171

[The Artist]

1 hour ago, Ivan1997GTA said:

The game is kind of like the Brazilian equivalent to GTA San Andreas and the original Saints Row, with the former in terms of how you take over gang territories and the latter with a separate wanted system for the police and gangs.

 

I can't wait to see how the game will turn out once it exits early access.

I like that it's similar to San Andreas. SA gang atmosphere was great and if they can replicate that it would be epic. Add stuff like spraying gang tags, recruiting gang members, respect system, etc.

Edited November 21, 2022 by The Artist

[DexMacLeod]

I played it very briefly. From what I could tell there's no controller support and I haven't played a game with mouse and keyboard in at least 2 decades so it didn't go well for me, lol. From what I could tell it seemed like the driving was pretty decent, though. When I wasn't crashing into things, that is.

 

I spent most of my time just sort of walking around and even at that slow pace there was a ton of pop-in, which I guess is to be expected. I liked the atmosphere, and the world design in general. All in all, from my limited perspective, I think there could be a pretty solid game here someday. Though I think that's very, very far away and I'm still keeping my expectation pretty low.

[universetwisters]

Is there anything to do in the game or is it just a sandbox? I saw some gameplay where it was like a pizza delivery minigame but that was about the extent of what I saw and I couldn’t find any comprehensive lists online

[DexMacLeod]

I never got deep enough to see any sort of activities. There were no real prompts of any kind even. Nothing pointing me in any specific direction. They just sort of start you off on a street, on foot, with $500 and you're sort of on your own to find things. 

[REVENGE777]

This game is far from perfect, but I think it’s a great foundation to start with. Obviously a lot of heart went into this. the people working on the project should be proud 

[The Artist]

14 hours ago, universetwisters said:

Is there anything to do in the game or is it just a sandbox? I saw some gameplay where it was like a pizza delivery minigame but that was about the extent of what I saw and I couldn’t find any comprehensive lists online

There are side missions like Taxi driver and delivering stuff. There's also something called 'Criminal Confront' which you trigger by shooting gang members. It is gang wars basically.

Edited November 22, 2022 by The Artist

[Need For Madness Auto]

 

Side By Side Comparison 

 

[Jason]

I realise that comparison was no doubt done without any malice but that genuinely might be the most unfair side by side video game comparison video I have ever seen lmao.

[BigBoyBertram]

I still have no idea why a very small Brazilian Indie Group decided to make a GTA like. I don't hate 171 or anything like that, but I also have no confidence in its future. 

[Jason]

Indies taking on genre and projects they have no right to take on is one of the best sources of innovation in the industry. Plus, development tools and tech has become much more accessible to indie developers over the years. It's not impossible at all for a small team to create an open world crime game. Will it have the scale and detail of a GTA? No, of course not, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible for them to do some cool stuff within the genre.

 

171 is rough in many areas but personally I'm hoping it's a game that proves there's potential in the genre at an indie level cause 1) I think there's genuinely potential for indie devs in the genre and 2) I want more open world crime games lol.

[BigBoyBertram]

11 hours ago, Jason said:

Indies taking on genre and projects they have no right to take on is one of the best sources of innovation in the industry.

Example? I am genuinely unknowledgeable on the specifics of this, at least with regards to something as massive as this in scope. I really do not think it gets much bigger than an open world action adventure/ RPG game in a modern, city based setting. Nevertheless, we have seen some terrific and innovative Indies over the years, from Celeste and Shovel Knight to Return of the Obra Dinner and Stardew Valley. 

 

11 hours ago, Jason said:

Will it have the scale and detail of a GTA? No, of course not, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible for them to do some cool stuff within the genre.

I definitely agree with you. An open world city crime game with the detail of a AAA developer, let alone Rockstar, is completely out of the question. Personally, I would never hold this game to that expectation. It is simply unfeasible. What I was looking for when it came to 171 was, as you allude to in your comment, interesting concepts, mechanics, or gimmicks. That was well within the realm of possibility. Thus far, with what I have seen of the title (I know it is a work in progress), nothing stands out whatsoever. The game comes across as simply attempting to mimic successful open world city games and brands (GTA, Mafia, Saints Row, Watch Dogs) with no real innovation to speak of at all. As a small team from a nation that really does not have a big footprint in the game development community (I really hope it can blossom in Brazil), I would have rather seen a smaller project in scope that harnesses in upon unique aspects to their design, whether it be traversal, combat, puzzles, or even racing, to name a few possibilities. Hell, make it a smaller linear game, strictly for their first attempt. Starting with such a MASSIVE concept was a risky proposition, and I do not think it will pay off in my opinion. I would love to be wrong, but I just do not see it right now. 

 

It should also be noted that there has been negative talk about this game within the Brazilian GTA/Modding community, essentially accusing the game of being a lazy asset flip/reusal. A large component of the criticism is that the dev teams sought extensive funding/donations for pricey mechanics, and then proceeded to purchase cheap and already completed assets and systems. The accusatory post seems incredibly detailed and authentic, but I am not qualified to make a judgement. 

 

https://www.mixmods.com.br/2020/05/jogo-171-ainda-nao-era-o-bastante/

Edited December 6, 2022 by BigBoyBertram

[Jason]

34 minutes ago, BigBoyBertram said:

Example? I am genuinely unknowledgeable on the specifics of this, at least with regards to something as massive as this in scope. I really do not think it gets much bigger than an open world action adventure/ RPG game in a modern, city based setting. Nevertheless, we have seen some terrific and innovative Indies over the years, from Celeste and Shovel Knight to Return of the Obra Dinner and Stardew Valley. 

 

The vast majority of the AAA industry today is where it is because of indies pushing above their weight in genres dominated by massive franchises and developers. Indies are where almost all innovation in the industry comes from, said innovations are then adopted by the AAA industry in the years later.

 

The battle royale genre was spawned by a single modder, hero shooters from mods, MOBA genre from mods, massively popular spins off like Teamfight Tactics spawned from mods. The next big shooting genre looks likely to be the "extraction shooter" genre, which is huge on PC right now through various games, with console just seemingly waiting for it's Fortnite moment where someone puts out a game that works and plays well on console in the genre. In recent years we've seen a CRPG renaissance from indie devs that has led to a load of new interest in that genre and it's no coincidence we're now seeing AAA RPG's like Starfield return to a deeper RPG experience in terms of character creation and stats because those CRPG's have giving AAA devs the confidence back that it won't alienate or confuse players anymore (which was always dumb thinking but hey). The Games Pass model allows AAA devs to tackle more niche genres, but it's arguable something like Pentiment would never have been given the greenlight were it not for Disco Elysium, for example.

 

I'm not going to dispute that an urban open world game is an easy feat for an indie dev, it's not, but I don't think it's impossible either for something good to be made in the genre either and indie devs punching above their weight can, and has, resulted in innovation and success. It shouldn't be discouraged or doomsayed, it should be encouraged. 171 might not turn out all that but if 171's legacy will be that no other indie dev tries a game in that genre for years because of how dismissive fans were of the game then that'd genuinely be one of the biggest shames in the industry in a while. Urban open world games (crime or not) are one so many of us want more of, indies having the confidence to tackle the genre can only be a good thing.

 

And seriously, one of the biggest hurdles traditionally (other than asset creation) was the tech. Now the tech to do big open worlds is out there and accessible for indie devs, like UE5. Asset creation is still a crux which is why we obviously wouldn't see anything on huge scale w/o some serious copy and paste, but long term there is work going on to make even that easier and easier.