Gnocchi Flip Flops Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 As most of us are aware of, Southern California is virtually the suburban capital of the United States. So pardon me, but I am somewhat baffled that Mirror Park is the only suburban area in the Los Santos Metropolitan Area[before anybody says it, Richman, Vinewood Hills, Rockford Hills, Ganton, Davis, and Chumash are NOT suburbs. Chumash is a town and all of those other listed neighborhoods are too far into the city and below/above average to be typical Southern California suburbs; of which are typically on the outskirts of a major metropolis such as Los Angeles]. I feel like there was a missed opportunity here as suburbs are to Southern California as wet is to water. Mirror Park shows what could have been with that one fully built up culdesac neighborhood. Nice and modern house models were used with very accurate-to-suburban lots. Around the Tatavian Mountains, maybe even near the freeways and the Land Act Dam, there could have been a stereotypical suburban neighborhood. Same with some areas in the Grand Chaparral area. Some may ask why I would want a suburb. "They're boring, why would you want them?" Well some people like me want such areas to get us more immersed into where we are. Southern California just is not Southern California without dry mountains, freeways, and suburbs. I would love a suburb to mess around with and just... just to be there. Hell maybe even to live there, purchasable property. Who else feels like the lack of Southern Californian suburbs was a missed opportunity? mariana_dm1989 and Bonnano 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ne0nLiteZ Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Idk i feel more weird when igo through the ghetto part of downtown because they feel like filler buildings with nothing around them and nobody walking through. Maybe its just because im online however. Dont really miss much of the neighborhoods, although there is a lack of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proletariat Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Yep, that's what I felt too. They could've done something with Irvine, Ca to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokrie Dela Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I personally feel Rockstar should have made the map 50% the size, with just Los Santos, expanding each district and having more suburbs. Apart from that, the map is brilliant, and as much as i love the country portion, I'd prefer a bigger LS - it just doesn't feel like a metropolis to me. LC almost did.But if they didn't bother with the ocean floor bullsh*t, I think they probably could have had an extra 50% of city space. It feels very weird there's no "suburbs" but then it's not what LA is "famous" for - hollywood and gangs. Gnocchi Flip Flops 1 The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. Click here to view my Poetry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadRunner71 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Driving through Vinewood Hills is painful enough. What I would have liked to see is an actual desert, not a sandpit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey. Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I agree that there should of been more suburb type areas to make the game feel that bit more realistic. It's a shame that they didn't make the city a bit bigger and the county side that bit smaller as with most of the countryside it's just mountains so if they took just one mountain area away and used that disc space to create a bigger LS I think that would of been better. Gnocchi Flip Flops 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokrie Dela Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Driving through Vinewood Hills is painful enough. What I would have liked to see is an actual desert, not a sandpit... Ah, but if there was true, flat, empty desert, guess what people would say? what a boring empty waste of space The desert's alright imo. I don't think a flat open space would be too great - but then a single 2 lane road stretching across a ten mile desert would be cool, but really, would it add anything? It could have been a good and cheeky way to make the map bigger - have a 2nd city at the end..... maybe in GTA 6... I agree that there should of been more suburb type areas to make the game feel that bit more realistic. It's a shame that they didn't make the city a bit bigger and the county side that bit smaller as with most of the countryside it's just mountains so if they took just one mountain area away and used that disc space to create a bigger LS I think that would of been better. Mount Gordo, perhaps. I went up there once, and made one race up there, that's it. It's pointless. Even the trail goes nowhere. But also, if they ditched the underwater, i think they could have added an extra 50% of city area - suburbs could easily be "copied" - i know none of us want generic, repeated buildings, but they could have cut corners with it a little. LA Noire did suburbs well, i feel. They felt repetitive, and seemed to stretch on forever. Gnocchi Flip Flops and Fallcreek 2 The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. Click here to view my Poetry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnocchi Flip Flops Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 (edited) Don't dis Mount Gordo, I went there and then explored the eastern coast... that mountain and the east coast are the ONLY secluded feeling areas in the entire countryside. It is a place of beauty and serenity, just sift through my posts and you'll see that long post I made about the underrated east coast and Gordo. But back to the topic. If there was no underwater nonsense, the city might have been as large as all of Liberty City with the water in between included, and there would have been a bigger suburb. Such a shame, lots of wasted space within that basic ocean that I rarely dive into. I agree Los Angeles itself is not know for suburbs, but its Metro and surroundings are- they damn sure are. Edited February 28, 2014 by StingrayX Bonnano 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raavi Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 (edited) Driving through Vinewood Hills is painful enough. What I would have liked to see is an actual desert, not a sandpit... Vinewood hills is actually one of my favorite areas, it has a believable density unlike the rest of the map, which I very much enjoy. The most suburban feeling area is the Mirror Park area, it even has a cul-de-sac. But the problem with that area is that ti is tiny and pretty much dead. Edited February 28, 2014 by Raavi Bonnano and Gnocchi Flip Flops 2 – overeducated wonk who fetishises compromise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey. Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I agree that there should of been more suburb type areas to make the game feel that bit more realistic. It's a shame that they didn't make the city a bit bigger and the county side that bit smaller as with most of the countryside it's just mountains so if they took just one mountain area away and used that disc space to create a bigger LS I think that would of been better. Mount Gordo, perhaps. I went up there once, and made one race up there, that's it. It's pointless. Even the trail goes nowhere. But also, if they ditched the underwater, i think they could have added an extra 50% of city area - suburbs could easily be "copied" - i know none of us want generic, repeated buildings, but they could have cut corners with it a little. LA Noire did suburbs well, i feel. They felt repetitive, and seemed to stretch on forever. That's the mountain I was thinking of removing also as like you said there isn't really a whole lot to do in either SP or MP. Except Yoga of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acetaminophen Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Yes a lot of the map areas could have been fleshed out a bit more. The ghetto, The hills, suburbs, desert and the "forest". mariana_dm1989 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokrie Dela Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 DON'T DIS YOGA EX-Y-MAN! Stingray - The way I see it is the East cost is one I avoid because, well, it wouldn't be there - irl it's, well the rest of the country. Now, of course the game can't do that - having the mountain there DOES imply a lie that I choose to believe that there is more behind it. All GTAs have that "island" feel, and the eastern area is the weirdest part, but Yeah, i get your point about interesting. There's some bits there that are cool, but i wouldn't miss the mountain if it was gone. Perhaps the mountain by the Air Force Base? maybe that should be a flat, empty desert, and the spaces saved, along with the ditched ocean floor, could have been used to have the suburbs and metropolitan area bigger, and more interiors! Acetaminophen - yeah the forest is bullsh*t. Just like the aforementioned "desert" it's just a few trees on a hill. No sense of grandness or scale at all! I think the game would have been better to stick to LS and the hills - i love the desert area but it's too empty and feels like there's nothing to do; as much as i love it, i'd rather it be a bit more focused - imagine if the entire map was 50% the size it was and 75% of that was Los Santos itself, with suburbs etc. Hodgey. and Gnocchi Flip Flops 2 The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. Click here to view my Poetry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric_21 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Suburbs or cities? You have LA then you have cities pretty much touching L.A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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