100% completion possible with wanted star evasion rate intact?

[Carbonox]

Years ago, I made a guide / observational post about an intact wanted star evasion rate in VCS, which I was nearly able to pull off save for 4 stars. In the same thread, user @TRL_ERAZER had his own observations to make about SA in particular, though that was his only post so far, but it feels relevant now that I'm on a special vehicle hunt playthrough for this game, also aiming for completion of many non-100% things, but the primary focus is on getting to 100% all the same.

 

Wanted star evasion works a bit differently in this one, as I've noticed. Bribes aren't your friends if you want to attain an intact stat, as they're counted separately - sure you could just add up the evaded number and "bribes collected" number, but just not collecting them is preferable to me. Not that that's even the biggest hurdle. Other than that, Pay 'n Sprays, clothes changes and natural wanted level decay (for the most part) do count, so that's what we're rolling with.

 

I got through all of LS without trouble. I used a variation of Erazer's method for The Green Sabre - leaving about 2 Ballas alive and clearing out the stars at the Temple Pay 'n Spray. The Grove boys hadn't finished off a single one by the time I got back.

 

In the countryside, Are You Going to San Fierro? appears to pose another issue, but that's for later, and he had a method for that too. In Against All Odds, the 4 stars sometimes decay down to 3 before getting to the Pay 'n Spray, but without counting in your favor, so I ran over some cops at the start of the chase to keep them sufficiently pissed off. In Small Town Bank, if you want the wanted level cleared properly, you're not in luck because the whole countryside became deserted, sadly. I think you can enter a safehouse and change clothes without anything happening to Catalina, but what I did was drive all the way to Los Santos before finally finding some parked civilian cars that were able to be resprayed, completing that mission "cleanly" too.

 

And then, there's Trucking.

 

Ho boy. Gotta love those illegal goods levels, where the wanted level is permanent, sometimes resets itself to further f*ck with your stats (maybe shoot at the cop cars a bit to keep that from happening?) and Pay 'n Sprays don't work, though if you do use one, the stars still count as evaded despite coming back instantly, you just get a new 3 to worry about right away. Finish the mission normally, and the cops scatter, but don't count. Use a tow truck to get the cargo to the destination? Nope, even though it's possible to keep one around if it's parked far enough away from the depot to not be cleared, it won't actually tow the big rig. Not tried a Tractor yet, but considering it seems to be "tow-proof" on purpose, I doubt it. Besides, a Tractor towing a Tanker tends to be a good way to be sent flying at ludicrous speed.

 

Pushing the whole thing to the end? Doubt it, it seems too heavy to the point of being immobile. If you get in the truck cab at any point, you're basically toast as from that point on, a 60 second timer is in place whenever you get out. It seems the truck cab does move around if pushed from the sides, but it's the trailer that's basically glued to the ground at the start. Clothes change? Hard to see it working when, again, the stars come back faster than you can say "f*ck" once you're back in.

 

Advice will be appreciated. Down below, miscellaneous rambling about other stats.

 

Spoiler

Other stats I find myself caring about are pretty easy to look after, in comparison. Mission attempts / missions passed is f*cked anyways due to stuff like cutscene missions, the aforementioned Trucking and Chiliad Challenges making its management impossible. Couple that with the large amount of garage space at your disposal, and it's easy to say "f*ck it, I'll just collect every vehicle I can and let that stat choke". Having no recruited gang members killed was mainly an issue in House Party, but even there killing the Ballas quickly enough prevented that, and in Los Sepulcros they all stayed back and away from the action at my command. I imagine Los Desperados will be the same. Thankfully, 0 friendly gang members killed is likewise an easy-looking goal, since the Seville boys from Sweet's Girl don't count, nor do the scripted deaths in Reuniting the Families. In that mission, I could even shoot down the chopper outside the motel (to advance my weapon skill), have it fall square on top of any survivors, and still get away with 0 friendly kills. Lastly there's accuracy, but it can be always abused to get to 100% + 1 successful hit (but no further) by doing a drive-by.

 

EDIT: JESUS F. CHRIST, IT IS POSSIBLE.

 

No, you can't use a Tractor either. No, the combination is too heavy to be pushed all the way. But you don't need to.

 

First, jack-knife the trailer without entering the cab - done by pushing the cab sideways until they get separated. Now, get your own Tanker, Linerunner or Roadtrain (the roads are deserted, but I think you can still use a spawn point for them, or a stored one in a garage), drive back to RS Haul, connect to the trailer, and drive it wherever it needs to go. You actually DON'T need an accurate location, at least in my subjective experience.

 

Drive back once more and start pushing the truck cab. It's amazingly responsive to being pushed by something of its own weight class. Just don't get either of the vehicles too damaged, as they do explode from being knocked into immovable structures too often. Make sure you remember where you left the trailer, and push all the way there.

