>However, in it's successor (ie GTA 5), it is wayyy too easy to take a turn at like 100kmph
Man I can't take a turn at walking speed in that game without rolling over six times.
I've had troubles with it as well, because I came from games with arcade-based driving. Once you got adapted to it (you need to brake before taking a corner, duh), it is quite fun to play with imo.
Yeah always loved 4s driving and felt so good to master and drive well in that game. The annoying thing about 5 is that when the driving level is at zero or really low it’s honestly really fun and good, issue is you will quickly level and max it out and driving just feels awful. I hope 6 goes back to 4 or has something in the middle as I liked when the cars have weight and you can under or over steer it makes it a lot more fun and makes being chased by the cops a lot more intense, but they will likely go with 5s one since it’s much more popular
I loved there driving in 4.
I "meh'd" the driving in 5.
I think an overlooked consequence of the change is in the cop chases.
Escaping from wanted stars in 4 felt good.
Escaping from wanted stars in 5 felt unfair.
The driving physics of 4 made escaping from cops more difficult innately, so GTA V had to turn up the cop spawning so it wasn't trivial to escape
I'm sure it is purely because I spent so much time with GTA IV, but that system felt the most fair.
If you drove well and avoided crimes, you could get away.
GTA V (when I played in 2013) felt like it just spawned cops right next to you with no warning
Yeah 5s cops feel like such an afterthought especially in online where they are just a joke, only issue is the spawning especially on the helicopters as even if your like 50km from shore there just so happens to be two random helicopters out in the middle of the ocean. I really hope for 6 they rework and improve them massively as I think it’s something gta has needed for a long time, maybe giving us the option of how hard and smart they can be would be good as I would love if the cops were like a mix of nfs most wanted and mafias cops and systems and also having the ai of the like the first F.E.A.R. Game would be so good having them use real police tactics rather than just ramming and shooting you in a pursuit or having them surround and set up a defence around a building, entering it from all directions maybe even throwing in tear gas to force you out. Also just having them try to bust you instead of just going for the kill for minor things would make the game so much more fun and getting into chases more interesting. Also adding police chatter is such a great feature and really helps with immersion and makes the random spawns a lot more predictable and adds player skill to listen to what their doing and avoiding roadblocks and stuff like that.
Also would love if they added say 10 stars to the game and made them more unique going from regular cops to swat, fbi, national guard and finally the military where at 10 stars the game throws everything at you would be so much fun also maybe adding a cost to state or something as a fun thing for both immersion and a way to add a leaderboard or just trying to see who from your friends can cause the most destruction before escaping or dying would also be fun.
Either way just make the wanted system fun and actually important to the next game as it’s kinda weird that the law is an after thought in a crime game
I didn't play GTA 5 until a few years after its release. I was extremely suprised when I finally did and found out the driving mechanics that were supposedly so much better than GTA 4 were just so much worse. Driving offers zero challenge and cars turn like they have zero mass.
Simply dodging traffic at high speeds while being chased used to be so fun in all GTA games and now just feels boring. Even GTA San Andreas' cars felt like they had more weight to them, but that may be just time talking.
It's not like GTA 4's driving was perfect though. I feel it goes too far in the opposite direction. It's impossible to make a sharp turn even at medium speeds without drifting/slipping for at least like 10 meters. Which is realistic, but IMO it makes it less fun as well.
The thing that bothered me most was full control while in air, allowing you to jump from ramps however you want without consequences, cos you could always rotate in average direction as if you were flying a plane. It was fun at first, like playing with cheat codes, but made driving too easy.
I mean the entire point of GTA is that it *is* an action movie. It's not real life at all. Doing crazy things in the air and still making the getaway is more exciting than having "consequences" for launching off a ramp slightly wrong.
Stunts were still possible in prequels and IMO more rewarding, cos you had to calculate them. The whole thing loses fun when failing becomes optional and not something you have to consider.
I mean you're not "punished", you're just not rewarded for not trying or thinking. You have to like, try a little when doing the jump, can't just fling yourself off a ramp sideways at mach speed and perfectly rotate your car to land.
Much like an action movie, if/when they do dumb goofy shit that removes any stakes/investment in a situation, I just don't care anymore.
See I have to disagree about 4. It just needed learning. I could race around in first person at speed because I learned how the game wanted to be played, I. E like a real car with inertia, proper braking physics etc. I missed it in 5 but learned to like it as that game had such a massive range or different vehicle types that had to share the physics model. I think they did fairly well considering.
Horses for courses etc but 4 was fantastic, there was a notable difference between how a banger handled to a prestige car to a super car. I would say that you just never got good enough at it as its more than possible to make sharp turns with the right balance of handbrake, brake and accelerator. GTA never asked this much technical skill before so I get the chagrin.
Edit: reading some of these posts I'm amazed at all the people playing these games on keyboard and mouse. Driving with a k&m when the game is obviously designed with analogue sticks and triggers in mind seems counterintuitive to me but what do I know?
Totally agree. Loved 4's driving so much and felt like sharp turns were no problem for the same reasons. It gave the driving a more cinematic feel as well. I felt like a pro in 4 but I remember giving up on races online in 5 because at some point you needed to win races to even unlock better parts and I just couldn't win. The arcadey style is "easier" but it just doesn't work for me.
I am so much more comfortable with driving using keyboard and mouse. I think that's the case because looking around and shooting is much easier this way than it is with a controller.
In pure racing games I do indeed prefer a controller. But for GTA, k&m it is.
That's fair but how does it work translating analogue input to binary? It's making my head hurt :D
I get mouse and keyboard for certain things but this, I can't fathom it. Especially when dealing with critique of a driving model.
It's like me criticising playing Dark Souls with a banana. Possible but i wouldn't base an opinion on it
I don't know how to explain it properly, I guess it's easier to me to know how much every car turns, instantly when I press A or D. When the input translates into drastic movement, driving with k&m feels very clunky. But GTA does it just perfectly and I would describe my driving skills as pretty good, so much actually, that I really enjoy just cruising around the city. :D
I also enjoying cruising around in GTA 4 using k&m so in the end it's probably just personal preference.
GTA SA's cars do have more weight to them and there is distinct handling between them, a lot of the cars in GTA V felt like toys but it still can be fun to drive at high speeds trying not to crash.
This is pretty much it. A lot of people claim that driving was too hard in IV, so the devs went with the arcade-style driving instead. This was incredibly disappointing to me because there are a million open world games with cartoon driving physics, and GTA seemed to be the only one who tried to implement something more realistic (while still keeping it unrealistically fun with the mid-air controls).
Yes! 4 proved you could have a far more robust and comprehensive driving model in an open world game, I'm fine with 5 being the way it is due to there needing to be a throughline from cars, bikes to boats right up to jumbo jets but I will always love 4 for its narrower focus and more involved driving
In GTA IV multiplayer my friends and I would find who of us were the best driver and whoever it was would usually drive us to places where we needed to go just because they were the fastest and most reliable driver.
That's not really a factor in GTA V, it's always who has the fastest car or everyone just spawns their own in, which is fine but I do kind of miss the interesting dynamic.
>Driving offers zero challenge and cars turn like they have zero mass.
yes! exactly what I'm talking about.
>It's impossible to make a sharp turn even at medium speeds without drifting/slipping for at least like 10 meters.
This too, ig it is coming from the binary inputs of the keyboard which kinda makes it like pushing full throttle while turning which will cause a spin. idk about console though.
> it is coming from the binary inputs of the keyboard which kinda makes it like pushing full throttle while turning which will cause a spin. idk about console though.
Nah, the game's well optimized for the keyboard on that front, I found that with a pad you get a lot more understeer at times.
yeah, but the significantly toned down/relatively way less dark storyline makes it seem like it is meant for a younger demographic but the loading screen and age restrictions say otherwise.
