Driving Issues

So I just started playing, played for about 3 hours and I'm finding the driving is making the game borderline unplayable. I barely clip things and the car does a 180, my car flipped as I ran over a fire hydrant and even going around corners at any speed (like that which is required to win races) and I spin out. Its really getting me frustrated and I almost feel like putting the game down. The shooting is also awful, I don't find it fun at all to press LT RT and have the game automatically lock on to everything, I feel I'm barely playing the game.

While I agree with you on the shooting, I don't know where you're coming from on the driving. Braking and feathering the gas is required, especially if you want to race. You can't just pin the pedal and point where you want to go.

I'd say maybe whatever you're driving with is too squirrelly for you and you should switch to something with a more reasonable setup. There are some cars that just want to spin out, especially the customs and the minis.

Turn off auto-aim, and practice driving? Not trying to be a dick, I just don't know what to tell you... I'm not spinning out cornering or barely clipping things, and I suspect hitting a fire hydrant might cause a car to flip in real life as well.

@brodehouse:I've been driving in several cars, I have been using the brake and handbrake and I'm still having no luck, its really bumming me out because I want to play through and like the game but this is just making me hate it

@sharkethic: Look turning off the auto aim clearly isn't the way to go as those controls are absolutely terrible. I also shouldn't have to practice driving for hours just to be able to do the most basic tasks in the game, I've never had a problems this badly with driving in open world games. I honestly think the controls just feel shocking and it kind of annoys me the backlash against the gameplay in bioshock when with GTA its been such a minor talking point.

It took me about 5 hours before I was comfortable with the driving. My advice would be to steal cars and drive around the city, getting used to how your car handles around corners and weaves in and out of traffic before jumping into races. Next, take a fast car to the highway and practice affecting the steering with small corrections. It won't take long before you get very good at it. By the end of my time with the game, the driving felt fluid. As for the shooting, turn your setting down to soft lock aiming, where it will snap but not follow your target. Hope that helps.

Maybe it's been a minor talking point because the majority doesn't have a problem with it? Also, if getting from A to B is the most basic task you mention, that doesn't take hours of practice - getting there fast, without spinning out etc. takes a lot of practice, and I don't see anything wrong with that.

I don't know what to say, the driving in the game is great and I think the problems you are having really come down to you. I'm not saying you're terrible or anything, but myself and everyone I've talked to have all agreed the game has a pretty great and easy to manage driving model. The reason no one talks about the driving controls is because you are in an absurd minority as far as people having a problem with them.

Also, as far as the shooting is concerned, switch to free aim and do the shooting range challenges. Once I finished all of those, I was perfectly comfortable with the free aim controls for the rest of game. Lock is absolutely not the way to play. It would be better if they had actually developed a proper console third person shooter control scheme and not even offered lock on, but once you get used the free aim it's perfectly fine.

@xavtron: I realize there is a tool tip in an early mission that says "hey, use the hand brake to slide around corners," but don't do that. The only reason to use the hand brake for cornering is when you're on a sea shark.

The free aim controls are passable. Sure they aren't great but they are better than in the previous Rockstar games. Also, people probably aren't complaining about the driving in GTAV because the driving in GTA IV was notoriously bad. You would flip for hitting the curb in that game.

@xavtron: As mentioned, almost never use the handbrake. For whatever reason at some point Rockstar decided they didn't want the handbrake to be useful when driving cars and they've stuck with it. When approaching corners you want to feather the break a bit to slow down, then cautiously approach the turn and power your way out of it when you're about halfway through.

Sometimes, very very rarely, you might be going the perfect speed in the perfect vehicle and the handbrake will work as intended but you'll have slowed down so much it's basically pointless.

As for the shooting I've never had a problem with the game "basically playing itself for me." Considering how frail you are and how many enemies the game throws at you the mere act of picking off the hilariously accurate AI and surviving each encounter is enough for me without having to struggle with sluggish aim and pixel hunting for bad guys.

I thought I was going to hate the driving because of how anti-drifting it was but by the end quite enjoyed it. Just use the brakes!

Yeah, I had zero trouble with the driving and shooting. I did however hate how fragile you are and how the AI are all crack shots that can headshot you while running or in a high speed car chase.

I never had a problem driving... and I have some opposite advice for you: use the handbrake. It's great for 90 degree turns. I can see where @humanity is coming from but I played the other way. Definitely want to get used to the idea that you can't just drive at max speed (unless you're Franklin) all the time.

As for shooting: yeah, turn off auto aim. Play with the sensitivity setting <- that's the most important part.

There's definitely a curve to these controls but if after 5 hours you still hate it just return the game. If you hate driving and shooting you aren't gonna enjoy the game, regardless of the great story, world, etc. All you do is drive and shoot.

You CAN use the handbrake. You can't HOLD the handbrake.

I like the driving, but, yes, it takes... practice (unless you are Franklin, wait for the corner, pop the ability, turn on a dime, go back to normal)...

@geraltitude: I found the handbrake very inconsistent. It was pretty difficult to gauge how fast you had to go and how deep you could turn before spinning out of control. At the end of the day slowing down and feathering the brake/gas will always get you around corners faster than handbraking - so apart from a few times when I felt like being all stylish it's not advantageous to use it.

Or take the corner way too quickly, start to spin out, and then pop the special. One of the nice/cheap things about Franklin's ability is that it essentially turns off momentum for a few seconds, halting any spinning or sliding your car might be doing.

