GTA V Chronological mission list (possible trinity V version)

[Thelema93]

In this topic I will be attempting to create a "canonical" mission ordering for gta v, so it can be played in a way that gives the story better pacing and it makes the most sense. This topic was inspired by money over bullsh*ts topic in the IV section " the possible trinity" http://gtaforums.com/topic/430301-the-possible-trinity/

obviously it won't be as vast as that list as V's story is more linear but we can still try.

anyway here is the list, I cut it up into parts so it's more spread out. You'll notice that in some parts I will explain the reasoning for the order

Here it is.

 

Part 1

Prologue

repossession

Pulling favours

Chop

Complications

father/son

Long stretch

Marriage counselling

Chaos ( therapy session 1)

Friend request

Pulling another favour

 

Reasoning for order

I decided to put friend request straight after marriage counselling because I doubt that after michael pulls the house down and gets threatened by madrazo he would go straight home, sit down and watch a movie then go cycling with jimmy, it's more likely he would want to meet lester right away and get the heist prep work underway so he can get the money back to madrazo.

 

Getaway driver( random event)

Casing the jewel store

Long stretch

Simeon random event

Shift work( S&F)

Pulling favours again

Still pulling favours

daddy's little girl

 

Reasoning for order

I put daddy's little girl after casing the jewel store because I think that michael would relax at home and spend some time with his family while lester locates the heist equipment.

 

Pulling one last favour

Bugstars equipment

BZ gas

Jewel store job

 

Part 2-

Mr phillips

Trevor Philips industries

Rampage 1

Nervous Ron

Weed farm( random event)

Mackenzie airfield purchase

Arms trafficking air 1( propety mission)

Arms trafficking air 2 (property mission)

Arms trafficking air 3 ( propety mission)

Arms trafficking air 4 ( propety mission)

Drunk couple to artuist cult

crystal maze

Friends reunited

 

Reasoning for order

I put mr phillips and trevor phillips industries back to back and preferably on the same day because I don't think trevor would want to keep his Chinese contact waiting. And while Trevor's meeting with the triads the bikers randsack his trailer.

 

I put weed farm raid straight after nervous ron because I think trevor would raid the farm to get the funds to purchase the Mackenzie airfield then do some smuggling missions before triggering crystal maze.

 

 

 

Part 3

Fame or shame

Dead man walking

Evil ( therapy session 2)

threes a crowd

by the book

scouting the port

 

Reasoning for order

I put dead man walking, threes a company and by the book all back to back to focus on that story arc. Michael has also been away from home a lot during that time. Then I'll do scouting the port after by the book because at the warehouse where you torture mr k you can see the port of Los santos in the background. So I imagine that on the way to the warehouse trevor saw the port and maybe thought it was worth scouting for something to steal. So after dropping mr k at the airport he goes back to the port to investigate but realises only dockworkers are permitted to enter. Then he hears that floyd works at the docks and decides to pose as a dock worker to scout the place. it dosen't really make sense if you do scouting the port before by the book because how would trevor know about the port?. You could of course go around that area in free roam but I think it's better for story reasons for trevor to do by the book first, see the port in the background of the warehouse then decide to go scouting.

 

Mini sub

Merryweather heist

Grass roots -Michael

Grass roots- trevor

Did somebody say yoga

Hood safari

Rampage 2

Rampage 3

Hotel assassination

Multi target assassination

Seeking the truth( episilon mission)

Accepting the truth( episilon mission)

Assuming the truth ( epsilon mission)

Chasing the truth ( epsilon mission)

Bearing the truth ( epsilon mission)

 

Reasoning for order

I put did somebody say yoga after merry weather heist because during the cutscence of somebody say yoga Amanda says "ever since you pyscotic best pal has turned up you've turned into an even bigger asshole" I think Amanda would say that because michael has been away from home a lot comminting crimes with trevor.