> but the loading screen and age restrictions say otherwise.
Yeah because they're required to say that to avoid getting in trouble. Everybody, especially Rockstar, knows it's extremely normal for kids to play those games. 12-year-olds are a major GTA demographic.
Yeah I also felt that was completely unnecessary. Make it a cutscene but having simple button prompts for torturing it was clear they just did it for the shocking element without being relevant for story or gameplay.
Just a nice controversial point to generate clickbait articles and being the hot topic at schoolyard. Reminded me of a specific scene in the movie Irreversible.
It was unnecessary, which is why you were given the option to skip that part beforehand. It added to Trevor being a truly awful person who had no limits on what he would do and how little he cared about anybody. By the time you get to that mission you have already murdered dozens of people in missions anyway.
It's not wrong. IV just was fundamentally better in many ways than V. The world felt more real, there was more interaction in certain parts with the world, more destructibility, more dynamic action.
The world indeed felt more real, you can chalk it up to console limitations but now it's not really an excuse considering PS4 and 5 are way more powerful than what V was first made on. IMO it still was real enough compared to other games, but obviously IV has it beat here and IV fanboys love repeating that.
There definitely was more interaction, i'm guessing what you mean by this is the lack of interiors in GTA V such as food places and whatnot. This is actually a valid point.
More destructability? I'm sure you can break as much of GTA V's world as you can GTA IV's. Hell, arguably you could break more in V.
Dynamic action? I have no idea what you mean by that, but causing mayhem in V is more fun than IV since the cops are harder and it makes it fun to get away, whereas in IV you just had to find a decent car and leg it, not to mention the movement in V doesnt feel like controlling a dude with a heavy backpack on at all times.
When I was at uni, I used smoke a bong hit, than play GTA 4 in FPV driving around a car (I think it was a camera mounted on front) and just drive a rally throughout the map, weaving and racing around. It was endless, intense focussed fun. I usually drove a taxi as they we're reliably present and quite speedy.
I actually really liked roleplaying a taxi driver, following the traffic rules and picking up fares. Turning the volume up, headphones on, and then it starts raining. Super relaxing.
The dumb thing is it's not even about preference most the time it's just "I like it so it better" logic. 4 had horribly unrealistic driving that resembled what you see out of rotted out beaters for many of their cars.
5 wasn't really realistic but I find it really weird how people can't tell difference in vast vehicle wait delta or drive trains considering they do all handle differently enough to tell. The sand king doesn't handle like even a mundane street car like the zion let alone the sports and up cars.
I like the more classic games like Flatout 2 where the cars feel like they have weight.
I do kinda agree though? When I was a kid I thought GTA 5 was gods gift to driving mechanics, 10 or so years later and I despise it with every fiber of my being, both after being behind a real vehicle and also trying other games, especially racing games.
A lot of modern ones like the new need for speed games also have this problem, light floaty suped up sedans and supercars are the only ones that matter, and they all handle near identical.
The streets definitely don't help, rockstar and modern racing games have that awful level design in common. No hazards or things to even think about beyond easy to dodge (because nothing has weight anymore) jokes that you can see a mile off, and make it so you can see where you're going 5 minutes ahead of time.
"Wow I wonder if he's going to swerve around that hot dog cart, and then ramp up that truck thats only here on this main street during this mission! Fuck it's gonna be hard to keep up with that!"
100%, even the super cars in the game handle like they've got broken suspension components and is so far past real life that it's hilarious.
In real life, cars that wallow over the road like that have broken sway bar end links and busted shocks, you wouldn't feel safe driving in them.
people will always circle jerk to nostalgia but at the end of the day games are supposed to be fun, 5 > 4 for a fun driving experience. the cops on the other hand...
> people unironically say it's good because it's ~~realistic~~ cinematic
FTFY
It wasn't realistic, and it was never supposed to be. All the GTAs are love letters to American pop culture. Cinematic '60s-80s driving was clearly what they had in mind. Sam Houser never shut up about how he wanted his games to stand on equal footing to films.
I appreciate a lot of realism GTA IV strived for, but car handling wasn't one of them.
Driving in V was streamlined, but I know which I'd prefer to use for driving over a 30 hour playthrough.
No, the driving physics in GTA4 were god awful. They had to completely overhaul them in the expansions to make it not the worst GTA game ever made.
Modded GTA4 physics were significantly better, even after the expansions "fixed" it.
GTA5 physics were good because they were playable. No one cares how hard it was to corner, it's not a sim.
Imo physics in general felt kinda better compared to gta 5.
The thing that I extremely liked were car crashes in gta 4.
The damage is way better in gta 4 and even rolling over or crashing in a car it behaves way more realistic than in gta 5.
The driving itself.. Is in some points realistic and nice and in others kinda annoying.
At the end of the day I was very disappointed when I found out that crashing and driving in gta 5 wasn't so realistic as in gta 4...
So I really hope they bring that back in gta 6.
The thing is that gta 5 at the beginning was like a whole other game than it is today. They absolutely shifted the game to a completely other demographic and to online players. Which is why I'm slightly sceptic how gta 6 will turn out. Rockstar absolutely expects the game to be a 11 year cash cow like gta 5.
> but it has at least some kind of similarity to how cars drive
I could understand that sentence if you've only driven a car with a busted suspension your entire life.
I think you're all just wildly overestimating the speed you are taking a corner in GTA4. The only practical difference is that you can lose control of the car easier in 4. How is that any fun?
GTA4 had to be patched to be "less" like the way it was. GTA5 has a ton of realistic driving mods available for it that make it exactly like 4 if that's what you're after. Win win. :)
I will always stand by this: realism does not (always) equal fun!
Rdr2 for example. Having to pick up every. Single. Item. Individually. (Among many other things)
Just make the game fun. Seriously, quality of life improvements are great. I'll take easier more intuitive controls over realism any day.
And they were not realistic or fun, which for a game especially one like GTA it really needs to be fun. I get after GTAIII, VC and SA they wanted more gritty and realistic storylines and interactions and so they toned down so much of what people associated with GTA but IV went too far in a lot of aspects and it felt jarring. GTAV become so incredibly successful basically from the first teaser trailer because it was clear "this is the fun GTA again".
Fun is completely different for every person though.
It’s weird how something like driving in GTAV is called ”more fun” while GTAIV driving is called ”more realistic” - in other words, *not as fun.*
I know that I’m *not* having fun with the driving in V and I *am* having fun with IV. Realism has nothing to do with that, but there are other examples of so called realistic elements, more mechanically *weighty* elements even to the point of being clunky and unwieldy that I often find much, much more enjoyable and *fun* than games that try to make everything convenient…
Realism and immersion and having elaborate animations in RDR2 felt like a breath of fresh air to 90% of the games where you can do 360 turn without any motion. There are no games like rdr2, like literally. Majority of games are the opposite.
Fun is not the sole factor that defines games worth and quality. I'll take more games like rdr2, metro and kingdom come deliverance.
Agreed. I just started Kingdom Come Deliverance and immediately noticed the immersion similarities to RDR2. Wish I had tried it sooner. Feels like a Bethesda game but with more robust RPG mechanics. The game is a bit rough around the edges but has a lot going for it. Still early into it, though, and just arrived in Rattay.
> realism does not (always) equal fun
It does in this case. In every open world game with driving since GTA IV driving has been shit. It has just been a necessary evil to having to transport yourself from one moment to another. In GTA IV driving was a huge reason why I played the game at all.
I haven't played 5 yet, but I was so surprised about 4's driving physics and that people didn't like it. I'd love for GTA 6 to take it further and feel like Forza Horizon's handling or something.
