GTAForums Weekly - Issue 8

[Norsea]

 

 

Week of April 30th - May 6th

 

 

 

 

Hello & welcome back! This is the eighth issue of GTAForums Weekly. It's been a bit quiet since our last issue, besides the usual News sub-forum posts.

In other news, Week 8 of the Weekly Vehicle Showdown has been set up. The Tempesta won by a small margin last week, but can the Sabre Turbo pull off with an upset victory? As of now the Sabre is leading by just one point! Be sure to go and vote before it's too late.

@Kirsty posted a new topic regarding the Biker Bonus Event for GTA Online, which includes discounts on clubhouses, clubhouse customization, and much more. The deals only last until May 15th, so if you're interested, nab 'em quick.

also posted a new issue of Custom Rides & Garages, a compilation of many Snaps taken by the community. If our Snaps of the Week segment doesn't completely fulfill your needs, check out his latest issue.

@~Tiger~ helped shine a light on a special milestone that we happened to forget last week (sorry IV fans!), among many other things! In his latest issue of Looking Back (May), he talks about the unveiling of GTA IV, as well as an old "leak" claiming that GTA V would be set in Hawaii.

And finally, @REXX put together a new Top 5 for the Weekly Outfit Showcase. The theme for this week was "Badass", which seems to have brought out many great entries. If you're interested, be on the look out for Week 5's topic containing the next theme in the GTA Online sub-forum.

GTAForums currently has a total of 14,768,918 posts (+12,059 from last week) and 703,284 members (+490 from last week) at the time this is being posted.

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Welcome to the eighth week of the Rockstar Central! I’m your host, Spider-Vice, and we’ll be highlighting this week’s happenings in the Rockstar Universe.

Grand Theft Auto

The smell of the first flowers of May looms in San Andreas (along with allergies..), but that’s not the only thing its residents are smelling. What is that? Oh. It’s money! To start this off, Rockstar has begun to distribute the 425K GTA$ tax refunds on all platforms, which should help those who are in need a ton! It sure as hell helped me! Before complaining to the San Andreas State Treasury (colloquially known as Rockstar Support), please allow the next week for the funds to be deposited in your account.

This week, we have no DLC, but Rockstar has started off the week with some brand new GTA Online bonuses and discounts focusing on the fearless bikers of Los Santos. This week, through May 15th, players can expect double GTA$ and RP on Clubhouse Contracts, and 25% discount on:

- Biker Clubhouses and customization

- Biker Business properties

- Nagasaki Shotaro

- Progen T20

- Western Company Annihilator

- Nagasaki Buzzard

- Karin Technical

- Vapid Desert Raid

- Vapid Trophy Truck

You can also expect 25% discounts on the following weapons:

- Vehicle Armour

- Bulletproof Tires

- Body Armour

- Explosive Ammo

- Rocket Launchers

- Grenade Launchers

For the innate racers in San Andreas, this week’s Premium Race is a Special Vehicle Race, running from May 2nd to May 8th, and it is “Damned”, locked to the Ruiner 2000. The time runners can enjoy this week’s Time Trial, running through the same dates, “Power Station”.

Red Dead Redemption 2

In agitated times where the cowboys-to-be water supplies have run out, and emotions run wild, a slimmer of hope has appeared at the end of the tunnel.

It appears that The Great Falls Tribune is reporting (thanks to Kirsty for the find) on a film crew that is recording a live action video for a video game that “releases in September” and that it is “a sequel to an existing global franchise”. The recording is taking place in Montana, and at an old church, in a very western looking landscape. If this doesn’t scream RDR2, I don’t know what does. Sony is known for shooting live action video for their teasers, so who knows! Despair aside, inb4 it’s just some Ubisoft game… Or something. Someone help? Need water! (i.e. Rockstar move!)

Discussion between cowboys-to-be can be read here at the RDR2 sub-forum!

(Modding) Community Highlight – Codewalker 3D Map Viewer for GTA V

Switching the subject a little bit this week, we’re going to highlight a modding tool that many have been waiting for, for quite some time.

Created by @dexyfex, the CodeWalker Map Viewer is the first ever tool that allows people to look at the GTA V map files within a very pretty map viewer, reminiscent of old tools from the III-era, like MEd and MooMapper.

It doesn’t allow editing yet, but the tool allows you to look at the map in a pretty unique way, using original GTA V visuals and shaders, which is a pretty awesome technological advancement for a RAGE mod. The tool is actively developed and updated, and you can view it on the link above, in the title.