 

then I put hood safari after MW heist because during the intro cutscence of the MW heist trevor is kind of rude to F and treats him like sh*t like he's a stranger but if you've done hood safari before MW heist then T and F have already been acquainted and it dosen't make sense that trevor would talk to him like a stranger.

then Put hotel assasanation after hood safari because if you do it the other way around it dosen't make sense. Why would F go to his aunts to rest when he has a big ass mansion in vinewood hills and why would chop be there?

 

Then I put the first few epsilon missions. It seems like a fitting time to put them. Michael is lost without his family and needs a new purpose in his life, so he seeks out the truth.

 

blitz play intro

masks

Boiler suits

getaway vehicle

trash truck

Tow truck

blitz play heist

I fought the law

eye in the sky

Mr Richards

Caida libre

 

Part 3-

minor turbalance

Vice assassination

Negativity ( phone therapy session 1)

Arms trafficking air 5 ( property mission)

 

Reasoning for order

In arms trafficking 5 Oscar Guzman mentions the rednecks have taken over Trevor's airfield, so I'd imagine they claimed it while trevor was in LS. So I make trevor take the airfield back as soon as he gets back to Blaine county.

 

Bus assassination

Construction assassination

paleto score setup

Predator

risk assessment ( S&F)

Delivering the truth ( episilon mission)

Civil border patrol ( S&F)

Exercising the truth ( epsilon missions)

 

Reasoning for order

I make michael do all the epsilon missions that are in sandy shores while him and T are in exile. It's weird having michael venture out there before exile because he mentions to trevor he's never been there.

 

 

Liquidity risk ( S&F)

Special bonds

Bounty 1

Minute men ( S&F)

Bounty 2

Bounty 3

Targeted risk( S&F)

Bounty 4

target practice ( S&F)

Uncalculated risk ( S&F)

Arms trafficking ground 1( propety mission)

Hitch lift 3 to artuist cult

crash rescue( random event)-michael

Arms trafficking ground 2 ( propety mission)

Arms trafficking ground 3 ( propety mission)

fair game ( S&F)

paparazzi( S&F)

deal gone wrong( random event) -trevor

Arms trafficking ground 4 ( propety mission)

buried alive ( random event michael)

paparazzi sex tape

paparazzi meltdown

Paparazzi highness

paparazzi realty check

Arms trafficking ground 5 ( propety mission)

Rouge artuist ( random event)- michael

Grass roots- Franklin

Grass roots- the pickup

Grass roots- the drag

grass roots the smoke in

Hitch lift 4 to artuist

Artuist cult shootout

military hardware-trevor

paleto score

Minute man blues (S&F)

derailed

Monkey business

 

Part 4

hang ten

Rampage 5

deep inside

surveying the score

Bury the hatchet

Pack man

fresh meat

f*cked up( phone therapy session 2)

Unknowing the truth ( epsilon mission)

ballad of rocco

cleaning out the bureau

architect plans

fire truck

Getaway vehicle

Burea raid

wrap up

Reuniting the family

 

Reasoning for order

I put all the FIB stuff back to back and decided not to reunite the family until after ballad of rocco and FIB heist. Because I think that the phonecall to Amanda at the end of ballad of rocco about michael becoming an executive producer is why the family decided to come back. And plus I don't think Michael would go on a risky heist while his family is back and after he promised to stay alive.

It makes more sense that he wraps up all the FIB business then goes home a triggers reuniting the family.

 

doting dad

Legal trouble

Lamar down

meltdown

parenting 101

planing the big one

police stingers

Gauntlet- mission row

Gauntlet- pillbox hill

Gauntlet- Rockford hills

big score

third way/something sensible/times come

Edited May 26, 2015 by Thelema93

[Shadowfennekin]

Uh... wouldn't taking the girl to LS get Martin's men sent on you? Since the Exile would still be technically on according to the list? Unless you're using F of course

 

Note: I've always done this BEFORE the first stock assassination to get a little extra money and used Trevor.

[Thelema93]

Uh... wouldn't taking the girl to LS get Martin's men sent on you? Since the Exile would still be technically on according to the list? Unless you're using F of course

 

Note: I've always done this BEFORE the first stock assassination to get a little extra money and used Trevor.

are you talking about hitch lift? I just take her to the artuist cult as trevor

[cp1dell]

Really nice to see something like this, but I'm curious as to how you decided to order the Story Missions.

