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Ideas For Grand Theft Auto
I’ve had such a blast playing GTA V, a title that continues to surprise me even when I’m exploring Los Santos on foot. The game has so much already, what more can be added? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Bait Cars. These are cars used by the police to trap unsuspecting car thieves (you might have seen the videos). The cars are monitored and when stolen, the doors lock and the engine is killed as the police swoop in for the arrest. In a GTA game bait cars would offer some paranoia to the fairly routine exercise of stealing cars, but I think it would be a fun minigame: destroy all the bait cars! Normally bait cars stick out like a sore thumb, so if a car seems to good to be true that should raise a red flag.
2. Walking Music. When you’re not in a vehicle it would be nice to listen to the radio. I think this can be done through the phone easily enough. If you look at the phones that Michael, Franklin, and Trevor use in GTA V, there is a space for another app…maybe this was omitted from the game?
3. A Cave That Moves.* Trevor’s mobile home/trailer got me thinking about how cool it would be to have a camper or RV that you can use as a homebase anywhere you want. Other vehicles could double as homes, like a personal jetliner, tour buses (the ones rock groups like to use), or a huge helipad-equipped yacht anchored out at sea.
4. Instigate A Race. Pull up alongside a car stopped at a light, rev your engines a few times, and goad the guy into a race. I’d like to see the finish line be a fixed point on the map with no set route, freeing you to get there any way you want.
5. Smalltime Heists. I think it would be fun to smash into an ATM and steal the money, or use a hydraulic lift to put one in the back of your truck. Also it would be great to knock off an armored car seen driving about, similar to what you can do in Sleeping Dogs. Both of these heists would bring police heat, of course.
I’m also hoping for the return of older GTA features, like gang territories from San Andreas. But overall I have zero complaints with GTA V, a game that is not lacking in any way.
*Last Starfighter reference!
UPDATE: This is not explicitly for Grand Theft Auto, but recently I’ve played Red Dead Redemption and State of Decay (got open-world gaming fever?), and they both shared a trait that I’d like to see addressed:
6. Need a Ride? In both RDR and SOD, the landscape is littered with nasty creatures. And quite often I’d see an NPC (either someone I just saved or they just happen to be on foot) run into some nasty trouble. I would definitely like the option to offer the NPC(s) a lift to the nearest town or safe zone. Sure karma or bonus points would be nice, but it’s for my own peace of mind, as weird as that sounds (maybe it’s my Canadianism?). Plus it would be nice to voluntarily pickup someone in an open-world game that is not a hooker.
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Drive Meets Hot Wheels Mashup T-Shirt
I do offer shirts here at davesgeekyideas. It’s not something I like to broadcast for two reasons: I like the “hidden gem” approach with these shirts, and also they are incredibly expensive. $27 for a custom T-Shirt?! Sorry for that. I wish they used Gildan instead of American Apparel. Ah well.
Available in Men’s and Women’s tees (2 choices of blue), and you can click the image above or here to go to the listing.
If you can’t see the appeal of this shirt, you were born after 1994. Damn kids — get off my lawn!
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Open World Gaming Ideas
I suppose one of the most obvious ideas out there, is why hasn’t there been an open-world Grand Theft Auto-like game for Batman? I think all gamers would like to explore Gotham City in the Batmobile, and be able to roam the rooftops. Spider-Man and Hulk have enjoyed video games like these, Batman is due for one as well. This is a no-brainer game design that almost seems like Batman was always destined to be in.
Speaking of Grand Theft Auto, I think it’s time to look outside of the USA for locales. With New York, Miami, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles all represented in a GTA game, all the best American cities have been spoken for. Time to look at other car-friendly international cities. My top choices: Tokyo, Vancouver, London, Prague, Berlin, Moscow, Monaco, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
One thing I liked about previous entries in the GTA games were the ability to accrue funds from operating legit businesses, trying to establish street cred, and seizing gang territories, all of which helped the criminal dynamic.
I’d like to see that taken a step further in a more paranoid direction - having to deal with undercover police and snitches, sort of like the film The Departed. You’d have to keep tabs on your contacts by hiring Private Investigators, or following them yourself. Failure to stay on top of things would not only result in a surprise arrest, but a complete disruption in available missions and storyline too, as well as being taken down a few notches in the mafia corporate ladder.
And there should be consequences for repeat arrests/hospitalizations that reflect the crime/injuries. If you’re the FBI’s most-wanted, a slap on the wrist and a quit exit out of jail shouldn’t happen. I propose switching to a secondary protagonist, with the option of executing a jail-break or picking up where the prior character left off. And if your injuries are too severe, a prolonged stay in hospital would be in order, also necessitating playing as another character.
In order to help evade arrest, a GTA game should also take better advantage of the player customization system (clothing and appearance), and give the player new options like plastic surgery or fake ID documents. Any tool to help avoid capture.
And speaking of using multiple characters, I think this is something GTA should definitely consider. Why be one person rising to power, the standard recipe for a GTA game, when you could play an entire ensemble of characters that would contribute to a bigger story? You could be mafia soldier for one mission, a dirty cop the next, and so on. How about playing as cab driver who is forced to drive a hitman around town like that film Collateral? It opens up more story possibilities - as well as homages to so many films.
Rockstar should also consider using female protagonists. I think that also changes things up a great deal and adds many more layers.