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@Icebergg Slimm -

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@inbetweendays_ -

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@LokDog -

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@Matrelith -

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@OVO -

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@Ravarta -

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@TeeKoo -

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@TG_Stig -

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@Zoobz -

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News

 

 

 

GTAF Weekly Outfit Showcase Week 04

 

 

 

Grand Theft Auto: Looking Back...May

 

 

 

Snapmatic Spotlight: Custom Rides & Garages Issue #12

 

 

 

Biker Bonus Event in GTA Online until 15th May

 

 

 

The Weekly Vehicle Showdown Week 8

 

 

GTA Online

 

 

 

THE CLUBHOUSE SNAKE

 

 

 

THIS WEEK IN GTA ONLINE: BIKER BONUSES, VEHICLE DISCOUNTS AND MORE

 

 

 

Are you tired of GTA Online yet?

 

 

 

judging people on their crew

 

 

 

Will Rockstar will add Aircraft Carrier to Freemode in Next Update?

 

 

 

judging people on their level

 

 

 

Spring Cleaning: Garage Clean-Out (What to keep?)

 

 

 

[GTAO] And Suddenly, You Find Yourself Alone…

 

 

 

The One Stat That Defines You Most

 

 

GTA Online -> Crews -> Events

 

 

 

[PC] Bullshifters: SKATE FAST EAT ASS 05-06-17

 

 

 

The Atomic World Challenge [Xbox One]

 

 

Grand Theft Auto Series

 

 

 

Guess The Vehicle in 3D universe edition

 

 

 

GTA Logic

 

 

 

What Cities Do You Dislike The Most In The Series?

 

 

GTA IV

 

 

 

9 years of IV

 

 

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This segment includes coverage that continues from where last week's issue left off. As we near E3 and the four year anniversary of it's release this Summer, we'll be taking a look back at the days surrounding the initial GTA V announcement, all the way up until the release. This will be a multi-part topic that we will be covering, so be sure to stick around.

Recap

Rockstar initially gave us a shock when they announced that they would be delaying GTA V until September 17th, 2013. To make up for it, they showered us with many screenshot sets showing us the true depth of the world of (new) San Andreas. While the delay was a slight detour for the jam-packed hype train, we were finally back on track when Rockstar released new trailers for Michael, Franklin, and Trevor, as well as unveiled the full box art for the game.

Moving right along..

Pairing right up with the worldwide GTA V previews we covered in last week's issue, Rockstar was all too generous when they released even more screenshots (notice a recurring theme here? ) on their site. The screenshots showed us everything from scuba diving to heist planning, as well as flying over the coastline to parachuting over the beautiful Blaine County desert. Official artwork for all three characters was released as well, which were originally used for the MFT trailers. You can view all of the Newswire posts regarding these screenshots and artwork here, here, and here.

 

 

In May of 2013, we finally got some details on what sort of pre-order bonuses we could expect for GTA V, as well as some special edition packages. Those who pre-ordered any edition of GTA V were granted access to the ATOMIC Blimp. Additionally, those that pre-ordered the other two editions would receive more goodies, including a collectible steel-book, a blueprint map, bonus outfits, tattoos, and much more. For the Collector's Edition, Rockstar included a Los Santos snapback hat and a security deposit bag, as well as everything you would get if you opted for the Special Edition. The standard edition of GTA V would cost you around $60 brand new, with the Special Edition and Collector's Edition costing $80 and $150 respectfully. T'was quite a hefty price to pay for the works, but it was all worth it!

The pre-order graphic gave us our first glance at the map of Los Santos, as well, which, I imagine, was incredibly helpful for those participating in the "Mapping Los Santos!" thread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woo hoo! More screenshots! While it may seem incredibly repetitive now, the breaks between announcements, artwork, or screenshots were hard to get through at the time, especially since the community was so hyped up and eager for it to be September already. During E3 2013, Sony included several screens from GTA V in their conference, including one showing the hybrid-electric Khamelion sports car. The Khamelion was exclusive to GTA Online, and was only obtainable by those who purchased the Collector's Edition of the game. Rockstar included all screenshots on their website and posted them on the Newswire, as well.

 

 

Asked & Answered

With September fast approaching, a new A&A was released, answering many questions from fans about GTA V. Rockstar gave us more details on how character switching worked, explaining that while not on a mission, you can "freely switch in real-time to any of the three characters to drop in and out of their lives letting you see what they’re up to.". They also added that Michael, Franklin, and Trevor all had their own schedules, so you'll never know what they're doing until you pop in. You could even call up any of the other two characters while playing in order to meet up, hang out, and do activities, which is something they expanded on from GTA IV. I'm sure many of us loved Roman's requests to go bowling..