 

Once the two are reunited, you CAN reconnect them without getting in the mission-important truck cab (you'll hear the distinctive plop when this happens) but I'm not sure if it's a mandatory step. Bottom line is, once I got in the mission truck now, for the first time, the cops weren't alerted at all, and I was able to drive it where it needed to go, resistance-free. Most importantly, no stars attained, no stars evaded. Perfect stat remains in place.

 

Now I'm just wondering if you need to go the whole distance for this to be possible. I actually went to the wrong destination at first (the idea was to have the tanker and trailer connected at a point where the mission's end point would be) and still made it, having to only drive a few blocks. Could even be possible to cover much less distance than that and still get no wanted level - this certainly would help with the 8th mission, since getting to LVA Freight Depot in one piece like this is a totally different ask.

 

But at least in theory, that should take care of Trucking! I think there were some ramblings about Toreno's Last Flight too, but I'll worry about it once I get there.

 

UPDATE 2: No need to push across the whole city after all. On a second test run, I reconnected the tanker and trailer at Santa Maria Beach, far from the Eastern LS destinations. No cops whatsoever. I think you just need to be far enough from RS Haul to prevent the initial permanent wanted level from applying.

 

UPDATE 3: Or even all the way to Los Santos. Just past the gas station, or at Flint Intersection, seems to be enough, which is also perfect for levels 6 and 8, minimizing the detour.

 

UPDATE 4: While it is possible to get in the mission rig once both it and the trailer are far enough away and only reconnect the trailer then, this is not recommended. The cops won't come, but a permanent yellow marker will get added to the destination at the end, which is something I'd like to not have. Shades of GTA 3 and the "Taxi mission in any vehicle" trick, which could also trigger that.

Edited February 10 by Carbonox

[OrionSR]

On 2/9/2023 at 10:12 AM, Carbonox said:

IT IS POSSIBLE

Awesome exploit. Judging from the script, it looks like you avoided Leaving the Depot by pushing the trailer more than 40.0 meters away. After that, it shouldn't matter where the cab is located.

 

Can you avoid the added blip by exiting the cab before reaching the destination? Note that GTASnP.com has a tool that can remove stray blips. (I understand that players working to optimize this stat probably won't want to edit their save.)

[Carbonox]

3 hours ago, OrionSR said:

Awesome exploit. Judging from the script, it looks like you avoided Leaving the Depot by pushing the trailer more than 40.0 meters away. After that, it shouldn't matter where the cab is located.

 

Can you avoid the added blip by exiting the cab before reaching the destination? Note that GTASnP.com has a tool that can remove stray blips. (I understand that players working to optimize this stat probably won't want to edit their save.)

I think it might've showed up on a run where I got out of the cab midway through to collect a weapon pickup. However, there's one other thing I tested sorta involuntarily - if you lose the trailer and need to re-attach it, that won't trigger the extra blip, or a wanted level for that matter.

[OrionSR]

Mission Duping (Om0 exploit) is a common cause of stray blips. Basically, if a phone call comes in at the same time a mission is started then the phone script will end and turn off the On Mission flag, allowing the mission to be restarted while the first instance is still active. This quirk has been refined into a wedge for some pretty cool game exploits. Trucking is a particularly easy place to trigger Om0. So... You'll want to rule out Om0 as a cause of the stray blip. Phone calls usually trigger at a specific time of day (girlfriends) or, iirc, after a specific interval when exiting a vehicle or interior. But in general, Om0 is a pretty rare glitch unless intentionally triggered.

 

As far as I know, this is a new exploit. Would you like some time to work out the bugs or should I ask my stray blip expert what he knows about this mission? This seems like the sort of exploit that speed runners would enjoy. I could ask around if this is already known before you spend too much time reinventing the process.

[Carbonox]

Not an expert on OM0, but no phone calls were coming in on this save, so unless there's other ways to trigger that, it would have to be something else.

 

Any other variables to explore? I know I haven't yet driven back past the RS Haul depot, which may or may not trigger the wanted stars again, but that's got more to do with the evasion rate stat than the stray blips, anyway. Also I should probably try a clothes change in a safehouse while getting the cops on my case like normal, just to confirm if it works or not since it would considerably speed up the mission.

[OrionSR]

The specific requirements for Leaving the Depot are;

• The Trailer is within a radius of 40m of the depot AND
• The Cab is not within a radius of 20m of the depot

So, I'm expecting that the traffic and wanted level to be triggered if you drive back past the depot.

 

Note there is a 100m clear area radius when the mission starts.

(And sometimes what's described as a radius is actually a diameter.)

 

I've been reading through the Trucking mission as described by the UndefinifiedGrove project, but still can't see how the destination blip is getting unhinged from the mission, or duplicated. The destination blip should always be removed when the mission ends. I'm expecting the destination blip to be removed when the player isn't in the cab or the trailer is unhooked. Are you seeing something different? (It's been a while, I'm fuzzy on the details of what should happen.)

