From the Q&A:

To do justice to the key concepts of GTA, non- linearity, seamless moving between the action, attitude and complete immersion into a funny game world, we have to do something more than just death match, and to do that will take a lot of time. We have always had the attitude with GTA that any new version must have significant advances on its predecessors and if a new feature is added, it must be as good and complete as everything else in the game."


I try not to be a complainer but their excuse for no multiplayer is pure bullshit. They know the game will sell huge numbers with or without online support so why not save a bundle and say the hell with MP.

Why does it HAVE to be revolutionary? Whats the problem with just running around and killing each other like any other godamned shooter? HELLO?

C'mon guys....just fess up and say what it REALLY is....economics. Why put something in that will sell the same numbers anyway?

This comment was edited on Apr 22, 10:06.

The graphics are at least 10 times better on PC than PS2.

Probably because while no multiplayer docks them some points on reviews, a shitty multiplayer option costs them more. A shitty out of the box multiplayer option does nothing for them but a shitty multiplayer option as a free download is easier to not support (which they would have to do if it came in the box).

Really though, why must every game have a multiplayer option? I mean, all people would do is play GTA3 CTF, what's the point? I mean how would GTA MP work, cops vs. criminals? (Actually that's not a horrible idea - off to work on that mod for game X)

Schnapple

http://members.tripod.com/schnapple99/

It's not such a bullshit excuse. Building multiplayer functionality into a single-player game takes time, it's not like they can just plop a couple of maps in there, they have to build the networking infrastructure from the ground up.

Whilst I'd hoped for multiplayer support as much as anyone, if you gave me the choice between having GTA3 next month, or having to wait for another 6 months for a half-arsed DM mode, I'll take the former. I'm sure the majority of PS2-less PC fans would agree.

From the sounds of it, Rockstar have plans for a multiplayer-only GTA - perhaps some kind of massively-multiplayer thing, with a permanent city-scape in which players interact? Has to be a step up from the MP of GTA 1/2, which were fun for a quick blast, but hell to set up. I'm quite happy to wait for GTA MP if it's something innovative and expansive - I can't see myself paying for a DM/Cannonball Run add-on though, so I hope Rockstar have something special in mind.

> how would GTA MP work

Anybody here remember the old BBS door game "PimpWars"?

So perfectly suited to GTA3. I can only hope that the multiplayer is released in a patch, cause if nobody else makes this mod I'll do it myself.

some of the ideas that I had for mp were

cops and robbers

CTC - capture the car


Read through some of the interviews, all of the reasons that they gave about not having MP seamed like horshit to me. At least release the tools so that the community can make the mods.


Also I remember hearing about a addon or something. Maybe this might have MP, pretty much a cash cow for rockstart then.

Hump,

Like Cadaver points out, what’s said about the MP needing to being 'revolutionary' sounds less like excuses and more like Rockstar pimping their next GTA game, rumoured to be MMO.

sorry I dont see your side of it. If you gave the community a poll and asked them whether they would go for No multiplayer at all or a simple deathmatch aspect what do you think would be the result? No, not every game HAS to have a multiplayer portion to it but this is GTA3...a huge city...vehicles, cops, hookers....! Games with NO multiplay leave me feeling that I didn't get my moneys worth. Sorry if I sound too demanding but if I have to part with $50 I'd like to get more mileage than a week or two of gameplay. (How long did everyone play Max Payne after they finished it?) On the other hand, epic stories like Baldurs Gate etc are fine as single player experiences.

This "we feel we couldnt do the game justice etc etc" Justice to what??!! shooting people?? running them over? How hard is that to implement?

At the very least add support for internet play and let the community have a crack at it by releasing some plug-ins etc.

Rockstar had the opportunity here to release what could have been one of the greatest online multiplayer games ever released, and they flat out blew it. I agree that their explanation is an excuse. It sounds more like they were unable to pull it off. Although I'm not intimately familiar with the Renderware platform that they coded the game on, I do know that it takes care of much of the lower level programming. Perhaps integrating multiplayer was a greater task than Rockstar was capable of

If that's the case, it still would have been worth it to them economically to have either hired extra talent, or contracted the MP code out to another house. It's a good bet that this game could have had the online numbers that counter-strike has. We the use of cd-keys, ppl would have actually had to pay for this game instead of trading warez for it. They had to know this.

And you don't need some fancy multiplayer mod like ctf or cops vs robbers to make the game fun. Multiplayer for GTA 1 and 2 was a blast, and those games were a mere shadow of what GTA III is. Words cannot express my disappointment. My clan had plans for this game online. Rockstar could have been the next id. Too bad.

i agree, release GTA3 with even a basic DM mode, so long as the game is moddable, the community would likely come up with some nice and fun multiplayer ideas. It is pretty lame nowadays it seems to have a PC game with no multiplayer, as it severely limits replayability IMO.

