Seamless Immersion as a Goal

[Midnightz]

There are some oddities/inconsistencies throughout the game that interrupt what should be seamless playtime and/or are restrictive and break immersion in some way. These aren't necessarily bugs -- just observations and suggestions/solutions for each. No, this is not a list of complaints. The idea behind this thread is to find a detail you think could be improved and offer a simple suggestion. Before you make your list, consider these examples:

 

1. When swimming above water, we can not see beneath the water (restriction) when moving the camera to look downward.

2. When entering a different county, the talk radio station switches to a music station instead of the other talk radio station.

3. When wearing the scuba gear or wetsuit, our flippers are not included despite being featured in a main story mission.

4. Cell phone contacts that are dead, should be removed from our cell phone directory.

5. While hanging out with protagonists, we can not utilize SWITCH.

6. The hospital re-spawn points should be relative to where our character actually died.

7. Each protagonist has at least one unique hand-to-hand combat strike which should be executed by specific button press, not at random.

8. Once we buy a parachute, it's always equipped. A toggle switch for it in the weapon wheel would be helpful. Nevermind, we can detach from it mid-air, that works.

9. Scuba gear falls off when we exit the water but it also happens when we're swimming in shallow water and touch land momentarily. Give us control over putting it on/taking it off.

10. When calling a character to hang out, they should spawn at random locations instead of the same few designated spots.

11. On foot we can ride the train and the tops of buses but we can't ride in truck beds.

12. The only car wash is located in the cleanest area of the state. There should be another location added up north, say, Paleto Bay.

13. House garages are limited to an invisible number of vehicles permitted but the saving allowance should be: "If it fits, it saves."

14. Personal license plates only work in GTAO instead of both Online and SP. Either the 1.13 patch fixed this and/or an update to the app fixed it.

15. Chop should be trainable and made happy by in-game controls, instead of via outside devices/hardware/software.

16. Convenience stores and liquor stores are not marked on the map in SP despite that we can rob these locations or buy snacks there.

17. Franklin and Michael have no location (other than stores) to change their clothes in Blaine County. Yet there are motels and lodges there. Safe house rentals, hello.

18. There's 2 separate taxi phone numbers (1 is for calling a cab, the other is never interactive except for when the cab company calls you w/job) in Franklin's cell phone. Remove the unnecessary/redundant one.

19. In free roam, Chop dies if he touches water but he should be able to swim or his AI should know better than to go in deep water.

20. Text messages of a "recommended stock" could open possibilities for those who missed out on the Lester Assassination missions.

21. If we can buy vehicles online in SP, it should be ANY vehicle present in the game.

22. Cheats are available via button press but we'd rather have a menu option or in-game cell phone app for that.

23. The menu allows us to select a favorite radio station or turn it off, yet the selection is never honored in-game.

24. The quad and dirt bike should not have a radio installed.

25. Tents (for campers) when impacted, are solid brick walls but they should move as if they have little weight.

26. Footwear is not interchangeable with any of our pants/shorts/underwear. Aside from boots (which are higher on the legs), there is no reason to restrict our footwear to only certain types of bottoms.

27. Given the atmosphere of LS, all protagonists should be able to buy and wear flip-flops and other beach clothing.

28. The strip club offers the ability to buy a drink but the bar in Sandy Shores doesn't. Give us some booze at the bar.

29. Wade, Chef, and other characters are forever stuck at the locations we left them (at 100% completion) but we should be able to hang out with them or see them randomly around town.

30. Michael and Franklin have extra garages located in LS (where they live and already have house garages) but not up north where they actually visit. This doesn't make much sense.

31. Silencers don't offer a stealth benefit but they should. As of patch 1.12, this seems to work now.

32. We have locations like the military base and prison but can't explore them using stealth or strategy. The instant high wanted level is just silly.

33. If no one is around, how do they hear or see our mischief? Cops shouldn't arrive via imaginary reports. As of patch 1.12, this seems to have been corrected.

34. Since cops are more aggressive and persistent, make no wanted levels for fistfights and AI that can detect when we are in self-defense mode.

35. On foot, we can ragdoll-throw-body but after a front flip and landing on our feet, our characters fall down anyway. Give us rotational control when airborne and AI that detects we're upright, please.

