Technology GTA 4 Thread
- Thread starter PaulyPac
- Start date
Games Aktuell GTA 4 preview, including multiplayer
1. Details
* If you Nico Bellic just not moving, then it only scratches on the head, then on the arm - and finally in step.
* Going pedestrians on the clusters, blood stains remain on the hood.
* At various points swab cleaning the ground forces.
* A beer in Liberty City called Piss Water
* Taxi novel means Bellic Novel Enterprises
* The soundtrack will be announced shortly
* The Soundabmischung is optimized for surround-there are many bi-directional effects.
* Police, taxis, ambulances and Co. can be easily by mobile phone.
* About normal fences Can Nikolaos drüber climbing over barbed wire fences.
* Resting her with a high speed into a wall, through the cracks Nikolaos Winschutzscheibe
* If you car drunk f # hr, and then fluctuates blurred the picture.
* On the Brooklyn Bridge, a toll in the amount of five dollars. One seat for the ride in a police car, one saves money.
* Are you the taxi driver a bonus, he expresses more on the Tube
* There is nearly no difference in graphichs between singeplayer (story mode) and multiplayer
* The feeling in Liberty City is very special
* When you kill pedestrians, blood remains on the hood.
* Niko's cellphone is the popular Sony Ericsson W800i
* In some missions, you can use the police radio
* If you leave your game for some time,animation will start up with Niko scratching his head,arm and then his foot
* If you run over a ped his blood will stay on the car
* If you crack into the wall,the windshield will be broken
* Airport is Francis International Airport like in GTA 3
2.The multiplayer mode
Two out of a total of seven modes implemented, we have already played: Death Match and mafia Work. The other Modie Rockstar Games will soon unveil. All are either man against man as well as team against his team played, with up to eight teams and a maximum of 16 players are allowed per ticket. We would be happy to Nikolaos as Roma or Brucie into Deathmatch. As a character was just us but an unknown type, in which we look at something or gender could rasp-that's it. Of course, in the final game's a lot more people and clothes. In our sample game was the map on the left bottom edge of the picture with all kinds of (optional abschaltbaren) tipped symbols. We saw where the next rocket launcher or the next Uzi, can packs and Health Protection west Locate course, and see where team members and opponents right now. Impressive, that Liberty City in multiplayer mode none of its fascination loses. The city is almost the same as in the revitalized Story mode, and also graphically, there is no difference. However, when we Deathmatch the slightly sluggish Steurerung negative than even earlier in the story mode. Here, rock star with the realistic approach to our Geschamck exaggerated. No matter: fun, we had the game anyway, lawn and camping.
2.1Mafia-machinations
Even more varied was our "Mafia Work". Here, each player and each team via cell phone while the same job. Who does this first, gets the coal. There is, for a missions with multiple target objects, if we, for example, a certain car brand steal. And there are orders, in which all players on the same target fall. Once we should, for example, a cop raffgierigen to eliminate most possible unauffälige kind. So we immediately to the marked destination dashed to the unsuspecting policemen there with you. The eingentlich thought he would get a further bribes .... While we are looking for a bridge, we try our pursuers with a few maneuvers to deception. The succeeds, and we discover a random ramp placed on the bridge. With start-up race we drüber and then jump out of the car. During our time out of the car to free themselves, the Cop in the car under. On most missions, it makes sense, all Teammitgleider to load into the car. Thus, the destination of a quickly jump out and cling to the goods, while the other with the engine running in the car waiting, and then immediately davonrasen can before the passenger even close his door again. Time is money in GTA IV Thanks attitude of many opportunities you can match a multi-player ideally suited to your needs. So it allowed the police, transport, or passers-Friendly Fire on or off, the time of day and the weather and select the arms supply. Friends of the manicured gloating must specify that it is not only with the team members maintained, but that anyone with any talk. And of course, one need not necessarily on the entire map.
1. Details
* If you Nico Bellic just not moving, then it only scratches on the head, then on the arm - and finally in step.
* Going pedestrians on the clusters, blood stains remain on the hood.
* At various points swab cleaning the ground forces.
* A beer in Liberty City called Piss Water
* Taxi novel means Bellic Novel Enterprises
* The soundtrack will be announced shortly
* The Soundabmischung is optimized for surround-there are many bi-directional effects.
* Police, taxis, ambulances and Co. can be easily by mobile phone.
* About normal fences Can Nikolaos drüber climbing over barbed wire fences.
* Resting her with a high speed into a wall, through the cracks Nikolaos Winschutzscheibe
* If you car drunk f # hr, and then fluctuates blurred the picture.
* On the Brooklyn Bridge, a toll in the amount of five dollars. One seat for the ride in a police car, one saves money.
* Are you the taxi driver a bonus, he expresses more on the Tube
* There is nearly no difference in graphichs between singeplayer (story mode) and multiplayer
* The feeling in Liberty City is very special
* When you kill pedestrians, blood remains on the hood.
* Niko's cellphone is the popular Sony Ericsson W800i
* In some missions, you can use the police radio
* If you leave your game for some time,animation will start up with Niko scratching his head,arm and then his foot
* If you run over a ped his blood will stay on the car
* If you crack into the wall,the windshield will be broken
* Airport is Francis International Airport like in GTA 3
2.The multiplayer mode
Two out of a total of seven modes implemented, we have already played: Death Match and mafia Work. The other Modie Rockstar Games will soon unveil. All are either man against man as well as team against his team played, with up to eight teams and a maximum of 16 players are allowed per ticket. We would be happy to Nikolaos as Roma or Brucie into Deathmatch. As a character was just us but an unknown type, in which we look at something or gender could rasp-that's it. Of course, in the final game's a lot more people and clothes. In our sample game was the map on the left bottom edge of the picture with all kinds of (optional abschaltbaren) tipped symbols. We saw where the next rocket launcher or the next Uzi, can packs and Health Protection west Locate course, and see where team members and opponents right now. Impressive, that Liberty City in multiplayer mode none of its fascination loses. The city is almost the same as in the revitalized Story mode, and also graphically, there is no difference. However, when we Deathmatch the slightly sluggish Steurerung negative than even earlier in the story mode. Here, rock star with the realistic approach to our Geschamck exaggerated. No matter: fun, we had the game anyway, lawn and camping.
