Grand Theft Auto IV has the best driving physics of any open-world game, ever

sunnz

Member
Lol no. The handling is awful and the physics makes the car feel like it's made of platsic. Go over a jump and the car will just float through the air. The damage model however is great, you can really fuck up the car.

Mafia 2 has the best handling and car physics of any open world game I've played, the cars have weight to them and the feel really satisfying top drive. The damage model isn't as good as GTA IV though

I would agree with this( not IV is horrible) , MAFIA 2 is probably the ONLY game that can compete in terms of physics with GTA IV, but oyu have to remember cars in that day were very heavy and the devs made the physics refelct that right.

IV weight was well done for the cars I thought, better suspension and less traction control with a little better grip and boom, they will be near perfect ( as in 9.9/10)


My rating of car physics, the most underrated part of open world games to me

MAFIA 2: 9.7/10

IV: 9.4/10

SA: 7/10

SD: 5/10

JC:4/10

SR:3/10
 
Yea true it does feel like that... WHEN you try to turn the car while going full speed, try turning as a fast speed WHILE keeping the accelerate trigger down or jsut don't use the breaks, yea it feels crappy.


Never has the meme " you're not doing it right" been more relevant, the physics are bad IF YOU don't know how to handle them.

I know how to handle them, I'm no stranger to driving cars. It's just not fun in a game.
 
I feel the complete opposite. GTA4's driving physics felt like a chore to me. Its one of the many reasons why I just couldn't get into it. Sleeping Dogs is fast, arcadey and to the point. Stealing other cars while driving 90 mph or knocking bikers over by opening the door mid drive never gets old. The only open world game that I think is worse in that regard is Just Cause 2, but if your driving around in the game your doing it wrong.
 
Making a broader range of car handling styles would definitely have benefited IV, I will say that. The weight/skidding is awesome, but it is a bit weird that there are only a few actually nimble cars (the Trueno-alike being the one with the best traction). Some cars that shouldn't be quite so boat-y are too sluggish.
 
Then you missed the point of why people enjoy open world games. For me the journey is as important as the final destination.

It's how you learn the city.

Honestly this is part of why I like Far Cry 2. A lot of open world games, you treat them as amorphous blobs that contain content, and the world itself is just an obstacle to get to that content. A mission doesn't start once you hit a waypoint in Far Cry 2, getting there and back is half the mission. So you gotta scout out the best routes, time when you cross rivers to avoid boat patrols, try to avoid roads, etc... I appreciated the game a lot more when I tried a permadeath run and didn't just rush everywhere.
 

MormaPope

Banned
I agree but the less forgiving driving makes some of the crazier maneuvers less feasible. I personally like the more realistic approach but completely get why a lot of others were looking for a more arcadey style physics for this type of game.

The most satisfying vehicle maneuver in GTA IV is going in reverse at high speed, and then doing a 180 degree rotation and keeping up the speed when going forward. Reversing away from the cops getting MP5 headshots and then doing the 180 rotation speeding away never gets old.

Best technique to learn for GTA IV and racing sims is this badboy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_flick. If you tried to do this in Sleeping Dogs, you would just keeping going straight or veer off in the direction where you caused the imbalance.
 
I agree with the OP to some extent. Sleeping Dogs driving is horrible for me due to the horrible camera, it's always tied to the rear of the car, it just seems.. awkward.
 

elyetis

Member
Definitely.

GTA4 driving + damage modeling was the main reason I kept playing the multiplayer. Too much change in it for GTA5 would mean a no buy for me.
 
have to disagree on that one
i'd rather have a unrealistic, fun way to handle my cars in open world games then that mess that was GTA4 (driving wise).
 

VillainTricks

Neo Member
A lot of Sleeping Dogs for me was sub par to GTA IV. I had a dislike for the guided free running (prompts to jump, etc.), the Arkham Asylum like fighting system, the driving physics, gun play, and so much more. When first playing GTA IV it may feel as if the game is bare compared to others, but get to play the game and you'll discover it really adds to the game. As of this point I have yet to find a game that rivals GTA IV's way of navigating, fighting, shooting, and driving. Props to the great stories as well which help that game and the DLC become what may be my favourite game series of all time.
 
Yea true it does feel like that... WHEN you try to turn the car while going full speed, try turning as a fast speed WHILE keeping the accelerate trigger down or jsut don't use the breaks, yea it feels crappy.


Never has the meme " you're not doing it right" been more relevant, the physics are bad IF YOU don't know how to handle them.

Excellent post. Agree 100%.
 
actually, the driving in GTAIV is what almost completely killed the game for me. They could have at least made the E-brake usable.

GTA SAN ANDREAS FOR LIFE

I'm playing San Andreas right now and the cars do exactly what you want when you want at almost any speed so I definitely understand the appeal.
 

Fezan

Member
agree with op I think the best part of gta4 was driving around new York and escaping the cops. I felt gray satisfaction when going through high on opposite lame using a bike or a small car
 
One thing I also liked about the driving in GTA 4 was the learning curve, it was rewarding to master as well. It sounds like a lot of you want press A to win driving.