[SmokesWithCigs]

Damn I'm tempted to start over and do another play through but I'm fine where I'm at. I try to find at least 10 scavenger hunt items and 2 side activities between each mission.

[Thelema93]

Really nice to see something like this, but I'm curious as to how you decided to order the Story Missions.

I put missions where it makes the most sense. For example I put dead man walking, threes a company and by the book all back to back to focus on that story arc. Michael has also been away from home a lot during that time. Then I'll do scouting the port after by the book because at the warehouse where you torture mr k you can see the port of Los santos in the background. So I imagine that on the way to the warehouse trevor saw the port and maybe thought it was worth scouting for something to steal. So after dropping mr k at the airport he goes back to the port to investigate but realises only dockworkers are permitted to enter. Then he hears that floyd works at the docks and decides to pose as a dock worker to scout the place.

it dosen't really make sense if you do scouting the port before by the book because how would trevor know about the port?. You could of course go around that area in free roam but I think it's better for story reasons for trevor to do by the book first, see the port in the background of the warehouse then decide to go scouting.

 

Then I'll do merry weather heist followed by did somebody say yoga because during the cutscence of somebody say yoga Amanda says ever since you pyscotic best pal has turned up you've turned into an even bigger asshole. I think Amanda would say that because michael has been away from home a lot comminting crimes with trevor. then I'll do hood safari after MW heist because during the intro cutscence of the MW heist trevor is kind of rude to F and treats him like sh*t like he's a stranger but if you've done hood safari before MW heist then T and F have already been acquainted and it dosen't make sense that trevor would talk to him like a stranger.

then I'll do hotel assasanation after hood safari because if you do it the other way around it dosen't make sense. Why would F go to his aunts to rest when he has a big ass mansion in vinewood hills and why would chop be there?

So yeah that's just a couple of examples of why I chose to do that order.

[cp1dell]

Yeah, I'm replaying through right now on the PC (first PC playthrough) and I've done the missions in a similar order. I'm really just doing mission strings in the order that they appear, and everything makes sense like you said.

[chapapote]

Really nice to see something like this, but I'm curious as to how you decided to order the Story Missions.

There was a bit of talk in a similar topic in the IV section.

 

http://gtaforums.com/topic/430301-the-possible-trinity/page-23

 

Strangely, I've noticed some changes from the list there, despite the list in that topic had more sense, and Thelema93 and others providing reasons for the old order.

 

For example, "Friend Request" comes here after "Daddy's Little Girl", while in the old order came before, and "The Long Stretch" has been moved earlier. I think the old order made more sense, especially considering what Roe pointed that in-game news articles after "Repossession" talk about "Friend Request" happening in the same week (not to mention what Thelema93 initially pointed, "I doubt after pulling down the house and being threatened by Madrazo, Michael would go straight home and sit on his ass watch a movie then go cycling with Jimmy", I would place "Daddy's Little Girl" between "Friend Request" and "Casing the Jewel Store"). Roe also mentions Stretch coming out "next week" after "Repossession" according to Lifeinvader posts, which would place "The Long Stretch" after "Friend Request", but that needs to be checked.

 

"Did Somebody Say Yoga", "Hood Safari" and "The Hotel Assassination" are missing here. In the older, they came between the two heists.

 

Dr Robotnik mentioned in the other topic how Lamar says he got Franklin's location from Trevor, and how it would make more sense if Trevor was back in Los Santos at the time.

 

I would place Trevor's rampages according to where he is at the moment. Hence, rampage 1 should be before "Friends Reunited", rampage 2 and 3 before "Caida Libre", rampage 4 before "Hang Ten" and rampage 5 after that.

 

Finally, I would put "Legal Trouble" before "Lamar Down". At the end of "Legal Trouble", Solomon says invitations are on the way, and it's not until after "Lamar Down" that Michael's family starts commenting about the movie (Amanda posts in Michael's Lifeinvader that she just got the invitation, which can't happen before Solomon sends it in "Legal Trouble"). Besides, I don't think Devin would have waited until the very last moment before the premiere to plug on the movie.