[OrionSR]

Updates: I got some feedback from some experts, and no one seems to be aware of the No Wanted Level exploit for Trucking. The stray destination blip is a known glitch from mission duping, but that is unlikely to be a consistent issue unless Om0 is your goal. Finally, there are generic strategies for avoiding stray blips that involve flooding the radar pool with blips attached to pickups which can later be collected to make their blips go away. I'm not sure of the details, but it sounds like an if all else fails sort of strategy.

 

Re-reading your notes:

 

On 2/11/2023 at 3:16 PM, Carbonox said:

Also I should probably try a clothes change in a safehouse while getting the cops on my case like normal, just to confirm if it works or not since it would considerably speed up the mission.

Changing clothes will probably clear the wanted level, but I expect the stars to immediately return, like your test of the PnS. 

 

On 2/11/2023 at 5:22 AM, Carbonox said:

However, there's one other thing I tested sorta involuntarily - if you lose the trailer and need to re-attach it, that won't trigger the extra blip, or a wanted level for that matter.

So,... You did find a way to avoid the stray blip? Do you have a suggested strategy for this exploit? Given your testing and updates, the procedure isn't exactly clear.

[Carbonox]

7 hours ago, OrionSR said:

So,... You did find a way to avoid the stray blip? Do you have a suggested strategy for this exploit? Given your testing and updates, the procedure isn't exactly clear.

Not really, just that it only persists if you get in the mission rig too early or leave it mid-mission, but that disconnecting the trailer at any point is considered safe.

[Carbonox]

I'm surprised Mike Toreno wasn't mentioned in the other thread, btw. (The mission, that is - gah, don't you love how SA names a dozen missions or so after the characters?) It has some problems, but isn't as much of a bitch as Trucking by any means.

 

What normally happens: You shoot the Da Nang Boys, gaining 1 or 2 stars in the process, then destroy the van to re-affirm a 2 star wanted level. (It's immune to T-Bone and Mike's bullets, so one way or another, you have to be the one to deal the final blow.) You get in the Stretch with the boys, and the 2 stars drop down to 1 at a certain point, seemingly by a script. You then get 3 stars as you exit the airport, and while those are normally lost in a Pay 'n Spray, as the mission mandates, the one lost with a script back at the tarmac isn't counted.

 

Solution: Regardless of if you get 1 or 2 stars from the shootout, you can use the Stretch to push the van over the tarmac's edge and into the water, proceeding to the next objective without a scripted wanted level. Even better, despite me having 2 stars at this point (blew up a Freeway's fuel tank, I believe), 1 of them wasn't taken away automatically this time, and the addition of 3 stars at the later point didn't create a discrepancy.

 

A side effect may be that T-Bone and Mike will shoot your tires out while still trying to (futilely) destroy the van, but what would you rather have, popped tires for a short while or botched stats for the rest of the game?

 

EDIT: I now see why Toreno's Last Flight is also a bitch. It's the taking down of the helicopter itself that triggers a wanted level that's then immediately lost. Probably need to find a different way, since even shooting it down with bullets doesn't stop that from happening.

 

EDIT2: I don't wanna get cocky or anything, but... who's the man?

 

In said mission, you need heat-seeking rockets to be safe. In the cop station, don't shoot at anyone, or you'll attract the law, and don't pick up the normal RPG obviously. Once he takes off, run to the FCR provided kindly by the game and make a beeline to the highway ramp, and then off from it into the Doherty Pay 'n Spray. Park the bike about as close as it can be to the spray shop's entrance and wait for the chopper to pass - it won't be marked on the radar because of the stupid RPG, so you'll have to make do with sound-based detection. Once it appears, lock on, fire (maybe twice to be safe - that's what I did, anyway), hop back on the bike and enter the spray shop like your ass is on fire. If done correctly, you'll hear the impact somewhere behind you, the game gives you 2 stars (I think it would be 3 if you were closer) just as the door closes, and the spraying will be finished a fraction of a second before the Mission Passed screen, at which point the stars will stay flashing for a normal amount of time, and count in your favor once you're done. You'll also probably get a duplicate spray job before you can leave the garage, but IIRC that one's free anyway.

 

My other theory was that you could shoot him down to grievous health with a sniper rifle while tailing him with a Maverick of your own, then crashing into him repeatedly until he falls technically without being shot down, but only managed to wreck my own chopper while seemingly doing no dent to his health that way.

 

Also a note about oysters. If you stray into restricted areas, the game loves to reset your fixed wanted level at times, probably because you're not causing enough trouble to "organically" warrant the stars. This is especially a problem with the Naval Base oysters, so the best thing you can do is grab them at a time when wanted levels are fully disabled. Amphibious Assault (once you've got in the water), The Da Nang Thang and Outrider (after you reach the van) are all solid contenders.

Edited February 22 by Carbonox