Also I should note that I'm a huge fan of sim racers.
 

sunnz

Member
The most satisfying vehicle maneuver in GTA IV is going in reverse at high speed, and then doing a 180 degree rotation and keeping up the speed when going forward. Reversing away from the cops getting MP5 headshots and then doing the 180 rotation speeding away never gets old.

Best technique to learn for GTA IV and racing sims is this badboy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_flick. If you tried to do this in Sleeping Dogs, you would just keeping going straight or veer off in the direction where you caused the imbalance.

The difference is that in games like SR OR SD you have a button which you press that basically lets you slide/drift, that to me is stupid and while it makes drifting easy it makes it so damn unrewarding when you do it.

In IV doing the same thing requires quite a bit of skill, I love that and when you get it right you have a small orgasm ( well I do).

coquette, best vehicle In game IMO, so nice to drive and drift in.

Why I love IV racing so much too, the difference between a noob who crashes and someone who is more...capable is quite funny and once you go against someone else who understand the physics and is good at driving, you have one of the most intense races online.
 
I really liked the driving 'physics' of GTA4, however I completely understand why there are many who don't. I hope GTA5 has a toggle.
 
Loved the driving in GTA4. Cop chases were so intense. I felt like the cops were on my ass and I was desperate for escape. If it controlled like NFS, it would lose a lot of its fun for me.
 

Psyrgery

Banned
Whenever someone mentions GTA IV I think of the phone, unfortunately.

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Appart from that, GTA IV has been the best gaming experience I've ever had
 
They need a GTA-like game where you can plan out crimes/heists, pick out a getaway route, pick a car and a spot to escape to, try to stick to a schedule, listen to the police scanner, set up another car to switch to or something, etc.. shit like that instead of doing a bunch of shitty linear missions.
 
They need a GTA-like game where you can plan out crimes/heists, pick out a getaway route, pick a car and a spot to escape to, try to stick to a schedule, listen to the police scanner, set up another car to switch to or something, etc.. shit like that instead of doing a bunch of shitty linear missions.

Heists are going to be a big part of GTA V, so I wouldn't doubt they're putting more complex heists missions in.
 

akaoni

Banned
I played the crap out of GTAIV multiplayer in the race mode. Once you learned how to handle the suckers it was fun learning the efficiency of dealing with the courses and learning what pieces of geometry were there solely to fuck you over in your featherweight sports car.

EDIT: Not a fan of racing games, besides old school Mario Kart (haven't played the newer ones) and Trackmania Nations.
 

UrbanRats

Member
actually, the driving in GTAIV is what almost completely killed the game for me. They could have at least made the E-brake usable.

GTA SAN ANDREAS FOR LIFE

It is usable, it just isn't an instant 90° magic button.
I thank them for that.



What is missing in my opinion is more reactiveness in general, breaking and accelerating are in general too slow and the vehicles don't hold the ground enough.
But the base is one of my favorites, because there was a certain learning curve to it and changing vehicle actually required you to get accustomed to the new one, for the first few minutes.
 
Couldn't agree more, OP. Had the same feeling when playing Sleeping Dogs, it's one of the many reasons I keep coming back to GTA IV.

Far Cry 3 driving isn't half bad though for an open world FPS.
 

Thorakai

Member
I just want to drive, I don't want to feel like I need to master the weight of a car to simply cruise through the city like I use to. I also want my character to learn how to put a seat belt so I don't go flying out the window when I want to crash into something head-on.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Funnily enough, Sleeping Dogs is the only open world game I've enjoyed the driving in. I felt like I was in full control as opposed to skipping everywhere in GTA4.
 

sunnz

Member
I think you are in the minority OP. the driving physics suck ass.

Well according to msot posts here, I wouldn't say he is.


Plus since when in the most popular opinion the best?

Again, you are in full control in IV, heck I would say you even in more control in IV because you can choose how much you turn the wheel and even control how much throttle you have.


SD has quite a large of dead zone for the steering, Move the analog slightly to the left or right and see how the cars don't even move, this means to turn in SD you have to push the analog a lot to the left or right, making the controls very twitchy and and shitty in terms of full control.

Same with the break or acceleration, its either, slow, medium or fast speed, not as controllable as IV and breaking is just breaking, not based on how much you press the trigger, which is why SD sucks in driving.
 

Tain

Member
I always liked the driving in GTA 4. 3's was great on release, but I feel like it was suuuuper easy by the time I was playing San Andreas. Having serious weight like in 4 was welcome.

Both the GTA3 series and the GTA4 games have better driving models than Sleeping Dogs, Just Cause 2, and the Saint's Row games
 

pargonta

Member
heck yeah! loved the driving in 4. so much fun.

it was 5 years ago so i can't remember it in detail but i loved the weight and heft of the cars.
making a sweet turn was so damn satisfying
 

Woorloog

Banned
I liked GTA IV driving. And mission design, usually, when it didn't devolve into mindless shooting, with too few checkpoints (that bank robbery mission comes to mind).
Best? No idea, haven't played enough open world games have strong feelings one way or another.
 
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