Inconsistency of Quality Between Islands

[X/R//]

Its a known fact that GTAIII meant for DreamCast at first, but then it was changed for PS2. And the game had 3 years of dev cycle before the final product came along. So, in the final version, the inconsistency of quality, design and detail between Portland and the other islands are unbearable.

 

The repeated buildings, lack of details like trashcans, boxes, street lamps etc.. These things really shows the age of the game and the earliest works were done for the game (1999). While completing Staunton and then the Shoreside Vale, they saw their errors on this and went back for some re-texturing and polishing. But in my view, the difference is so bad that you feel like switching between games while crossing islands.

 

While the other islands have the proper items laying around, you have a island full of mistakes when it comes to the props. In one area, you have the street lamps, and in the other one, you dont. And again, in one area, you have the fire hydrants, and in the other area you just dont. There is absolutely no reason exist for this. This is not about the console limitations or anything.. We all know that they've switched to PS2 long ago (before creating Staunton) and this is totally unacceptable.

 

You may think that it stops there.. But no. It's getting even the worse.

 

While porting the game to PC, they've filled this empty, low-poly island with around 100 objects and you are supposed to forgive them. And hey, Saint Mark's doesn't need any street lamps, are you crazeyyy?

 

Anyway, this was my idea on the map aspect of the game, and i want to hear yours aswell.

 

 

[BoringPedsDumbCops]

I totally get this too, it almost feels like it's the end of the game once you get out of Portland.. There was so much detail and character to Portland and the characters there were awesome.

[PhillBellic]

After leaving Portland the quality of the map seems to suffer greatly. Shoreside Vale seems to be the most under-developed.

[X/R//]

I totally get this too, it almost feels like it's the end of the game once you get out of Portland.. There was so much detail and character to Portland and the characters there were awesome.

 

 

After leaving Portland the quality of the map seems to suffer greatly. Shoreside Vale seems to be the most under-developed.

 

actually, this is a topic about the opposite of that.

[inadequate]

I totally get this too, it almost feels like it's the end of the game once you get out of Portland.. There was so much detail and character to Portland and the characters there were awesome.

 

That's is obvious. Portland was the first island on development, thats why is the most complete island on PC, sure... only for a few more objects around it. Also on PS2 that objects is not present but is the better made island as well (again, because was the first island on development). Other comparison is Los Santos in San Andreas, if you look closely around it, all buildings have light flashes, rubbish, parked cars (this feature in PS2 is more heavy, more cars around Los Santos and Countryside), etc while Las Venturas and San Fierro (which is the most rushed and different on all versions) is a little bit empty.

Edited February 27, 2015 by inadequate

[Mr_Leone]

After leaving Portland the quality of the map seems to suffer greatly. Shoreside Vale seems to be the most under-developed.

Have you played GTA III? Portland is sh*t. Buggy looking hilly roads and barely anything on the streets like lamps or w/e. I still love it regardless because of the Diablos hood and the Chinatown area but still it's the worst of the 3.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Mr_Leone

[PhillBellic]

 

After leaving Portland the quality of the map seems to suffer greatly. Shoreside Vale seems to be the most under-developed.

Have you played GTA III? Portland is sh*t. Buggy looking hilly roads and barely anything on the streets like lamps or w/e. I still love it regardless because of the Diablos hood and the Chinatown area but still it's the worst of the 3.

 

It has been a very long time since I played GTA III. To me Portland has more 'heart' in it. It could be that a large proportion of the story was set in it which gives it heart.

[universetwisters]

 

 

After leaving Portland the quality of the map seems to suffer greatly. Shoreside Vale seems to be the most under-developed.

Have you played GTA III? Portland is sh*t. Buggy looking hilly roads and barely anything on the streets like lamps or w/e. I still love it regardless because of the Diablos hood and the Chinatown area but still it's the worst of the 3.

Lies, damn lies!