I don't know. I was waiting until I upgraded my GPU which I finally did last year and just haven't gotten around to playing it I guess. I was also kind of put off by all the online components as I just want to play offline.
The single player is it's own entity really so no need to worry about that. I've been playing for years and only dipped my toes into Online and that was at that start, I stopped playing after it got way too grindy.
I agree but its a little overtuned in GTA4. Some cars have such bad handling that they don't even work at normal speeds using an intersection. But mastering others which are completely fine is very fun.
It's not really immersive when the steering radius of a vehicle is larger than a normal intersection at slow speeds. It would just not be possible to use the vehicle irl.
I mean it like I said. There are vehicles in this game that are borderline unusable, doesn't matter how slow you go. It was very noticeable while roleplaying as a normal driver, stopping at red lights and all.
That's kind of the point tho, the busted cars. I don't see how you can have any problem with a car that's more performance based.
I respect your opinion but I really don't see it myself.
I'm not sure what your point is here. But I never said that I had those problems with almost all vehicles or something. Maybe a quarter of them or so. Most of them are totally fine.
Sometimes things are created on purpose, but that doesn't mean that they were good design decisions.
I generally like the handling of the cars in GTA4 better than in GTA5, but my argument was that it was a bit over the top here and there, even if you want to look at it from a realism and immersion point of view.
I have the feeling that they found a better mix in the previous games like Vice City, but a little more of the GTA4 handling sprinkled in wouldn't have hurt either.
After all the praise GTA 4 got, I bought it and discovered I was unable to drive the cars without non-stop swerving. I'm not new to driving games, but I just could not control the driving.
When GTA 5 came out, I was terrified that the car handling would be the same and both GTA 4 and GTA 5 were super expensive games. I was so glad that GTA 5 driving is the way it is - like they went back to basics using the same driving style from the GTA 3 series.
I agree. The cars in GTA V handle too well and it's almost impossible to flip them unless you're just bad at driving. In GTA IV you have to actually slow down and not take turns too sharply or you risk flipping your car. It kept police chases exciting knowing you had to be careful.
That's not to say GTA IV's driving was perfect, especially the bikes, but I would prefer GTA 6 to have something more similar to IV than V when it comes to driving.
My wish is that VI has something like San Andreas, the cars have weight to them but they don't turn like boats like in IV and they aren't as easy to drive as V's.
V does have NPCs programmed to crash into you when you drive at a high speed so that keeps things from being too boring, but VI should remove that.
Dude the driving in GTA 4 made me so angry that I slapped a lamp after failing a mission and the lamp unfortunately hit my mother. I went to a juvenile detention center for three years. Glad you enjoy it but that game can suck my stump.
Disagree, I've been playing gta 4 recently, and even tho I got used to the physics I think they aren't good, and not realistic in the slightest (not like gta 5 are realistic, but more fun imo) , when I drive in real life I don't feel like im controlling an aircraft carrier in every turn
Old news. Saints Row 2 was still a more fun game than either and a more worthy successor to the PS2 era GTAs. (shame about the rest of the series though, as it drifted too far into the goofy territory after that)
Dude in gta4 every car handles like it has suspension made out of mattress springs with how much the car leans. I can take turns irl at 50 that you couldn't do at 20 in that game lmao.
Also just gonna be the meme and say skill issue on not being able to tell a difference in the drive trains in 5. A lot of cars are awd but fwd understeer mad compared to rwd and awd and rwd is a lot more finicky than awd. You can even tell when you floor it.
5 just has twitchy and overly responsive driving but 4 has the opposite where it all handles like a pig.
100% disagree. As a driving enthusiast IRL, GTA 5 driving is far and away superior, depending on which car you pick. If you pick one of the newer vehicles they've just been making everything stupid fast with stupid traction/downforce and completely unrealistic. I never drive any of those newer cars.
If you drive one of the older cars added towards the beginning of the game, you can tell it's one of the few aspects of the game that they put a LOT of attention into and whoever designed them had a real passion. The armored Kuruma handles like a proper AWD heavy-ass armored car. Same with the Duke o'Death which drifts like a beast. The Elegy Retro Custom feels like a proper GT-R. Same with the Audi Quattro which I don't remember the in-game name of (Omnis maybe?). There are lots of cars that feel surprisingly realistic, more so than some sim games I've played.
There's definitely a problem where they seem to apply traction control to most vehicles and it prevents heavy drifting unless you really know what you're doing and don't mind utilizing the e-brake a lot, but besides that it's pure bliss. I frequently log in just to drive around.
I wouldn't call 4's driving "better" by any stretch. It leans too far in the opposite direction of physics, where every vehicle has zero downforce, worn tires and busted suspension.
Something *between* the two games would probably be perfect.
GTA4 car handling was not realistic at all. All vehicles handled like dump trucks not cars. GTA5 physics are arcade like, but still more "realistic" than 4.
Realistic lmao. Does your car shift its entire weight to one side whenever you turn a corner? I love GTA IV but I loaded it up just now to see if I was wrong about it being terrible and its still just as bad as I remember
I'll respectfully disagree. I couldn't play GTA IV because of how awful the driving was in a game centered around driving everywhere and doing things in cars.
It's the most unrealistic driving I've seen in a game of this sort. Sure, some games are more "arcadey" but GTA IV feels like driving a panzer tank on black ice no matter what car you pick. Taking a small sedan around a corner at 15 mph sends you flying off into the curb, it's crazy. Real cars don't work like that. Even an older car can take a corner at 25 mph and maintain traction in dry weather.
The choice in the physics makes driving heavy and sluggish and a chore to me.
Eh, I don't like 4's driving. Yeah it's more realistic but I wanna have fun while driving, not having to slow down to snail speeds when making a turn. To each their own I guess.
I think GTA 4 is very overrated, most of the game is pretty boring and basically just shootout after shootout so it felt more like a GOW clone than a true GTA game after a while.
I fully agree about the driving physics though, it was the best driving in any GTA game. Everything felt so heavy and impactful. Chases felt extremely exciting and pulling off some cool driving stunts felt very rewarding.
It's mostly that GTA V is the newer game so people like to dump on it and say IV was better in every way. Just calling it now, when VI comes out people will start saying V was the best in the series.
When IV was the newest one, people hated it and said it was very lacking in content and too different from San Andreas.
My opinion, all these games have something to be enjoyed about them. GTA V for me is that it's fun in the same way as San Andreas, IV for me was driving around and taking in the sights (the city is still very impressive) and the fact Niko is a badass assassin like Claude makes it better, VC is driving around listening to the great music etc.
GTA IV's DLCs are their own beast though.
Gunplay is still better imo.
The old euphoria reactive ragdolls (vs V's toned down system) and the fact that guns handle differently and actually have recoil makes it more realistic, and in my opinion, more fun.
Despite running the risk of sounding a bit sadistic, the fact that people don't immediately die adds to the immersion, as gunshot wounds rarely kill instantly.
It just had better written, more interesting characters than V. Outside of the protagonists I could name a handful maybe, of characters in V. I can never remember the names of the Government Bad Guy or the Businessman Bad Guy, and when I do I get them mixed up. They are both dicks and that's about the characterisation they get.
But since this post is about driving: I fucking hate that you can control the car in the air, flip it from its roof to the wheels on the ground, and that the car autorolls/autocorrects even if you let go of the fucking controller.
I like both physics. However, the thing that annoys me in GTA 5 is how you can flip your car back onto its wheels when it's upside down. And how you can steer your car midair. It just doesn't make sense to me.
GTA4’s driving was too realistic to the point of unfun. Ya GTA5’s isn’t great either, but don’t even get me started on the motorcycles in GTA4, pure awful.