2.1Mafia-machinations
Even more varied was our "Mafia Work". Here, each player and each team via cell phone while the same job. Who does this first, gets the coal. There is, for a missions with multiple target objects, if we, for example, a certain car brand steal. And there are orders, in which all players on the same target fall. Once we should, for example, a cop raffgierigen to eliminate most possible unauffälige kind. So we immediately to the marked destination dashed to the unsuspecting policemen there with you. The eingentlich thought he would get a further bribes .... While we are looking for a bridge, we try our pursuers with a few maneuvers to deception. The succeeds, and we discover a random ramp placed on the bridge. With start-up race we drüber and then jump out of the car. During our time out of the car to free themselves, the Cop in the car under. On most missions, it makes sense, all Teammitgleider to load into the car. Thus, the destination of a quickly jump out and cling to the goods, while the other with the engine running in the car waiting, and then immediately davonrasen can before the passenger even close his door again. Time is money in GTA IV Thanks attitude of many opportunities you can match a multi-player ideally suited to your needs. So it allowed the police, transport, or passers-Friendly Fire on or off, the time of day and the weather and select the arms supply. Friends of the manicured gloating must specify that it is not only with the team members maintained, but that anyone with any talk. And of course, one need not necessarily on the entire map.
Play magazine has an article about GTA IV multiplayer and it's shaping up to be incredible. I'll say right now that it specifically describes Free Mode as "the WHOLE of Liberty City is at your mercy. Go anywhere, do anything - like the single player game - but you're playing with your mates. It doesn't get any better than this"
Now the hands on descriptions of 3 of the multiplayer modes:
Gametype: Team Deathmatch
Location: Colony Island
Players: 8 (in two teams)
The game options have been set so that everyone starts with RPGs. This is going to be...explosive.
I spawn in a graveyard and quickly hunt down some armour - might be a good idea. I pick up the armour and... what do we have here? I stumble into an old granny pedestrian - she screams and runs off saying, "I'm gonna get myself a gun!" Too late, grandma, I think, as I unload the RPG at her feet. She flies off high into the air as I get back to thinking about the game. Right next to me is a fire ecape that should give me access to a roof and a vantage point where I can rain down hell onto my opponents.
I quickly run up the steps, reach the roof and look down onto the streets below. Carnage. All I can see is a crisscross of smoke trails from RPG fire. And lots and lots of massive explosions. I take aim and join in the melee.
Eventually someone twigs to my tactics and ends my fun with a rocket to the face. Maybe that's karma for poor old granny. Anyway, I'm back in the game now and on street level trying to take cover from the urban warzone that we've created. Firing blind from behind a car, I take out two but then realise that a car isn't the best place to hide. especially when it has a tank full of petrol. Boom, and so on.
I restart again and decide that I should keep moving to avoid the swarms of incoming ordinance. Seems like everyone else has the same idea and chaos ensues as smoke and explosions make it near impossible to tell friend from foe. I rack up a few more kills and a few more deaths and then the game comes to a close - I don't even recall who won. I'm just kind of relieved that I can blink again...
Gametype: Cops N Crooks
Location: Broker
Players: 8 (in two teams)
As luck would have it, the game randomly selects me as the boss. There's something kind of comforting to know that the guys on your team are there to protect you. But anyway, we head off together to find some wheels and get to the escape point some distance away. This happens to be a speedboat tied up at Broker's docks - just to get to the speedboat and the match will be won.
We're still on foot when we first hear the sound of a police siren wailing some way off in the distance. Actual fear grips me - this isn't any AI-controlled arm of the LCPD; it's the other team... and they're hunting me! With no wheels of any description close by, and the siren getting louder by the second, I make the decision to head up the grassy verge and take cover. Just in time, as my bodyguards open up with their Uzis on the top car. They kill two and we retreat up the verge. Bingo! There's a car park at the top and we finally manage to find some transport. Three of us get in what looks like a family saloon while one guy stays behind to buy us some time. Respect for that.
Now we're tearing through the streets of Liberty City, looking over our shoulders for any sign of flashing lights. In spite of my nervousness, the journey passes without any other incident. Until we get to the escape point. The driver has made a mistake and instead of us taking the road down to the waterfront, we find ourselves halfway across the Broker Bridge, the speedboat some 100 feet below us. And the cops turn up and block the only route to the speedboat, at the end of the bridge! My bodygaurds head for them guns blazing and I only have one option - jump off the bridge and hope the fall doesn't kill me. Luckily I land in the water right next to the boat, jump in and cruise off into the sunset, the sounds of gunfire fading into the distance behind me. Victory!
Gametype: Hangman's NOOSE
Location: Francis International Airport
Players: 4 (on one team)
A short cutscene introduces the mission - mafiya boss Petrovic(he's computer controleed in this game) lands at Francis International Airport on his private jet. Suddenly an army of NOOSE troops turn up in armoured trucks and helicopters and they're here to get Petrovic. The objective is simple: protect Petrovic and get him to a safe point on the map, in this case a baseball field.
Quickly we take cover behind baggage crates and start taking out NOOSE. This is no easy feat as they can do everything that we can do and are just as adept at using GTA IV's cover system as we are. I decide to change my tactics. I quickly make a break through the NOOSE lines, steal an armoured truck and use it to mow them down. This is more like it! More NOOSE show up and I've become something of a bullet magnet, but the armoured vehicle is tough enough that the bullets have litte effect.
Suddenly Petrovic calls for transport and I oblige. I pick him up leaving my team-mates to occupy NOOSE, and start driving towards the safe point, dodging baggage crates, planes, and NOOSE bullets as I try to make my escape. As I race towards my goal a massive jumbo jet tries to take off from the airport, not 20 yards from my truck. Now this is intense.
I reach the end of the airport and spy a fleet of army helicopters. Well, why not, I think. Petrovic follows me as I climb aboard the Black Hawk-like chopper and the rotors spin into life. I want to take off but now I have a dilemma. Not only do I feel bad about leaving my guys behind, it's also a part of the mission objective that you must all make it to the safe point to win. But the longer I remain on the ground, the closer the pursuing NOOSE are getting to me and Petrovi. I decide on a compromise - take off, go back to the fight and pick up my buddies.
