Hi. I have been all over looking for info and I can't find any. I am new to video games. The guys at work have been playing this game and it is so fun to watch them. I love watching them when they have 4/5 stars and they drive all over trying to escape the cops. I bought this game for myself to play at home. I cannot for the life of me drive the cars. I cannot even get past the first mission where Franklin has to follow Lamar. Lamar is too fast and with my limited experience I cannot catch up and end up turning the game off in misery. I have tried finding a game I can use to learn how to drive the cars. I tried Midnight Club, but the cars drive completely different. I tried Forza, and that was FUN but it didn't give me that learning curve of having to plow through a city.

If someone can give me suggestions I would be grateful. Thanks.

Mel

If you fail a mission multiple times I think it gives you an option to skip it. Not sure how it works myself but after that your free to explore the city which will give you the chance to improve your driving.

I'm not sure if you've already tried this, but it might be helpful to use Franklin's special ability (click both sticks in) in short bursts. This slows down time and increases your steering so you can use it to make small course corrections and squeeze through tight spots more easily.

Also I found it easier to win the race if you wait until you're racing through the tunnel under the Union Depository (I think it's just after you drive past an armored car, shortly after going through the parking garage), and use a bit of Franklin's ability to squeeze past him at the last corner before the tunnel ends.

Welcome to the site, and I hope this helps!

Well... I had zero problems with the driving in this game so it's difficult for me to explain how to get good at it. I will say, from watching other people drive poorly, it seems to me that they are bad at making minor steering corrections, instead opting to pull the stick all the way in one direction only to further confound the problem. I suggest you not constantly drive at full speed and learn to make minor steering corrections. If it's something you find difficult, reading about it won't help. You need to practice.

It's worth knowing that Franklin has a special driving ability that slows time and gives very precise control over the car. I mostly used this ability when I was going full speed and wanted to take a sharp corner, but it can also be used to weave through traffic and avoid collisions. Simply press in the two analogue sticks to activate it.

Sounds like your best bet is to simply keep trying it! I don't think you have to win the race against Lamar so as long as you can keep up you should be fine.

Alternatively, you could put the game into Online mode (it'll give you the option as the game is loading) and then after the first mission (again another race, but you don't have to win it) you will be free in the world to learn the controls a bit better. If you set the game to private as well you wont have to deal with other players getting in the way.

This is good advice too - I found it easier to keep the vehicles under control if you apply a small amount of braking before you attempt to turn, but make sure you aren't braking (or accelerating too hard) when you do turn as this will usually lead to your car spinning out. And yeah, it's really just something you have to get a feel for with practice.

Ok thanks guys! I appreciate the help. :)

I would just suggest not getting frustrated. Nobody is looking and nobody is judging you. personally the thing I like most about videogames is the challenge of overcoming a challenge.

Also, remember, the way your brain works is that you are presented with a challenge and your brain tries to overcome it. When you walk away for a time, your brain literally rewires itself to overcome that challenge. That's why you can beat your head against something failing time and time again, walk away for a day, and come back to find it's not a challenge at all.

Some things really do just take time.

I would suggest stealing something slow and driving around for a while, then when you're better grab something a little faster and repeat. I'm a long time racing game fan (a racist?) but if I'm gunning a sports car through Vinewood at top speed I'm going to hit something within six seconds. Just take it slow.

I just tried the online thing but its asking me this crazy stuff about grandparents and setting up my character. I just want to drive the car! LOL. Is there another game I could try that would help my stupid brain learn how to drive the car? Darn I can play COD all day and I don't want to throw my controller at my tv like this! LOL. I wish there was a practice mode on this game. It's making me replay those first two (easy) missions. It wont let me skip it. It will let me skip the first part then when I am in the parking deck having to escape the cops it wont let me skip that. I don't want to give up but I am stumped right now. Should I go back to the very first GTA and move up? Thanks again for the advice. :)

Try changing the camera setting on the car to be higher. One thing that has helped me is when turning, ease off the gas just a little. Use the forward momentum to correct your direction. The backside off the car will fish tail a little but when you finish the curve. Wait for the car to straighten up then punch the gas. Avoid making hard brakes.

Drive on the top of the dotted lines to get pass cars if both lanes are occupied. If you stay dead center, you will have enough space to get through two cars. Anticipate car switching onto your lane for no reason when you are speeding and drive around them. When approaching intersections, anticipate a car passing bye. Time your speed so you can drive around that car.

Keep practice driving, there will main story mission where you have to drive fancy cars without damaging them too much. Hold off on street races until Franklin has maxed out his driving skill and are able to upgrade cars. I wish you the best of luck and keep trying.

Tip: If you wanna customize a car, stick with the one's at your house first. I.e. Michael's fake-ass Audi, Trevor's truck, Franklin's Mustang-thing.

I stole Michael a Porsche, from his psychiatrist of course, fixed it up, and now the game it. I can't find it, and its not in the city's garage, nor the impound either. Wasted my money....... FUCK.Payed and fiixed up the Audi, but actual spoilers: Jimmy took it, and I don't know if I'll get it back. I'll finish the story sooner than later, so I'll find out.

You could always pick up GTAIV... if you can master the driving there, then you'll be weaving through V's traffic in no time. :P

Seriously, though, keep at it. The game is extremely rewarding towards practice, and you'll need those driving skills for almost every mission. Unfortunately, starting from the beginning of the series won't help (although I recommend it anyway, because they all hold up), as the first two were 2D top-down games, and each one since then has made changes to the handling.

Don't worry about staying on Lamar's tail, either. Get a feel for how far you can hang back before the mission fails, then drive just fast enough to keep it going. There's a decent buffer the game will allow before you lose him.