On the subject of storage, many were curious as to whether the game required multiple discs, like L.A Noire. It was then made clear that GTA V would ship with two discs for the Xbox 360; one for playing the game, and the other would be used for a one-time install. Playstation users were not affected by this, as the PS3 used Blu-Ray discs, which allows much more storage on one disc compared to dual-layer DVDs, which was the standard format for Xbox 360 games.

To top it all off, when asked about when we could see some GTA V gameplay, Rockstar confirmed that the first official gameplay video was "on it's way". It was also mentioned that more details about Grand Theft Auto Online would be released during that Summer. We will cover this, plus much more in our next issue, so be sure to stick around!

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Unbid: What brought you to GTAForums?

livejoker: The Grand Theft Auto IV hype. I would be inches from licking my computer screen when that "Things Will Be Different" trailer first dropped. I can't recall what I typed into Google to find GTAForums, but I loved that there were other people going crazy over the next GTA. I signed up and thought I'd chip in the threads. I never thought I'd stick around once GTA IV released but this community has a very good way of keeping you around by discussing the smallest things as if they're the biggest deal ever. Man, that Ratman and fingerless gloves kept me reading all night and I'd arrive to school the next day very tired.

U: How did you create your username?

LJ: I've been around computers all my life by having an older brother who was very much into working on computers to the point of having my own at a young age (which, in a house with siblings, is a rare treat). The catch was that I had to play with him and his clan on Battlefield 1942. I was a very good shot despite my young age (being around 10-14 years old) and the clan would make short movies and have matches against other clans. My brother's name was D3@TH_J0K3R (leet/1337 typed, of course, cause this was like 2001) so I was his opposite; L!V3_J0K3R. I stuck with the name since just to remind myself of what got me into gaming.

U: Please tell us more about your, [ahem], unique GTA Online character. What's her name? What inspired you to create her?

LJ: My character is definitely bizarre, that I know. I've grown up very differently from my siblings by not being the popular kid in school and having very few friends. That got me set on developing this character that was like me in that she's different from most GTA characters. She's very creative and not afraid to stand up for what she believes in so she does has traits that I also have. She's also very talkative which is what I become when attending car meets or events on GTA:Online. It's a very stark contrast of how I am in real life where I don't talk much.

Her name is Xanadu Winsfold, named after Electric Lights Orchestra's song, "Xanadu". It parodies the lyrics in a very dirty way, "now we're in Xanadu," for example. I'm a huge ELO fan. Winsfold was a spur of the moment thing though I like to think it relates to gambling by having "win" and "fold" in the name. I also like to think that, in some way, it references Kenny Rogers, "The Gambler", which I'm also a huge fan of. As for a specific reason? I like to say that it was to go against the grain; to be different from the shirtless male characters and ponytail-blonde female characters. In reality, and embarrassingly/worryingly, a small part of me believes that I'm probably into cross-dressing and females with Adam apples. She looks great in a skirt, though. Can't argue with that.

U: What inspired you to create the Mister LS competition? How did you pick the judges? Is there any certain criteria you set while choosing the judges for the event?

LJ: The female counterpart, Miss LS, is a very popular contest on the forum. If not to show off your dream girl you're on the sidelines posting gifs of eating popcorn and watching the drama unfold. There's been talk of having a male counterpart probably since the first Miss LS but no one really stepped up to the plate. With my character having a reputation of being a cougar I knew that I was the right candidate to kick things off. Pairing up with , we discussed how we'd keep true to the Miss LS formula but we'd put our own spin on it.

The judges were picked by Mion and myself. Mion played it very safe by having a judge from the latest Miss LS and having both judges that he picked renown in the snapmatic/photography threads floating around. He went for the professionals, you know? I, being a special cookie, got a very openly-gay member and a very anti-establishment member so that one judge could put his votes based on his "preferences" while the other would call out any bullsh*t about the whole thing if there was any. It was a very interesting play on my part.

U: What was it like to be a judge for Mister LS?

LJ: Mion and myself were tie-breakers, we weren't judges specifically. We were only on the judges list if extra votes were required. For the most part Mion did background works such as adding scores and making everything work while I kept the public entertained and made jokes that were very..."cougar-like" in nature. Like saying "man, I really need a man to put some mayo in my meat sandwich". Yeah, a real class act. Still, I enjoyed it immensely and this persona that I had developed over time was finally fitting into this puzzle which was being the best character to present Mister LS. It's very egoistic, I know, but I'm proud of that accomplishment.