The battle is still in full flow and I can see a blaze of gunfire, and piles of dead bodies. And then, as I'm circling the melee below, I see the funniest thing I've ever seen in a videogame. One of our team is tearing round the runway on a baggage trolley, mowing down NOOSE members. Yes! Now, this is what GTA multiplayer should be about!
It's too hot to land and so I opt to leave, hoping that my team can make they're own way to the safe point. I head towards the baseball field at maximum speed as NOOSE helicopters pursue me. They're not too wuick and seam to be preoccupied with the battle with my other team members - whether through luck or judgement, it looks like my tactics worked and I make it to the baseball field with no more sightings of NOOSE. Twenty seconds later the rest of the team turns up in helicopters and we've won!
Now the hands on descriptions of 3 of the multiplayer modes:
Gametype: Team Deathmatch
Location: Colony Island
Players: 8 (in two teams)
The game options have been set so that everyone starts with RPGs. This is going to be...explosive.
I spawn in a graveyard and quickly hunt down some armour - might be a good idea. I pick up the armour and... what do we have here? I stumble into an old granny pedestrian - she screams and runs off saying, "I'm gonna get myself a gun!" Too late, grandma, I think, as I unload the RPG at her feet. She flies off high into the air as I get back to thinking about the game. Right next to me is a fire ecape that should give me access to a roof and a vantage point where I can rain down hell onto my opponents.
I quickly run up the steps, reach the roof and look down onto the streets below. Carnage. All I can see is a crisscross of smoke trails from RPG fire. And lots and lots of massive explosions. I take aim and join in the melee.
Eventually someone twigs to my tactics and ends my fun with a rocket to the face. Maybe that's karma for poor old granny. Anyway, I'm back in the game now and on street level trying to take cover from the urban warzone that we've created. Firing blind from behind a car, I take out two but then realise that a car isn't the best place to hide. especially when it has a tank full of petrol. Boom, and so on.
I restart again and decide that I should keep moving to avoid the swarms of incoming ordinance. Seems like everyone else has the same idea and chaos ensues as smoke and explosions make it near impossible to tell friend from foe. I rack up a few more kills and a few more deaths and then the game comes to a close - I don't even recall who won. I'm just kind of relieved that I can blink again...
Gametype: Cops N Crooks
Location: Broker
Players: 8 (in two teams)
As luck would have it, the game randomly selects me as the boss. There's something kind of comforting to know that the guys on your team are there to protect you. But anyway, we head off together to find some wheels and get to the escape point some distance away. This happens to be a speedboat tied up at Broker's docks - just to get to the speedboat and the match will be won.
We're still on foot when we first hear the sound of a police siren wailing some way off in the distance. Actual fear grips me - this isn't any AI-controlled arm of the LCPD; it's the other team... and they're hunting me! With no wheels of any description close by, and the siren getting louder by the second, I make the decision to head up the grassy verge and take cover. Just in time, as my bodyguards open up with their Uzis on the top car. They kill two and we retreat up the verge. Bingo! There's a car park at the top and we finally manage to find some transport. Three of us get in what looks like a family saloon while one guy stays behind to buy us some time. Respect for that.
Now we're tearing through the streets of Liberty City, looking over our shoulders for any sign of flashing lights. In spite of my nervousness, the journey passes without any other incident. Until we get to the escape point. The driver has made a mistake and instead of us taking the road down to the waterfront, we find ourselves halfway across the Broker Bridge, the speedboat some 100 feet below us. And the cops turn up and block the only route to the speedboat, at the end of the bridge! My bodygaurds head for them guns blazing and I only have one option - jump off the bridge and hope the fall doesn't kill me. Luckily I land in the water right next to the boat, jump in and cruise off into the sunset, the sounds of gunfire fading into the distance behind me. Victory!
Gametype: Hangman's NOOSE
Location: Francis International Airport
Players: 4 (on one team)
A short cutscene introduces the mission - mafiya boss Petrovic(he's computer controleed in this game) lands at Francis International Airport on his private jet. Suddenly an army of NOOSE troops turn up in armoured trucks and helicopters and they're here to get Petrovic. The objective is simple: protect Petrovic and get him to a safe point on the map, in this case a baseball field.
Quickly we take cover behind baggage crates and start taking out NOOSE. This is no easy feat as they can do everything that we can do and are just as adept at using GTA IV's cover system as we are. I decide to change my tactics. I quickly make a break through the NOOSE lines, steal an armoured truck and use it to mow them down. This is more like it! More NOOSE show up and I've become something of a bullet magnet, but the armoured vehicle is tough enough that the bullets have litte effect.
Suddenly Petrovic calls for transport and I oblige. I pick him up leaving my team-mates to occupy NOOSE, and start driving towards the safe point, dodging baggage crates, planes, and NOOSE bullets as I try to make my escape. As I race towards my goal a massive jumbo jet tries to take off from the airport, not 20 yards from my truck. Now this is intense.
I reach the end of the airport and spy a fleet of army helicopters. Well, why not, I think. Petrovic follows me as I climb aboard the Black Hawk-like chopper and the rotors spin into life. I want to take off but now I have a dilemma. Not only do I feel bad about leaving my guys behind, it's also a part of the mission objective that you must all make it to the safe point to win. But the longer I remain on the ground, the closer the pursuing NOOSE are getting to me and Petrovi. I decide on a compromise - take off, go back to the fight and pick up my buddies.
The battle is still in full flow and I can see a blaze of gunfire, and piles of dead bodies. And then, as I'm circling the melee below, I see the funniest thing I've ever seen in a videogame. One of our team is tearing round the runway on a baggage trolley, mowing down NOOSE members. Yes! Now, this is what GTA multiplayer should be about!
It's too hot to land and so I opt to leave, hoping that my team can make they're own way to the safe point. I head towards the baseball field at maximum speed as NOOSE helicopters pursue me. They're not too wuick and seam to be preoccupied with the battle with my other team members - whether through luck or judgement, it looks like my tactics worked and I make it to the baseball field with no more sightings of NOOSE. Twenty seconds later the rest of the team turns up in helicopters and we've won!