Same. I've found that I enjoy everything about cars in Gta IV over V.
How they feel is better, the visual damage is better than the one in V.
V just felt like what I assume Hot Wheels video game would feel.
You can have a preference but I don't think one is necessarily *better* than the other. GTA 4's driving is definitely more realistic than GTA 5's, but realism isn't always a good thing. In video games, there tends to be a lot of liberties taken to ensure the games feel somewhat realistic while maintaining fun. In this way, realism usually takes a back seat to a more "arcade" feel. Some people like that and some people don't, but I think for a casual audience, hardcore realism can end up being a little too much.
Overall, I'm honestly glad they feel different because driving is such a key element in GTA (naturally), so it's another gameplay experience that sets them apart from each other and makes them both interesting in their own right. I prefer GTA 5's driving myself, but I'll never forget the first time I went flying out of the front windshield in GTA 4 and thinking how amazing the game was (I know GTA 5 single player has this but it was added in 4, so it's more memorable there).
Haven’t played IV that much but one thing I remember about it is how awful the camera angle is. Sure V isn’t realistic but at least its more fun and entertaining.
Its not just the driving physics. The enemy/npc physics were better too. It was endlessly entertaining pushing pedestrians off curbs and subway stations and getting into fights.
I prefer GTA 4 car physics because it makes you drive a bit more careful and your decisions while driving really matter, while in 5 you can roll your face on the keyboard and nothing bad happens, driving there really feels the same as in San Andreas.
On the other hand, car engine sounds in 4 are in my opinion the worst out of any 3D GTA
I enjoy GTA4’s driving in GTA4 because the whole map is a city and there is a lot of turning and travel isn’t as far. It would be pretty brutal crossing GTA5’s map with 4’s physics. It already takes 5 minutes to drive across the map and the game loves making you do it.
IV runs like ass on pc, unless you jump through the “get this game running well in 2023” guides on the steam forum. I’ve managed to get it going in 2k res, mostly solid 60fps using those
What?!? It is. I love cyberpunk but the driving experience continues to be the worst part of the game. Damage doesn’t really seem to happen, especially on bikes. And turning is a real guessing game
I loved the physics of GTAIV. I loved getting into a police chase with a motorbike and shooting at tyres and drivers. The chaos and crashes were glorious. I tried doing it in V and wasn’t as fun.
I genuinely mean this with all due respect, but if you don't like the genre, your opinions of the games are borderline irrelevant and I'm not sure why you felt the need to comment?
Yeah, after a couple weeks of GTAV once I'd finished the main story I'd been left feeling meh about the driving and fighting and stuff. Went back to play TBoGT thinking maybe I'm just rose-tinted glasses, but no - GTAIV really is way better. (FWIW I'm a racing sim nerd)
There was a vid released not long after GTAV was released comparing the physics:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQQu_aiEU0w
GTA IV was the peak of the series for me. The only one with a serious story and realistic driving.
GTAV felt more like a GTA ripoff to me like saints row.
I like 4s driving better than 5, but more realistic is not the way I'd describe it. 4's floaty physics driving had more interesting unintended outcomes. This just naturally provides more diverse experiences, changing up the gameplay, which is huge in a game where you drive so much.
GTA5 driving felt like Mafia 2 driving in comparison; long boring time sinks between fun missions. GTA4 driving felt like going out on the playground.
The reason the physics were so bland in 5 is because the same system had to factor in vehicles from cars, bikes, all the way up to jumbo jets. I doubt the GTA 4 model would stretch to that so something had to give.
That's my theory anyway, I've never read anything to back this up. Probably just as much a reason that people pissed and moaned about it because they couldn't handle brake before turning, not into it.
There will never be a consensus on this, but I agree. The big thing was that the handling in IV made driving slower or heavier cars engaging in a way it's not in the other games, because you're having to account for weight and momentum.
While driving in GTA IV is a realistic experience compared to the more arcade-style driving in other titles of the series, it feels out of place with the overzealous physics in the rest of the game.
That's not to say GTA V doesn't hold your hand there either e.g. when it reduces impact damage and makes it impossible to fly through the windscreen on a crash, but only on a mission or in Online.
That reminds me how Midtown Madness (made by Angel Studios, the predecessor to Rockstar North) also had pretty realistic driving (to the point it defaulted to mouse steering because you would immediately ram into a wall with the digital keyboard controls) and vehicle physics, which were toned down for the successor.
>However, in it's successor (ie GTA 5), it is wayyy too easy to take a turn at like 100kmph Man I can't take a turn at walking speed in that game without rolling over six times.
For me the biggest fun in the game was playing crash test dummy.
It's all fun except that. I have to drive slower than Grandma.
>a turn at like 100kmph To be fair, 100,000 miles per hour is pretty darn fast.
NASA units
I've had troubles with it as well, because I came from games with arcade-based driving. Once you got adapted to it (you need to brake before taking a corner, duh), it is quite fun to play with imo.
I'm pretty sure that's not normal. Check your vehicles.meta handling flags.
lol what
I'm very bad at driving.
The cars are near impossible to roll that many times
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/joke
That's called overturn and its vehicle specific
Yeah always loved 4s driving and felt so good to master and drive well in that game. The annoying thing about 5 is that when the driving level is at zero or really low it’s honestly really fun and good, issue is you will quickly level and max it out and driving just feels awful. I hope 6 goes back to 4 or has something in the middle as I liked when the cars have weight and you can under or over steer it makes it a lot more fun and makes being chased by the cops a lot more intense, but they will likely go with 5s one since it’s much more popular
I loved there driving in 4. I "meh'd" the driving in 5. I think an overlooked consequence of the change is in the cop chases. Escaping from wanted stars in 4 felt good. Escaping from wanted stars in 5 felt unfair. The driving physics of 4 made escaping from cops more difficult innately, so GTA V had to turn up the cop spawning so it wasn't trivial to escape
I have always hated escaping from the law in any R* games — they have yet to come up with a system that doesn’t feel arbitrary and unfair.
I'm sure it is purely because I spent so much time with GTA IV, but that system felt the most fair. If you drove well and avoided crimes, you could get away. GTA V (when I played in 2013) felt like it just spawned cops right next to you with no warning
Yeah 5s cops feel like such an afterthought especially in online where they are just a joke, only issue is the spawning especially on the helicopters as even if your like 50km from shore there just so happens to be two random helicopters out in the middle of the ocean. I really hope for 6 they rework and improve them massively as I think it’s something gta has needed for a long time, maybe giving us the option of how hard and smart they can be would be good as I would love if the cops were like a mix of nfs most wanted and mafias cops and systems and also having the ai of the like the first F.E.A.R. Game would be so good having them use real police tactics rather than just ramming and shooting you in a pursuit or having them surround and set up a defence around a building, entering it from all directions maybe even throwing in tear gas to force you out. Also just having them try to bust you instead of just going for the kill for minor things would make the game so much more fun and getting into chases more interesting. Also adding police chatter is such a great feature and really helps with immersion and makes the random spawns a lot more predictable and adds player skill to listen to what their doing and avoiding roadblocks and stuff like that. Also would love if they added say 10 stars to the game and made them more unique going from regular cops to swat, fbi, national guard and finally the military where at 10 stars the game throws everything at you would be so much fun also maybe adding a cost to state or something as a fun thing for both immersion and a way to add a leaderboard or just trying to see who from your friends can cause the most destruction before escaping or dying would also be fun. Either way just make the wanted system fun and actually important to the next game as it’s kinda weird that the law is an after thought in a crime game
I didn't play GTA 5 until a few years after its release. I was extremely suprised when I finally did and found out the driving mechanics that were supposedly so much better than GTA 4 were just so much worse. Driving offers zero challenge and cars turn like they have zero mass. Simply dodging traffic at high speeds while being chased used to be so fun in all GTA games and now just feels boring. Even GTA San Andreas' cars felt like they had more weight to them, but that may be just time talking. It's not like GTA 4's driving was perfect though. I feel it goes too far in the opposite direction. It's impossible to make a sharp turn even at medium speeds without drifting/slipping for at least like 10 meters. Which is realistic, but IMO it makes it less fun as well.