36. Please stop closing existing mission interiors because we really enjoy exploring them.

37. If we can call for a Blimp, bring it to close by us instead of making us go searching for it on the other side of the map.

38. Either increase the top speed of the submarine or add more spawn locations for it.

39. The dinghy (inflatable raft) is another brick wall but it should be pushable (on foot) like the jet ski is. We're tired of getting stuck on rocks.

40. Old rust bucket vehicles should have "like-new" body modifications at LSC.

 

ADDED:

 

41. It's not a military game, our protagonists aren't in public service, the location is on U.S. soil, yet we still have a 24-hr clock. 12-hr clock display please.
42. It should always become dusk around 8-9pm and dawn around 5-6am (based on summer time) to give us maximum daylight hours.

43. Characters cannot remove their shirts until 100% completion so we can't enjoy our tattoos etc. Make this available from the start.

44. Volleyball nets are also brick walls on impact. Edit the model to make it breakable or have no collision.

45. Super cars like the Elegy, Jester, and Turismo R do not spawn in-game. Make these, and DLC vehicles, available for us to find.

46. As with #26, we can't be barefoot with just any bottoms. Allow us to go barefoot regardless of what we wear.

47. Cars exploding on impact, especially electric cars, is not realistic. Let cars fall, jump, or impact without exploding and if we attach a bomb, let that be the only time it will explode.

48. The Dune Buggy has the same engine as the BF Injection but can't be upgraded at LSC. Allow upgrades like these.

49. The weapon wheel doesn't retain a memory of our last selected weapons. Remembering our preference would be helpful.

50. When walking through a blood pool, there's no bloody footprints but driving through it, will leave bloody tire marks.

51. Pedestrians will often share the same voice and phrases or an incorrect sex assignment of male/female voice. Similarly, a younger ped can have an elderly voice. (bug?)

52. Hats while driving should stay on our heads. It only makes sense to disable the taller hats (to prevent protruding through roofs).

53. During the Hunting mini-game, there should be less mountain lion attacks - not more. Calm the beasts please.

54. While walking/running, the camera drifts off to the right (sideview). Involuntary coasting can be caused by a faulty joystick.

55. The "N" for north on the radar map gets hidden by radar icons. It should be top level so this doesn't happen.

56. Police AI shouldn't be predicting where we're escaping (and spawning there) if they didn't see which way we chose.

57. Special outfits like the BASE jumping suit, should be available in our wardrobe when they unlock so we can wear it when we base jump.

58. All attempts to turn the camera sideways while driving is met with resistance/forced front view. Give us a way to look sideways at the scenery please.

59. Photographs require online uploads to save and there's a 96 pic limit. We should be able to save pics to our hard drives and upload IF we want to.

60. Whether loading a save game or switching back to Franklin, any earrings he was wearing are somehow removed.

61. The max tv volume (in SP only) is too quiet.

62. No one likes a time-limit on a cheat. Remove it please. Even better, give us a menu option to turn off police entirely.

63. The on-screen display for street names shows the last street we were on instead of the present street we are on. (bug?)

64. Unlike other Strangers & Freaks missions, we can't replay Maude to unlock the "Special Bonds" side task. (forgot to add?)

65. The Weed Farm rarely, if ever, re-spawns. This is also true of business property missions. (bug?)

66. We can add chrome and metal textures to the bodies of vehicles but not to the wheels? Allow this too please.

67. In SP, the interaction menu features masks but not Franklin's bandana. Also, sometimes putting on/taking off items from it will revert the player's hairstyle to the default one. (bug?)

68. In Grapeseed, there is a supermarket that has breakable windows which allows us to enter the building. All glass on buildings should be breakable.

69. After dying while wearing boxers (underwear), all 3 protagonists will re-spawn fully clothed. (bug?)

 

What oddities or inconsistencies have YOU found in the game? Don't rehash this list, MAKE YOUR OWN.

Again: The idea behind this thread is to find a detail you think could be improved and offer a simple suggestion.

Have fun!