#9 So you don't agree with what I said in #7 then?

Has anything been said about GTA3 for the PC being moddable? I have enjoyed it on the PS2, but would buy it for the PC as well if I could map for it.

So, the game that was originally made for PC which was going to include multiplayer support has now been dumbed down to a console game and a PC 'port.'

What the FUCK. Originally a PC game and now a PC port. And a direct port no less. Nothing new. I don't care about the graphics. Adding higher res textures should not have taken almost a fucking year. MORONS...

What a load of shit. "We felt like adding multiplayer would take too long, doesn't do the game justice blah blah" BULLSHIT. Sounds like incompetent developers to me. Time? You've taken almost a year. That should be plenty of time. Lazy fuckers

This will be their last PC game, rest assured.

Have a happy Monday ppl.

#11 did you mean me?

I agree with you that theyre *probably* holding back because of a MMOG but their excuse they're giving at the moment is just laughable.

#11 Rockstar hasn't even made a hint as to a seperate online game. To assume so is pure speculation. Maybe they have plans for one some day - after all the criticism they're bound to get from this they have to at least think it over. But it makes absolutely no sense to cut it out of this game if they were capable of implementing it. It's not unreasonable to say that multiplayer could almost double sales. Considering CPL, tournaments, and league play, and all the advertising and publicity that would come from it. And, again, the additon of online cd-key validation has been the only absolutely proven method of forcing players to actually buy software and not copy or download it.

I just don't buy the argument that MP doesn't lend it self to the atmosphere of the game. When playing other ppl, one doesn't wander around and marvel at how pretty and detailed the game world is - that's what single player is for. Multiplayer is all about competition, and the amount of complexity involved at being skilled in this game would have made it beyond great.

At least we still have Doom 3.

Hump,

I presume you were talking to Cadaver's about his assertion that most gamers would rather have their game now that wait for MP to be added when you said ‘I don't see your side of it’.

Don’t you think I have a point (in #7)? That what is said in the interview is less about excuses and more about the possibility of them doing an admittedly as yet unannounced, MMO GTA game? If it works that will indeed be revolutionary and worth the wait don't you think?

Anyhoo GTA3 is an open-ended game, yeah there is a plot but it's not like Max Payne or a host of other woefully linear games. I know several people who regularly return to the PS2 version and others who still haven't completed it cause they are constantly side-tracked by the wealth of possibilities of the gameplay. Surely you’d get your money’s worth out of that?

Of course I'm disappointed that there is no MP but I don't already own the PS2 version and I'd rather have this already excellent game as it is now for the PC than wait months for it with some sort of MP.

#15...I beleive a MMOG was mentioned a couple of months back though I havent heard of anything since

#16 heh...read #14

I don't see why both couldnt be done. Im just proposing a simple DM and maybe a CTF implementation is all. How much work would it take? The money for development is certainly not (or shouldnt be) an issue. Its simplistic thinking but it probably boils down to publisher greed.

BTW, I personally know several people who backed off buying the PS2 version just so they could experience the PC version with MP. Myself, Ill get the Xbox version so I can at least get a higher credit value at EB when I return it two weeks later.....

Not everybody wants a fucking MMORPG style game where you have to buy the game AND pay to play per month. Fuck those games. I would feel perfectly fine paying ~$50 for GTA3 IF AND ONLY IF they actually added multiplayer so I could enjoy the game with my friends. Now this game will just get warezed like crazy and they will cry how their PC _PORT_ made no money. Sorry jack, you make a wrong move...

What's wrong with a version that you and your friends can play on a LAN or the net and just either do DM or some sort of teamplay? I don't pay to play per month, games should not be a fuckin bill like the phone or power. If that is their plan then shame on them. They give game developers a bad name. If they want to go be rich they might as well just be Rockstar pr0n studios or some shit. Get rich by making good games, not some rehashed bullshit that's been out on PS2 for nearly a year.

COCKSUCKERS

"#11 Rockstar hasn't even made a hint as to a seperate online game. To assume so is pure speculation"

True, it is speculation, but to me this sounds like a hint about Rockstar's future intentions:

"we want to do something more than just a deathmatch mode in order to stay true to what the game concept is all about. It is going to take a long time to get this perfected."

As to all the comment about Rockstar having "blown their chances", pure bullshit. GTA3 will still sell well, and deservedly so, and if a MMO GTA game does eventually emerge, I can see it being one of the next big things.

As I said before, even basic MP would be great, but it's not worth the time investment - I'd rather have the SP game now. Those of you saying it's down to laziness or lack of skill are talking out of your arses, you have no conception of exactly what it would take to implement multi-player - neither do I for that matter, therefore statements about how easy it would be are pure conjecture.

This comment was edited on Apr 22, 14:00.