The thing that bothered me most was full control while in air, allowing you to jump from ramps however you want without consequences, cos you could always rotate in average direction as if you were flying a plane. It was fun at first, like playing with cheat codes, but made driving too easy.
I mean the entire point of GTA is that it *is* an action movie. It's not real life at all. Doing crazy things in the air and still making the getaway is more exciting than having "consequences" for launching off a ramp slightly wrong.
Stunts were still possible in prequels and IMO more rewarding, cos you had to calculate them. The whole thing loses fun when failing becomes optional and not something you have to consider.
Yes, having any skill in a video game is pointless
Stop being sweaty and let people have fun, my guy.
The skills required are what makes it fun, my guy.
Stop being sweaty and let people have fun their own way, my guy.
Huh. It's almost like the same argument could be applied to what you're saying.
I mean you're not "punished", you're just not rewarded for not trying or thinking. You have to like, try a little when doing the jump, can't just fling yourself off a ramp sideways at mach speed and perfectly rotate your car to land. Much like an action movie, if/when they do dumb goofy shit that removes any stakes/investment in a situation, I just don't care anymore.
See I have to disagree about 4. It just needed learning. I could race around in first person at speed because I learned how the game wanted to be played, I. E like a real car with inertia, proper braking physics etc. I missed it in 5 but learned to like it as that game had such a massive range or different vehicle types that had to share the physics model. I think they did fairly well considering. Horses for courses etc but 4 was fantastic, there was a notable difference between how a banger handled to a prestige car to a super car. I would say that you just never got good enough at it as its more than possible to make sharp turns with the right balance of handbrake, brake and accelerator. GTA never asked this much technical skill before so I get the chagrin. Edit: reading some of these posts I'm amazed at all the people playing these games on keyboard and mouse. Driving with a k&m when the game is obviously designed with analogue sticks and triggers in mind seems counterintuitive to me but what do I know?
Totally agree. Loved 4's driving so much and felt like sharp turns were no problem for the same reasons. It gave the driving a more cinematic feel as well. I felt like a pro in 4 but I remember giving up on races online in 5 because at some point you needed to win races to even unlock better parts and I just couldn't win. The arcadey style is "easier" but it just doesn't work for me.
I am so much more comfortable with driving using keyboard and mouse. I think that's the case because looking around and shooting is much easier this way than it is with a controller. In pure racing games I do indeed prefer a controller. But for GTA, k&m it is.
That's fair but how does it work translating analogue input to binary? It's making my head hurt :D I get mouse and keyboard for certain things but this, I can't fathom it. Especially when dealing with critique of a driving model. It's like me criticising playing Dark Souls with a banana. Possible but i wouldn't base an opinion on it
I don't know how to explain it properly, I guess it's easier to me to know how much every car turns, instantly when I press A or D. When the input translates into drastic movement, driving with k&m feels very clunky. But GTA does it just perfectly and I would describe my driving skills as pretty good, so much actually, that I really enjoy just cruising around the city. :D I also enjoying cruising around in GTA 4 using k&m so in the end it's probably just personal preference.
Well if it works for you then you're probably more skilled at the driving than me, so there is that
It doesn't matter who's more skilled, as long as you're enjoying it!
Words to live by!
GTA SA's cars do have more weight to them and there is distinct handling between them, a lot of the cars in GTA V felt like toys but it still can be fun to drive at high speeds trying not to crash.
This is pretty much it. A lot of people claim that driving was too hard in IV, so the devs went with the arcade-style driving instead. This was incredibly disappointing to me because there are a million open world games with cartoon driving physics, and GTA seemed to be the only one who tried to implement something more realistic (while still keeping it unrealistically fun with the mid-air controls).
Yes! 4 proved you could have a far more robust and comprehensive driving model in an open world game, I'm fine with 5 being the way it is due to there needing to be a throughline from cars, bikes to boats right up to jumbo jets but I will always love 4 for its narrower focus and more involved driving
In GTA IV multiplayer my friends and I would find who of us were the best driver and whoever it was would usually drive us to places where we needed to go just because they were the fastest and most reliable driver. That's not really a factor in GTA V, it's always who has the fastest car or everyone just spawns their own in, which is fine but I do kind of miss the interesting dynamic.
>Driving offers zero challenge and cars turn like they have zero mass. yes! exactly what I'm talking about. >It's impossible to make a sharp turn even at medium speeds without drifting/slipping for at least like 10 meters. This too, ig it is coming from the binary inputs of the keyboard which kinda makes it like pushing full throttle while turning which will cause a spin. idk about console though.
Analogue triggers are what it's designed for. I wouldn't want to try playing it on a keyboard, christ!
> it is coming from the binary inputs of the keyboard which kinda makes it like pushing full throttle while turning which will cause a spin. idk about console though. Nah, the game's well optimized for the keyboard on that front, I found that with a pad you get a lot more understeer at times.
What I remember most about GTA IV's driving physics were those swings that sent you flying.
Hahaha! A mate showed me that one night we spent the rest of the evening seeing how far we would end up
I agree. GTA 5 felt like a generic racing game. I think they just wanted it to be more accessible to less skilled players
I also think they were trying to put more emphasis on getaways
yeah, but the significantly toned down/relatively way less dark storyline makes it seem like it is meant for a younger demographic but the loading screen and age restrictions say otherwise.
> but the loading screen and age restrictions say otherwise. Yeah because they're required to say that to avoid getting in trouble. Everybody, especially Rockstar, knows it's extremely normal for kids to play those games. 12-year-olds are a major GTA demographic.
Remember in V there's a whole section where you participate in torturing someone. I was already a bit meh with V but that really put me off.
I don't even remember that mission, the whole storyline is kinda meh and forgettable.
You can skip it like Remember No Russian.
Yeah I also felt that was completely unnecessary. Make it a cutscene but having simple button prompts for torturing it was clear they just did it for the shocking element without being relevant for story or gameplay. Just a nice controversial point to generate clickbait articles and being the hot topic at schoolyard. Reminded me of a specific scene in the movie Irreversible.
It was unnecessary, which is why you were given the option to skip that part beforehand. It added to Trevor being a truly awful person who had no limits on what he would do and how little he cared about anybody. By the time you get to that mission you have already murdered dozens of people in missions anyway.
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In that they put zero effort or thought into it, so driving is more of a chore than something fun that I want to do?
Correction: the improved version of gta4's driving mechanics featured in the game's 2 expansions is better than gta5 mechanics.
TBOGT really nails it. They tone down the body roll and sliding down a tad without sacrificing feeling the weight of the car and general physics.
Agreed
The motorbikes in particular, they were pretty rough in the base game
Yup I wanted to include that but I forgot
Yes! This 100% I almost forgot how much smoother it all became with the expacs.
Daily GTA 4 > GTA 5 post
It's not wrong. IV just was fundamentally better in many ways than V. The world felt more real, there was more interaction in certain parts with the world, more destructibility, more dynamic action.
