Multiplayer: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:48, 25 April 2014

While introduced in the beginning of the series, only certain Grand Theft Auto games have official multiplayer features, and these are often limited in their usage. There have been numerous attempts by teams of fans to create multiplayer gameplay in GTA games, predominantly for those with no multiplayer support to begin with. Some of the modifications created by these teams have been critically acclaimed and have proved very successful.

Official

GTA 1

Multiplayer was originally standard in the PC versions of Grand Theft Auto 1, although the process of creating and joining servers requires manual identification of the one's IP address and also those of the playmates. The choices of multiplayer modes in GTA 1 is limited to only two: Cannonball run (a checkpoint race) and the traditional deathmatch. Having been based on GTA 1, the Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 and Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 mission packs employ the same multiplayer mechanisms, but allows the player to play multiplayer games in London, as well as Manchester for GTA London 1961.

GTA 2

The processes of creating and joining network games remained unchanged in the PC version of Grand Theft Auto 2, but the game comes with a more user-friendly, Windows-based "GTA2 Manager" to manage and join multiplayer games. GTA 2 features three different multiplayer modes, consisting of the existing deathmatch, as well as "Tag" (players chase one player labeled as "it"; whoever kills "it" becomes "it" in turn, becoming the hunted), and "Points" (where players attempt to rack up as much points or money in the same way they would in single player).

GTA III

The PC version of Grand Theft Auto III was at one point going to contain a multiplayer mode, however Rockstar cancelled this during development. One can view textures related to multiplayer mode menu screens in the file models/menu.txd, using a TXD viewer. Additionally, strings found in the game's GXT files suggest some of the modes and options that would have been available. The file american.gxt contains:

FEM_MAP - "Select Map"
FEM_MP - "MULTIPLAYER"
FEN_CON - "Connection"
FEN_GAM - "Find Game"
FEN_GNA - "Game Name:"
FEN_NAM - "Name:"
FEN_NCI - "NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET"
FEN_NET - "Network"
FEN_PLA - "Number of players:"
FEN_PLC - "Player color"
FEN_PLS - "Player settings"
FEN_STA - "START GAME"
FEN_TY0 - "Deathmatch"
FEN_TY1 - "Deathmatch stealth"
FEN_TY2 - "Team Deathmatch"
FEN_TY3 - "Team Deathmatch stealth"
FEN_TY4 - "Stash the cash"
FEN_TY5 - "Capture the Flag"
FEN_TY6 - "Rat Race"
FEN_TY7 - "Domination"

A video showing multiplayer menus left in GTA III is also available.

GTA San Andreas co-op mode

Main article: Run-around

The PS2 and Xbox versions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas featured a co-op mode, which allowed 2 players to either 'free roam' or go on a 'rampage'. This feature was limited, in that both players had to stay within close proximity of one another. Also, some weapons, like the Sniper Rifle and the Rocket Launcher cannot be used in multiplayer. GTA San Andreas, at one point, in development, was supposed to feature a real multiplayer mode in the PS2 version, but it was dropped for unknown reasons in development.

GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories

In 2005, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was released on the PSP and featured a multiplayer mode for up to 6 players through WiFi ad-hoc mode. A total of 7 modes of play were available. In 2006, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories was released on the PSP with the same functionality as its predecessor, and an additional 3 modes of play available.

GTA IV

Main article: Multiplayer in GTA IV

GTA IV contained the most developed implementation of multiplayer gaming in the GTA series. This has carried over into GTA IV's expansions, The Lost and Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony.

GTA Chinatown Wars

Main article: Multiplayer in GTA Chinatown Wars

GTA V - Grand Theft Auto Online

Main article: Grand Theft Auto Online

Grand Theft Auto Online is an online multiplayer universe accessible for free through retail copies of Grand Theft Auto V on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

GTA Online is a dynamic and constantly growing world, as it will continue to expand as content is added either by Rockstar or GTAO players, thus making it larger than GTA V.

Though it mimics GTA V at first and is accessible through that game, Rockstar are treating it as a standalone, separate entity from GTA V, essentially even saying that they feel GTA V has no multiplayer mode because GTA Online is so separate.

Unofficial

Multi Theft Auto (MTA)

Main article: Multi Theft Auto

Multi Theft Auto was the first attempt by a team of fans to implement a multiplayer version of Grand Theft Auto III. It saw its first release February 8, 2003 and quickly gained a large following. Development continued through the releases of GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas, and is still ongoing today. The current release for GTA III and GTA Vice City is 0.5, while a separate version, 1.1.1R is available for GTA San Andreas.

