Kotaku
Soon after Grand Theft Auto's launch, when I went to start playing online matches, I noticed that the instruction manual was almost totally devoid of multiplayer details. In fact, the Brady Guide for the game, a virtual encyclopedia of GTA facts, was also missing any real information about multiplayer.
Normally the lack of instructions wouldn't bother me because I never read them, but the nuances of matchmaking and party formation can be a little confusing in GTA IV. Fortunately, Rockstar must have realized that they left something out in their instruction manual because they've recently published a PDF dedicated just to multiplayer gaming.
The guide is filled with interesting tips and info. For instance, they explain how Party Mode work, something that has been driving me crazy since the launch. Turns out that when playing team modes, the game tries to find a similarly sized party to match you up with. In competitive modes it just fills up the slots with people and gets you going.
There are also plenty of usefull tips in the guide, like using blip settings to tweak your difficulty setting, and how auto-aim is an "awesome feature" that is often misunderstood and absolutely doesn't level the playing field.
Hit the jump for the full guide.
Basics
• To access multiplayer in-game:
1) Press Up on the directional pad to access your mobile phone
2) Toggle to Multiplayer and press ( for PS3 or for Xbox 360) to accept
3) Choose from Player Match, Ranked, or Party Mode
4) Select from one of 14 multiplayer games and press ( for PS3 or for Xbox 360) to enter the multiplayer lobby
• The lobby is the meeting point for all players before starting a multiplayer game. Here you can see a list of who is playing and change your mode and character model options.
• To invite friends to multiplayer, you use your in-game mobile phone to look them up and then call them. (For Xbox 360 users, you can also select and invite friends via Xbox LIVE.)
Game Mode Descriptions
• Player Match – Results here do not count towards your GTA IV multiplayer ranking. There are separate leader boards for these modes. With Custom Matches, players can host matches where they can reserve spots for friends. Players can be invited into games in progress.
• Ranked – In ranked games, the more player cash a player wins, the higher their rank increases. After gaining a rank, the player unlocks more clothing options for their character. Players cannot invite friends into ranked games.
• Party Mode (2-8 players) - Players can invite their friends to a party mode by using the in-game mobile phone. (For Xbox 360 users, you can also select and invite friends via Xbox LIVE.) The players spawn in a “party area”. After the host, or “party leader”, selects a game mode, all players in the party will join that game mode. In team modes, the party will play against another party. In competitive modes, the game will be played as normal – but only players in the party will be involved, with other people allowed to join the mode until all slots have been taken.
Lobby Information
• The lobby system will only proceed if the host AND at least half of the players in the lobby are readied up. If you want to wait for more players stay un-readied in protest.
• Half of the lobby will need to manually boot a person in order to kick them from the game. In the lobby, you will be able to tell how many people have voted by the flashing icons next to their name. You can also choose to boot people in-game using the phonebook in your mobile phone.
• If you do not want any strangers to join your team then you and your friends should enter games via party mode. This mode restricts teams to only people that are in your party. Party mode will also only allow you to play with other parties of similar sizes.
• All players can invite their friends to join them. This can be done in the lobby or in the middle of games by using their mobile phone. The only exception to this is in Party Mode or in Xbox LIVE Ranked Matches.
• Custom match allows you to reserve private spots for your friends. You can also use this to ensure that you are the host of the match by selecting private slots to be > 0.
Settings
• Auto-aim is an awesome feature that is often misunderstood. It is intended to speed up the game by focusing aiming to a smaller area. It WILL NOT level the playing field. Turning this off will slow the pace of the game down and make melee combat, drive-bys, and sniper action more effective.
• If you are new to GTA multiplayer requesting that the location setting be restricted to the smaller areas (Prison, Docks, Charge Island, Colony Island, Airport, and Bohan) is the best way to go. The larger areas can be very overwhelming for new players.
• Blip settings are another great feature players can use to tailor their GTA online experience. Changing these from All to Leader, Near, or Far is almost like increasing the difficulty setting - we advise using a time limit over a point limit when using the latter two.
• We advise using the proximity voice chat setting to combat against players attempting to dominate the in-game chat with their loud family members, TVs, and music. If you need to talk trash to someone across the map with this on you can simply call them up on your in-game mobile phone.
Tips and Highlights
• All of the non-Cooperative game modes are money based. Only a team or a player can win. The one with the most money will always be the winner. In time limit games, the winner will be the one with the most money when the timer expires. In point limit games, the winner will be the one who reaches/surpasses the point limit first.
• There are 10 levels of achievement. Achievements allow you to unlock more options for clothing and characters.