[Neon-Noir 198X]

Shoreside Vale is painfully underdeveloped in comparison to the other islands. I think Staunton's alright, though. I wouldn't call it underdeveloped. Just missing a few small touches.

 

It's a shame, because you can see that Rockstar clearly had some bigger ideas for that Shoreside, but they must have been rushing to ship the game before Christmas. I don't really blame them, but I do wish they would have implemented said missing detail in LCS.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Azurex

[X/R//]

this topic says portland is old and empty. yet everybody ignores my posts and still discuss how good portland was

Edited March 1, 2015 by X/R//

[TJGM]

this topic says portland is old and empty. yet everybody ignores my posts and still discuss how good portland was

And people can't have different opinions.. why?

[X/R//]

the topic is a statement about portland, not really a discussion one. and people misread everything i wrote and thought that the topic was saying the exact opposite.

[Filip]

In my opinion every Island has it's own athosmphere.

 

Portland is the best imo. The grittiest and the most gangster island in this game.

 

BTW telling that this game has aged much is unacceptable

 

Best sounds, best graphics (in terms of texturing etc.) create the atmosphere that you can't find anywhere else. I find it hard to say that SA in GTA V is a living city cause in my opinion 2001 Liberty City was more "alive" because of ambient sound effects and many details that you can't find in modern GTAs.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Filip454

[Silver]

In my opinion every Island has it's own athosmphere.

 

Portland is the best imo. The grittiest and the most gangster island in this game.

 

BTW telling that this game has aged much is unacceptable

 

Best sounds, best graphics (in terms of texturing etc.) create the atmosphere that you can't find anywhere else. I find it hard to say that SA in GTA V is a living city cause in my opinion 2001 Liberty City was more "alive" because of ambient sound effects and many details that you can't find in modern GTAs.

 

I agree with you, this is something that I absolutely loved about Liberty City, the fact that each Island got their own atmosphere.

 

I enjoy traveling from Portland to Shoreside, they have their own feeling, every part is different. Sure Shoreside Vale feels kind of unfinished, and I would have really liked to see the alpha version of this island, just to compare/see what was originally planned.

[thatstupidbug]

the topic is a statement about portland, not really a discussion one. and people misread everything i wrote and thought that the topic was saying the exact opposite.

 

well, maybe that's because a lot of people have a different opinion, including myself.

 

Portland is the "best" of the three island for a series of reasons:

 

- the island itself is better designed: yeah, there are a LOT of little mistakes, but overall the city offers a different vibe going from bayside to hill, while being easy to navigate without much problems.

 

- portland use his space better: staunton (another island I like) has a lot of unused/empty space, with fewer roads and set paths that sometimes "limit" your freedom. Plus, The stadium and the costructor site take a great chunk of land, where you can't really do anything. Shoreside has..what, 4 roads in total? I'm overexagerating here, but THAT city is clearly less developped, with lack of direct connection between places, and overall less to do.

 

- portland has more connection between the setting and the storyline: its buildings are functional to the story and gameplay, while in the other two island the buildings (bar some exceptions) serve more to create a scenery than to link themself to the gameplay/storyline. Places like Belly-Up Fish & Seafood, Bitch'n' Dog Food, Classic Nails, Eightballs Autoyard, the Harwood Autocrusher and Junkyard, Joey's Garage, Luigi's Sex Club 7, Marco's Bistro, Momma's Restaurante, Mr. Wong's Laundrette, Punk Noodles, Salvatore's Gentlemen's Club, plus the removed Darkel hideout... all places built in Portland, meaning that the "core" of the game was here.

 

- finally, part of the object that were put back on PC weren't done just to "say sorry": R* was trying to put back object they ORIGINALLY wanted in Portland, but that they were forced to cut from the PS2 beta. So r* was forced to "reduce" the city first, and then add back the stuffs in a more powerful environment (the PC) . I took the infos from this well-done video

 

 

Edited March 1, 2015 by thatstupidbug