The overall experience? There's been some sleepless nights, for sure. It gnaws at you to be scrutinized by people from a community you cherish. Many got on board, happy to finally get a Mister LS while a few were rebellious. There's rebels in everything so I knew I would get some hate going into it but when it comes to thread making I'm a true perfectionist so to have those people point out flaws that made sense was very destabilizing for me. The team also had its own rough edges - it's natural to fight among ourselves. The whole thing had its highs and lows, for sure.

U: Will Mister LS return this year? If so, what changes will you make for this year's competition?

LJ: The first Mister LS got great feedback from all the angry nice fans and I know from experience of typing up car meet reviews what needs changing. I analyze things in-game and type it up on the forums so it's not too different from analyzing a thread. The thread, in my opinion, was perfect. I couldn't have done a better job typing it up and formatting it the way I did. The hosting and interactions by the whole team with the public was great and I like to think the team and I managed very well any criticism and made everything flow as smoothly as possible. Publicly, it was a smash hit. Privately, it wasn't.

When Miss LS was nearing its end during the last round many people were discussing who could host Mister LS. My entry for Miss LS was very popular but wasn't picked to move on so in some strange way many thought that I could host Mister LS - the cougar could do it out of spite, you know? There's things I would've done differently but the circumstances lined up so well that it was hard to not say no in that moment. One thing that I would've done differently was not to have a co-host. It did get in the way, being the perfectionist that I am, of how I did my own thing. Again, though, the moment was too good to pass up so I had to accept a co-host. Not to speak ill of Mion, not at all, as I admire his headstrong attitude and not caving in to my advances of hosting the thing myself but it did affect my overall attitude when discussing with the team. On stage I was very giddy and quick-witted but behind the curtains I was miserable. I blame myself for that as I expected to do the whole thing by myself (with judges, of course). A very selfish thing to wanting all the glory. Secretly, though, pairing up with Mion saved my ass as I'm horrible with math/scores and we had our own roles that fitted us perfectly. As for something I would change for the next one? I don't know. Things just happen that you have to deal with them on the spot and not in advance.

Still, I'm unsure about returning to the spotlight. It takes a toll on you when doing these big events and despite catching heat for the latest Miss LS I applaud @X S for hosting Miss LS every year. He's got it worse than Mister LS, too, as cat fights are nasty! Part of me wants to leave it at that and keeping my hosting record good while another part of me is afraid of handing the baton over to someone who would do a horrible job at it (or an amazing job and piss me off for doing it better). A small part of me, though, the GTAF part of me, wants to do it again..so I don't know. What I do know is that Mister LS is a gentleman and it says, "ladies first". That means Miss LS needs to step on stage first and then we'll go from there.

U: How has your experience been in regards to you being a part of GTAForums community?

LJ: When I first joined GTAForums I was way too immature to be part of a community. I made very unconstructive posts, got into very heated fights with moderators and got warnings and a temp-ban or two. I just couldn't fit in so at one point I stepped away from the forum, forgot about it, popped back years down the line and here we are. I hate the old me. Current me would smack old me in the face with a keyboard. It's funny to think that I used to be the type of person that I currently hate and that's people who don't add anything to a thread. I mean, real unconstructive. The thread could be about finding all the collectibles in Liberty City and I'd say, "I found your mom last night haha". God...

U: Which forum member do you feel the closest to?

LJ: I get my moments where I feel very close to members via PM or interacting on the forum but I tend to not make close friendships as I believe it keeps me from being judgmental about people. Having friends means having your own circle and despite currently being in a crew I avoid fitting in groups, if possible. It helps me stay unbiased towards everyone I come across. That and the fact that I give respect to everyone so to have friends isn't really..."necessary". I get along with everyone if they're being friendly enough to have a conversation with. It's easy to get angry at someone or judge them for things they say but I find it much easier to respect someone and discuss the topic at hand. Sure, I have my own mistrusts about some people but I'm really bad with remembering names. I feel closest to constructive posters, great thread makers and people who realize that at the end of the day we're not too different from each other.

U: What's your favorite thing about the GTAF community?

