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[Ben-San]

Is it possible to map the eight directions to the numpad? Sorry if this is a stupid question. Also, in the dancing missions (not the low-rider dance, though) the PS2 version uses only the four action buttons rather than directions.

[mudokon]

The eight directions are automatically mapped to the numpad (or, at least, four are, in addition to accepting multiple button inputs). I guess it's not a lot of help if you're playing on a laptop, though, but you can always reassign the keys.

Anyhow, I don't derive a single bit of pleasure from trying to beat the story missions in a legit fashion. Ever since the first GTA came out, I've just used cheats to instantly unlock all of the areas in the game. Most people I mention it to say that that's no fun, but I'm completely terrible at the story missions anyhow. It's way more fun to simply explore the entire game's map and set my own goals, really.

[jough]

I believe the "circles and arrows" missions were really meant to be used with a control pad.  The vehicle direction controls *are* mapped to the number keys by default (laptop here) but I usually remap them to just the plain keys where I'd have to press the "Fn" key to use them (the keyboard has little numbers on them too so I can see what the hell I'm doing) but really, these missions are a SNAP with a control pad (the one I'm using is very NES-like).

I'm just happy that you can kill Catalina when you're on most of her missions.  She was annoying in GTA III and she's still annoying.

It's nice to hear Carl tell her off, though, esp. since "Claude" from GTA3 was a mute.

[slink]

You do get access to Los Santon pretty quickly I'm sure. I don't recall ever feeling like I was locked out, but when I was in Angel Pines I felt it was a bit far to head back to.

[jough]

Yeah, right after the first mission in Angel Pines you can get back and get all of your old save points back again.  It's just that the story really has moved North from there.

Thanks for the Ambulance Mission tip Zart.  It was a piece of cake there.  I may do the Vigilante missions there too since the town is so dang small.

[St_Zartan]

Thanks for the Ambulance Mission tip Zart.  It was a piece of cake there.  I may do the Vigilante missions there too since the town is so dang small.

I actually got up to level 9 on the ambulance missions in downtown Los Bloody Santos, and then only ended it because the, ahem, patient was standing on the other side of a bush underneath the dang tangle of overpasses in the middle of town. What an idiot. An unfortunately fragile idiot - I like the dudes that pop right back to their feet after you clip 'em with your bumper. Anyway -

Have you turned up your draw distance yet? I did and wow, what a difference. Seriously, I would advise anyone at all interested in this game - even if you've already played / beaten the PS2 version - to acquire a PC copy if your machine is at all muscly: what you're going to want to do is adjust that draw distance, steal one of those zippy little Shamal jets (You can get into the Los Santos airport without a pilot's license. Don't be retarded.), and just fly low over the city and surrounding landscape.

I did some flying on the PS2, yeah, but it was pretty much a utilitarian exercise - it's a joy, here (even if my plane mysteriously and suddenly exploded moments after I wagged my wings over the VINEWOOD sign - we shall never forget), and it looks great. I really appreciate San Andreas as a living space a whole lot more after navigating by air and seeing it as a gestalt, you dig? Check it out. It's neat.

EDIT: I sprung for a PS2-style joypad. Totally worth the $12.

[jough]

I've been too busy to play this week, but for a couple days I was (and still am) stuck on the first Woozie driving mission (and I've read that that one's a piece of cake compared to the one later that's the same race but backwards) - I just keep cliping the corner of some grass on one of the turns in the backwater areas and no matter what vehicle I'm driving my car just spins around until I have to come to a COMPLETE fuck*ng STOP and straighten out again, while in the meantime all three other cars zip past me and I can never catch up again.

So with that one frustration has overtaken enjoyment and so much for "open ended."  Right now I have but ONE mission to do, and it's that one, and I can't seem to get past it.  The other cars are indestructable, too, which seems to be cheating - I've gotten the lead, blocked the bridge, and blasted the other cars OFF THE ROAD AND INTO THE RIVER with a missle launcher that I *ahem* acquired through a cheat, and the damn cars just respawn on the other side of the river and start driving ahead of me again.

Talk about having the deck stacked against you...

[St_Zartan]

I really don't enjoy the racing missions all that much. It feels really nice to complete them, though. The secret to them - at least for me - can be expressed in the form of a cliche: slow but steady. Seriously: you will lose your races because you fucked up and crashed or spun out or whatever, not because there was some dude that was just obscenely fast. I don't think I remember a racing mission in this game in which you can be outrun.

Go back to Los Santos and play the 8-Track mission (demolition derby / circuit race) at the stadium until you finish it. This will (a) probably build up your driving skill and (b) give you a better feel for How to Win Races. (Oh, and you'll unlock a couple of nice vehicles.) 8-Track is about steadily going forward, not fuck*ng up, and - this is probably key - judicious use of the P.I.T. maneuver. Better to look it up than have me explain it - it's simple but doesn't really lend itself to verbals - and it's basically a way to spin out a car in front of you without you, yourself, spinning out. It takes the computer cars just as long to get back pointed the right direction as it does you, and as you know, that is enough time to pretty much lose the race.

While you're at it, do some taxi missions if you haven't already finished your fifty. Any driving you do builds towards better skill, and if you're driving, it might as well be With A Purpose, in the words of Highlights Magazine.

[jough]

Yeah, I did all six trucking missions that are allowed, after figuring out how the key to the ones where you automatically have three wanted stars is to not try to outrun the police (impossible without them dislodging your cargo from your trailer) but rather to drive somewhat slowly in the middle of the road, which lets traffic build up behind you and creates a buffer between you and the police.