• Taunts – players can press (L1 for PS3 or LB for Xbox 360) to perform a context sensitive taunt directed at the other players.
• You can talk to your friends on headsets during the modes. You can even have a one to one conversation with a friend by calling him/her through your in-game mobile phone.
• In Player Match mode, you can vote on what the next game will be using the in-game mobile phone.
• Players can set waypoints for other teammates in vehicles.
• A player’s gamertag will disappear whenever that player crouches or uses cover.
Comments
I agree with 100% it took me and the squad i'm in a few times to get it set to private. The options aren't setup like a typical online game is setup. It's in the match making section. Now we are all on the same page and it's actually not bad once you learn it.
Took me quite some time to find out what the different multiplayer modes meant, not to mention which ones were co-op and which ones weren't (that didn't have "team" in it).
Good times.
can you say "using paper from the office" hell yes, now ive got something interesting to read at work.
Afraid I still don't get it all that. PDF or not. Online mode is a bit broken.
Will try more though. It's somewhat fun when it doesn't break.
Took me a hour to figure out how to host private games for friends. I kept making a party instead of hosting a custom match...
It took my friends and I some trial and error to figure the party mode and lobby system out, but damnit it was worth it. This game is so awesome online.
I was JUST having this discussion with a buddy yesterday.
There system is very counter intuitive.
This will make the experience much better.
Cheers.
Anyone else think Cops and Crooks is a wasted opportunity? All for one is boring since you only have to really go after one guy.
and one for all is great but everyone quits when they die, now if they had gone for an infection match type, ie when the crooks die, they respawn as a cop, then that would at least keep the games populated.
"Auto-aim is an awesome feature that is often misunderstood. It is intended to speed up the game by focusing aiming to a smaller area. It WILL NOT level the playing field. Turning this off will slow the pace of the game down and make melee combat, drive-bys, and sniper action more effective."
Now, if every CoD and Halo freak would get this into their head and realize this game isn't a FPS, I think GTA4 on XBL would be a better place.
I'm over 40% done with the game, and I still haven't even tried multiplayer. Guess it's okay I waited, now that this guide is out.
"A player's gamertag will disappear whenever that player crouches or uses cover."
That's a brilliant tip. I didn't know that but I'm going to use it from now on.
As a tech writer, I know that online documentation probably saved them a lot of money.
You forgot about explaining about "The connection to one or more players has been lost".
That game mode is so fun, Rockstar. I swear I've played it over 30 times. All I have to do is press X, its so easy!
Damn, never knew about the cellphones uses ingame. That's some hot ass shit right there. Gonna start callin everyone now, it'd be hot if u could call other people even if they in other games......now that there my friend would be some ballin ass krytpochronoligcal shit right there.......
Got a mic? GTA for ps3? Add me: Legaldeath187
Sorry for not being a native english speaker, but i would like to know what exactly means: "It WILL NOT level the playing field."
I've turned off the auto-aim, bc i feel like a cheater with it turned on. But maybe i'm just wrong to not use it.
However, the level in sigleplayer where you *SPOILER* have to rob the bank is damn hard. Maybe i should turn on auto-aim!? Can anybody tell me if i have to do much more if i come back out of the subway?
I really like the game, but it's awfully frustrating sometimes...
I tried to go into a ranked deathmatch (single player deathmatch, not team deathmatch)the other day, for some reason the game told me that my party wasn't large enough to join the game. GTA4 multiplayer is so messed up.
Also when someone speaks over the mic, their name doesn't pop up on the screen so you don't know who to report for making racist remarks or profanities.
@Arttemis:
I really don't like Halo, and enjoyed Advent Rising immensely (the distinction here is that Advent Rising had a similar auto-target/flick system...
But all too often the Auto aim targets the wrong guy (I want to shoot the driver, not the passenger) or skews your perspective 60 degrees one way or the other. In all, I find it to be inaccurate and jarring, not "easy."
I turned off auto aim in single-player and find the gunplay is alot less noisome, in that regardless of the "speed of play" the bullets go exactly where I want them.
Additionally, the autoaim ain't so hot when the online games consistently have a perceptible delay between bullets firing and their actual impact. It's not as bad as Gears, but it does require some legitimate leading of the target.
As a last point: Melee Combat is ineffective no matter how you cut it, due to the network connectivity. I was boxing someone last night and we apparently had our backs to each other to an observing third party, yet each and every hit was landing on air and causing damage to the opponent.
