Grand Theft Auto IV

[Brandwin]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

Someone give me a video of gameplay only. I don't want to really ruin the story. Are there any videos like that?

[jmood88]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

Another video of the comedy club. You guys are going to love this clip. It's only about 30 seconds, but the comedian is someone a lot of us are going to love to have in the game.

Don't click spoiler unless you want to know the comedians name.

Spoiler

Dave Chappelle!!!

5 days 13 hours and 59 minute.

Spoiler

WOW. I need this game now just for him.

[SPTO]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

Someone give me a video of gameplay only. I don't want to really ruin the story. Are there any videos like that?

The last video posted in this thread is just free roam stuff. No story is leaked.

[Ice Cream Truck]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

Video already tooken down. I mean dang, I can't get no gameplay vids or nothin?

[bkfount]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

Video already tooken down. I mean dang, I can't get no gameplay vids or nothin?

go to dailymotion.com and search for gta 4 videos posted today. They've still got tons of them on that site.

[Ice Cream Truck]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

go to dailymotion.com and search for gta 4 videos posted today. They've still got tons of them on that site.

'Preciate it.

I'll probably wait til after classes Tuesday to cop this. I'm not really hype enough to try for the midnight release as I thought I was.

[DakkoN]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

Spoiler

My god. The physics engine in action is really ridiculously awesome. The way he bounced down the hill, his body reacting to each hit of the hill.... wow.

[ThaGenecyst]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

With Grand Theft Auto IV's release on the horizon, Rockstar North's technical directors Adam Fowler and Sandy Roger quizzed themselves to provide some insight on the physics and tech -- a FAQ on the subject, if you will -- behind the anticipated game. We also have brand new screenshots to tide you over until next week, and don't forget to check back tomorrow for more information from Rockstar North.

Grand Theft Auto IV is the first time North has used the RAGE engine, can you tell us a little about RAGE?

Adam Fowler: The RAGE engine consists of a collection of core game technologies. Its basis is the AGE engine that was developed for previous Rockstar San Diego titles. It contains a rendering framework, a physics engine, audio engine, network libraries, animation engine, scripting language plus loads more. It is mainly developed at Rockstar San Diego apart from the audio engine and a lot of the network code which were developed here at North.

What benefits does its use confer on the development of an open-world game?

AF: The main benefits are from the system level code. As we are continually loading and deleting objects as you drive through the world. The memory manager needs to be robust and deal with continual allocation and freeing of objects without fragmenting memory too much. We have worked very closely with RAGE to get this right. Outside that the flexibility of each system has allowed us to push and pull them in all sorts of directions.

Are there any advantages to the fact that Rockstar have developed and own the engine?

AF: The main advantage is we have control over the direction the engine takes. If we need something for our game we have a direct connection with the guys who would be developing it. We get early access to systems which might not be completely finished but are ready for development use. Bugs get fixed in days, not weeks or months. This has been especially important as we reached the end of the project. We talk to the RAGE guys every day. We know what is happening with RAGE on a day to day basis.

Sandy Roger: Definitely, working with guys in house gave us much more input into the development of the RAGE engine, and gave us direct access to the guys who made it which has helped enormously.

The game feels very different to previous GTAs, both in terms of on-foot handling and vehicle handling - the experience feels somehow heavier. How have you achieved this?

SR: We've tried to make everything feel more realistic, from the weight of the cars and the traction curve of the tyres, to the way that the player leans when running to get round corners.

How do you make sure the game comes together as a whole with the physics reflecting the new tone of the game?

SR: It's quite an iterative process. We try to come up with toys for the level guys to use in their missions, and the level guys come up with mission ideas that require physics, and then we meet somewhere in the middle.

There are a number of different weather conditions in the game, including heavy storms. What sort of effect does the changing weather have on the physics in the game?

SR: The main effect of the weather is in modifying the traction curve for the tires on the road, the result of which is different depending on what surface each wheel is driving on.

The water in GTA IV looks amazing, but how do you cope with reflecting the changeable nature of the sea in the handling of the boats?

SR: The boat handling is developed from multiple water buoyancy samples, each of which are designed to simulate all the distinct effects of bodies moving through the water that we need for realistic boats, like drag and lift that give the boat directional stability and make it aquaplane (lift out of the water at speed). All these parameters are then tuned to make each boat handle as you would expect, which also produces interesting handling characteristics in different sea conditions.

The explosions feel so realistic in GTA IV, how hard is it to create them? How do you map the trajectory of burning debris?

SR: We spent a lot of time tuning the way the forces are applied from the explosions to make the ragdolls fly through the air, props break apart, etc just right. A big part of it also comes from the particle effects. Our effects guy did a brilliant job with the explosions!

When every bullet leaves a mark in the environment, how do you cope with the sheer number of bullets that must fly around the environment in some of the larger gunfights?

SR: The biggest cost of each bullet fired is actually the line of sight test that we have to do to see what it hit, so the RAGE guys spent a lot of time optimising that code to make it as efficient as possible.

There is incredible detail in the physics, I even noticed that shooting a barrel can cause a jet of liquid to spurt out and gradually decrease in range as the pressure reduces or that knocking into a pedestrian can cause them to drop their shopping so that cans roll down the sidewalk. Do these fine detail physics get the same level of attention as the key gameplay mechanics such as driving and running?

SR: Well key things that we need to get right for the game to be fun, like the car handling, get the most attention of course! But aside from those special systems, most of the other cool details come from just getting the basic systems working well. So we spent a lot of time making sure that the building blocks were there for the props guys and the effects guys to make lots of interesting and cool objects to put in the world.

[garnettrules21]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

Just watched a few vids on dailymotion. Man this game looks so fun. The euphoria animations look incredible when hit with cars and stuff. I also saw once that guy was shot and the blood splattered on the side of the car and stayed there. Amazing!!! Me and my buddy are working on getting capture cards and are gonna make machinima movies and stuff.

[bkfount]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

I saw the list of midnight releases for best buy, and there's not even one listed for the whole state of NC.

[gta95]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

OMG release this damn game now I can't wait! I'm taking off Wednesday to chill all day.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

go to dailymotion.com and search for gta 4 videos posted today. They've still got tons of them on that site.

Why did I go watch those

[warnerwlf98]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

EDIT: "Spoilerized" my comments from one of the gameplay vids.

Spoiler

It seems Saint's Row's going through the windshield made it into GTA4. The physics are excellent. In one vid, someone crashed a motorcycle into a courtyard of an apartment house and got flung into a fence.

Also in the one where Niko starts out at the hotdog vendor, the lighting on his jacket as he's walking down the street is impressive. The way it shines makes him look like he's really solid - not just a cartoon character.

[Pared]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

Spoiler

Boo. Lamp posts still just detach and fall to the ground.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: Let's talk about... Grand Theft Auto 4

I don't think I really understood the scope of the city and just what was achieved, but when the player in one of the videos on dailymotion drives up to the bridge and you can see the downtown on the horizon the sheer size is crazy.