. there was something else with tapping Y and holding it down (can't remember exactly what it was at the moment though)

 

Just so much work put into this and I don't even think that many people realized it.. the driving really was top notch. Just slightly tweaking this system would put it on par with most racing games today.

 

 

[MrP4nc4ke]

 

I actually feel bad for some people who loved IV's driving. A lot of the time, it seems they can't enjoy other great games because they're too stubborn to adapt to driving mechanics that differ from IV's. Yet they almost ALWAYS tell people who didn't like IV's driving "You suck, you just need to get used to it", when they themselves don't even want to get used to any other game's driving style. Hypocrisy.

OK, example. I played Just Cause 2 and loved it for many reasons - driving was not one of them. I DID adapt to the driving model and was able to drive from A to B very fast and take corners reliably. That still doesn't mean it was fun. The fun in JC2 was elsewhere. A better driving model would definitely have made the game even more enjoyable to me.

 

 

That or you know people have different opinions. I preferred past GTA games driving than IV simply because the arcade feel is more fun to me so I disagree with you. I'm not going into detail as to why I don't like the driving in IV as it seems you are very closed minded and as you said you'll never understand. Still to each there own I guess. smile.gif

People who like past GTA driving models more than IV simply don't care that much about driving in the first place. FACT. And that's perfectly OK. But anyone who takes great pleasure in commandeering vehicles, will be able to recognize the better driving models out there. Objectively evaluating IV's model is light years ahead of any other open world model (I have not played Mafia II, though). Subjective opinion is obviously a very different thing - some people enjoy a game more when they don't have to pay that much attention to braking for example. That's why it would be nice to see an option between arcade and simulation physics in GTA V.

[GlitzyTomb]

What made it fun for me was getting to the point that I could drive pretty damn quick and rip through turns...and then Push It To The Limit.

 

Once you've got the controls down you can kind of figure out at what speed you can reliably take turns.  Then you just keep pushing it.

 

Best part comes when you can juuuuust barely hang on.  Swinging the ass of the car out and pulling it back in line just before you hit a light pole.

 

Good stuff.

It really gives a great sense of control doesn't it?

That it does.

 

I don't know of any other game either wherein you can (while maintaining control and actually performing the maneuver yourself) manipulate the steering and E-Brake to a pull a 360 degree spin and keep going.

 

Played tag a few weeks back, me on a bike, them on whatever. With a little bit of skill it can be pretty damn hard to catch someone. Was great darting past them and bombing through little shortcuts. Even just jamming the breaks and sliding through those little cones on the Highway to take off going the other direction.

 

 

 

 

I really hope GTAV doesn't ruin that feeling. I don't want to have to revert back to GTAIV, I'm tired of the city.

[Cyfa]

I thoroughly enjoyed the driving of IV, if I were to change something however, the tires need to work, a sports car should be able to turn sharply around a corner going at 50 MPH because thats what sports cars are made to do. The tires need to grip the road better and feel less like a boat - and that's exactly what Rockstar said they would do. People need to realize that we are not going to an arcade driving experience and leaving behind the entire IV mechanic. IV's driving was a stepping stone, as was the entire game itself, to bigger and better things. People need to relax about the driving, it will be great.

[GlitzyTomb]

You're probably right Cyfa.

 

It's just kind of a fear thing. Anytime a developer messes with something you loved, you worry they'll mess it up.

 

What you said sounds good though, particularly if they have it to where you can feel it kind of lose traction for a second, but then catch right back.

 

Aww Yeah.

[MosquitoSmasher]

I wonder if I'm one of the few that realized how in depth IV's driving actually was?

 

 

Releasing the gas for a split second in high rpm's would do a manual shift, pushing A (e-brake) on a hill would actually keep the car locked in place (and even had an audio file play for the e-brake clicking up), you could hear Niko shifting when going from reverse to first, slightly pushing the gas from a stop would act as balancing the clutch and gas pedal, doing this on an incline would actually cause you to roll backwards.. even cell phone calls would cause disturbances in speakers like in real life.. there was something else with tapping Y and holding it down (can't remember exactly what it was at the moment though)

 

Just so much work put into this and I don't even think that many people realized it.. the driving really was top notch. Just slightly tweaking this system would put it on par with most racing games today.

It truly indeed was very in depth. When you'd drive full speed over a bump or a steep road and you'd land on the ground again, you'd actually hear the suspensions working and what not, awesome little details in that game. I've been playing Forza Horizon a lot the last few days, and goddamn..i truly never enjoyed a racing game so much, this one is brilliant. So i'll say it again, if Rockstar has taken a look at some other games...i really hope Horizon was one of them. And i hope to god the Polish previewer was not paying good attention to the game, when he said it looked 'almost as good as MCLA' ....sigh. Wtf son.

[Algonquin Assassin]

OK, example. I played Just Cause 2 and loved it for many reasons - driving was not one of them. I DID adapt to the driving model and was able to drive from A to B very fast and take corners reliably. That still doesn't mean it was fun. The fun in JC2 was elsewhere. A better driving model would definitely have made the game even more enjoyable to me.

