San Andreas on PC

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peterpeter

Original Poster:

6,437 posts

264 months

Saturday 11th June 2005
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Just got this last night

Managed to stay away from the PS2 version (cant stand those shite graphics)

Wow what a game!!!!!

[k]ar|

949 posts

253 months

Saturday 11th June 2005
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Yes indeed My copy arrived on Thursday morning from Gameplay, and I was not in work on Friday, so I've finished the initial story missions and all the missions for "Smoke". Now I'm just cruising around the city to see what there is to do. With all the things I've found so far, it's more like Sim Gangster!

I can't believe how unbelievably huge the game area is, plus the fact that there are no loading screens as you move around.

[k]

-DeaDLocK-

3,367 posts

258 months

Saturday 11th June 2005
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I've already raided the cheat codes - I play that game like a sim. I never do the missions.

You MUST at least try one: use your keyboard and type JUMPJET while playing. Oh yes...

Steve_Evil

10,689 posts

236 months

Monday 13th June 2005
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Come on, there's not a huge amount of difference between the PC and PS2 graphics, the PC ones are a bit sharper and the draw distance is improved, but neither of these affect the quality of gameplay in any way and unless you're playing with a game pad the controls are awful on the PC version.

_dobbo_

14,617 posts

255 months

Monday 13th June 2005
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Steve_Evil said:
Come on, there's not a huge amount of difference between the PC and PS2 graphics, the PC ones are a bit sharper and the draw distance is improved, but neither of these affect the quality of gameplay in any way and unless you're playing with a game pad the controls are awful on the PC version.


Wrong! The textures are miles higher in resolution on the PC, the frame rate is higher, draw distance higer, and Mouse/Keyboard controls beat the crap out of a control pad!

Steve_Evil

10,689 posts

236 months

Monday 13th June 2005
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You try holding a wheelie on a motorbike with a mouse and keyboard...

rsvmilly

11,288 posts

248 months

Monday 13th June 2005
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Steve_Evil said:
You try holding a wheelie on a motorbike with a mouse and keyboard...
I could on Vice City - for twice the length of the western island.

I've played the game through on the PS2 but the graphics on the PC Vice City are significantly better. I can only assume the SA graphics will be at least as good. Hopefully there won't be disappearing scenery syndrome - which catches you out when you're hurtling along, on the PS2.

_dobbo_

14,617 posts

255 months

Monday 13th June 2005
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rsvmilly said:

Steve_Evil said:
You try holding a wheelie on a motorbike with a mouse and keyboard...

I could on Vice City - for twice the length of the western island.

I've played the game through on the PS2 but the graphics on the PC Vice City are significantly better. I can only assume the SA graphics will be at least as good. Hopefully there won't be disappearing scenery syndrome - which catches you out when you're hurtling along, on the PS2.


Yep, that and the fact that when you are going too fast on the highway, you can actually see cars spawning and dropping in - and the motorbikes all crash when this happens.

-DeaDLocK-

3,367 posts

258 months

Monday 13th June 2005
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Hmm a lot of defensiveness going on here.

Controls on a game like this are infinitely better with a gamepad - period. Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider, Psychonauts - any third person platform/adventure is more enjoyable with a gamepad. You may think otherwise, but you'd find yourself in a small minority. On the other hand, playing an FPS with a gamepad is nigh-on impossible.

The PC is capable of infititely better graphics than the PS2, but as the entire GTA series is designed first and foremost as a PS2 game, the potential on the PC (or the Xbox for that matter) will never be realised in this series to anything more than minor port-platform tweaks (like an increased draw distance).

The graphics in any PS2 game are not a patch on decent made-for-PC games, but when you're comparing GTA on the PS2 vs GTA on the PC, there really isn't much to shout about when it comes to the "benefits" the PC has. By current standards, GTA: SA looks resolutely awful. The PS2 is just too old if you ask me.

D_Mike

5,301 posts

247 months

Monday 13th June 2005
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The GTA series started on the pc.