Edited May 25, 2014 by Midnightz

[mareepx]

Couldn't agree more with your points. In addition though:

1. Characters cannot remove clothing such as shirts

2. Volleyball nets are also invincible and act as brick walls

3. Cars such as the Elegy, the Jester and Turismo R can not be found randomly on the map

Edited May 3, 2014 by mareepx

[Midnightz]

Excellent, thank you for your post. They can remove shirts but only after 100% completion which is ridiculous because we'd like to see our tattoos etc. Immersion breakage indeed.

[~Tiger~]

A lot of the issues in your list are explained by game engine to console memory limitations. For example, there is no swimming animation for chop so he cannot survive in water. It's a solution to a limitation problem.

 

Brick wall objects represent the difference between items that are drawn by the game engine and require little memory and items that are spawn by the game engine and require dynamic memory.

 

 

 

 

This however is my biggest complaint....

 

 

26. Footwear is not interchangeable with any of our pants/shorts/underwear. Aside from boots (which are higher on the legs), there is no reason to restrict our footwear to only certain types of bottoms.

27. Given the atmosphere of LS, all protagonists should be able to buy and wear flip-flops and other beach clothing.

 

 

I hate wearing shoes IRL and practically live barefoot or in flip flops. I am therefore incensed that my game character cannot do the same (it would be so easy). Yet if I want to go swim at the beach as franklin, the only way to make him barefoot is to dress him in his underwear. The moment he wears shorts, he also wears shoes.

 

Ridiculous!

[Midnightz]

Having one less animal animation is a solution to a console limit? *blinks dumbfounded*

Those tents aren't individual objects? Okay, maybe not breakable (dynamic) with easily adjustable weight values but there's got to be a way to change the collision data for the model. Same for the volleyball net. No?

 

Mhmm RE: The footwear or bare feet. Not only that but the choices they made for which goes with what, are often strange.

 

EDIT: OP, ditched #8 and explained why.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Midnightz

[~Tiger~]

Having one less animal animation is a solution to a console limit? *blinks dumbfounded*

 

 

Chop is a tame animal and so his actions and reactions in water would have needed to be almost equivalent to his actions out of water, thus doubling his usage of available memory.

[mareepx]

Yes but we have a detailed ocean floor for no reason so if they didn't bother with it they could fix most of these oddities

[Midnightz]

 

Having one less animal animation is a solution to a console limit? *blinks dumbfounded*

 

 

Chop is a tame animal and so his actions and reactions in water would have needed to be almost equivalent to his actions out of water, thus doubling his usage of available memory.

 

 

I was thinking the same code that kills him when he touches water, could instead just switch his animation to treading water if greater than X distance from ground. Perhaps even as cheezily as just reusing his existing walking/running animation. No?

Edited May 4, 2014 by Midnightz

[~Tiger~]

Yes but we have a detailed ocean floor for no reason

 

I think this was the single biggest error of development judgement in the game...

[Midnightz]

 

Yes but we have a detailed ocean floor for no reason

 

I think this was the single biggest error of development judgement in the game...

 

 

That's harsh. I disagree completely. I love that they FINALLY did something underwater and look forward to additional content for it.

[SonofUgly]

Agree with your points, there's a bunch of small little things that can be improved. Some more:

Cars insta-exploding from a bad jump - specially electric cars. It's just not realistic, and removes you from the game.

Not being able to upgrade simple things for some cars - like the Dune Buggy has the same exact engine as the BF Injection, but can't be upgraded...

Things like the hitmarker, kill flash, damage indicator, and bullet tracers break immersion for some, and it would be nice to have an option to turn off.

[Staten]

I think the first post is more of a wishlist than the OP hoped.

 

That said there are some things there that if changed would make for a more seamless experience.

 

1. Scuba gear outside of missions should be removed from wardrobes. This avoids the problem of flippers.

2. Dead contacts should be removed from the phonebook

3. If path-finding can work well enough, switching should be allowed during meet-ups. If not, meet-ups should be semi-cutscenes.

4. The spaces in garages should be reconsidered in order to give a better impression of filling the space while still have space to manouver.

5. When brought close to large bodies of water - streams he can cross easily are ok - Chop should run away instinctively.

6. Tents should immediately collapse on collision..

7. ..as should Volleyball nets.