Green Lantern scores The Sountrack
Grand Theft Auto players will have a new soundtrack to make moves to, as the latest installment of the popular video game series will include a radio show featuring mixtape DJ Green Lantern.
The show is among the surprises found on the forthcoming Grand Theft Auto IV, which is set in "Liberty City," a fictional town that boasts a design based on New York and northern New Jersey.
According to Green Lantern, gamers can access the show when they steal a car and turn on the radio.
Unlike the game’s other stations that use licensed music, Green Lantern’s station will showcase original songs that he produced, specifically for Grand Theft Auto 4.
"There are many other stations in the game but they all consist of licensed music," Green Lantern told AllHiphop.com. "This is the first [time] they've had a fully budgeted show in the game. This is obviously a graduation for me as a DJ coming from making mixtapes, to radio, to producing original music for the biggest video game out," Green Lantern told AllHipHop.com.
GTA IV, which is produced by Rockstar Games, is the follow up to the popular Grand Theft Auto III, which was released in 2001.
The controversial game went on to become the best selling video game of that year, despite objections over violent and sexual content.
Last year New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg criticized the creators of the violent GTA series for using New York and New Jersey as a back drop for the game.
"It's despicable to glamorize violence in games like these, regardless of how far-fetched the setting may be," Kelly told reporters last year, while Bloomberg refused to "support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers."
As of September 2007, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold over 12 million units. DJ Green Lantern was honored to be a part of the game, despite the criticism.
"I am honored that Rockstar Games has given me the opportunity to step into the world of music supervision and I'd like to thank all those who've supported me and continue to ride with me. Go buy, the game, steal a car and listen to me while you tear s**t up."
Grand Theft Auto IV is due in stores on April 29.
Grand Theft Auto players will have a new soundtrack to make moves to, as the latest installment of the popular video game series will include a radio show featuring mixtape DJ Green Lantern.
The show is among the surprises found on the forthcoming Grand Theft Auto IV, which is set in "Liberty City," a fictional town that boasts a design based on New York and northern New Jersey.
According to Green Lantern, gamers can access the show when they steal a car and turn on the radio.
Unlike the game’s other stations that use licensed music, Green Lantern’s station will showcase original songs that he produced, specifically for Grand Theft Auto 4.
"There are many other stations in the game but they all consist of licensed music," Green Lantern told AllHiphop.com. "This is the first [time] they've had a fully budgeted show in the game. This is obviously a graduation for me as a DJ coming from making mixtapes, to radio, to producing original music for the biggest video game out," Green Lantern told AllHipHop.com.
GTA IV, which is produced by Rockstar Games, is the follow up to the popular Grand Theft Auto III, which was released in 2001.
The controversial game went on to become the best selling video game of that year, despite objections over violent and sexual content.
Last year New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg criticized the creators of the violent GTA series for using New York and New Jersey as a back drop for the game.
"It's despicable to glamorize violence in games like these, regardless of how far-fetched the setting may be," Kelly told reporters last year, while Bloomberg refused to "support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers."
As of September 2007, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold over 12 million units. DJ Green Lantern was honored to be a part of the game, despite the criticism.
"I am honored that Rockstar Games has given me the opportunity to step into the world of music supervision and I'd like to thank all those who've supported me and continue to ride with me. Go buy, the game, steal a car and listen to me while you tear s**t up."
Grand Theft Auto IV is due in stores on April 29.
And so the biggest GTA project to date hoves into view. Not the biggest in geographical terms, but certainly in every other respect. Rockstar embarked on it with a mixture of trepidation, determination and, as was to be expected by now, the desire to shake things up a bit.
"When we set out for this game it was, again, ‘Oh my god, following up San Andreas is a nightmare’," explains Houser. "A good nightmare, but a nightmare. And then with the new hardware it set a new kind of expectation: people are really going to expect something bloody cool and very progressive and very evolved from anything that’s gone before in a big way. So we had a lot of discussions about where to set it, but a more realistic Liberty City very quickly became the favourite option. For a lot of reasons, it just works – it works physically and it also works in terms of vibe. There are a lot of different energies going on here in a small area so you can get away with it – it won’t be weird, or forced, or phoney.
“When we were looking at the lead character we felt that a lot of the Italian American and traditional east coast gangster themes had been a little bit played out – a little bit hammered, actually…"
Houser isn’t referencing any other game by name, but we’re assuming he must have had at least a session or two with Saints Row (probably the most cynically derivative game of modern times, it should be said) in the process of reaching these conclusions, which have resulted in a vibe for GTA IV that, at least from the outset, feels markedly different.
"Whether or not we have reset it correctly, I can’t tell you that. I can tell you how I feel about these eastern European guys now. I’m as enamored with them as I ever have been with any of our characters, so I’ve done the job for myself, and that’s a good start. The more we dug about and researched, the more fascinating the eastern European situation became. You’ve got people who came here 15 years ago who may have been involved in very intense, terrifying conflicts in eastern Europe, and they’ve experienced the sort of post-communism meltdown that’s taken place. Some of these people have been in wars, and they all split – everyone went everywhere. I think these people are simply fascinating."
We begin talking about the reception of GTA IV to date, and how it has already built a reputation for representing a shift in mood for the series. Where are we headed here? "The audience is getting a little older – the guys who were playing GTA III are now seven years older. People who were ten when GTA III originally came out can now legitimately play it in this country, and a lot has happened in those seven years.
“The game has to become more and more thematically sophisticated and mature without losing its GTA-ness, and its edginess, and its humor, and its self-deprecation – all those things. And that’s why when the first trailers for GTA IV came out, people were like, ‘Oh my god, they’ve gone so serious’. Well, no, we haven’t. Yes, there’s a seriousness to it, but it’s still GTA, and I think this is one of the things that is very special about this game, and this applies to all the disciplines involved: everything feels like it’s moved on or moved up while still being very much part of the GTA series. So it doesn’t turn anyone off that loved all the fun stuff from before – it’s all still there. And it’s crazier than ever, in a way – the humor is madder than ever. It’s more full-on than ever, definitely."
But, we propose, the first trailer, which by definition lays down an overarching tone for the production, painted a dark picture of both the lead character, with his voiceover talking of the grubby events of his past, and also the game as a whole.