Steve_Evil

10,689 posts

236 months

Monday 13th June 2005
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It actually came out at the same time on the PS1 and PC...

rsvmilly

11,288 posts

248 months

Tuesday 14th June 2005
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Steve_Evil said:
It actually came out at the same time on the PS1 and PC...
I still have that game tucked away, Monkeyboy!!

Networked checkpoint racing was fantastic.

Guaranga!!!

Steve_Evil

10,689 posts

236 months

Tuesday 14th June 2005
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I only played it a couple of times on a network and it was good fun, always boiled down to 'let's have a showdown, meet me at X' and you'd drive down to meet them and kill them, and simply run them over, then spend another five minutes tracking them down again..

Nevin

2,999 posts

268 months

Tuesday 14th June 2005
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Only played for the first time last night and admittedly haven't read the manual yet, but does anyone know how to lock the camera behind a vehicle when you are driving it? It drives me mental as I come round a corner and then can't see where I am going because the camera is all over the place.

Also, what is this "lock on" they keep referring to with the guns?

Sorry, was up at 4am yesterday and only got a chance to start playing at midnight.

Zad

12,762 posts

243 months

Tuesday 14th June 2005
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Go into the controller options and set it for mouse steering, the program has no option but to lock on to your vehicle in the classic GTA way. Vehicle control does seem to be worse than in Vice City though. Or maybe that's just the degradation imposed by the "learning" system.

As for targeting, it doesn't seem to work like it should do. When you hover your gun sight over the target, a circle appears around it when it is "locked". I haven't managed to get the sequential targeting working though...

Mike

Nevin

2,999 posts

268 months

Tuesday 14th June 2005
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Zad said:
Go into the controller options and set it for mouse steering, the program has no option but to lock on to your vehicle in the classic GTA way. Vehicle control does seem to be worse than in Vice City though. Or maybe that's just the degradation imposed by the "learning" system.

As for targeting, it doesn't seem to work like it should do. When you hover your gun sight over the target, a circle appears around it when it is "locked". I haven't managed to get the sequential targeting working though...

Mike



Does that mean you have to steer with the mouse though, because I can't be doing with that?

Yeah, that was what I thought. When you are at the ammo guy's shooting bottles in the yard it goes on about moving the mousewheel to go onto the next target, but it wasn't doing anything at all.

Mr E

22,128 posts

266 months

Tuesday 14th June 2005
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D_Mike said:
The GTA series started on the pc.


Was actually intended for the Amiga......

And I've got no complaints with the visuals on the PS2. It's a great great game on any platform. Enjoy it.

Nevin

2,999 posts

268 months

Wednesday 15th June 2005
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Zad said:
Go into the controller options and set it for mouse steering, the program has no option but to lock on to your vehicle in the classic GTA way. Vehicle control does seem to be worse than in Vice City though. Or maybe that's just the degradation imposed by the "learning" system.

As for targeting, it doesn't seem to work like it should do. When you hover your gun sight over the target, a circle appears around it when it is "locked". I haven't managed to get the sequential targeting working though...

Mike



Cheers, that seems to work as you can still use the keys to steer. Camera still isn't perfect but a lot better.

peterpeter

Original Poster:

6,437 posts

264 months

Friday 17th June 2005
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what channel is "welcome to the jungle" on in the game....??
Im so addicted to radio Los Santos, (mainly because of the fabulous NWA) that I havent heard many other stations.

D-Angle

4,468 posts

249 months

Saturday 18th June 2005
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Still waiting for my copy, Mrs D-Angle ordered me the special edition on Amazon, not realising I'd have to wait until the end of June!

It looks fantastic though, I'm a huge fan of the GTA series (you can see my geeky fanfic on GTAforums.com ) and this looks like the best yet.

By the way, there's some unused code in San Andreas that can be resurrected on the PC version. Have a look at what it does here. WARNING: Not safe for work!
www.ifilm.com/ads/asl/fullscreen/index.jsp?uri=/ifilmdetail/2673401&showw=no&refsite=6721