 

How true. I hated driving in JC2 so I just used the grapple hook everywhere.

 

 

[GlitzyTomb]

In JC2 I would always grapple hook straight to the nearest airport.

 

Once there I would grapple one of the responding jeeps to the nearest jet, jack the jet, and take off.

 

Every time. If I wasn't doing that I was going on a motorcycle road trip trying to relive the epic journeys of GTA:SA.

 

It was never the same.

[Mirkobien]

I wonder if I'm one of the few that realized how in depth IV's driving actually was?

 

 

Releasing the gas for a split second in high rpm's would do a manual shift, pushing A (e-brake) on a hill would actually keep the car locked in place (and even had an audio file play for the e-brake clicking up), you could hear Niko shifting when going from reverse to first, slightly pushing the gas from a stop would act as balancing the clutch and gas pedal, doing this on an incline would actually cause you to roll backwards.. even cell phone calls would cause disturbances in speakers like in real life.. there was something else with tapping Y and holding it down (can't remember exactly what it was at the moment though)

 

Just so much work put into this and I don't even think that many people realized it.. the driving really was top notch. Just slightly tweaking this system would put it on par with most racing games today.

Holding Y/Triagle turned the car's engine off so the lights and the radios would be off too

[TotesMagotes]

Judging from that video, the driving in that game looks terrible. (midnight club LA)

 

Really hoping V is not like this.

[-inVADER-]

Enjoyed driving in Sleeping Dogs

Come again? You enjoyed driving in Sleeping Dogs?! It was like you were driving a freaking RC toy.

 

 

That was awful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mawerick_mc]

Excluding Racing Simulators, driving physics in GTA IV are the best of them all. I really hope they improve on this in V, and don't simplify or turn more arcade-ish. Maybe a slight increase in tire/road grip (very slight) would be good. But if they keep it just the same, i will be satisfied.

[N0Xaeris]

 

I remember seeing Micheal do a reverse u-turn, continues to drive backwards, and then spins back around all at full speed by the jet at the end of his trailer. I would like to know how that would handle considering that sequence of moves was pretty much impossible to do in GTAIV. But overall GtaIV's handling is great if you can get used to it (like any other game).

You could do it in the sports cars in IV, Especially the comet.

[Raavi]

When looking at Grand Theft Auto's driving you need to understand that GTA is an open world game, and the thing about open world games is, because you pretty much go & do whatever the heck you want- a developers job can only go so far. A racing game however, usually follows set out tracks that allow for limited possibilities but maximum 'driving' development , even Forza Horizon, just to name two examples; you can't drive of the top a mountain, nor can you do insane flips by using slight angles in the road. Where as in GTA; if you see a mountain you can drive of it, hell you can do that with a tank if you please to do so. It's a GTA game after all and quite frankly the gameworld needs to be open to the players imagination for people to play and enjoy it for years and years to come. Driving needs to fit the game world, which it very much so does in IV. Name any game aside from GTA IV where you can use a slight angle in the road surface to go airborne, turn 180 degrees and drop a sticky bomb on to a passing car, detonating said sticky bomb, while safely landing on four wheels. Sure this isn't easy and takes a lot of practice, but it is possible. And that is what makes GTA IV's driving so unique, it has a learning curve, you can't just go in and speed around corners with 60mph dubbing yourself king of the road, no. It takes a lot practice, and understanding of the world and every single car you enter (which all have some unique qualities that aren't obvious). As every car is different and unique. For example GTA IV TBOGT's Rolls Royce Phantom knockoff can flip any car that's lighter than itself, like a pancake when hitting it at 60+ mph while maintaining its direction. It are little things like this that make GTA IV's driving so damn good. Let's hope GTA V will only improve upon this and not butcher it by making it even have an arcad'e resemblance.

[MosquitoSmasher]

 

Judging from that video, the driving in that game looks terrible. (midnight club LA)

 

Really hoping V is not like this.

It really is quite terrible, even for the game itself. I'm really busy with Forza Horizon lately and then going back to a game like MCLA is just almost impossible, cause the driving feels so over the top and simply not fun at all. The steering is way too loose and it's like you are driving RC cars, like Sleeping Dogs and SR.

 

Indeed Raavi, well said!

 

Dan Houser's quote has me hopeful, making it similar to high level racing games and Edge's quote that said it would be more forgiving but in no way dumbed down. It was only that polish previewer that mentioned MCLA. I don't recall any other previews talking about it. Yeah only about customisation from MCLA.

Edited June 5, 2013 by MosquitoSmasher

[meowstache]

I prefer SA car handling vs IV...

[JRC99]

Not so much about handling, but IV's sense of speed was awful. I really hope they've fixed it.

[suicidehummer]

Not so much about handling, but IV's sense of speed was awful. I really hope they've fixed it.

They did that on purpose in IV to make the city feel larger. I guarantee it won't be the same in V.

 

But I actually prefer IV's handling to certain simulators, because real cars DO lean in corners. Otherwise it feels like you're driving a box, and you become very aware that it's just a video game. Tighten up the suspensions just a little and you've got one of the best driving experiences out there, R*.