LJ: That there's so much variety. I can join a car meet on GTA Online and have a great time taking pictures of cars and then I can talk to people passionate about finding the mysterious jetpack easter egg. The contrast from die hard shooters to chilled out cruisers makes the things I love taste sweeter. The fact that I can take pictures of my cars, post them here and have people enjoy them is simply amazing. The community can be tough for new members but once you find your spot it's incredible how welcomed it makes you feel. The staff is also much more pleasant than other forums I've been part of. They're always willing to help out/answer questions but still able to take part in some good old sh*t-posting. There's no where else on the internet I'd rather be.

U: If you were admin for a day, what would you do?

LJ: I would change everyone's name to Platypus and put a picture of a duck and watch everyone have no idea who is who and the 30 threads titled "A DUCK IS NOT A PLATYPUS!!11!"

U: What's your favorite Rockstar Games title or series?

LJ: Back to it, Grand Theft Auto IV. The first GTA I discovered was Grand Theft Auto III when my brother rented it when I was a kid. I was mesmerized by it. I was a pro at the firetruck missions to the point of skipping meals to put out those burning vehicles. My love for GTA grew from there but GTA IV just got me hooked to the series. It was so realistic and different from past GTA titles. I've played through the whole story like 8 times and got 100% on it, one of the few games that I ever completed to such point. I enjoy gaming to the point of missing a nice tan but I rarely finish games to the 100% mark. I'm also a die hard fan of The Warriors game, made by Rockstar, which I played on the original Xbox. It's my number one pick on "games that need a sequel" list.

U: Tell us about yourself as a person. Any favorite hobbies (aside from cars and photography), music, etc?

LJ: Well, I've said in previous answers that I'm somewhat of a loser. I have few friends, I prefer to stay in my bedroom and play videogames and I eat Kitkats like it's a ritual (break off the stick, don't bite two sticks at once, you animal!). Apart from gaming I really enjoy riding bicycles to the point of dropping one wheel off and giving a shot at unicycles. Years later from riding my first unicycle and I now ride unicycles with fat tires down the side of mountains. It's a real thing, trust me. I'll take riding in the woods, listening to music and enjoy nature over going to the movies with friends any day. It's liberating. Other than that I'm a very simple person to understand and please. I like to take life slowly.

U: Any final comments?

LJ: Thanks for the interview and for anyone who's bored enough to give this a read. I don't find myself an interesting person but I'm happy if any of you were curious about certain things concerning my character or what I like about GTAF. Despite skipping a few years away from the forum I've been on and off here for a long time (not as long as others!) and I plan to spend a much longer time here. The true spice of life is variety. I say it a lot when captioning car meet pictures in my car meet reviews that I do from time to time and it's no different when it comes to the forum. Having that variety in members and threads helps keep things fresh and interesting. Don't be afraid to be different. Do your own thing and see where it goes from there.

My first GTA:Online character:

With the Change Appearance glitch, here's the first draft of The Cougar:

The outfit is planned out:

Going in public is always fun:

The expressions play a huge part of who that character is:

The Cougarmobile is her vehicle of choice and completes her persona:

Outfit used during the San Andreas Elections:

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LCD Soundsystem - call the police

 

 

 

 

Marking the band's official return after 2010's This Is Happening (although releasing a song in Christmas of 2015), and even going through an actual breakup and "final" show at New York City's Madison Square Garden in 2011, "Call The Police" was released alongside another single, "American Dream" as the first preview of LCD's upcoming comeback album. Both tracks previously debuted during one of their shows at Brooklyn Steel.

 

 

Album: TBA

 

 

Genre: Dance-punk

 

 

Release Date: May 5, 2017

 

 

Label: Columbia

 

 

Writer(s): James Murphy

 

 

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- Editor & Publisher, Topics/Snaps of the Week

 

 

- GTAForums News, Blast from the Past

 

 

@Spider-Vice - Rockstar Central

 

 

@Testarossa - Track of the Week

 

 

@unbid - Interviewer

 

 

@slohbur - Graphics Assistant

 

 

[Murciélago]

OwO

[Xayah]

Pretty good.

[livejoker]

Another awesome issue!

I've been hooked to these since unbid told me about them. I had no clue this was a thing. I get all my news from these now and helps me figure out what's worth checking out from current threads, RDR2 and blast from the past. Just such an amazing arrangement of info and formatted into a perfect orchestra. Keep doing it like this! Hope anyone here liked my interview! If not feel free to PM me pictures of a tomato being thrown.

Edited May 6, 2017 by livejoker

[Matrelith]

I didn't know my snaps were popular enough to end up here, nice.

Good read all in all.