[roe]

I would place Trevor's rampages according to where he is at the moment. Hence, rampage 1 should be before "Friends Reunited", rampage 2 and 3 before "Caida Libre", rampage 4 before "Hang Ten" and rampage 5 after that.

 

That's a good point actually. The characters' locations could definitely play a factor in when Strangers & Freaks missions are triggered.

[roe]

I'm working on my order now btw. Will hopefully post at some point today but I wanna try and get it as accurate as possible and color coded.

[SuperGTFan]

Shouldn't there be a slight gap between Legal Trouble and Meltdown ? That's pretty rushed out .

[roe]

Here is my idea of how the events in the main story of GTA V could be placed in the most logically chronological* order possible.

 

*had to take a breath after writing that one!

 

Ultimately like all the other GTA games, it's an open world and there's a lot of leeway for player choice. GTA V reflects that choice quite a lot and the dialogue in missions often changes to reflect in-game events. For example: Michael's therapy sessions will discuss different things depending on which missions were completed before triggering the session.

 

Initially I was planning to run the missions at specific times/dates within the in-game calendar but the clock is a bit glitched and days often restart after completing certain missions making it a little awkward, so I gave up on that but I will give a rough indication of how many days should be passed at certain points in the game.

 

 

Key: Michael - Franklin - Trevor - All 3 - Heist

 

Note: In the case that there are 2 protags used in the same mission, I've just color coded it with whoever it fits the most imo.

 

 

Part I

(takes place within 2 in-game weeks)

 

Prologue

 

Franklin and Lamar

Repossession

Getaway Driver (random event)

Complications

 

Father/Son

Marriage Counselling

Friend Request

 

Pulling Favors (Strangers & Freaks)

Chop

Simeon Yeterian (random event)

 

Daddy's Little Girl

The Good Husband (side mission)

Chaos (Therapy Session)

Exercising Demons (Strangers & Freaks)

 

Shift Work (Strangers & Freaks)

Pulling Another Favor (Strangers & Freaks)

The Long Stretch

 

Casing the Jewel Store

Heist Setup (dependant on choice)

The Jewel Store Job

 

Edit: I've just spaced them out a bit to signal character switches and break it up.

 

 

Notes

 

Pacing:

 

* After Repossession, in-game news says that Jay Norris will unveil the Life Invader device "this week", therefore there shouldn't be too long a gap between that mission and Friend Request.

 

* Pulling Favors and Chop (which is unlocked after it) can be completed straight after Repossession, however I prefer the pacing if Complications is done before them as dialogue during Pulling Favors talks about Franklin spending less time "in the hood" (ie, hanging with Michael) and him "trying to branch out".

 

* Sometimes switching character can automatically trigger a mission. This can be a bit frustrating but ultimately it doesn't matter too much to the pacing of the story here.

 

* The Good Husband side mission is triggered by a phone call that can come any time after Friend Request therefore may come at a different point to the sequence above but again it doesn't really matter in terms of the story ark.

 

* It's mentioned early on in the game that Stretch is coming out "next week", therefore The Long Stretch should be paced accordingly and not completed too early on imo.

 

 

Random Events:

 

* I've included certain random events here because Simeon Yeterian is unavailable after this section of the story, and Getaway Driver introduces Packie McReary as avaiable for Heists.

 

* If any other random events pop up during general gameplay, I'd say it's up to you whether you want to do them or not as they shouldn't impact on the rest of the story at this point.

 

* Both random events here can be completed by either Michael or Franklin however I think it makes sense to do them both as Franklin. Simeon Yeterian because it just seems more likely that Franklin would go back there and Getaway Driver because it takes place right by Franklin's house. I can't see why Michael would be around that area but maybe you could have him visit the strip club before/after perhaps.

 

* I think ideally Getaway Driver would be done with Michael so he could meet Packie in person before (potentially) chosing him for heists. Although you could use the rational that Franklin simply recommended him to Michael.