 

Personally, I don't think rest of your points really fit into the subject of "seamless immersion".

 

BTW, the quad does include a radio, but it is off by default.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Staten

[Midnightz]

I said it's not a "complaint" thread. It's definitely not a wishlist either. Literally everything you posted is already mentioned.

The only thing you said that was different, was an alternate solution to Chop drowning, and some other stuff that makes zero sense.

 

Look, don't come in this thread to antagonize. Come up with something new or move on, thank you. --->

[mareepx]

 

 

Yes but we have a detailed ocean floor for no reason

 

I think this was the single biggest error of development judgement in the game...

 

 

That's harsh. I disagree completely. I love that they FINALLY did something underwater and look forward to additional content for it.

 

Would you rather have an ocean floor(that as of now only has nuclear waste, hidden packages and pretty sights) or most of the other things on the list and more?

[Staten]

I said it's not a "complaint" thread. It's definitely not a wishlist either. Literally everything you posted is already mentioned.

The only thing you said that was different, was an alternate solution to Chop drowning, and some other stuff that makes zero sense.

 

Look, don't come in this thread to antagonize. Come up with something new or move on, thank you. --->

I'm not trying to antagonize. I identified what, out of your list, could be counted as issues with "seamless immersion", and gave some solutions that may be easy to implement, as well as agreeing with some already-listed solutions.

[Midnightz]

Seriously? That's not what you're supposed to post here. This is not a debate thread. You are supposed to come up with YOUR OWN list of things.

 

I don't mind suggesting a different solution to an item listed if it makes sense. But look at what you did with the flippers... We wear the scuba gear when exiting either the submarine or dinghy AND we have a wetsuit in our wardrobe. How is removing the wetsuit from our wardrobe solving the missing flippers problem? And the dead contacts removed, yep that's there in my list (written solution not required). Same for the switch availability during hangouts/meetups etc. Tents and volleyball nets already suggested and even discussed among posts in this thread. Garages, covered already too. The Chop swimming alternative is the only suggested solution I see here. *sigh*

 

 

Would you rather have an ocean floor(that as of now only has nuclear waste, hidden packages and pretty sights) or most of the other things on the list and more?

 

 

Guess what? That amazing ocean floor has little to do with anything listed here. It's just solid map objects. There's no reason we can't have both.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Midnightz

[mareepx]

Thought of something

We have 747s that are flyable at the airport, but there are also a few twin engined passenger jets(i think 737) that are there but cannot be flown or destroyed

[Staten]

For the scuba suit, I was suggesting that it shouldn't be available at all outside of the two missions it appears in (though the breathing apperatus should still be available, obviously) The switch solution was different in that I was agreeing on being able to switch, only if the AI path-finding would be convincing if it has to take over driving; if it isn't, then it should just be a semi-cutscene.

 

As for a new one, I suppose the biggest for me in the loading pause in SP before you can actually see the pause screen. Having the pause screen instantly appear without pausing the action (like Online) would be the simplest solution, but maybe not the best for SP. Perhaps pressing start could slow down the gameplay like when using the weapon or radio wheels, and whatever causes that pause can begin to happen. Again, not perfect.

[mareepx]

 

 

Would you rather have an ocean floor(that as of now only has nuclear waste, hidden packages and pretty sights) or most of the other things on the list and more?

 

 

Guess what? That amazing ocean floor has little to do with anything listed here. It's just solid map objects. There's no reason we can't have both.

In an ideal world we would have both. and i would like both, but with console limitations i can't see both being possible, so, given the choice between ocean floor or many more improved and new things, guess what i would choose. I'd argue having solutions to the problems that have been outlined thus far would contribute more to immersion over ocean floor

[cp1dell]

"2. When entering a different county, the talk radio station switches to a music station instead of the other talk radio station."

 

Although this would be convenient, this is not how radio stations work. The two talk shows don't share the same frequency.

 

"18. Why are there 2 separate phone numbers (1 is answered, the other is never answered) for the taxi cab company in our cell phones?"

 

One is to call a cab, the other is only there for Franklin when you buy the Cab Depot.

 

"20. Notifications of a recommended stock could open possibilities for those who missed out on the Lester missions."

