MultiTheftAuto Development Continues

MultiTheftAuto Team writes "Today, MultiTheftAuto have released the first information about their new core technology that will be deployed in future versions of MultiTheftAuto. The new core technology, codenamed 'blue', offers many of the features that have been requested by the software's users over the last year and a half, these include: Support for boats, support for firing from vehicles, support for drive-bys, and support for planes. As well as supporting all these features, the new core will introduce a revolutionary new way of writing modifications for Vice City, combining the existing methods with a fully integrated C++ add-on system, giving anyone who wishes to the ability to create complex and exciting mods, far beyond the possibilities of 'traditional' methods."

Comments

Development would move faster

[Anonymous Coward]

But 7 of the developers have been shot and killed, 4 more are in the hospital recovering, 12 are in jail, and 3 are missing.

Re:Development would move faster

[Lord_Dweomer]

Well, one of those three was just spotted racing down the intersate on a crotch rocket being chased by 10 police cruisers, a helicopter, a tank, swat vans, and a really flashy sports car containing two rejects from the Disco.

Sweet

[Lord Kano]

I guess all we're missing now is GameSpy support.

LK

Re:Sweet

[PhrostyMcByte]

MTA uses the ASE protocol, so The All Seeing Eye supports it just fine. Much better than GameSpy anyway (imho).

Re:Sweet

[Lord Kano]

I can play on GameSpy for free. The All Seeing Eye makes you pay if you want to play for longer than 3 weeks.

LK

/me re-reads the snippet again

[Matey-O]

and goes 'wha?'

Is this a floor wax? A Dessert topping?

Re:/me re-reads the snippet again

[KL1NK]

MultiTheft Auto adds multiplayer to GTA3 and GTA: Vice City

Re:/me re-reads the snippet again

[drinkypoo]

It's pretty sad that the submission is ostensibly from the team themselves and yet they couldn't bother to explain themselves in said story submission. Makes you think they don't know their ass from... hey, what's that in the ground over there?

Re:/me re-reads the snippet again

[nacturation]

Bah, you tricked me. I fell in the hole and went ass over tea kettle.

Almost excited

[agent dero]

I was reading through the blurb and thinking "alright schweet, they're open sourcing it!"

Guess not, but, I guess i'll be the one to say it, is this not a little excessive? I mean, we seem to going more and more to the direction of Rome and gladiators with the amount of outright violence that is considered entertainment.

When did we cross the threshhold to where beating a hooker was not enough? ;)

Re:GReeaaaaaat game!

[Espectr0]

But with GTA:San Andreas around the corner, is it worth it?

Of course, since SA won't be released on the PC until may

PC Ports!

[Anonymous Coward]

I loved GTA3 and I loved GTA:VC. And I really do understand the many, many reasons to release the next one, San Andreas, on the PS2. But it should be released on the PC.

And this article is why.

Multi-theft Auto basically takes the GTA franchise "all the way." I wouldn't dare suggest that GTA:VC wasn't worth the purchase price, and the developers reasons for not finishing the multiplayer portions (they didn't think they could do it to their own satisfaction, or that of other gamers) are totally understandable.

But that's what mod communities and dedicated fan-bases are for. I loved GTA:VC and having that experience multiplayer is just exciting. I'm confident San Andreas will be fantastic, but it will never be the game GTA3 or GTA:VC have become, because there won't be a "rename the cars to their real names" mod, or a mod that adds new and interesting vehicles, or a mod that creates a multiplayer, or text files where the physics engine can be toyed with...

Yeah, I know, their target audience doesn't give two shakes for neat-o physics engines. But I am sure ten years from now, those things will allow GTA:VC to stand out as a classic while San Andreas stands as another "merely good" game.

Unless we get a PC port...!

Get a free computer. No joke.

Re:Questions

[crackshoe]

their site isn't slashdotted, and if you're not willing to spend tim ereading the blurb,why spend it writing questions (i know why, but hey, in a perfect world...) Multitheft auto lets you play GTA:3 and Vice city with multiplayer, so you have a server (which i think can run on linux) and clients. i believe you still need a full copy of whichever flavor of GTA you're using, though.

Dammit - I didn't know this was for a game!

[spineboy]

I started reading this thinking it was some sort of car anti-theft system, like Lo-Jack. When I got to the part about supporting firing from cars, I was kinda like uhhh, cool!? This is some kind of anti car-jacking device too. When I got to the part about "supports drive by shootings" I started thinking "All right, this manufacturer has gone a little overboard, and is gonna get sued or something"

And then reality kicked in.....Phew!

Re:How 'bout those features!

[gl4ss]

those being all features that exist in vice city anyways it's not so shocking.

Re:c++ add ons

[paganizer]

Does anyone else who was alive from the Gerald Ford years or earlier see this as a really, really weird post?

Re:why not an opensource game like that?

[imroy]

I know I would love to put together something like GTA:VC or MTA. I'm sure many others have as well. My problem is that I'm perhaps not as good a coder as I'd like to think, and I've never explored game programming before. But I have put a lot of thought into it the last year or two, and have come up with these resources:

• OGRE - an object-orientated graphics engine.
• Open Dynamics Engine - as used by the well-known stair and truck dismount games.
• DIE - a car game in the early stages of development. It uses the two previous libraries.
• Boost - C++ libraries. In particular, there is Boost.Python which allows good cooperation between C++ and Python. That could be useful for scripting the interactive behaviour of the various people, vehicles, weapons, and other devices.

As you say, the key would be in creating a flexible engine at the core. I imagine people adding new vehicles, tools, missions, and venues. I'm not sure what the "aim" of the game would be, but I'm sure people would create things to do. Here's my wishlist of improvements and other ideas:

• Climbing ability. I see lots of ladders around GTA:VC, but can't climb them. The ability to hang onto ledges like Tomb Raider would be useful as well.
• More detailed buildings. Most of the buildings in GTA:VC are just boxes. I'd like the ability to walk inside, use the stairs or elevators, find a sniping position on the balcony or window, etc.
• Focus less on violence. GTA:VC has been heavily criticised for its violence and sometimes even I find it a little too much. I'd like to see more focus on stunts and tricks, mischief, puzzle solving and just simple exploration. Perhaps make the police more likely to catch you when you do something "wrong".
• Different character classes. Perhaps not as detailed as a full-on role-playing game, but do have different types of characters with slightly different abilities. You need variety when multiple people are playing online.
• More interactive elements like light switches, garage doors, elevators, etc. Perhaps the player could obtain a garage door remote control and go around opening peoples garages.
• For the ultimate geek thrill, simulate several thousand artificial people! Get rid of the annoying "background" element of the cars and pedestrians in GTA:VC. Everyone has a house, they travel to work every morning and travel home every evening. Police and police cars actually patrol and have to travel to you instead of just appearing. Likewise with the heavier SWAT vans, police helicopter, and army trucks and tanks. Tourists travel in on planes to the airport, stay at hotels, travel around by day seeing the sights, and leave again by plane. Oh boy, lots of computation and memory and bandwidth! Perhaps a little too far-fetched for now.