 

 

I think that just about completes Part I. This is a work in progress and I'll most likely be updating and editing this all over the place so please bear with me while I try and work this out in my own head.

 

Thanks to anyone that's read this and any comments/thoughts are certainly welcome!

Edited April 25, 2015 by roe

[roe]

I'm gonna add a few more Strangers & Freaks missions into the sequence to fit with chapapote's idea of triggering them at certain times based on where the protagonists are likely to be.

[PhillBellic]

I wish you luck with assembling your list.

[Thelema93]

I made a few changes to my list( and I apologise for leaving out hood safari and hotel assasanation)

 

I put pulling favours after marriage counselling because of what franklin says about branching out. It sounds like he's referring to his activities with Michael.( thanks for pointing that out roe)

And I moved friend request to be straight after marriage counselling.

 

I also changed around the rampages to fit where trevor would be at the time

 

and I put deep inside after T returns to LS.

[Thelema93]

I'm gonna add a few more Strangers & Freaks missions into the sequence to fit with chapapote's idea of triggering them at certain times based on where the protagonists are likely to be.

awesome looking forward to seeing it

[Nefarious Money Man]

Good to see this topic up and running

[gtaguy95]

This topic is like communism. Good idea, bad execution. You just blatantly put the list there, without any argumentation or communication with people. Besides there are very few things in the game you can argue that belong to a certain chronological stage.

[Thelema93]

This topic is like communism. Good idea, bad execution. You just blatantly put the list there, without any argumentation or communication with people. Besides there are very few things in the game you can argue that belong to a certain chronological stage.

all right fair point. I'll explain things a bit better.

[roe]

This topic is like communism. Good idea, bad execution. You just blatantly put the list there, without any argumentation or communication with people. Besides there are very few things in the game you can argue that belong to a certain chronological stage.

 

I think the idea is to discuss it a bit further and then update the OP when and if we can all come up with a reasonable conclusion.

 

I agree it's probably unlikely to happen though because as you say there isn't a clearn chronological order to a lot of it and the game actually uses different dialogues anyway.

[Kampret]

I wish you luck with assembling your list.

 

Please, they'd be lucky if there's any variation in chronological order, given how linear V mission structure really are.

[PhillBellic]

 

I wish you luck with assembling your list.

 

Please, they'd be lucky if there's any variation in chronological order, given how linear V mission structure really are.

 

Well, if any story expansion comes to play...

[cp1dell]

That's a good point actually. The characters' locations could definitely play a factor in when Strangers & Freaks missions are triggered.

During my playthrough on the PC I noticed some S&F missions aren't "forced" onto the map, depending on where you are.

 

For instance, Cletus' first mission appears when Trevor is in Blaine County. I'm not 100% sure, but his second mission becomes available after Trevor goes to Los Santos. What I noticed though is that the S&F icon doesn't hang on the edge of the map (it being miles away from the player's location in LS), and it doesn't count towards the "Available Mission Number" under Trevor in the SWITCH menu. But you can see the icon when you pause the game and view the map, or drive up to Blaine County.

 

But once you reach the point in the story where Trevor is back living in his trailer (Exile I think), Cletus' mission will hang on the edge of the map and count towards the mission number in the SWITCH menu. Of course this applies to other Strangers and Freaks missions as well, this is just one example.

 

So the S&F missions and their "timeline" definitely do come into play depending on the protagonists location story-wise.

 

-snip-

Awesome, simply awesome. Really looking forward to the rest.

 

Though, I think Franklin is better suited for "Getaway Driver." If you noticed, Packie constantly refers to the protagonist as "kid." Of course he's using it loosely/slang since Franklin obviously isn't a kid, but it's odd to refer to Michael as "kid." Especially by Packie.

 

Please, they'd be lucky if there's any variation in chronological order, given how linear V mission structure really are.

Obviously it's not like GTA IV/EFLC where certain missions had to take place between each other, but with V it makes sense for some missions to take place before others based on context, and updates on the in-game websites. Just take a look at Roe's reasoning for some of the orders. Of course you can do the missions in any order you want, and it won't create plot holes - but this is more of a "clean" order.

