Vehicular Combat: Difference between revisions

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Vehicles may also be used as a weapon with other vehicles, being effective as a battering ram or blockade, and is particularly necessary in earlier games when the player is unable to shoot from a vehicle or does not have a proper viewpoint to do so. Vehicle-to-vehicle battles commonly occur in vehicle chases, which either require that the player merely stop the target vehicle by sufficiently damaging it, or destroy it outright.
Vehicles may also be used as a weapon with other vehicles, being effective as a battering ram or blockade, and is particularly necessary in earlier games when the player is unable to shoot from a vehicle or does not have a proper viewpoint to do so. Vehicle-to-vehicle battles commonly occur in vehicle chases, which either require that the player merely stop the target vehicle by sufficiently damaging it, or destroy it outright.


Naturally, larger vehicles, while slow, may be particularly useful completely hindering the movement of a smaller vehicle by pinning it against a wall with its weight. The skill needed to flip a vehicle over or perform a [[PIT maneuver]] (as taught at [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]' [[Driving School]]) is also advantageous.
Naturally, larger vehicles, while slow, may be particularly useful completely hindering the movement of a smaller vehicle by pinning it against a wall with its weight; likewise, the use of smaller, lighter vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles are not recommended in chases against larger vehicles. The skill needed to flip a vehicle over or perform a [[PIT maneuver]] (as taught at [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]' [[Driving School]]) is also advantageous.


== With built-in weapon ==
== With built-in weapon ==

Revision as of 12:20, 27 November 2011

The player guns down Yakuza members in a drive-by shooting in GTA III, the first game allowing the player to perform such an action.

Vehicular combat is an integrate gameplay element in the Grand Theft Auto series that involves combat while the player is on a vehicle. Vehicular combat encompasses anything from the simple act of using a vehicle to damage/disable vehicles or run over pedestrians, to the ability to use a weapon in hand or built into a vehicle.

With vehicle only

The use of a vehicle itself as a weapon has long been a staple in the GTA series, allowing the player to run over pedestrians and collide with vehicles to stop or damage them.

On pedestrians

The effects of collisions with pedestrians vary according to speed; vehicles that travel faster are more likely to exert a one-hit kill to pedestrians, and can be more efficient than merely killing using other weapons. However, much like shooting rampages, rampant hit-and-runs will naturally attract the attention of the police.

In Grand Theft Auto 1 and Grand Theft Auto 2, the act of running over pedestrians and colliding with other vehicles awards the player money. Since Grand Theft Auto III, however, monetary rewards are only obtainable by picking up dropped cash that the crash victims drop after being killed. Games between GTA III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (except Grand Theft Auto Advance) also impose minor damage penalties to vehicles that run over pedestrians in high speeds.

Games prior to GTA III as well as GTA Advance always depict pedestrians being run under a vehicle; games between GTA III and GTA Vice City Stories however, also include animations of pedestrians being tossed over a vehicle. Vehicles that run over dead pedestrians will also leave a blood trail marks starting GTA III. In Grand Theft Auto IV, the inclusion of ragdoll physics and Euphoria animation allows pedestrians to respond more naturally to vehicle crashing, being flung or thrown in appropriate speed according to the speed of the player's vehicle. Pedestrians that strike the player's vehicle will also leave blood splatters on the vehicle.

On other vehicles

Vehicles may also be used as a weapon with other vehicles, being effective as a battering ram or blockade, and is particularly necessary in earlier games when the player is unable to shoot from a vehicle or does not have a proper viewpoint to do so. Vehicle-to-vehicle battles commonly occur in vehicle chases, which either require that the player merely stop the target vehicle by sufficiently damaging it, or destroy it outright.

Naturally, larger vehicles, while slow, may be particularly useful completely hindering the movement of a smaller vehicle by pinning it against a wall with its weight; likewise, the use of smaller, lighter vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles are not recommended in chases against larger vehicles. The skill needed to flip a vehicle over or perform a PIT maneuver (as taught at Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Driving School) is also advantageous.

With built-in weapon

Weaponized vehicles were first introduced in Grand Theft Auto 2.

With weapon in hand

GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories

Prior to Grand Theft Auto IV, players must have any sub-machine gun in hand in order to perform drive by shooting. While in a vehicle, the player may look left or right to view the target and take aim, then fire their weapon, discharging bullets to the target.

The aforementioned concept has remained the same between Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, but underwent several changes. From Grand Theft Auto: Vice City onwards, players are also allowed to shoot forward while on a motorbike or bicycle, which is usually far more effective than conventional drive-by shooting in cars due to the player being able to watch the road and shoot at a target at the same time; "drive-by" shooting on boats are made possible. Additionally, in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the protagonist is able to shoot forward while driving the jetski. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories allow for non-player passengers of a car to perform drive-by shooting, shooting with pistols or sub-machine guns; however, the effectiveness of this feature is dependent on how close the car is to targets.

The ability for the player to shoot as a passenger was first explored in GTA Vice City, during "Phnom Penh '86" (positioned on the side of a Maverick) and "Supply & Demand" (positioned on the back of a Squalo), when the player is able to free-aim, but use only weapons with first-person view (the M-60 and Ruger). In GTA San Andreas, free-aiming first person view is additionally utilized while the player is seated as a passenger in a motorbike and a car, during "Just Business" and "End of the Line." A few missions reused the method of first-person free-aim drive-by during "Reuniting the Families" and "The Da Nang Thang."

GTA IV

File:Vehicularcombat-GTA4-drivershooting.jpg
GTA IV's improved shooting mechanics allows the player to, while driving or riding as a passenger, shoot at any direction, including to the back (left) or diagonally (right). Note the crosshairs and the direction in which they are pointing.

As Grand Theft Auto IV was developed, drive-by shooting mechanics were retooled to allow for more flexible aiming and improved accuracy. The player may aim their weapon freely while driving; the "look left" and "look right" commands were removed in favor of an analog stick-based/mouse-based camera. Also, drive-bys were extended to being possible out of helicopters and on boats with assault rifles, and out of any other vehicle.

While the choices of weapons for use in drive-by shooting is still limited, the player can now either use a sub-machine gun or pistol, and Grenades, Molotov Cocktails, Pipe Bombs and Sticky Bombs can actually be dropped from vehicles, useful for blowing up pursuers. The Lost and Damned also introduced the ability to fire a sawn-off shotgun while riding motorcycles. However, even with the ability to use a sawed-off shotgun, drive-bys on motorcycles is highly discouraged, as the player is fully exposed and vulnerable to gunfire.

File:DriveBy GTAIV multi.jpg
Occupants from a car firing their weapons in The Ballad of Gay Tony's multiplayer mode.

Overall, the Micro Uzi in GTA IV and TLAD is the best weapon for drive-bys in cars with its incredible rate of fire, while the the Gold SMG in The Ballad of Gay Tony is the best weapon available. The M4 carbine is most suited for passengers on aircraft and boats, but the accuracy of gunfire from a helicopter or on a boat is often abysmal due to difficulty in aiming (due to rapid movement of the vehicle) and a limited field of view.