User blog:Redstarski/Brand New To the Node

Interesting, this site, this node of experience. It is its own universe, world unto itself with meaning and structure. Feel like a newborn.

From what I have seen, this node is about  people  inserting themselves into the GTA  narrative by writing about their gameplay experience. So that is wha I will do. Write about my gameplay.

For the record, I am not playing the game right now, don't have GTA V, don't have a gaming system, don't have a cell phone for that matter. But, I have played it on my daughter's PS3, have finished the game in story mode and I have a online rank of 103. So, the start of the blog will be my past gameplay.

It was a dark and stormy night when I started playing GTA V,... nah just joking.

My daughter had ordered a pre-release of the game and it was shipped to our place of rescindence in the fall of 2013. When I got home from work one day, she had it up and running and I was intrigued by the visual details... that is when I decided to play. And that is when this story starts.

Redstarski (talk) 17:39, March 28, 2015 (UTC)

The visual element of the game is what drew me in, I was entranced by the level of detail. Online games have evolved rapidly lockstep with advances in computer processing power. Games that used words to provide feedback became games that provided visual feedback. Pawn to king three in a chess game could now be displayed on screen by the movement of a pixelated drawing. With the advent of GTA V, the visual feedback now was approaching life like realism.

We had played LA Noire, Red Dead Redemption and Tomb Raider and were impressed by the graphics but this took it to a whole new level. However without equivalent  progress in the gameplay physics, ie gravity the improved screen appearance would be a waste.

To my mind the best way way to evaluate a game is to trying driving around. Does it make sense when you push a button on the controller? Do the brakes work? How difficult is it to turn? Whether it is a horse, pedestrian, plane or vehicle, we have preconcieved ideas of how things work, expectations of what these screen graphics are meant to do.

Moving around in Red Dead Redemption, in my mind, was awkward partly because I have had no experience riding a horse and partly because of the physics. With LA Noire, driving a car was much better but still awkward, I just wasn't very good at it. Now with GTA V, I have much better control utilizing character movement AND it actually seems to evolve and get easier the more I use it.

This was new. Great graphics and evolving skills.That is what got me hooked on the game.