Entertainment/Gaming Consoles

[vsp]

Originally posted by dave
I've played Quake probably an average of four hours every day for the last three and a half years, and Space was <b>all</b> I played for the first year - and about eight hours a day, since I was unemployed and out of school.

While I do not look upon this with any disapproval, I will never again wonder whether my own gaming habits have reached frightening proportions.

EVER.

I haven't played it at all since the fire, and I was down to about 90 minutes a night or so. I tell you, part of it is liberating. I am no longer tied to the computer. And I am over the addiction. But part of it sucks, 'cause DAMMIT IT'S FUN!

So I'm at the point where I think I'm about to kill Diaz. In the next few missions, anyway. Right now I've gotta go in the speedboat to pick up something from a yacht, but I quit that and did some exploring.

In my exploring, I bought a place with a garage for $14,000 up in the northern tip of the second island. I'm sure you know it. Now, little did I know, that comes with a helicopter. I really only wanted it for the garages ('cause I didn't have one), but that helicopter is cool. I started flying around, looking at stuff. Guess what I found? The PSG-1 on top of a building! So I'm pretty happy, and I'm thinking that the PSG-1 alone is worth the price of the building - the garages and helicopter are just icing on the cake.

But Matt is giving me shit, saying I shouldn't have bought it so early because it gives me less money to spend later on and produces no cash for me. What do you think? Bad buy or not? I thought it was a damn good idea, but he has a point. I'm not even to the point where I can buy the other stuff yet, though, so...

[vsp]

Money in the GTA universe is relatively easy to come by. It was easier in GTA3 than in Vice, but $14K is still a drop in the bucket. Rob some stores, do some Vigilante/Pizza/Ambulance/Fire Truck missions, plow over parking meters. You'll make it back in short order.

The condo in question is invaluable for several reasons:

1) It's the only hideout with a garage that you'll get for a looooooooong time on the western island. The only other readily-accessible hideout nearby is the Skumhole Shack, which is cheap but is just a hole-in-the-wall with no features.

2) Lotsa garages for vehicle storage, including one big enough to hold a tank.

3) Hey, free helicopter!

4) Until you finish a certain advanced mission, you can't buy ANYTHING that'll produce money for you.

I know I can't buy 'em yet - I've been all over both islands and have stopped at probably every building to check everything out. I'm sure I'll know my opportunity when it presents itself.

I think his point was that if I saved the money, I could have spent it later on to buy something else, but now it's gone and I have to re-earn it. But still, I think it was a good idea. Big damn garages, helicopter (and therefore PSG-1)... I'm glad you don't think it was awful too. Means I'm on the right track.

[vsp]

Some of the properties have sticker-shock issues... but you also get a higher return from those than from the cheaper ones. (Sunshine Autos is probably the best buy of the bunch; it requires some legwork to activate it fully, but when you're done it'll churn out $9000 a day for you.)

You've got a pile of missions to go before you're in property-buying mode. Play for now -- the money'll be there when you need it later.

Alright, so I've been putting serious mission-beating play into the game. I've used the helicopter on serveral "weapon gathering" missions, where I picked up the PSG-1, the rocket launcher, and the badass revolver that kills with one shot.

I did the assassin mission "Autocide" and worked on the main missions. The last of which I completed was "Shakedown", so now I'm ready to buy property. At this point, I took a look at IGN's guide to get an idea of the yield on these places. I think I'm going to get PrintWorks first, because it's only $70,000 and generates $8,000/day. But you mentioned the autos place, and I thought I would ask - are you sure it does $9,000/day? And is it a beeeotch to unlock? I read that PrintWorks was relatively easy and that Sunshine was more complicated. As always, your expertise is appreciated. I just want to make a good first buy. I know Sunshine offers more in the way of the building itself (Pay-n-Spray, big garage, etc), but what do you think I'd be better off with first?

Man, taking Diaz's mansion was way easier than I thought it would be. Once he said "this place is going to be swarming with assholes", I knew that was my cue to snipe. I took out all but 1 or 2 of the guys outside (the leftover were back behind the place), and then the few guys inside were easy work with my Uzi. Diaz bit the dust after what seemed like just a few seconds with the Uzi as well. I beat that shit on my first try, so I guess it wasn't really that difficult a mission. But the payoff was nice.

(I keep asking you because I try not to use guides. It feels cheap. Somehow, asking you for guidance feels less cheap. )

After thinking about it another minute, I think I will do Sunshine autos, 'cause a) I'm sure that you are sure, and b) fuck it, how hard can it be?

But still, your thoughts are always appreciated.

[vsp]

Sunshine Autos requires more legwork, but has no "missions" to complete, so to speak. Instead, you'll be filling up its garage with specific vehicles (just like GTA3's Import/Export garages).

