GTA San Andreas

Trimble Bracegirdle wrote:
> GTA SA has so much going on in it...

Not really. It has a handful of characters, and the cars are randomly
generated in a small area around you... that's hardly something that's
going to take up a lot of disk space.

Mark

Highlandish wrote:
> or perhaps it was because of this limiter, save anywhere was not
> implemented.

I suspect it was more because they didn't want people to realise how
little actual game-play there was in the missions: save anywhere would
let you get through the missions in an hour or two.

Mark

"Trimble Bracegirdle" <NOspam DeleteThis @spam.not> wrote in message
news:44e8a3c0$1_4@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> Save anywhere for GTA SA ?
> People/users don't (that I can EVER think of) make those sort of Mods for
> any game .
> GTA SA has so much going on in it... cars here n there...V. large play
> area ..lots of Char's ...etc
> that I doubt that it would be possible to save except at certain
> pre-determined places .
> I suppose one can just about imagine a method by which the whole game is
> save to H. Disc.
> Take an anor-mouse amout of both HD and main mem space tho.
>
> I don't like the USA Urban speak myself..(or the very nasty..if
> disguised..set of values/morals).
> But its a fun game to wander & mess around in ..
> mouse
> @@@
>

AFAIK, the PS2 has 16MB memory - so logically the "save anywhere" feature
would only take this much memory up.

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 19:02:42 +0100, "Trimble Bracegirdle"
<NOspam.DeleteThis@spam.not> wrote:

>Save anywhere for GTA SA ?
>People/users don't (that I can EVER think of) make those sort of Mods for
>any game .
>GTA SA has so much going on in it... cars here n there...V. large play area
>..lots of Char's ...etc
>that I doubt that it would be possible to save except at certain
>pre-determined places .
>I suppose one can just about imagine a method by which the whole game is
>save to H. Disc.
>Take an anor-mouse amout of both HD and main mem space tho.
>

Codswallop..........

Er, tell me all about Oblivion save-anywhere, then............... or
the save-anywhere capability of umpteen single-player games with more
dynamic data than GTA SA.

The PC version of GTA SA is a cheap console port. And I mean REAL
CHEAP 'N CHEESY..

John Lewis


>I don't like the USA Urban speak myself..(or the very nasty..if
>disguised..set of values/morals).
>But its a fun game to wander & mess around in ..
>mouse
>@@@
>
>

i own a yacht wrote:
> not everyone cares whether or not every single game has a save anywhere
> feature.

Lack of save anywhere is just a typical example of console-crippling in
a PC game. Console gamers may be 12-year-old kids with no lives, but
personally I absolutely hate being unable to save at any point, because
I do have a life and can't always spend ten minutes or more getting to
the next stupid save point. That's why I rarely buy console-crippled
games.

> in fact, i wish less of them had it.

Good for you, but fortunately most of the PC marketplace disagrees.

>Seems to me it just gives
>the developer an excuse to be lazy by making certain areas particularly
>difficult knowing that a person can simply spam-save their way through
>it.

Whereas lack of save anywhere seems to be mostly used to try to hide
the fact that the game has a minimal amount of gameplay content, by
forcing you to do the same thing again and again and again and again
and again and again until you finally manage to get through it. That's
not my idea of fun.

Mark

On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 01:29:25 GMT, john.dsl DeleteThis @verizon.net (John Lewis)
wrote:

>The PC version of GTA SA is a cheap console port. And I mean REAL
>CHEAP 'N CHEESY..

A cheap port is one that is identical to the console version. GTA:SA
can be played in higher resolutions, has higher res textures, further
view distance and better control system, so is a very good "port".
--
Andrew, contact via http://interpleb.googlepages.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

Quoth The Raven; Schrodinger <no.RemoveThis@way.com> in
<J24Gg.445872$1Q1.257490@fe03.news.easynews.com>
> "Trimble Bracegirdle" <NOspam.RemoveThis@spam.not> wrote in message
> news:44e8a3c0$1_4@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
>> Save anywhere for GTA SA ?
>> People/users don't (that I can EVER think of) make those sort of
>> Mods for any game .
>> GTA SA has so much going on in it... cars here n there...V. large
>> play area ..lots of Char's ...etc
>> that I doubt that it would be possible to save except at certain
>> pre-determined places .
>> I suppose one can just about imagine a method by which the whole
>> game is save to H. Disc.
>> Take an anor-mouse amout of both HD and main mem space tho.
>>
>> I don't like the USA Urban speak myself..(or the very nasty..if
>> disguised..set of values/morals).
>> But its a fun game to wander & mess around in ..
>> mouse
>> @@@
>>
>
> AFAIK, the PS2 has 16MB memory - so logically the "save anywhere"
> feature would only take this much memory up.

or perhaps it was because of this limiter, save anywhere was not
implemented. I got more memory on my pc, so what's the problem?

--
Remove the _CURSING to reply to me

A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.
- (Harvey Mackay)

i own a yacht <me.RemoveThis@privacy.net> writes:

> Highlandish <ckreskay1_CURSING.RemoveThis@dodo.com.au> wrote:
>
>> cheap = no save anywhere, and a port non the less.
>
> it doesn't have save anywhere because it's not part of the game design.
>
> not everyone cares whether or not every single game has a save anywhere
> feature. in fact, i wish less of them had it. seems to me it just gives
> the developer an excuse to be lazy by making certain areas particularly
> difficult knowing that a person can simply spam-save their way through
> it.