/Still love the game immensely, but would enjoy it even more if Rockstar would clean up the net-code a bit, so I don't have to watch cars bouncing all over the places in GTA Race and deal with the other network related issues described above./
This does not help much. A bunch of us tried and still cannot get private settings to work. Can you play deathmatch with just friends unranked? And so on and so forth.
It took me a while to figure out how to make private games. You can't do it from party mode or the party lobby, you HAVE to do it from single player by selecting multiplayer->player match->custom game and then setting the private slots to max. Then, once you are in the lobby invite whoever you want and they will be the only ones able to join. I was really getting pissed when random internet dickwads kept popping up in the games I was playing with my friends.
@Arttemis:
You should try Saints Row. Targeting system is much more intuitive and doesn't require you to half hold (WTF?) or full hold buttons to shoot.
They have autolock in GTA because so many people that play it are casual gamers.
A great game but Saints controls are better.
@crapsh00t: That's fine if you don't like auto aim, but you don't have to disable it for everybody.
All you have to do is press L2/LT only half way and you'll free aim.
I've not tried melee, but I don't doubt its awkwardness online. I'd like to think there can/will be some tweaks to improve efficiency all around.
instead of just stealing the manual, do you mind doing the right thing? You know, what they teach you in midde school, and quote the original publisher and give them credit where credit is due. cite their work, give the link to the original. You know, the legal way of doing bsiness
A couple of my friends have already given up on multiplayer because it's a pain to setup and we've had problems with friends dropping from the party once we join matches.
PS3 version
What is the success rate in getting online with a buddy? I have been trying since launch to link up with my bud and we both get the "GAME NO LONGER EXISTS" message once we accept the invite. Is there a tweak or trick to get this to work...we have tried all modes
I wonder if you wise folks can help me.
Ok, here's my problem.
I'm playing on a 60gb launch PS3.
I can get into and play multiplayer EXcept
I cannot join a game when invited by a friend and he cannot join my games either.
We can see that each other is online, and we receive the invites, but every time we try to join it gives a "game no longer exists" error and dumps me back to single player. We can play TekkenDR online, but not this. Any ideas folks?
Thanks, this is really bringing the game down for me. We spent a lot of time discussing all of the cool things we would do.
All I see is player match on the ps3 version, no ranked mode. Is it supposed to be like this?
You mention a PDF, but there is no link. Is it just the stuff you have listed on this article, or is there more to the PDF?
I definitely agree that auto-aim doesn't level the playing field, that is unless you know what you are doing with it. I don't think everyone has figured out that once you lock onto someone you can use the camera stick to move the target reticle without losing focus on the guy you are shooting at. Head shots FTW!
[media.rockstargames.com]
I finally got some multiplayer action yesterday. Pretty sweet.
Can we get the link to the pdf? I'd like a printable version. Danke.
Does anyone have the amount of money needed to progress through the Ranked ranks? I've heard that Level 8 alone is about $2.5 million....which worries me...
Other than that though, the GTA Multiplayer is a ton of fun, whether in Free Mode or Deathmatch. I'm a little turned off of the co-op modes from the few attempts I've done so far, but overall, they did a great job.
hold on...
"2) Toggle to Multiplayer and press ( for PS3 or for Xbox 360) to accept"
so is this confirmation of the pc version?
@Superuser: That just means that auto-aim will not make everybody equal in skill.... I'm not sure I agree with that, but that's what "leveling the playing field" means: making everyone equal.
@AlreadyDead:
"I cannot join a game when invited by a friend and he cannot join my games either."
I only know this problem from COD4. I had zero problems in GTA4 online play, besides to not be able to kill anyone, but i guess, that's just me being bad in this game...
You know, there's a multiplayer tutorial on the cell phone.
@Arttemis:
truer words were never spoken my friend.
every game... "TURN OFF AUTO AIM, BITCH" gets a little annoying.
@PlayerX:
THANKS A LOT!!!
But that means i suck... *cries many tears*
@AlreadyDead: I dunno if this'll help, but the only time I've gotten the "online blah won't blah" error, I was inside Niko's apartment. Everything was fine when I stepped out onto the street.
It is annoying that you can only host a CUSTOM MATCH with PRIVATE SLOTS from NIKO's cell and not from the PARTY LOBBY!
It is also annoying that we can't play the 3 co-op missions ranked with friends.
It took me a few days to get used to running this GTA MP. All the pressure was on me because all my gaming friends look to me to get the games going.
@ungivenglory:
"TURN OFF AUTO AIM, BITCH"
I guess, that must have been me... :)
Why do Kotaku writers often forget to link to the actual article?