Vice City Multiplayer (VC-MP)

Main article: Vice City Multiplayer

Vice City Multiplayer started development in April 2005, and was used as a codebase for the later SA:MP. The release of GTA San Andreas led to much of the team focusing on that game, however some members continue developing VC:MP. It has so far proved to be quite popular, however SA:MP continues to dominate most of the attention. The current release is v0.3.

San Andreas Multiplayer (SA-MP)

Main article: San Andreas Multiplayer

SA:MP started out as VC:MP (described above) in April 2005. Once GTA San Andreas was released on the PC, most of the team turned to development for the game. It has enjoyed a lot of success during public beta tests, as well as in releases. It has a large variety of game modes, the most of any third party multiplayer mod, and also supports custom game modes. The current version is 0.3c, released by the team on 29th December, 2010.

GTA Tournament (gtaT)

GTA:Tournament started out in April 2003, created by "DracoBlue", who envisioned the use of scriptable servers, support for up to 96 players, and the ability to have thousands of skins and vehicles in the game. It eventually saw releases for Vice City, and later San Andreas. On 29th April 2006, DracoBlue announced that development on the mod would cease. After talks with the SA:MP team, DracoBlue turned to scripting for that mod.

IV: Multiplayer (IV:MP)

IV:MP started out on February, 2010 by JeNkSta, starting out as a simple interface on 0.1a, which was released on April 5th, as 0.1a, which featured a non-working Server browser, and needed to manually insert the server's IP. With 0.1a R5, the server browser was fixed, allowing a much more friendly GUI. Latest release is 0.1 Alpha 2, released on April 9th.

Attempts by other teams

GTA Rumble

GTA Rumble was started in December 2005, and is assumed to no longer be in development; its homepage at gtarumble.co.uk is no longer active. The latest beta release was 0.1c. Its features included chat, spawning, scoreboards, screenshots, weather/time changing, and parachutes, among others.

SA-2P

SA-2P, or San Andreas 2 Player, was, as its name implies, a mod to bring the 2 player co-op mode found in the PS2 and Xbox version of GTA San Andreas to the PC, using online play. After having started in June 2005, version 0.1 only ever reached 10% progress according to its creator's website, which was last updated in July 2005. No versions were ever released. SA-2P's homepage can be found at SA-2P.com, and includes a few screenshots and videos of the mod in action, as well as a short FAQ.

External Links

General information
- Multiplayer on GTA Modding
- gtamp.com, an overview and guide on multiplayer in the GTA series.
Specific user-made mods