"The trailer was heavy, yes. It was, and I would say the game as a whole definitely is darker, but that’s because the resolution of the experience is greater. So if you think about playing GTA III or San Andreas in this resolution, we’d have to harden and toughen up the tone because the characters would look that much more real and the place would look that much more real. Everything would have that much more weight to it. It was like a natural evolution."
During a demo of the game we encounter two Italian American characters, and suddenly this new take on the GTA universe feels more like the old GTA, and somehow more comfortable. We’re used to Italian American characters thanks to years of flicks such as Goodfellas and Casino and the established romanticisation of the mafia lifestyle, and in this instance our brains are being lazy by latching on to what is familiar. We haven’t seen nearly so many films focusing on Eastern European gangsters, and that relative lack of reference points explains why the lead players in GTA IV’s world feel so new, and certainly more foreign than before. They key issue, perhaps, is that they’re authentic. How authentic? That’s something Houser fretted over when he went to see Eastern Promises, David Cronenberg’s 2007 movie focusing on the very type of gangster figures that feature in GTA IV.
"I was nervous about watching it, thinking that he was really going to hand us our heads on a plate in term of delivering the vibe. Cronenberg’s like the master of atmosphere. So I thought: this is going to be scary. And yes, he’s got some good Russian vibes in there, he’s definitely taken with the same things that we’re taken with – all the tattoos and the craziness, he’s definitely got. The only criticism I would give him – and he is one of my absolute favourite film makers; Dead Ringers is one of my absolute favourite films of all time – is that Viggo Mortensen is Danish American, or something like that; he sure as hell is not eastern European. He’s good, but he’s not eastern European. And the other main character is played by Vincent Cassel, who is a good actor, but he’s French. So the two lead Russians are not played by Russians, and they don’t sound Russian to me. Vincent sounds like a French bloke doing a Russian accent – I can hear the French in him. And when I came back to our game, Vlad and Faustin, the two heavyweight Russian guys in the game, are very real, very Russian, and very fu*king scary."
Despite the new setting, it’s tempting to look at GTA IV as the game Rockstar always intended the 3D interpretation of GTA to be, partly because its visual fidelity more closely matches the sources of inspiration that have driven the series to date.
"I think ultimately we wanted to really connect players with a true GTA experience, but one in which everything has been cranked up by the power the consoles now give us, so that we really re-engage them – that was the goal. So we focused on making everything have more weight, and more consequences, and more meaning. Like going from spraying a gun to having each squeeze of a trigger actually being something that you feel – that was something we were very focused on."
Physical issues underpin much of what is new about GTA IV, and serve to give life to its intricately modeled components. Engineers from NaturalMotion have been working on-site at Rockstar North for months at a time to stitch in the company’s Euphoria procedural animation technology, introducing a bespoke, heavily integrated solution, not something simply bought off the shelf. The results are truly transformative, and evident right from the moment you begin to move Niko around the gameworld, his body shape cambering as he moves left and right while running, his feet properly connecting with steps and other topographical features. It’s tech that drives the behavior of NPCs, too, and the result is something that does more justice to the ‘living, breathing world’ tag so frequently attached to the GTA series. This is a genuine evolutionary step, and Rockstar and NaturalMotion deserve enormous recognition in getting here.
"The animation, generally, I thought was one of the biggest things that had to jump forward," explains Houser, warming to a topic that is evidently something of an obsession. "Anything else was going to jump forward – you know, the artistry as a whole was going to be that much more beautiful – but animation is very difficult, a bit of a black art in some ways. It’s really difficult to get character out of these motions. It completely fascinates me, and intimidates me, too. I’ve been totally fascinated with the notion of procedural animation for years, as have a number of other people, and praying for it for a long time. The first time I saw Toby Gard and Galleon, the way it was animated was amazing. James Miller, who was his animation programmer, works with us in San Diego, and he’s brilliant. And all these different people, together with Sandy Roger who handles that side of things for GTA, came together and made it happen.
"When we set out for this game it was, again, ‘Oh my god, following up San Andreas is a nightmare’," explains Houser. "A good nightmare, but a nightmare. And then with the new hardware it set a new kind of expectation: people are really going to expect something bloody cool and very progressive and very evolved from anything that’s gone before in a big way. So we had a lot of discussions about where to set it, but a more realistic Liberty City very quickly became the favourite option. For a lot of reasons, it just works – it works physically and it also works in terms of vibe. There are a lot of different energies going on here in a small area so you can get away with it – it won’t be weird, or forced, or phoney.
“When we were looking at the lead character we felt that a lot of the Italian American and traditional east coast gangster themes had been a little bit played out – a little bit hammered, actually…"
Houser isn’t referencing any other game by name, but we’re assuming he must have had at least a session or two with Saints Row (probably the most cynically derivative game of modern times, it should be said) in the process of reaching these conclusions, which have resulted in a vibe for GTA IV that, at least from the outset, feels markedly different.
"Whether or not we have reset it correctly, I can’t tell you that. I can tell you how I feel about these eastern European guys now. I’m as enamored with them as I ever have been with any of our characters, so I’ve done the job for myself, and that’s a good start. The more we dug about and researched, the more fascinating the eastern European situation became. You’ve got people who came here 15 years ago who may have been involved in very intense, terrifying conflicts in eastern Europe, and they’ve experienced the sort of post-communism meltdown that’s taken place. Some of these people have been in wars, and they all split – everyone went everywhere. I think these people are simply fascinating."
We begin talking about the reception of GTA IV to date, and how it has already built a reputation for representing a shift in mood for the series. Where are we headed here? "The audience is getting a little older – the guys who were playing GTA III are now seven years older. People who were ten when GTA III originally came out can now legitimately play it in this country, and a lot has happened in those seven years.
“The game has to become more and more thematically sophisticated and mature without losing its GTA-ness, and its edginess, and its humor, and its self-deprecation – all those things. And that’s why when the first trailers for GTA IV came out, people were like, ‘Oh my god, they’ve gone so serious’. Well, no, we haven’t. Yes, there’s a seriousness to it, but it’s still GTA, and I think this is one of the things that is very special about this game, and this applies to all the disciplines involved: everything feels like it’s moved on or moved up while still being very much part of the GTA series. So it doesn’t turn anyone off that loved all the fun stuff from before – it’s all still there. And it’s crazier than ever, in a way – the humor is madder than ever. It’s more full-on than ever, definitely."