Each time you collect a batch of six vehicles, the dealership's return rate goes up. I think it starts at $1500 after the first batch, but it's definitely $9000 after you finish the last (4th) batch. Completing batches also unlocks unique vehicles in the dealership lobby -- the Deluxo (an okay sports car, though it tends to fishtail more than I'd care for), the Sabre Turbo (okay), the Sandking (lots of fun) and the Hotring Racer (best car in the game, IMHO).

Print Works isn't that bad (two missions, if I recall correctly), though the second one can be a real bastard.

Can I get all the cars at the point I'm at in the game? If so, I'll definitely <b>definitely</b> do that one first. If not, I might just do PrintWorks.

[vsp]

Originally posted by dave
Can I get all the cars at the point I'm at in the game? If so, I'll definitely <b>definitely</b> do that one first. If not, I might just do PrintWorks.

Yep. There are a few oddballs (a Baggage Handler, a Mr. Whoopee, a golf cart, etc.) in the lists, but nothing that needs to be unlocked. The first list or two are actually the hardest, as many of the cars are common types (Idaho, Esperanto, Sabre, Virgo, Washington) but seem to disappear right when you're looking for them. The Admiral in particular was a bastard to find.

I had the hardest damn time with the Virgo, but I finally got it. I had all of the sports cars in garages, so that list went by in about 3 minutes. The specials weren't hard either, so now I've got that generating $9,000 each day.

I also have Mr. Whoopee unlocked and done (obviously), as well as Kaufman Cabs, Pole Position and PrintWorks. Or rather, the missions are all complete on those and they're generating money.

I also own the movie studio, and I am on the fourth (and presumably last) mission there, G-spotlight. It's not particularly difficult, but it sure is annoying. I'll probably get it tonight.

Martha's Mug Shot was frustrating until I calmed down and did it the smart way. I tried grenades, but I blew myself up, so I used the sniper rifle. Got forward and ducked just enough so that the tops of their heads were visible, then fired. Once I got the six guys like that, the heli was right out back and I was good to go. So that one is only difficult if you don't approach it right.

I jumped right to the big race at Sunshine and as I was pulling up, I thought "wait a second..." - got out of my car, pulled out the rocket launcher... well, let's just say that with the Spray-n-Go at the dealership, that $40,000 purse is quite easy to come by.

Cabmageddon was also funny, because it was so easy. I drove around in a circle for a minute, then stood by the concrete pillars and put a rocket into the big boss cab. It took all of about 80 seconds total, and now Kaufman is done.

As you can see, I've been busy on properties. Sonny is getting pissy with me on the phone, so I'm guessing there's a big damn showdown, probably the end of the game.

I still have to do Love Fist, and I've only done the first Cuban mission (dumb race, but I beat it first try with boatloads of time to spare, no pun intended). I haven't touched Auntie Poulet yet.

Oh yeah, and I went ahead and bought all of the non-asset properties. So I have like, what, 15 save spots? Something ridiculous.

I think that's about it. Somewhere along the line I lost my katana, but it's all good.

[wolf]

I have SOOO got to get back to playing this.

So, I beat it last night.

I now own all properties (bought the Malibu right after beating it, so you <b>don't</b> need to own it like everyone said), and all of them are complete except the Malibu. I see Phil's place there, which must mean that it's opened up some time, and since it wasn't when the game was beaten, I'm guessing it's during/after the Malibu missions.

Other than that, I have at least one more Assassin mission to do - the one in the airport. I don't know if there are any more, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two, since I've had this one forever and I've read or heard that they run "throughout the entire game". I dunno.

I won't ruin it for wolf, but... "Keep your friends close" was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. Once I figured out what to do (i.e., where to stand to engage him), it took me two tries - and one of those was blowing myself up with the rocket launcher. I probably played it about ten times, so figure eight spectacular failures, one that was rather funny but annoying and then the finale.

No one told me about the pizza missions! I had to grab a pizza bike for Sunshine and it had a mission - I noted it and then ended it to deliver the vehicle. Well, when you do 10, I thought I was gonna get a little cash bonus. No! Man, that's awesome.

So what do I have left to do? Complete all missions (Assassin, Malibu, must be something with Phil's place - anything else?), rampages, hidden packages, store hold-ups and unique stunt jumps. I think that's it.

Oh yeah, and make a lot of money.

Oh yeah - did you find it easier (at least the final mission) than GTA3? I had a HELL of a time on the final mission in GTA3, but this one, I was kind of surprised I beat it so quick. I mean really, probably a half hour of actual play time on the final mission and I was done. Maybe 45 minutes. Granted, that's better than it being frustratingly difficult (like GTA3's final was to me), but still.

I don't feel ripped off, because I've got so much more to do and I've had a lot of fun doing what I've done so far, but still... it just seemed <b>easier</b> this time around. Maybe I'm just that much better.