I've tried slow and steady, but there's always some point where either the other racers blow by me or I miss a turn, spin out on something, etc.  I've even tried it using the cheat that makes all vehicles have off-road traction, but alas.  

I should pick up one of those $12 PS2-style game controllers.

[slink]

Well. Took today off work, as I have some random infection and feel like shit and can't sleep in a useful pattern, so I finally at least got some time to play San Andreas again. Catch up with my PS2 game of it.
That and some Pyschonauts which is erally so very cool.

I really dig the racing missions. All except the really long one in San Fierra (from Wang Cars) with the Bullet. That one I never managed on the console, but I reckon the penis look in vehicles may make it a lot easier. fuck*ng hills!
The rest of the races I did many, many times. I particularly enjoyed the Sanchez and erm, dirt buggy ones.

I just did the first race (where you meet Woozie), but am still only about 50% of where I was. Still, I always play the GTA's through multiple times, so it's no bad thing. And all the missions that I had real problems with on the console are a lot easier with PC controls. I am still considering hooking up one of my controllers (though I can't get the Dual Shock 2 set up right), but for now the penis look is just too valuable.

[St_Zartan]

And all the missions that I had real problems with on the console are a lot easier with PC controls. I am still considering hooking up one of my controllers (though I can't get the Dual Shock 2 set up right), but for now the penis look is just too valuable.

Yesterday was Let's Make a Difference day at Casa del Zartan. I completed the firetruck missions, the paramedic missions, took over all but two of the gang territories, and lifted a young woman up from a go-nowhere life of poverty and violence by getting her drunk and nailing her. Repeatedly.

I also realized that I was in no way capable of completing the vigilante missions. I know the baseline advice is "use a tank", but I want to finish them now. Any advice on how to shake wanted stars without scotching your mission / getting shot to pieces by five-o?

Anyway. I actually have preferred joypad / PS2-style controls in this game, everywhere except the fuck*ng firetruck. I cannot aim and fire that goddamned water cannon with an analog stick to save my life. Unfortunately, there's no provision for joypad + penis controls (at least that I know of), and going back to the keyboard was pretty painful.

And yeah, I'm really savoring this time through - I don't have a big boner to advance the plot, so I can really just play.

[Ben-San]

It may not be the advice you want, but there is a bug in the PS2 version that makes the vigilante missions ridiculously easy and which may also exist in the PC version. If you enter an interior space (restaurant, safehouse, etc), the outside world Goes Away for a while but the targets do not. Suddenly lacking streets to stand or drive on, they plummet through black space to sudden and inescapable death. At least, this is how the bug has been explained to me. In any case, it seems to work; if you start a vigilante mission, go inside, and wait a few moments, your targets will suddenly die. Go outside, get back in the police car, and wait for new targets to be assigned. It is a very easy process but may leave one with a dirty feeling. Also it is possible for your police car to despawn while you are in a building.

[jough]

Zart: Any way to get rid of wanted stars other than cheats while on Vigilante missions?  You *may* be able to save a game while doing them, but generally you'll run out of time before finishing.

It took me about thirty tries to finish the first Wu Zi race, but I got "Farewell, my love..." in only the third try (and almost beat it the second).

In the latter you really can't outrun the other cars since they're all the same cars and the computer drivers tend to stick to the track like slot cars.

I beat it by learning how to maximize the use of the on-road car they give you.  Basically you can blow past the other cars right out of the gate if you slow down at first and instead of catching air on that first downhill like the others do drive slower and then gun it - you'll ride on the ground instead of soaring through the air and will pick up just enough speed to beat the other cars out of the first turn.  After that it's just slow and steady until the fourth or fifth marker where there's a "shortcut" down a dirt road instead of going all the way around the paved road like the slot cars will do.

After that you just have to be REALLY slow and careful around even the slightest curves, and then GUN IT on any straightaway, being sure to slam on the breaks before a turn comes up (even if it means coming to a complete stop first.

Also, I've found that in any street car that it helps to never push the accelerator (forward) and a turning direction at the same time when on a dirt road.  Either pick one or the other, and you'll notice the car automatically breaks when you're just pushing the turn direction. Nice.

Anyway, as of early yesterday I'm back on non-frustrating missions and am back to having fun again doing the early San Fiero missions.  I already learned my way around SF by doing the last 20 of my taxi missions there, so I'm just digging the story missions and acquiring property again.

I still haven't finished the firetruck missions, so I guess I'll do them soon too.  I forget if you have to do them all in a row or not, but I believe you do.

The game is really hell of enjoyable most of the time, but there are maybe 1 in 5 missions that just drives me up the wall with frustration.  More than Vice City or GTA3 you really need to strategize to beat even the racing missions.  I read FAQs but most of them never give the real strategy that seems to actually work.

[slink]

I didn't have any trouble with Wu Zi Mu or Farewell my Love this evening. First time for both, although I did miss the turn and have to take the three guys back on the latter. But then by and large I still remember them fairly well.
As for things like the vigilante, fire and paramedic missions, I didn't actually attempt them yet on PS2, as they were a bitch (well, the fire one I managed first time on the third island) in Vice. I shall definitely take your advice and try the paramedic one now I'm in Angel Pine.
As for the Vigilante mission, in Vice I just waited 'til I had the insane helicopter. But then that made it all a bit easy. I didn't know what it would give me to complete it until after that though. Had I, I might have tried it the old fashioned way!

[pmcd9]

I've never seen this game, yet I feel I know it by heart.

~Paul