I like GTA3's save-game feature.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Wed Jun 19, 2002 12:05 pm

I do. I really do.

GTA3 is so immersive in so many ways, and invites the player so well to just spend time enjoying the environment in vast myriad fashions, that providing a sense of, "If you're gonna take a break, you better get your ducks in a row first" does naught but *enhance* that feeling of immersiveness.

One of the coolest games I ever played was a text-based multiplayer dealie called "Infinity Complex", many many years ago. One cool thing about it was that you could designate any particular room as your own home base, and nobody could fuck with you while you were in it(*). You were free to exit the game at any time, but exiting without getting back to your crib was a seriously stupid idea, as the next time you joined the game, you would most likely be a) dead, and b) without any cool guns or stuff that you had before.

GTA3 conveys a similar sense of, "Don't just peace out like a damn fool, Liberty City is no place for an unconscious person lying out in the street." Sure, it doesn't provide you the *option* of leaving at will, but truth be told, even if it did, I'd probably never (or rarely) use it.

If the main complaint about this restriction is that you can't save mid-mission, so you have to either win it or start over the next time, well, tough crap. That would be totally l4m3 if you could save every five seconds in the midst of a heated shootout with the pigs or whatever.

So, in conclusion, the main thing that Jonesy hates about GTA3, I *like*. Imagine how much he would like the game if the thing he hated he magically started to like! (Answer: He would like it a lot.)

(*) This is not exactly true, since each room could only hold six objects, and if you throw an object into a room (from outside it) that is already filled up, a random object in that room would fly back at you. So if some guy's home base had six awesome missile launchers or whatever, and you had six cowpies, you could just keep chucking cowpies into his room until all the missile launchers flew back at you. (**)

(**) One thing you could do to stop this is to create a room (which you could do, with bombs) *behind* your locked room, so the only way to get into this "room behind the room" was through your home base room, and thus, only you could get into it. (***)

(***) Of course, this didn't work either, because some guy could just bomb new rooms *around* your home base, and sneak into your "hidden room" from another direction. That sucked. (****)

(****) But the game was outstanding. Anyone know of a place you can play it anymore?

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 19, 2002 1:04 pm

Ah. A well-reasoned and thought-out opinion on the save game (or, ah, lack thereof) functionality in GTA3. A pity I shall now have to THRASH IT AND YOUR SOUL WITHIN AN INCH OF ITS LIFE.

Kidding.

I can appreciate the way you've chosen to play the game, and I think you grok where I am coming from on how having the option to save anywhere caters to both our playing styles, whereas the current system only caters to one. However, regarging saving on missions:

I am totally down with the fact that only a true yellow-bellied coward would save while a mission is active. I understand that point of view. What I should have stated in my review is that you spend a lot of time in a "mission" just getting to where the fun starts. Engaged in mindless traveling. Sometimes in slow cars by choice (if you want to bash somebody maybe you go get a humvee or a van) or not by choice (that damnable limo). So I'd like it if I could save *before* the shit hit the fan, but not while the shit is actually striking the fan and being slung off it, and onto the walls and fridge and so forth. But alas... neither.

Also, I'd like to save right before jumping over water while on a mission, but that's just me.

Here's something that may or may not significantly detract from your enjoyment of the game: on the PS2 version they had less memory than we do in the PC world. That's understandable. If you are in, say, a taxi at any given time in the game you will start to see more and more taxis. If you hijack a Stinger you will see more and more Stingers out on the road. What they did is make it so that, in order to do less RAM thrashing, the car you're in appears more as you drive around.

They kept this the same for the PC version. Even though we all have more RAM.

Personally I was happier before knowing that they did that. Your mileage may vary.

I would state, though, that if I had someone come over to my house and wanted to see the current state of PC games is, I would sit them down in front of GTA3 at 1280x1024 and let them bubble with delight. It's quite fun when you're just rolling around looking for trouble to get into.

How do you go on rampages, though? Apparently you can get things so that you have unlimited ammo and get points based on how many people you kill, all for a short while. I can't seem to activate that.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 19, 2002 1:05 pm

I would also like to know more about this "Infinity Complex" thing you mention. i.e., where to play.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Wed Jun 19, 2002 3:16 pm

Here's something that may or may not significantly detract from your enjoyment of the game

Yes, it did.

I now hate GTA3. (And you.)

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Wed Jun 19, 2002 3:20 pm

How do you go on rampages, though? Apparently you can get things so that you have unlimited ammo and get points based on how many people you kill, all for a short while. I can't seem to activate that.

The "things" are difficult to find, is all. I found two of them (though of course, if you're going to ask me, "Where?!", I'm going to have a hard time answering you. I have a hard enough time finding Ammu-Nation at any given moment.)

I don't care so much for the rampages. Me, I'm all about vehicular manslaughter, not Serious Sam-esque falderall.

(In GTA3, I mean. I love Serious Sam as much as the next guy. Unless the next guy is 500 of those claw-guys from the first game.)

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 12:27 pm

Ben wrote:I don't care so much for the rampages. Me, I'm all about vehicular manslaughter, not Serious Sam-esque falderall.

I would just like to say that "falderall" will be making up a significant portion of my vocabulary in the upcoming weeks and months.

Falderall. Falllllderalllllll. Yes. Yes that will do quite well.