 

Definitely going to wait to do my next playthrough and "permanent save" for the PC until Roe finishes his mission order. Seems to be coming along really nice, and like I said before, the reasons for the specific order are very satisfying.

[Big Gta fan]

i would put reunite the family before bury the hatchet,that's what i can say right now,and one more thing why would anyone make a chronological missions list for iv,it's only one character what can possibly go wrong and the story isn't complicated i don't think there any minor plot holes in iv at all

Edited April 27, 2015 by Big Gta fan

[cp1dell]

The chronological mission order isn't just for IV. If you've ever looked at the "Possible Trinity" topic, it includes the missions from TLAD and TBoGT since all three stories take place during the same timeline.

 

There are a couple plotsholes that were made when TBoGT was released, concerning when Elizabeta is taken down by the feds. When it was just GTA IV and TLAD, the chronological mission order worked out, but once TBoGT came along and the mission order had to be altered, it caused some strange order of events where in IV Elizabeta is freaking out that she is going to be arrested soon, but simultaneously in TLAD she is calm and collected - something like that.

 

This is because TBoGT most likely went through some changes concerning its overall plot and series of events, as speculated by the references in IV and TLAD to the events of TBoGT and its characters, that were present before it was actually released.

 

EDIT: Also, Roe - for the color coding where there are more than two protagonist that can trigger the same mission, I think whoever is at the beginning of the cutscene would work best. Like Marriage Counseling, if you start as Michael you get the full cutscene - instead of walking in halfway as Franklin. Or Fame or Shame, start it as Michael - so you see the whole thing before Trevor walks in.

Edited April 28, 2015 by cp1dell

[Thelema93]

i would put reunite the family before bury the hatchet,that's what i can say right now,and one more thing why would anyone make a chronological missions list for iv,it's only one character what can possibly go wrong and the story isn't complicated i don't think there any minor plot holes in iv at all

you don't unlock reuniting the family until after cleaning out the burea. Which takes place a few missions after bury the hatchet.

[gtaguy95]

The chronological mission order isn't just for IV. If you've ever looked at the "Possible Trinity" topic, it includes the missions from TLAD and TBoGT since all three stories take place during the same timeline.

 

There are a couple plotsholes that were made when TBoGT was released, concerning when Elizabeta is taken down by the feds. When it was just GTA IV and TLAD, the chronological mission order worked out, but once TBoGT came along and the mission order had to be altered, it caused some strange order of events where in IV Elizabeta is freaking out that she is going to be arrested soon, but simultaneously in TLAD she is calm and collected - something like that.

 

This is because TBoGT most likely went through some changes concerning its overall plot and series of events, as speculated by the references in IV and TLAD to the events of TBoGT and its characters, that were present before it was actually released.

 

EDIT: Also, Roe - for the color coding where there are more than two protagonist that can trigger the same mission, I think whoever is at the beginning of the cutscene would work best. Like Marriage Counseling, if you start as Michael you get the full cutscene - instead of walking in halfway as Franklin. Or Fame or Shame, start it as Michael - so you see the whole thing before Trevor walks in.

What messed up the whole elizabeta fed thing in tbogt was the fact that they put billy grey in a cutscene in the mission chinese takeout.

 

I'd also like to add that while in gta v the "chronologicality" isn't necessarily the main point of conversation, the "canonicality" is. We cannot really discuss based on solid ingame evidence, whether some things WILL take place at a certain point, like with iv and the dlc's. However, we can discuss based on the characters/rockstars supposed reasoning of thought why some things SHOULD take place at a certain point.

[Thelema93]

 

The chronological mission order isn't just for IV. If you've ever looked at the "Possible Trinity" topic, it includes the missions from TLAD and TBoGT since all three stories take place during the same timeline.

 

There are a couple plotsholes that were made when TBoGT was released, concerning when Elizabeta is taken down by the feds. When it was just GTA IV and TLAD, the chronological mission order worked out, but once TBoGT came along and the mission order had to be altered, it caused some strange order of events where in IV Elizabeta is freaking out that she is going to be arrested soon, but simultaneously in TLAD she is calm and collected - something like that.