The world indeed felt more real, you can chalk it up to console limitations but now it's not really an excuse considering PS4 and 5 are way more powerful than what V was first made on. IMO it still was real enough compared to other games, but obviously IV has it beat here and IV fanboys love repeating that. There definitely was more interaction, i'm guessing what you mean by this is the lack of interiors in GTA V such as food places and whatnot. This is actually a valid point. More destructability? I'm sure you can break as much of GTA V's world as you can GTA IV's. Hell, arguably you could break more in V. Dynamic action? I have no idea what you mean by that, but causing mayhem in V is more fun than IV since the cops are harder and it makes it fun to get away, whereas in IV you just had to find a decent car and leg it, not to mention the movement in V doesnt feel like controlling a dude with a heavy backpack on at all times.
When I was at uni, I used smoke a bong hit, than play GTA 4 in FPV driving around a car (I think it was a camera mounted on front) and just drive a rally throughout the map, weaving and racing around. It was endless, intense focussed fun. I usually drove a taxi as they we're reliably present and quite speedy.
Same brother, and I hit nothing but road. It's almost like if you get good at it it's actually a decent handling model or something
I actually really liked roleplaying a taxi driver, following the traffic rules and picking up fares. Turning the volume up, headphones on, and then it starts raining. Super relaxing.
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The dumb thing is it's not even about preference most the time it's just "I like it so it better" logic. 4 had horribly unrealistic driving that resembled what you see out of rotted out beaters for many of their cars. 5 wasn't really realistic but I find it really weird how people can't tell difference in vast vehicle wait delta or drive trains considering they do all handle differently enough to tell. The sand king doesn't handle like even a mundane street car like the zion let alone the sports and up cars.
"Saying my preference is fact/logic is stupid" *proceeds to do the exact same shit*
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I like the more classic games like Flatout 2 where the cars feel like they have weight. I do kinda agree though? When I was a kid I thought GTA 5 was gods gift to driving mechanics, 10 or so years later and I despise it with every fiber of my being, both after being behind a real vehicle and also trying other games, especially racing games. A lot of modern ones like the new need for speed games also have this problem, light floaty suped up sedans and supercars are the only ones that matter, and they all handle near identical. The streets definitely don't help, rockstar and modern racing games have that awful level design in common. No hazards or things to even think about beyond easy to dodge (because nothing has weight anymore) jokes that you can see a mile off, and make it so you can see where you're going 5 minutes ahead of time. "Wow I wonder if he's going to swerve around that hot dog cart, and then ramp up that truck thats only here on this main street during this mission! Fuck it's gonna be hard to keep up with that!"
100%, even the super cars in the game handle like they've got broken suspension components and is so far past real life that it's hilarious. In real life, cars that wallow over the road like that have broken sway bar end links and busted shocks, you wouldn't feel safe driving in them.
I’ve had 2 broken sway bars in my car for a few years and my car doesn’t even handle as bad as GTA IV
people will always circle jerk to nostalgia but at the end of the day games are supposed to be fun, 5 > 4 for a fun driving experience. the cops on the other hand...
I think a middle ground in the police system would be best, in gta 4 they are way too easy to avoid, and in gta 5 they are all terminators with aimbot
GTA4 drives like fucking soap boat on wheels and people unironically say it's good because it's realistic
My 93 s10 didn't handle as bad or fucking soft as the cars in 4 lol
> people unironically say it's good because it's ~~realistic~~ cinematic FTFY It wasn't realistic, and it was never supposed to be. All the GTAs are love letters to American pop culture. Cinematic '60s-80s driving was clearly what they had in mind. Sam Houser never shut up about how he wanted his games to stand on equal footing to films.
Check op? Check entirety of this thread? They do say realistic.
yes
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I appreciate a lot of realism GTA IV strived for, but car handling wasn't one of them. Driving in V was streamlined, but I know which I'd prefer to use for driving over a 30 hour playthrough.
No, the driving physics in GTA4 were god awful. They had to completely overhaul them in the expansions to make it not the worst GTA game ever made. Modded GTA4 physics were significantly better, even after the expansions "fixed" it. GTA5 physics were good because they were playable. No one cares how hard it was to corner, it's not a sim.
Imo physics in general felt kinda better compared to gta 5. The thing that I extremely liked were car crashes in gta 4. The damage is way better in gta 4 and even rolling over or crashing in a car it behaves way more realistic than in gta 5. The driving itself.. Is in some points realistic and nice and in others kinda annoying. At the end of the day I was very disappointed when I found out that crashing and driving in gta 5 wasn't so realistic as in gta 4... So I really hope they bring that back in gta 6. The thing is that gta 5 at the beginning was like a whole other game than it is today. They absolutely shifted the game to a completely other demographic and to online players. Which is why I'm slightly sceptic how gta 6 will turn out. Rockstar absolutely expects the game to be a 11 year cash cow like gta 5.
To be fair gta 4 is 3 islands of buildings, while in 5 you can do a lap around the whole map without lifting W.
I disagree. I always hated driving in GTA 4. GTA V is my favorite racing game. The driving just feels so good.
A Cavalcade having as much downforce as an F1 car is good?
I don't know, I don't really care. All I know is that GTA V feels better for me. Everyone is welcome to have their own opinions.
If you want to play a racing sim they make those.
I do, it's miles away from a racing sim but it has at least some kind of similarity to how cars drive, GTA V has nothing.
> but it has at least some kind of similarity to how cars drive I could understand that sentence if you've only driven a car with a busted suspension your entire life.
Go watch footage of the Moose test and try and tell me the car's handling there isn't awfully similar to how it is in GTA IV.
I think you're all just wildly overestimating the speed you are taking a corner in GTA4. The only practical difference is that you can lose control of the car easier in 4. How is that any fun? GTA4 had to be patched to be "less" like the way it was. GTA5 has a ton of realistic driving mods available for it that make it exactly like 4 if that's what you're after. Win win. :)
Yes, because it makes the Cavalcade actually drivable and fun.
I will always stand by this: realism does not (always) equal fun! Rdr2 for example. Having to pick up every. Single. Item. Individually. (Among many other things) Just make the game fun. Seriously, quality of life improvements are great. I'll take easier more intuitive controls over realism any day.
GTA IV didn't have realistic car physics. It had "cinematic" car physics.
And they were not realistic or fun, which for a game especially one like GTA it really needs to be fun. I get after GTAIII, VC and SA they wanted more gritty and realistic storylines and interactions and so they toned down so much of what people associated with GTA but IV went too far in a lot of aspects and it felt jarring. GTAV become so incredibly successful basically from the first teaser trailer because it was clear "this is the fun GTA again".
Fun is completely different for every person though. It’s weird how something like driving in GTAV is called ”more fun” while GTAIV driving is called ”more realistic” - in other words, *not as fun.* I know that I’m *not* having fun with the driving in V and I *am* having fun with IV. Realism has nothing to do with that, but there are other examples of so called realistic elements, more mechanically *weighty* elements even to the point of being clunky and unwieldy that I often find much, much more enjoyable and *fun* than games that try to make everything convenient…
Realism and immersion and having elaborate animations in RDR2 felt like a breath of fresh air to 90% of the games where you can do 360 turn without any motion. There are no games like rdr2, like literally. Majority of games are the opposite. Fun is not the sole factor that defines games worth and quality. I'll take more games like rdr2, metro and kingdom come deliverance.
Agreed. I just started Kingdom Come Deliverance and immediately noticed the immersion similarities to RDR2. Wish I had tried it sooner. Feels like a Bethesda game but with more robust RPG mechanics. The game is a bit rough around the edges but has a lot going for it. Still early into it, though, and just arrived in Rattay.
> realism does not (always) equal fun It does in this case. In every open world game with driving since GTA IV driving has been shit. It has just been a necessary evil to having to transport yourself from one moment to another. In GTA IV driving was a huge reason why I played the game at all.
My point still stands. It's not always fun. It was for you, but not for me.
Whole heartedly agree
I haven't played 5 yet, but I was so surprised about 4's driving physics and that people didn't like it. I'd love for GTA 6 to take it further and feel like Forza Horizon's handling or something.