 

This isn't even an "immersion breaker." Besides, the stocks don't change that much after the story anyways.

 

"22. Cheats are available via button press but I'd rather have a cell phone app for that."

 

This doesn't break immersion. You might as well ask for cheats to be removed as well.

 

"35. We have this awesome ragdoll-throw-body option but somehow after a complete flip, our characters can't detect their feet are under them and we fall down anyway. C'mon now."

 

If you land at just the right angle, you'll just stumble a little. Regardless, the protagonists aren't freerunning masters.

 

"37. If we can call for a Blimp, bring it to us instead of making us go searching for it."

 

I don't think people can just go landing blimps anywhere willy-nilly.

Edited May 4, 2014 by cp1dell

[~Tiger~]

 

Guess what? That amazing ocean floor [is] just solid map objects. There's no reason we can't have both.

 

This is not true. The undersea map area consumes a huge amount of dynamic memory and required a considerable investment in terms of development time and actualisation cost. This cost was a detriment to the final game.

 

Hence your list.

[Officer Ronson]

The 737's were made to not make the airport look rather empty, I don't think they were ever ment to be an actual mean of transportation.

[Midnightz]

@Staten: I see where you were going with that now, thanks.

 

@cp1dell: Does the music station share the same frequency as the talk radio? Cab #, yes, and we can't reach anyone when we dial it... so, why is it there? Why not just have them call us from the regular cab #?

 

@Barefoot Tiger: How so? Besides water effects, I see very little difference between SA's underwater wildlife and V's. The biggest difference is there's landscaping and some structures underwater. There's vegetation that moves but as we've seen with above-ground vegetation, it's sparse. And curiously, when we're floating atop water, we can't see underwater -- it almost has the effect of being a different universe (as if an interior) that loads when under, unloads when above. I'm not saying that's how it works but that's how it seems. Moreover, YES, I'd rather have the ocean floor than this list because ---> Console limits are less of an issue on next-gen and PC. Besides, I disagree that console limits are why this list exists - maybe for some items, but definitely not all.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Midnightz

[Officer Ronson]

Well old rusty buckets cannot be painted away because it is a model that has that permanent feature. The tornado has 4 dinstinct versions, in which of two the rust is a permanent feature because it is part of the model.

[cp1dell]

@cp1dell: Does the music station share the same frequency as the talk radio? Cab #, yes, and we can't reach anyone when we dial it... so, why is it there? Why not just have them call us from the regular cab #?

No it doesn't, the protagonist is just switching to the nearest station.

 

Because they're two different numbers. One is for contacting someone to send a cab, the other is the number somebody calls Franklin with when they tell him he has a special customer.

Edited May 4, 2014 by cp1dell

[mareepx]

The 737's were made to not make the airport look rather empty, I don't think they were ever ment to be an actual mean of transportation.

Yep, but why not, all it would require is a new flight model( or if rock* were particularly lazy, the same one as a shamal)

If we can fly 747s why not 737s?

[Midnightz]

@Officer Ronson: I'd like to be able to truly repair old rust buckets. IMO, replace models in LSC or just disable the ability to mod it.

 

@cp1dell: Right, so switching to the other talk radio station instead would be nice. That way, we get talk radio (from whichever station) like we chose in the radio wheel. As for the taxi cab numbers, I know. What I am saying is: The mission based one does not need to be in our cell phones. The cab company can just call us from the regular line. As is, it's just an unnecessary duplicate - one functional, one not.

 

@mareepx: I guess those are just map enhancements/detail. Kind of like the old broken bicycles and cars.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Midnightz

[Officer Ronson]

But to be honest, would you really need another big passenger plane? Why?

[vengeancehawk]

 

18. Why are there 2 separate phone numbers (1 is answered, the other is never answered) for the taxi cab company in our cell phones?

 

One is for missions (random pickups) and the other is to call a taxi for yourself. Not to mention you only get it as Franklin and even then it's optional unless you want every single property

[Midnightz]

You can't reach anyone by dialing that number. There's no point to having it in the cell phone. (I've edited #18 since it was a sarcastic rhetorical question.)

Edited May 4, 2014 by Midnightz