But, we propose, the first trailer, which by definition lays down an overarching tone for the production, painted a dark picture of both the lead character, with his voiceover talking of the grubby events of his past, and also the game as a whole.
"The trailer was heavy, yes. It was, and I would say the game as a whole definitely is darker, but that’s because the resolution of the experience is greater. So if you think about playing GTA III or San Andreas in this resolution, we’d have to harden and toughen up the tone because the characters would look that much more real and the place would look that much more real. Everything would have that much more weight to it. It was like a natural evolution."
During a demo of the game we encounter two Italian American characters, and suddenly this new take on the GTA universe feels more like the old GTA, and somehow more comfortable. We’re used to Italian American characters thanks to years of flicks such as Goodfellas and Casino and the established romanticisation of the mafia lifestyle, and in this instance our brains are being lazy by latching on to what is familiar. We haven’t seen nearly so many films focusing on Eastern European gangsters, and that relative lack of reference points explains why the lead players in GTA IV’s world feel so new, and certainly more foreign than before. They key issue, perhaps, is that they’re authentic. How authentic? That’s something Houser fretted over when he went to see Eastern Promises, David Cronenberg’s 2007 movie focusing on the very type of gangster figures that feature in GTA IV.
"I was nervous about watching it, thinking that he was really going to hand us our heads on a plate in term of delivering the vibe. Cronenberg’s like the master of atmosphere. So I thought: this is going to be scary. And yes, he’s got some good Russian vibes in there, he’s definitely taken with the same things that we’re taken with – all the tattoos and the craziness, he’s definitely got. The only criticism I would give him – and he is one of my absolute favourite film makers; Dead Ringers is one of my absolute favourite films of all time – is that Viggo Mortensen is Danish American, or something like that; he sure as hell is not eastern European. He’s good, but he’s not eastern European. And the other main character is played by Vincent Cassel, who is a good actor, but he’s French. So the two lead Russians are not played by Russians, and they don’t sound Russian to me. Vincent sounds like a French bloke doing a Russian accent – I can hear the French in him. And when I came back to our game, Vlad and Faustin, the two heavyweight Russian guys in the game, are very real, very Russian, and very fu*king scary."
Despite the new setting, it’s tempting to look at GTA IV as the game Rockstar always intended the 3D interpretation of GTA to be, partly because its visual fidelity more closely matches the sources of inspiration that have driven the series to date.
"I think ultimately we wanted to really connect players with a true GTA experience, but one in which everything has been cranked up by the power the consoles now give us, so that we really re-engage them – that was the goal. So we focused on making everything have more weight, and more consequences, and more meaning. Like going from spraying a gun to having each squeeze of a trigger actually being something that you feel – that was something we were very focused on."
Physical issues underpin much of what is new about GTA IV, and serve to give life to its intricately modeled components. Engineers from NaturalMotion have been working on-site at Rockstar North for months at a time to stitch in the company’s Euphoria procedural animation technology, introducing a bespoke, heavily integrated solution, not something simply bought off the shelf. The results are truly transformative, and evident right from the moment you begin to move Niko around the gameworld, his body shape cambering as he moves left and right while running, his feet properly connecting with steps and other topographical features. It’s tech that drives the behavior of NPCs, too, and the result is something that does more justice to the ‘living, breathing world’ tag so frequently attached to the GTA series. This is a genuine evolutionary step, and Rockstar and NaturalMotion deserve enormous recognition in getting here.
"The animation, generally, I thought was one of the biggest things that had to jump forward," explains Houser, warming to a topic that is evidently something of an obsession. "Anything else was going to jump forward – you know, the artistry as a whole was going to be that much more beautiful – but animation is very difficult, a bit of a black art in some ways. It’s really difficult to get character out of these motions. It completely fascinates me, and intimidates me, too. I’ve been totally fascinated with the notion of procedural animation for years, as have a number of other people, and praying for it for a long time. The first time I saw Toby Gard and Galleon, the way it was animated was amazing. James Miller, who was his animation programmer, works with us in San Diego, and he’s brilliant. And all these different people, together with Sandy Roger who handles that side of things for GTA, came together and made it happen.
“When we initially saw Euphoria, I was floored. I was like, ‘That’s my dream – it’s happening, it’s there, let’s do it’. But all the realists who actually have to make the stuff were like, ‘Sam, man, it’s never going to work, it’s never going to happen’. I think initially it was very much pitched as something to use for cutscenes, to have a really cool-looking action of someone falling down the stairs or whatever. But there was a bunch of guys in our crew who really looked at it and they were like, ‘I think we can actually get this running in the game, in realtime’. So it’s been incredibly collaborative, which I love, and I think the fruits of it are amazing. When you’re taking a shot at somebody and they go staggering procedurally, and they lift up their gun to try and get a shot back at you – it’s giving people unique moments like they never had before."
Another piece of middleware at the heart of the GTA IV experience comes from Image Metrics, which facilitates intricate facial expressions and smoothes out the process of incorporating lip-synching. With so many thousands of lines of dialogue in their repertoires, it is important that GTA IV’s expansive cast deliver them with some kind of conviction, and the beguiling results instantly make mannequins of the populace of previous GTAs. The sophistication of your interactions with other characters becomes especially pronounced when members of the opposite sex become involved, and we ask Houser about a possible love interest this time around.
"There are girlfriends. There are girls you can date off of the internet and things like that, and there are a couple of interesting… well, I don’t want to give anything away, but yes, relationships in general in games are important; I think relationships in games are fascinating. Having a relationship that’s been thrown up on the screen pretty much procedurally, and having feelings for one character or another, I think is immense, and I haven’t played a game where you feel as much about the characters, both good and bad. The characters you don’t like here, you really don’t fu*king like, and you’ll be happy when you dispatch them. It will feel like you’ve done something. And the characters are so well developed – they’ve been modeled beautifully, then they’ve been animated brilliantly, and the writing’s great, and the acting’s great, and it all lines up so you can really get a sense of whether you do or don’t like them. And not everyone will like or dislike the same people."