 

This is because TBoGT most likely went through some changes concerning its overall plot and series of events, as speculated by the references in IV and TLAD to the events of TBoGT and its characters, that were present before it was actually released.

 

EDIT: Also, Roe - for the color coding where there are more than two protagonist that can trigger the same mission, I think whoever is at the beginning of the cutscene would work best. Like Marriage Counseling, if you start as Michael you get the full cutscene - instead of walking in halfway as Franklin. Or Fame or Shame, start it as Michael - so you see the whole thing before Trevor walks in.

What messed up the whole elizabeta fed thing in tbogt was the fact that they put billy grey in a cutscene in the mission chinese takeout.

 

I'd also like to add that while in gta v the "chronologicality" isn't necessarily the main point of conversation, the "canonicality" is. We cannot really discuss based on solid ingame evidence, whether some things WILL take place at a certain point, like with iv and the dlc's. However, we can discuss based on the characters/rockstars supposed reasoning of thought why some things SHOULD take place at a certain point.

that's actually a good point. I should of called the topic "canon mission order" it would of made more sense.

[gtaguy95]

 

 

The chronological mission order isn't just for IV. If you've ever looked at the "Possible Trinity" topic, it includes the missions from TLAD and TBoGT since all three stories take place during the same timeline.

 

There are a couple plotsholes that were made when TBoGT was released, concerning when Elizabeta is taken down by the feds. When it was just GTA IV and TLAD, the chronological mission order worked out, but once TBoGT came along and the mission order had to be altered, it caused some strange order of events where in IV Elizabeta is freaking out that she is going to be arrested soon, but simultaneously in TLAD she is calm and collected - something like that.

 

This is because TBoGT most likely went through some changes concerning its overall plot and series of events, as speculated by the references in IV and TLAD to the events of TBoGT and its characters, that were present before it was actually released.

 

EDIT: Also, Roe - for the color coding where there are more than two protagonist that can trigger the same mission, I think whoever is at the beginning of the cutscene would work best. Like Marriage Counseling, if you start as Michael you get the full cutscene - instead of walking in halfway as Franklin. Or Fame or Shame, start it as Michael - so you see the whole thing before Trevor walks in.

What messed up the whole elizabeta fed thing in tbogt was the fact that they put billy grey in a cutscene in the mission chinese takeout.

 

I'd also like to add that while in gta v the "chronologicality" isn't necessarily the main point of conversation, the "canonicality" is. We cannot really discuss based on solid ingame evidence, whether some things WILL take place at a certain point, like with iv and the dlc's. However, we can discuss based on the characters/rockstars supposed reasoning of thought why some things SHOULD take place at a certain point.

that's actually a good point. I should of called the topic "canon mission order" it would of made more sense.

That's ok. I'm actually waiting to see how/if the story dlc is integrated into the main game. When it's released I think this topic could really come alive

[Dr. Robotnik]

Weirdly enough, on my most recent playthrough (second on the PS4), "The Long Stretch" wasn't even available until after "Friend Request". Did a patch change the unlock order?

 

As to the question of who should start the missions (when they can be started with more than one character), they should probably be started by the character you're first made to control after the cutscene (Trevor for the "Blitz Play" setup, Franklin for "I Fought the Law..."). That being said, I always start "Father/Son" as Franklin just because I hate how he always shows up wearing a hat if you start it as Michael.

 

"Fame or Shame", though, I think works better if you start as Trevor; it makes sense to drive over there right after "Friends Reunited", you see a little of Jimmy and Michael interacting before he shows up, and one of the gold medal achievements is punching out the guy who tells you you can't park where you have; since that seems more in-character for Trevor than Michael, it makes sense if T's the one to drive to the audition.

 

While the order listed here may be the more canonical one, I still prefer to play "Did Somebody Say Yoga?" after "Dead Man Walking" for the reasons I outlined in the other thread. That, and I think it might cause a glitch where Trevor can't reply to Jimmy and Ron's e-mails.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Dr. Robotnik