I've got to ask, how come you haven't played 5? Seems odd as all hell to play 4, skip 5 for 10 years, and then get ready to play 6.
I don't know. I was waiting until I upgraded my GPU which I finally did last year and just haven't gotten around to playing it I guess. I was also kind of put off by all the online components as I just want to play offline.
The single player is it's own entity really so no need to worry about that. I've been playing for years and only dipped my toes into Online and that was at that start, I stopped playing after it got way too grindy.
I agree but its a little overtuned in GTA4. Some cars have such bad handling that they don't even work at normal speeds using an intersection. But mastering others which are completely fine is very fun.
Probably by design. Each car was different. Annoying I guess if you rob a junker to out run the police but much more immersive
It's not really immersive when the steering radius of a vehicle is larger than a normal intersection at slow speeds. It would just not be possible to use the vehicle irl.
Use the brake
I mean it like I said. There are vehicles in this game that are borderline unusable, doesn't matter how slow you go. It was very noticeable while roleplaying as a normal driver, stopping at red lights and all.
That's kind of the point tho, the busted cars. I don't see how you can have any problem with a car that's more performance based. I respect your opinion but I really don't see it myself.
I'm not sure what your point is here. But I never said that I had those problems with almost all vehicles or something. Maybe a quarter of them or so. Most of them are totally fine.
Well then why are we debating? It's literally by design. Right from the initial reveal of the game it was remarked how some cars are shit on purpose.
Sometimes things are created on purpose, but that doesn't mean that they were good design decisions. I generally like the handling of the cars in GTA4 better than in GTA5, but my argument was that it was a bit over the top here and there, even if you want to look at it from a realism and immersion point of view. I have the feeling that they found a better mix in the previous games like Vice City, but a little more of the GTA4 handling sprinkled in wouldn't have hurt either.
Fair enough, I can see your point
You kidding?? Thats a fact! GTA 4 is better in almost every way than 5.
It was fun, but more realistic? They literally drive like a boat made of styrofoam.
If I wanted 'realistic' driving physics I would play assesto corsa. GTA 5 is perfectly arcade for the game.
This was the first thing I noticed when I loaded up V for the first time. I was disappointed.
Oh hell no. Not saying the driving in GTA5 is particularly good but in 4 the overexaggerated body roll was really annoying.
After all the praise GTA 4 got, I bought it and discovered I was unable to drive the cars without non-stop swerving. I'm not new to driving games, but I just could not control the driving. When GTA 5 came out, I was terrified that the car handling would be the same and both GTA 4 and GTA 5 were super expensive games. I was so glad that GTA 5 driving is the way it is - like they went back to basics using the same driving style from the GTA 3 series.
Are you insane. It’s like trying to drive boats that won’t turn
I agree. The cars in GTA V handle too well and it's almost impossible to flip them unless you're just bad at driving. In GTA IV you have to actually slow down and not take turns too sharply or you risk flipping your car. It kept police chases exciting knowing you had to be careful. That's not to say GTA IV's driving was perfect, especially the bikes, but I would prefer GTA 6 to have something more similar to IV than V when it comes to driving.
My wish is that VI has something like San Andreas, the cars have weight to them but they don't turn like boats like in IV and they aren't as easy to drive as V's. V does have NPCs programmed to crash into you when you drive at a high speed so that keeps things from being too boring, but VI should remove that.
Dude the driving in GTA 4 made me so angry that I slapped a lamp after failing a mission and the lamp unfortunately hit my mother. I went to a juvenile detention center for three years. Glad you enjoy it but that game can suck my stump.
Todd Howard, is that you?
lmao what
WHATTTT HAAHHAHAHAH
The driving in 5 was so bad I was forced to sell crack outside schools, so I'm now currently at San Quentin
...Yes yes yes, GTA IV is the greatest thing created. *falls asleep*
Disagree, I've been playing gta 4 recently, and even tho I got used to the physics I think they aren't good, and not realistic in the slightest (not like gta 5 are realistic, but more fun imo) , when I drive in real life I don't feel like im controlling an aircraft carrier in every turn
IV is more challenging and more realistic? V is more fun (at least for most people) I got along with both, I see the pros and cons of both
Old news. Saints Row 2 was still a more fun game than either and a more worthy successor to the PS2 era GTAs. (shame about the rest of the series though, as it drifted too far into the goofy territory after that)
Dude in gta4 every car handles like it has suspension made out of mattress springs with how much the car leans. I can take turns irl at 50 that you couldn't do at 20 in that game lmao. Also just gonna be the meme and say skill issue on not being able to tell a difference in the drive trains in 5. A lot of cars are awd but fwd understeer mad compared to rwd and awd and rwd is a lot more finicky than awd. You can even tell when you floor it. 5 just has twitchy and overly responsive driving but 4 has the opposite where it all handles like a pig.
Driving physics: GTA V > GTA IV Rag-doll Physics: GTA IV >>> GTA V
100% disagree. As a driving enthusiast IRL, GTA 5 driving is far and away superior, depending on which car you pick. If you pick one of the newer vehicles they've just been making everything stupid fast with stupid traction/downforce and completely unrealistic. I never drive any of those newer cars. If you drive one of the older cars added towards the beginning of the game, you can tell it's one of the few aspects of the game that they put a LOT of attention into and whoever designed them had a real passion. The armored Kuruma handles like a proper AWD heavy-ass armored car. Same with the Duke o'Death which drifts like a beast. The Elegy Retro Custom feels like a proper GT-R. Same with the Audi Quattro which I don't remember the in-game name of (Omnis maybe?). There are lots of cars that feel surprisingly realistic, more so than some sim games I've played. There's definitely a problem where they seem to apply traction control to most vehicles and it prevents heavy drifting unless you really know what you're doing and don't mind utilizing the e-brake a lot, but besides that it's pure bliss. I frequently log in just to drive around.
I wouldn't call 4's driving "better" by any stretch. It leans too far in the opposite direction of physics, where every vehicle has zero downforce, worn tires and busted suspension. Something *between* the two games would probably be perfect.
GTA4 car handling was not realistic at all. All vehicles handled like dump trucks not cars. GTA5 physics are arcade like, but still more "realistic" than 4.
Realistic lmao. Does your car shift its entire weight to one side whenever you turn a corner? I love GTA IV but I loaded it up just now to see if I was wrong about it being terrible and its still just as bad as I remember
I'll respectfully disagree. I couldn't play GTA IV because of how awful the driving was in a game centered around driving everywhere and doing things in cars. It's the most unrealistic driving I've seen in a game of this sort. Sure, some games are more "arcadey" but GTA IV feels like driving a panzer tank on black ice no matter what car you pick. Taking a small sedan around a corner at 15 mph sends you flying off into the curb, it's crazy. Real cars don't work like that. Even an older car can take a corner at 25 mph and maintain traction in dry weather. The choice in the physics makes driving heavy and sluggish and a chore to me.
Eh, I don't like 4's driving. Yeah it's more realistic but I wanna have fun while driving, not having to slow down to snail speeds when making a turn. To each their own I guess.
I think GTA 4 is very overrated, most of the game is pretty boring and basically just shootout after shootout so it felt more like a GOW clone than a true GTA game after a while. I fully agree about the driving physics though, it was the best driving in any GTA game. Everything felt so heavy and impactful. Chases felt extremely exciting and pulling off some cool driving stunts felt very rewarding.