Or particularly lazy for not designing a properly persistant object
model. See Far Cry for a good example of this.

bcd.RemoveThis@pvv.ntnu.no (Bent C Dalager) writes:

> In article <44e99653$0$34708$c30e37c6@ken-reader.news.telstra.net>,
> Highlandish <ckreskay1_CURSING.RemoveThis@dodo.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>now I have to account game-stop time into my game play allowance. and it
>>isn't that hard to make save-anywhere a part of the gameplay without
>>effecting the design so that ppl still don't use it as a cheat, but even so,
>>who cares if they do. for those who don't like it, don't use it.
>
> Save-anywhere simply wouldn't have been thought of at all in the
> game's code since it was originally programmed for a console (and
> console memory cards typically aren't large enough to allow for
> save-anywhere).
>
> I expect that retrofitting save-anywhere into the code for the PC
> version was simply too gargantuan a task for them to even consider.

Fair point. But the save state would surely be less than the 32 Meg
standard memory : and the basic memory cards back then were 8
megs. Although I still think they could have done it had they designed a
reasonable object persistance model.

In article <87fyfq472m.fsf DeleteThis @mail.com>, Walter Mitty <mitticus DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote:
>bcd@pvv.ntnu.no (Bent C Dalager) writes:
>
>Fair point. But the save state would surely be less than the 32 Meg
>standard memory : and the basic memory cards back then were 8
>megs.

Yes, but console owners expect to get considerably more than a couple
of game saves per card. Any game that takes 1meg+ of the card is
really exceptional and demanding so much from your customer is taking
a considerable risk.

> Although I still think they could have done it had they designed a
>reasonable object persistance model.

Of course. My point is they didn't do this because at the time
(writing it for a console), they had no use for it.

Now, there is something to be said for only allowing saves at specific
points in the game (from a technical standpoint): it is often a whole
lot easier than writing save-anywhere. In some games, all you really
have to remember for a checkpoint-based game is what level it was
saved at, how much health the protagonist has left and perhaps his
score. The remainder of the game's state is basically given from the
level (or checkpoint id) he's at.

If nothing else, there's a lot less that can go wrong with this
approach

What I _really_ don't understand are games that obviously do support
save-anywhere but choose to only have checkpoint-saving anyway, such
as "Ico". Ico has a cheat-code for saving from anywhere, but if played
properly you have to go to a couch to save. While there are couches
all over the place it can still be a tad annoying having to backtrack
to save when you're suddenly in a hurry to go out on some errand.

Cheers
Bent D
--
Bent Dalager - bcd DeleteThis @pvv.org - http://www.pvv.org/~bcd
powered by emacs

Quoth The Raven; John Lewis <john.dsl.RemoveThis@verizon.net> in
<44e90af6.5717054.RemoveThis@news.verizon.net>
> On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 19:02:42 +0100, "Trimble Bracegirdle"
> <NOspam.RemoveThis@spam.not> wrote:
>
>>Save anywhere for GTA SA ?
>>People/users don't (that I can EVER think of) make those sort of Mods
>>for any game .
>>GTA SA has so much going on in it... cars here n there...V. large
>>play area ..lots of Char's ...etc
>>that I doubt that it would be possible to save except at certain
>>pre-determined places .
>>I suppose one can just about imagine a method by which the whole game
>>is save to H. Disc.
>>Take an anor-mouse amout of both HD and main mem space tho.
>>
>
> Codswallop..........
>
> Er, tell me all about Oblivion save-anywhere, then............... or
> the save-anywhere capability of umpteen single-player games with more
> dynamic data than GTA SA.
>
> The PC version of GTA SA is a cheap console port. And I mean REAL
> CHEAP 'N CHEESY..

i'm afraid youre right, i might stick it out for a while yet, or until
something better is finally released.

--
Remove the _CURSING to reply to me

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away.

Highlandish wrote:
> so.. has anyone developed a save anywhere mod for this? I cant believe with
> this series popularity we still have to resort finding our way back through
> a lot of map area to a safehouse to save.

God I soooo agree with you there. It's one of the major drawbacks in the
GTA series IMHO. I know some people would argue that it makes the
missions more intense by restricting the method of saving your game, but
heck... I LIKE savegame flexibility. There's no fun in redoing a large
mission just because you flipped your car at the very end.

Quoth The Raven; Andrew <spamtrap.TakeThisOut@127.0.0.1> in
<ucnie253dfnjn45kudo4a7jn5u94hdn5ka.TakeThisOut@4ax.com>
> On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 01:29:25 GMT, john.dsl.TakeThisOut@verizon.net (John Lewis)
> wrote:
>
>>The PC version of GTA SA is a cheap console port. And I mean REAL
>>CHEAP 'N CHEESY..
>
> A cheap port is one that is identical to the console version. GTA:SA
> can be played in higher resolutions, has higher res textures, further
> view distance and better control system, so is a very good "port".

cheap = no save anywhere, and a port non the less.

--
Remove the _CURSING to reply to me

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.