The backdrops against which these characters play out their stories are modeled beautifully, too. Rockstar has long had a full-time research team employed at its HQ, and for GTA IV the Rockstar North team made two lengthy trips to New York – bringing up to 50 people at a time – in order to further get to grips with both the territory and the people who populate it.
"I don’t even know what the number is, but the team took tens of thousands of photos," says Houser. "We went bloody bonkers with it, quite frankly. Now, all the people in the game feel like people that you would meet or come across – certainly living here in New York, which can be a bit of a freakshow. And when we’ve been working on the game for so long it can get very blurry in your head because…" He pauses, possibly because he thinks what he’s about to say may make Liotta’s appraisal seem like an accurate one. "I was away for two weeks in Edinburgh, and when I came back here I didn’t feel like I’d left, because I’d been here the whole time [via Liberty City in GTA IV]. And I’m not saying that to be funny. I remember: I was coming over the bridge on my first day back to work and I’m like, why doesn’t this feel different? Because I’ve been doing it 50 times a day while I was there, and I felt it."
When he’s asked about his favourite activities in GTA games, Houser often talks about just cruising their environments, listening to music, soaking up the atmosphere. Lately, though, he’s been spending more time on foot. "I can play GTA IV for a day just going around getting into punch-ups in the street, and I think it’s pretty good at doing that considering what it actually is – the fact that you can have these complex fights in 3D as opposed to, say, Street Fighter where you’re on a 2D plane. And you can feel each punch as it goes in. I’m not trying to labor these points but that was really the goal from day one – to give people the most detailed, weighted experience possible so that they really think about what they’re doing. And it can really connect with them, so whether it’s the street fighting or gun combat or the driving of the vehicles or the interaction with other characters or any number of other elements that make up the game, everything has been taken to this new place.
“So, absolutely, this is how we always wanted GTA to be, but it simply wasn’t possible until now. And some of the technology that’s gone into this new game, compared to what we had before, it’s shocking. It’s shocking about videogames in general. It’s like, my god, compare it to, say, the film industry, where ultimately not much changed in the last 50 years – well, in the last ten years CG’s taken over and kind of ruined things. But with games you take what you were doing – and you were maxing it out – and you throw it all away. And now look what you can do."
We talk for a while about the implications of moving GTA to a new generation of hardware – how the process of testing is ramped up to an almost ludicrous degree; how the company as a whole manages to keep its secrets secret when so many more people are required to be in the production loop; the processes involved in finding and signing voice talent, and then getting them in for recording sessions; the motion-capture sessions; the incorporation of two new slices of middleware that fundamentally drive the way the game looks; the process of establishing new radio stations, resurrecting old ones, writing and producing the DJ banter that helps to bring them to life, not to mention the content for the dedicated talk stations; and more.
In strict gameplay terms, though, GTA IV may be at its most tangibly evolved when you’re simply seeing how it all unfolds. The ability to tackle missions your own way has always been a defining principle of the series, and with so many more variables in the mix this time around, the opportunity for emergent activity is only more pronounced.
"I think the fact of the matter is, after this long of playing the game, unexpected things are happening to me all the time," says Houser. "And I’m bloody jaded and bloody cynical, and I’m the first to complain about things, but this actually is doing that. I’ll be getting in a battle with some guys, I’ll steal someone’s car and some fist fight’s kicked off, and then suddenly he’ll be chasing me through the street, and I’ll get in position – like, ‘I’m not running from you any more; I’m going to fu*king have it with you now, mate’ – and just as I’m about to crack him, a car comes flying through the shops, runs him over, and he goes flying. And these tiny little moments happen more per square inch – or per square pixel or whatever – than I ever dreamt possible, and it’s the organic nature of all the elements that have come together, and particularly the procedural animation via the NaturalMotion content, that allow the experience to be unique. There really are lots of ways to play these missions."
Taking down enemies who navigate the gameworld in much the same way as yourself goes some way towards leveling the playing field, and we’re certain that GTA IV has missions in store to sit alongside rescuing Lance Vance in Vice City. Something working in the player’s favor this time around, however, is a weapon-targeting system that has been refined beyond recognition.
"I always could target whoever I wanted to hit in the previous games, but that’s not to dismiss the audience’s reaction to that stuff because, well, if people say that then something must be wrong," concedes Houser. "I think we’ve introduced a level of targeting control that most gamers, from the hardcore to the absolute mainstream, will be able to play and have fun with. You can free-aim if you want to play totally like a balls-out hardman – be my guest, awesome. If you want to just snap from target to target it will work like that, and if you want to – and this is what I do, trying to be Mr Cool [laughs] – is target and then modify, so I can latch on to you and then headshot you. And it’s very satisfying, and I think and I hope that most people’s gripes and reservations with the previous targeting systems have all been addressed – and then some."
We only get the opportunity to take part in a dozen or so firefights, but the confusion that sometimes clouded the action in previous GTAs has certainly been removed. In fact, these encounters are so focused and so dynamic that they feel more scripted than they actually are, like they’re taking place inside the carefully funneled, closely governed spaces of other games, not as part of this procedurally driven city sprawl.
The lock-to-objects cover system (and its blind-firing mechanic) also builds a new dimension into GTA IV’s combat, and comes into its own when you’re able to piece together a strategy on the fly and, say, make use of a car that’s just been turned over in front of you as a shield, since you can lock to dynamic objects, too, not just static items such as concrete walls. It is GTA, but it is GTA elevated to a different level, and in concert with some of the game’s other bold innovations it stands up as, dare we say it, what the term ‘next generation’ is supposed to mean.
Another piece of middleware at the heart of the GTA IV experience comes from Image Metrics, which facilitates intricate facial expressions and smoothes out the process of incorporating lip-synching. With so many thousands of lines of dialogue in their repertoires, it is important that GTA IV’s expansive cast deliver them with some kind of conviction, and the beguiling results instantly make mannequins of the populace of previous GTAs. The sophistication of your interactions with other characters becomes especially pronounced when members of the opposite sex become involved, and we ask Houser about a possible love interest this time around.