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{toc}}
+While introduced in the beginning of the series, only certain Grand Theft Auto games have official '''multiplayer features''', and these are often limited in their usage. There have been numerous attempts by teams of fans to create multiplayer gameplay in GTA games, predominantly for those with no multiplayer support to begin with. Some of the modifications created by these teams have been critically acclaimed and have proved very successful.
-A multiplayer game is a game where more than one person can play at the same time, often using computer networking to allow this. Multiplayer modes are one of the most wanted features fans of the [[Grand Theft Auto]] series would like to see included in a GTA game.
-Some of the GTA games do have multiplayer features officially supported, but not all have them fully implemented, or have smaller variations on the theme. There have however, been numerous attempts by teams of fans who are dedicated to achieving multiplayer gameplay in GTA. Some of the modifications created by these teams have been critically acclaimed and have proved very successful.
+== Official ==
+=== GTA 1 ===
+Multiplayer was originally standard in the [[Personal Computer|PC]] versions of [[Grand Theft Auto 1]], although the process of creating and joining servers requires manual identification of the one's IP address and also those of the playmates. The choices of multiplayer modes in GTA 1 is limited to only two: Cannonball run (a checkpoint race) and the traditional deathmatch. Having been based on GTA 1, the [[Grand Theft Auto: London 1969]] and [[Grand Theft Auto: London 1961]] mission packs employ the same multiplayer mechanisms, but allows the player to play multiplayer games in [[London]], as well as [[Manchester]] for GTA London 1961.
+=== GTA 2 ===
+The processes of creating and joining network games remained unchanged in the PC version of [[Grand Theft Auto 2]], but the game comes with a more user-friendly, Windows-based "GTA2 Manager" to manage and join multiplayer games. GTA 2 features three different multiplayer modes, consisting of the existing deathmatch, as well as "Tag" (players chase one player labeled as "it"; whoever kills "it" becomes "it" in turn, becoming the hunted), and "Points" (where players attempt to rack up as much points or money in the same way they would in single player).
-==Official Support==
+=== GTA III ===
-While Rockstar did include multiplayer support with the free download release of [[GTA2]] for the PC, no modern GTA game yet has featured a true officially supported multiplayer mode whereby people from anywhere in the world can play against each other over the Internet. There have been hints that official support was going to be implemented in [[GTA3]], however nothing materialised from it. Small implementations have been made in other GTA games and are detailed below.
+The PC version of [[Grand Theft Auto III]] was at one point going to contain a multiplayer mode, however Rockstar cancelled this during development. One can view textures related to multiplayer mode menu screens in the file ''models/menu.txd'', using a [[TXD]] viewer. Additionally, strings found in the game's [[GXT]] files suggest some of the modes and options that would have been available. The file ''american.gxt'' contains:
-===GTA2===
-The first game to officially support multiplayer modes was the [[PC]] version of [[GTA2]] which was released as a free download in December 2004.
-===GTA3===
-It is now known that the PC version of [[Grand Theft Auto 3]] was at one point going to have a multiplayer mode. However, for whatever reason, it appears that the developers at [[Rockstar North]] (then [[DMA Design]]) decided to stop developing the feature.
-This is evidenced by the fact that one can view textures related to multiplayer mode menu screens in the file ''models/menu.txd'' which can be opened using a [[TXD]] viewer. Additionally, strings found in the game's [[GXT]] files suggest some of modes and options that would have been available, shown by this excerpt from the ''american.gxt'' file:
-<code>
   FEM_MAP - "Select Map"
   FEM_MP - "MULTIPLAYER"
@@ Line 35: / Line 31: @@
   FEN_TY6 - "Rat Race"
   FEN_TY7 - "Domination"
-</code>
-===GTA San Andreas' co-op mode===
+[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3eoUZ33Tpo A video] showing multiplayer menus left in GTA III is also available.
-The [[PS2]] and [[Xbox]] versions of [[GTA San Andreas]] featured a co-op mode, which allowed 2 players to either 'free roam' or go on a 'rampage'. It was limited by the fact that both players had to stay within a reasonable proximity of each other.
+=== GTA San Andreas co-op mode ===
+{{main|Run-around}}
+The [[PS2]] and [[Xbox]] versions of [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]] featured a co-op mode, which allowed 2 players to either 'free roam' or go on a 'rampage'. This feature was limited, in that both players had to stay within close proximity of one another. Also, some weapons, like the [[Sniper Rifle]] and the [[Rocket Launcher]] cannot be used in multiplayer. GTA San Andreas, at one point, in development, was supposed to feature a real multiplayer mode in the PS2 version, but it was dropped for unknown reasons in development.
-=== Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories ===
+=== GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories ===
-In 2005, [[Liberty City Stories]] was released on the [[PSP]] and featured a multiplayer mode for up to 6 players through WiFi ad-hoc mode. A total of 7 modes of play were available. In 2006, [[Vice City Stories]] was released on the PSP with the same functionality as its predecessor, though had an additional 3 mods of play available.
