GTA Custom missions generator - survey respondents needed

[boncho88]

Dear GTA players,

My name is Hristo Petev and I am a student in Malmo University, Sweden. I am contacting you in a question regarding my master thesis.

The topic of my master thesis is "Procedural mission generation for Grand Theft Auto". I will create a software tool that will generate GTA missions based on players' preferences. In order to create quality missions, I need to know what players like. For this purpose, I have created an online survey. You can see the questionnaire on my personal website: http://petev.net/gta/ .

Would you like to help me by answering the questionnaire? In return of your favor I will provide everyone that completes the questionnaire with a set of mission generated during the work on my master thesis.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at hgpetev@gmail.com

Your sincerely,
Hristo Georgiev Petev
Malmo University Master Student in Computer Science
http://petev.net

[Cuban-Pete]

Done.

Also missions for GTA2? (or GTA IV)

[Gustavob]

This seems rather interesting.

Maybe you could try posting it on the GTA subreddit for possible increased visibility

[BenMillard]

The things you do aren't what make the game fun. It's all about the reasons.

Picking up magazines somebody dropped could be the most boring thing ever. But when those magazines are donkey porn and you're driving a bouncy Rumpo through the steepest roads in Portland against the clock, it's funny! Until a bus jumps a red light and you fail the mission...or you brush the inside kerb with the rear wheel and the van ends up on its roof...actually that was one of the hardest missions in the game! But also fun.

Stunting a bike from roof to roof across Downtown in Vice City sounds awesome. And when it goes well, it is. But you had to do it about 5 times to learn which jumps must be taken at a reduced speed to land in the right place. Any over-shoot usually requires a restart of the mission. It takes time to drive back to where you got the mission and then return to the first jump.

So I guess repetition is the thing to avoid. Variation is part of what makes GTA fun. It's such an active world that every time you play, something unexpected and sometimes hilarious might happen.

Gunfights deserve more attention. Fighting your way into Cherry Poppers in Vice City or into and out of Area 69 in San Andreas was hugely challenging but also hugely rewarding. You had to focus, get your game face on, stay aware and pick your moments wisely.

From GTA2 onwards, the choice of weaponry lets you approach missions in unconventional ways. The freedom of GTA is a huge asset. Want to assisinate someone by dropping a grenade from a pedestrian bridge onto their car? Go for it! Want to rescue a key character with a helicopter instead of a car? Be my guest! Fancy taking 9 of your gang members to the fight...in a school bus? No problem! (GTA1 and GTA2, at least.)

There are quite a lot of races in San Andreas. Details such as which vehicle you use, the terrain involved and the details of the route make some of them awesome and some of them tedious. The running sections of the triathlon side missions were the most bored I've ever been in GTA. The swimming was OK. The cycle was kinda cool but their top speed was so high and their physics so bouncy that it could get super annoying.

Multiplayer missions are an area GTA2 can excel at. In GTA4 there are game modes called "Mafia Work" and "Team Mafia Work" where fairly generic missions are assigned. You can also select certain key missions which you can do in online co-op.

[boncho88]

Hi there,

I posted it on Reddit as you suggested. I hope it will work.
I will create missions for GTA SA and GTA IV

I do not understand your frustration with what I do. I am aware that the context of the mission is important and that is the next step in the research of procedural mission generation. Also mission have to have relation to the narration of the game - yet another step to be taken.

What I do is the initial step of something big that I hope to achieve with the help of you the GTA players. Your preferences are the most important thing when designing a mission. I am sure that you will agree with me. I have played GTA myself starting with GTA 3, San Andreas, IV and I know that there are many annoying elements as well as many cool things. That is why I ask you the players, to find them. I cannot take the survey, because it will introduce bias to the results.

Still you comments are more than helpful and I am grateful that you have found the time and willingness to share them with me and everyone else.

Regards,
Hristo Petev

[boncho88]

Dear GTA players ,

Thank you for the participation in the survey regarding GTA missions.

It is my pleasure to notify you that the project is going on schedule and it is entering in its final stage of development. According to the time schedule, you will be provided with the mission pack around 16th of April 2013.

If you have any questions regarding the project, please do not hesitate to ask them.

Best Regards,
Hristo Petev
Master Student in Computer Science
at Malmo University, Sweden

[BenMillard]

Fantastic! Thanks for keeping us up to date.