Don't tell us to "hit the jump" if there is no jump!
Am I the only person out here who's never even SEEN the lobby? Is there a way to trigger seeing it?
I've only ever played "Free Mode" games, though... dunno if that has anything to do with it.
... Maybe I'll just go read that manual now....
How about they explain the 'feature' where 60% of the games you join get frozen on the 'Starting Game' loading screen for half of the players, with no way to back out?
GTA4 desperately needs some sort of method to punish people who quit, Like Halo 3.
Because, quite frankly, quiting is a gigantic problem in GTA4.
no team-based ranked matches = fail
I was looking for info on this, and am very disappointed. At least CoD4 still rocks it.
@jay427:
The new maps are so addicting!
Wow, they really did rush this out the door to provide a PDF instruction AFTERWARDS.
@smashbruvah:
thanks for the link ... figured it would have been somewhere in the post considering it said "Hit the jump for the full guide." ... I guess GTA's multiplayer isn't the only thing that's "broken". :)
@Arttemis: Absolutely. Now, we'd still have the idiots who NEVER STOP TALKING THE ENTIRE MATCH, or who sing for no reason at all, but this would still be an improvement. It's still fun without auto-aim, but it just doesn't feel like GTA to me.
That being said, if anyone feels like having some auto-aim, non-asshat filled matches, invite me to some parties this weekend -- XBL:GundamAC195. I'm looking for some fun people to play with, and the ranked matches aren't it.
@jay427: There is Ranked Team games, I played around 5 of them so far.
Make a Party with your friends then search RANKED and not PLAYER.
You can do: TEAM: Deathmatch, Car Jack, Mafia, Turf, and one other I forget what it is.
Yeah, I don't get the hate against auto-aim. Auto-aim doesn't mean your shots automatically hit the player. You still have to aim.
So yeah, someone can just lock on to you and keep firing, and some of the shots will hit your body. But all you gotta do in return is lock-on, aim for his head, and he's dead.
Auto-aim makes using cars basically useless, the guys I party with always turn it off if we get host. We also turn off police, set traffic to medium and peds to low (I've seen way too many people set both to high without thinking that it might just kill the framerate).
Now all they need to do is make it so that it'll pull in randoms to match team sizes rather than waiting for an equally sized team to join and to allow parties to play ranked coop (they can play everything else ranked together, just not the coop missions? wtf?) and the GTA MP will be hugely improved.
@xBETAx:
You sir, are attempting to cause grief when there is no reason.
The article itself is titled "Rockstar Explains GTA IV Multiplayer". Before one even reads the article, one knows where the information is coming from.
Once read, it is mentioned at least three times the information posted is coming from the guide.
The only thing the article left out was a link to the PDF, which is basically unnecessary because the entirety of the PDF was posted after the jump, also mentioned.
Please increase your efforts to troll, because this was a very sad attempt.
The only thing that bugs me is when you are in party mode and join a match against other parties, once the match is over you have to wait for the lobby to re-load before you can quit out back to party mode. You should be able to quit out from the results screen. Instead I have to listen to idiots babble for 5 minutes because the host is slow or one of them forgot to ready-up to bring us all back to the lobby.
It's still confusing as fuck.
@Superuser: Basically, GTA isn't meant to be played like an FPS. If you use the Auto-Aim feature, the reticle is roughly locked on to your target's body. At that point it's still up to you to adjust the aim to make sure that you are actually going to hit them, or better yet, pull off that headshot.
Auto-aim also doesn't work over the full range that a gun can shoot. It's worth noting. Basically, auto-aim does a great job of simulating what it's like to shoot in real life - anyone can point a gun in a general direction (whether they are a pro with pinpointing analog stick movements or not) but those with more experience and skill will be able to shoot more effectively and precisely.
In my experience this is a great mechanic, since GTA isn't set up to work well as an FPS or 3PS like Lost Planet or Gears.
Granted, all of you who are good at typical shooters might feel like your skills aren't being recognized, and I can understand how you might feel like you're getting the short end of the stick because of that. But GTA isn't meant to be a typical shooter, and for it I feel this control scheme is beautiful.
Auto-aim is a horrible feature for multiplayer. Being able to take out a car of people in a matter of seconds isn't right.
The boot feature is so obnoxious. I'll set up a game myself because I want it to play a certain way, and then when other people want something changed, instead of leaving the game they'll boot the host. That just isn't right.
I really don't understand why most online games nowadays let you join a game halfway through, that way you don't have to put up with quitters as new people will join keeping the game going.
also matchmaking rules, this whole host and options crap is annoying.