+In 2005, [[Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories]] was released on the [[PSP]] and featured a multiplayer mode for up to 6 players through WiFi ad-hoc mode. A total of 7 modes of play were available. In 2006, [[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories]] was released on the PSP with the same functionality as its predecessor, and an additional 3 modes of play available.
 === GTA IV ===
-Multiplayer has been confirmed as a feature in [[Grand Theft Auto IV]], however no major details are yet known on what sort of modes or features it will possess. The only thing currently known is that it will '''not''' be a massively online multiplayer game.
+{{main|Multiplayer in GTA IV}}
+GTA IV contained the most developed implementation of multiplayer gaming in the GTA series. This has carried over into GTA IV's expansions, The Lost and Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony.
+=== GTA Chinatown Wars ===
+{{main|Multiplayer in GTA Chinatown Wars}}
+=== GTA V - Grand Theft Auto Online ===
+{{main|Grand Theft Auto Online}}
+'''Grand Theft Auto Online''' is an online multiplayer universe accessible for free through retail copies of [[Grand Theft Auto V]] on the [[Xbox 360]] and [[PlayStation 3]].
+GTA Online is a dynamic and constantly growing world, as it will continue to expand as content is added either by Rockstar or GTAO players, thus making it larger than GTA V.
-==Unofficial Modifications==
+Though it mimics GTA V at first and is accessible through that game, Rockstar are treating it as a standalone, separate entity from GTA V, essentially even saying that they feel GTA V has no multiplayer mode because GTA Online is so separate.
+==Unofficial==
 ===Multi Theft Auto (MTA)===
 {{main|Multi Theft Auto}}
+Multi Theft Auto was the first attempt by a team of fans to implement a multiplayer version of Grand Theft Auto III. It saw its first release February 8, 2003 and quickly gained a large following. Development continued through the releases of [[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City|GTA Vice City]] and GTA San Andreas, and is still ongoing today. The current release for GTA III and GTA Vice City is 0.5, while a separate version, 1.1.1R is available for [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas|GTA San Andreas]].
 ===Vice City Multiplayer (VC-MP)===
 {{main|Vice City Multiplayer}}
+Vice City Multiplayer started development in April 2005, and was used as a codebase for the later SA:MP. The release of GTA San Andreas led to much of the team focusing on that game, however some members continue developing VC:MP. It has so far proved to be quite popular, however SA:MP continues to dominate most of the attention. The current release is v0.3.
 ===San Andreas Multiplayer (SA-MP)===
 {{main|San Andreas Multiplayer}}
+SA:MP started out as VC:MP (described above) in April 2005. Once GTA San Andreas was released on the PC, most of the team turned to development for the game. It has enjoyed a lot of success during public beta tests, as well as in releases. It has a large variety of game modes, the most of any third party multiplayer mod, and also supports custom game modes. The current version is 0.3c, released by the team on 29th December, 2010.
 ===GTA Tournament (gtaT)===
-{{main|GTA Tournament}}
+GTA:Tournament started out in April 2003, created by "DracoBlue", who envisioned the use of scriptable servers, support for up to 96 players, and the ability to have thousands of skins and vehicles in the game. It eventually saw releases for Vice City, and later San Andreas. On 29th April 2006, DracoBlue announced that development on the mod would cease. After talks with the SA:MP team, DracoBlue turned to scripting for that mod.
+===IV: Multiplayer (IV:MP)===
+IV:MP started out on February, 2010 by JeNkSta, starting out as a simple interface on 0.1a, which was released on April 5th, as 0.1a, which featured a non-working Server browser, and needed to manually insert the server's IP. With 0.1a R5, the server browser was fixed, allowing a much more friendly GUI.
+Latest release is 0.1 Alpha 2, released on April 9th.
 ===Attempts by other teams===
+[[File:Cops'n'Crooks-GTAIV-shootout.jpg|thumb|GTA IV cops n crooks game mode.]]
+'''GTA Rumble'''
+GTA Rumble was started in December 2005, and is assumed to no longer be in development; its homepage at gtarumble.co.uk is no longer active. The latest beta release was 0.1c. Its features included chat, spawning, scoreboards, screenshots, weather/time changing, and parachutes, among others.
+'''SA-2P'''
+SA-2P, or San Andreas 2 Player, was, as its name implies, a mod to bring the 2 player co-op mode found in the PS2 and Xbox version of GTA San Andreas to the PC, using online play. After having started in June 2005, version 0.1 only ever reached 10% progress according to its creator's website, which was last updated in July 2005. No versions were ever released. SA-2P's homepage can be found at [http://www.sa-2p.com/ SA-2P.com], and includes a few screenshots and videos of the mod in action, as well as a short FAQ.
 == External Links ==
-*[http://www.multitheftauto.com Multi Theft Auto]
+* General information
-*[http://www.vicecitymultiplayer.com ViceCityMultiplayer.com]
+** [http://www.gtamodding.com/index.php?title=Multiplayer Multiplayer] on GTA Modding
-*[http://www.sa-mp.com SA-MP.com]
+** [http://gtamp.com gtamp.com], an overview and guide on multiplayer in the GTA series.
-*[http://www.gtat.org gtaT.org]
+* Specific user-made mods
+** [http://www.multitheftauto.com Multi Theft Auto]
+** [http://www.vicecitymultiplayer.com ViceCityMultiplayer.com]
+** [http://www.sa-mp.com SA-MP.com]
+** [http://www.gtat.org gtaT.org]
+** [http://www.iv-multiplayer.com IV: Multiplayer]
+[[Category:Features in GTA 1]]
+[[Category:Features in GTA 2]]
+[[Category:Multiplayer| ]]