That handbrake is useful if you just tap it and, about a third of the way through sliding, start turning the other way. Driving in general is the least of this game's control problems, especially if you're playing as Franklin whose special makes driving a piece of cake.

This, however, is something that I absolutely agree with. I just don't get the backlash against that game. It's not perfect, but the weakest part is the gameplay and it's mostly quite good.

I can't really say I enjoyed the driving in that game too much, but as many others after some hours at least it "clicked" for me and I felt I really had mastered it. Still, I never thought it was very good, I just got good at it nonetheless.

As for the shooting, I say turn of auto-aim. I know 99,9 % say that it's so sluggish and bad that it's not worth it, but I think it does just fine. To be honest, I never understood why so many people disliked it.

Definitely inconsistent at the start but I felt like after just brute force (using it all the time) I really figured it out. You still *have to* apply brakes in some kind of regular fashion. Like @oldguy said, you definitely want to tap it, rather than not hold it down.

I started off feeling pretty awful about the driving, but it does come together a bit more easily as you level up the driving skill for your characters.

No auto-aim.

Driving is fantastic, and after enjoying GTAIV's driving across the many hours i put into it and its DLC stories, I very quickly became accustomed to GTAV's right outta the gate.

@xavtron: The driving can take some getting used to, but stick it out. The thing with games these days is that everyone feels the need to be good at everything straight away, relax!, ok so your crashing, take it slow and get better! Enjoy the process of getting good.

Shooting wise, I hated it initially. I felt like i could never see the aiming dot and the snap aim was boring. I put it on no aim assist and complex aiming targets. I've really been it enjoying it since. It makes the game a bit harder but as I said above, relax! Finding a game hard isnt a bad thing.

You people are crazy. The driving was easy in this. Needs more GTA4

I really enjoy the driving in this.
Though I'll admit the handbrake is rarely useful For corners i just let off the gas or tap the brakes (depending what im driving and the turn) and it seems great. I only really use the handbrake for the 180 turns. But @humanity can be witness that im not the best driver or pilot, i'm better at shooting folks. I'm ok but nothing special.

For the shooting. Free-aim is the only way to go. I tried playing Aim-assisted but couldnt stand it. feels way too cheap and boring. Plus in freeroam with any autoaim being in a car is a BAD thing which is crazy. I think i might be slowly converting some duders to freeaim by only playing it and spamming them with invites. Good times!

Erm, because it's not flawed at all? The driving controls are nigh perfect. The crux is that it requires finesse and control over the whole range of analog input your gamepad offers, as well as an understanding of basic real world physics. The driving model adheres to a certain degree of realism. If you take a corner too fast, you'll spin-out. If you brake and try to steer at the same time, the results will be accordingly - as in it won't go your way. I've driven over 600 races online, I've won over 400 of them - as long as I manage the risk correctly, I always have pixel perfect control.

I've played GTA V with free aim, and it's great if you can wrap your head around its quirks. Most importantly, you only get a crosshair if you aim (apparently you can pull the left trigger halfway to get the crosshairs without going into full-on aim mode and losing full mobility, if you use the triggers for aiming and shooting). The lack of an everpresent reticle is what throws most people for a loop. You just need to get used to pre-aim without crosshairs. Also - the crosshair lingers on screen for about a second after you leave aim-mode. If you peek out of cover, you'll also get your reticle. You can also just start shooting from the hip and get the reticle, and you will keep full mobility this way. As you see, GTA V's shooting mechanics offer lots of depth for those who seek it out, and it's damn great if you do.

Not to be rude, but GTA V is infinitely playable because of the depth of its mechanis and requirement for mastery and constant focus. Like I said, I've driven over 600 races and won over 400 of 'em. Racing is still exciting. Still challenging. I need to focus. Concentrate. I need to perform. Driving a clean fast winning line is never easy, especially if you prefer racing with traffic like I do. Driving fastly in GTA V is like driving next to the abyss. To me, that's infinitely entertaining. The downside? It requires mastery, a time investment.

Essentially. Get better. GTA V/Online is worth it.

We all have our ups and downs in the cars, which I think is a sign of how fun but at the same time unpredictable the driving physics can be. What was most impressive last night was how Pete0r jumped that car INTO the train! That was nuts. Then those guys killed us and that was a load of BS since I emptied like 4 clips into their car and even with armor cars aren't supposed to be invulnerable I don't think?

@seppli: This reads as an insane fanboy post. I played more today and have got to the point where the driving is no longer a hindrance, I'm enjoying myself now (as a couple of people said it took about 5 hours before I felt good). However "pixel perfect" and "nigh perfect" are ridiculous hyperbole. The driving is average at best, this is not meatboy where you get a hang of the controls and then it opens you up to precision control. I loved Red Dead and thought the shooting was fine, even then I could recognize that they were not optimal and GTA V is still a step down. I still think that the races are very poorly designed and dumping you into one at the 2nd strangers and freaks mission was a bad choice. Bottom line its better than my initial impression, but its still average at best in terms of mechanics, the story and characters so far are very entertaining and that combined with the world are what is driving me forwards.

Also thank you to all who offered tips and constructive criticism, I did use a couple of things mentioned here (along with trial and error) and am now able to enjoy the rest of the excellent execution on this game.

Oh, this bullshit again.

Get over it, seppli. Not everyone thinks the driving is as well-done as you do.