"There are girlfriends. There are girls you can date off of the internet and things like that, and there are a couple of interesting… well, I don’t want to give anything away, but yes, relationships in general in games are important; I think relationships in games are fascinating. Having a relationship that’s been thrown up on the screen pretty much procedurally, and having feelings for one character or another, I think is immense, and I haven’t played a game where you feel as much about the characters, both good and bad. The characters you don’t like here, you really don’t fu*king like, and you’ll be happy when you dispatch them. It will feel like you’ve done something. And the characters are so well developed – they’ve been modeled beautifully, then they’ve been animated brilliantly, and the writing’s great, and the acting’s great, and it all lines up so you can really get a sense of whether you do or don’t like them. And not everyone will like or dislike the same people."
The backdrops against which these characters play out their stories are modeled beautifully, too. Rockstar has long had a full-time research team employed at its HQ, and for GTA IV the Rockstar North team made two lengthy trips to New York – bringing up to 50 people at a time – in order to further get to grips with both the territory and the people who populate it.
"I don’t even know what the number is, but the team took tens of thousands of photos," says Houser. "We went bloody bonkers with it, quite frankly. Now, all the people in the game feel like people that you would meet or come across – certainly living here in New York, which can be a bit of a freakshow. And when we’ve been working on the game for so long it can get very blurry in your head because…" He pauses, possibly because he thinks what he’s about to say may make Liotta’s appraisal seem like an accurate one. "I was away for two weeks in Edinburgh, and when I came back here I didn’t feel like I’d left, because I’d been here the whole time [via Liberty City in GTA IV]. And I’m not saying that to be funny. I remember: I was coming over the bridge on my first day back to work and I’m like, why doesn’t this feel different? Because I’ve been doing it 50 times a day while I was there, and I felt it."
When he’s asked about his favourite activities in GTA games, Houser often talks about just cruising their environments, listening to music, soaking up the atmosphere. Lately, though, he’s been spending more time on foot. "I can play GTA IV for a day just going around getting into punch-ups in the street, and I think it’s pretty good at doing that considering what it actually is – the fact that you can have these complex fights in 3D as opposed to, say, Street Fighter where you’re on a 2D plane. And you can feel each punch as it goes in. I’m not trying to labor these points but that was really the goal from day one – to give people the most detailed, weighted experience possible so that they really think about what they’re doing. And it can really connect with them, so whether it’s the street fighting or gun combat or the driving of the vehicles or the interaction with other characters or any number of other elements that make up the game, everything has been taken to this new place.
“So, absolutely, this is how we always wanted GTA to be, but it simply wasn’t possible until now. And some of the technology that’s gone into this new game, compared to what we had before, it’s shocking. It’s shocking about videogames in general. It’s like, my god, compare it to, say, the film industry, where ultimately not much changed in the last 50 years – well, in the last ten years CG’s taken over and kind of ruined things. But with games you take what you were doing – and you were maxing it out – and you throw it all away. And now look what you can do."
We talk for a while about the implications of moving GTA to a new generation of hardware – how the process of testing is ramped up to an almost ludicrous degree; how the company as a whole manages to keep its secrets secret when so many more people are required to be in the production loop; the processes involved in finding and signing voice talent, and then getting them in for recording sessions; the motion-capture sessions; the incorporation of two new slices of middleware that fundamentally drive the way the game looks; the process of establishing new radio stations, resurrecting old ones, writing and producing the DJ banter that helps to bring them to life, not to mention the content for the dedicated talk stations; and more.
In strict gameplay terms, though, GTA IV may be at its most tangibly evolved when you’re simply seeing how it all unfolds. The ability to tackle missions your own way has always been a defining principle of the series, and with so many more variables in the mix this time around, the opportunity for emergent activity is only more pronounced.
"I think the fact of the matter is, after this long of playing the game, unexpected things are happening to me all the time," says Houser. "And I’m bloody jaded and bloody cynical, and I’m the first to complain about things, but this actually is doing that. I’ll be getting in a battle with some guys, I’ll steal someone’s car and some fist fight’s kicked off, and then suddenly he’ll be chasing me through the street, and I’ll get in position – like, ‘I’m not running from you any more; I’m going to fu*king have it with you now, mate’ – and just as I’m about to crack him, a car comes flying through the shops, runs him over, and he goes flying. And these tiny little moments happen more per square inch – or per square pixel or whatever – than I ever dreamt possible, and it’s the organic nature of all the elements that have come together, and particularly the procedural animation via the NaturalMotion content, that allow the experience to be unique. There really are lots of ways to play these missions."
Taking down enemies who navigate the gameworld in much the same way as yourself goes some way towards leveling the playing field, and we’re certain that GTA IV has missions in store to sit alongside rescuing Lance Vance in Vice City. Something working in the player’s favor this time around, however, is a weapon-targeting system that has been refined beyond recognition.
"I always could target whoever I wanted to hit in the previous games, but that’s not to dismiss the audience’s reaction to that stuff because, well, if people say that then something must be wrong," concedes Houser. "I think we’ve introduced a level of targeting control that most gamers, from the hardcore to the absolute mainstream, will be able to play and have fun with. You can free-aim if you want to play totally like a balls-out hardman – be my guest, awesome. If you want to just snap from target to target it will work like that, and if you want to – and this is what I do, trying to be Mr Cool [laughs] – is target and then modify, so I can latch on to you and then headshot you. And it’s very satisfying, and I think and I hope that most people’s gripes and reservations with the previous targeting systems have all been addressed – and then some."
We only get the opportunity to take part in a dozen or so firefights, but the confusion that sometimes clouded the action in previous GTAs has certainly been removed. In fact, these encounters are so focused and so dynamic that they feel more scripted than they actually are, like they’re taking place inside the carefully funneled, closely governed spaces of other games, not as part of this procedurally driven city sprawl.
The lock-to-objects cover system (and its blind-firing mechanic) also builds a new dimension into GTA IV’s combat, and comes into its own when you’re able to piece together a strategy on the fly and, say, make use of a car that’s just been turned over in front of you as a shield, since you can lock to dynamic objects, too, not just static items such as concrete walls. It is GTA, but it is GTA elevated to a different level, and in concert with some of the game’s other bold innovations it stands up as, dare we say it, what the term ‘next generation’ is supposed to mean.
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