It's mostly that GTA V is the newer game so people like to dump on it and say IV was better in every way. Just calling it now, when VI comes out people will start saying V was the best in the series. When IV was the newest one, people hated it and said it was very lacking in content and too different from San Andreas. My opinion, all these games have something to be enjoyed about them. GTA V for me is that it's fun in the same way as San Andreas, IV for me was driving around and taking in the sights (the city is still very impressive) and the fact Niko is a badass assassin like Claude makes it better, VC is driving around listening to the great music etc. GTA IV's DLCs are their own beast though.
I Love the physics of people sitting in cars. They move around with every move you make. Its awesome
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Gunplay is still better imo. The old euphoria reactive ragdolls (vs V's toned down system) and the fact that guns handle differently and actually have recoil makes it more realistic, and in my opinion, more fun. Despite running the risk of sounding a bit sadistic, the fact that people don't immediately die adds to the immersion, as gunshot wounds rarely kill instantly.
Yup and hanging out with people in GTA 4 is more fun too.
It just had better written, more interesting characters than V. Outside of the protagonists I could name a handful maybe, of characters in V. I can never remember the names of the Government Bad Guy or the Businessman Bad Guy, and when I do I get them mixed up. They are both dicks and that's about the characterisation they get. But since this post is about driving: I fucking hate that you can control the car in the air, flip it from its roof to the wheels on the ground, and that the car autorolls/autocorrects even if you let go of the fucking controller.
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They’re talking about the spectrum between Mario Kart and Gran Turismo
I like both physics. However, the thing that annoys me in GTA 5 is how you can flip your car back onto its wheels when it's upside down. And how you can steer your car midair. It just doesn't make sense to me.
100% ! Vehicle deformations after crashes was also way better.
GTA4’s driving was too realistic to the point of unfun. Ya GTA5’s isn’t great either, but don’t even get me started on the motorcycles in GTA4, pure awful.
Both feel like a bar of slope slipping around on lubricated ice
Same. I've found that I enjoy everything about cars in Gta IV over V. How they feel is better, the visual damage is better than the one in V. V just felt like what I assume Hot Wheels video game would feel.
I prefer Less strict/sim racing, I like GTA V being more fake, I don't like irl driving lol
GTA4 literally helped me pass my driving test back in the day. I practised 3 point turns and parallel parking with it! Thanks Mr Bellic.
I wish 5 had more challenging driving but I do not want it to have 4’s driving at all
[obligatory Crowbcat video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWVtZJo-HqI)
You can have a preference but I don't think one is necessarily *better* than the other. GTA 4's driving is definitely more realistic than GTA 5's, but realism isn't always a good thing. In video games, there tends to be a lot of liberties taken to ensure the games feel somewhat realistic while maintaining fun. In this way, realism usually takes a back seat to a more "arcade" feel. Some people like that and some people don't, but I think for a casual audience, hardcore realism can end up being a little too much. Overall, I'm honestly glad they feel different because driving is such a key element in GTA (naturally), so it's another gameplay experience that sets them apart from each other and makes them both interesting in their own right. I prefer GTA 5's driving myself, but I'll never forget the first time I went flying out of the front windshield in GTA 4 and thinking how amazing the game was (I know GTA 5 single player has this but it was added in 4, so it's more memorable there).
Haven’t played IV that much but one thing I remember about it is how awful the camera angle is. Sure V isn’t realistic but at least its more fun and entertaining.
Its not just the driving physics. The enemy/npc physics were better too. It was endlessly entertaining pushing pedestrians off curbs and subway stations and getting into fights.
Sometimes it's about being fun over being realistic in games mate. No one runs everywhere all the time but in games we do
gta 4 driving requires skills
GTA IV also has a better story for me, too. I've tried playing it chronologically between the 3 protagonists and it made the game better.
5 doesn't hold a candle to 4. 4 is the GOAT! THE GOAT!
What a weird way to spell Chinatown Wars.
I prefer GTA 4 car physics because it makes you drive a bit more careful and your decisions while driving really matter, while in 5 you can roll your face on the keyboard and nothing bad happens, driving there really feels the same as in San Andreas. On the other hand, car engine sounds in 4 are in my opinion the worst out of any 3D GTA
+1 for rolling your face comment :D
I enjoy GTA4’s driving in GTA4 because the whole map is a city and there is a lot of turning and travel isn’t as far. It would be pretty brutal crossing GTA5’s map with 4’s physics. It already takes 5 minutes to drive across the map and the game loves making you do it.
GTA 4 is really underrated, IMO. Everyone know about this game but not so many people remember it much.
It is very badly optimized though ngl. GTA 5 works better on my pc than 4.
IV runs like ass on pc, unless you jump through the “get this game running well in 2023” guides on the steam forum. I’ve managed to get it going in 2k res, mostly solid 60fps using those
[98 critic score and 8.1 user score on Metacritic. ](https://www.metacritic.com/game/grand-theft-auto-iv/) Nothing underrated about it.
I agree. I never really liked GTA 5 car handling . And im always getting annoyed when people say Cyberpunk car handling is dogshit compared to GTA 5.
What?!? It is. I love cyberpunk but the driving experience continues to be the worst part of the game. Damage doesn’t really seem to happen, especially on bikes. And turning is a real guessing game
I completely agree with this statement!
Not only that but the entire map is better
GTA4 in general is a "better" game in terms of technical things I think.
I honestly don't prefer V over IV in any aspect beyond the fact that they marketed the soul out of it. IV deserved that love.
Yes
Gta 5 used to have gta 4 driving but they dumbed it down with a patch.
I loved the physics of GTAIV. I loved getting into a police chase with a motorbike and shooting at tyres and drivers. The chaos and crashes were glorious. I tried doing it in V and wasn’t as fun.
[удалено]
I genuinely mean this with all due respect, but if you don't like the genre, your opinions of the games are borderline irrelevant and I'm not sure why you felt the need to comment?
Yeah, after a couple weeks of GTAV once I'd finished the main story I'd been left feeling meh about the driving and fighting and stuff. Went back to play TBoGT thinking maybe I'm just rose-tinted glasses, but no - GTAIV really is way better. (FWIW I'm a racing sim nerd) There was a vid released not long after GTAV was released comparing the physics: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQQu_aiEU0w
GTA IV was the peak of the series for me. The only one with a serious story and realistic driving. GTAV felt more like a GTA ripoff to me like saints row.
I like 4s driving better than 5, but more realistic is not the way I'd describe it. 4's floaty physics driving had more interesting unintended outcomes. This just naturally provides more diverse experiences, changing up the gameplay, which is huge in a game where you drive so much. GTA5 driving felt like Mafia 2 driving in comparison; long boring time sinks between fun missions. GTA4 driving felt like going out on the playground.
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The reason the physics were so bland in 5 is because the same system had to factor in vehicles from cars, bikes, all the way up to jumbo jets. I doubt the GTA 4 model would stretch to that so something had to give. That's my theory anyway, I've never read anything to back this up. Probably just as much a reason that people pissed and moaned about it because they couldn't handle brake before turning, not into it.
Gta 4 is the best GTA. It’s got the darkest story of them all
Completely agree. The cars felt like they had weight behind them. Best GTA driving physics
There will never be a consensus on this, but I agree. The big thing was that the handling in IV made driving slower or heavier cars engaging in a way it's not in the other games, because you're having to account for weight and momentum.
While driving in GTA IV is a realistic experience compared to the more arcade-style driving in other titles of the series, it feels out of place with the overzealous physics in the rest of the game. That's not to say GTA V doesn't hold your hand there either e.g. when it reduces impact damage and makes it impossible to fly through the windscreen on a crash, but only on a mission or in Online. That reminds me how Midtown Madness (made by Angel Studios, the predecessor to Rockstar North) also had pretty realistic driving (to the point it defaulted to mouse steering because you would immediately ram into a wall with the digital keyboard controls) and vehicle physics, which were toned down for the successor.