:eek: You might want to keep that to yourself man. :thumbsup:

Has anyone verified that the retail is a dual layer?

I heard from 3 people that said the retail didn't make it to dual layer and it's actually standard.

Any truth to this, or are they full of it?

Just curious, tis all.. I'm gonna buy the actual version anyway, just wondering how the hell a DVD9 was compressed down to fit a DVD-R.. something had to have been taken out :D

It is standard afterall. Rockstar said at one point it'd be dual-layer, turns out they didn't need it to be though.

I don't think that the game is racist - they had no problem portraying whites as lying, thieving murdering scum (along with Blacks and Hispanics) in the first two games. They are in my mind equal opportunity - EVERYONE is bad, and usually equally so. Plus, some of the overly racial stuff is probably there solely to piss people off, especially after the whole "Kill the Haitians" debacle in VC.

Getting actors of any sort to make people feel "in the game" is very goofy at best, and is arguably racist. I don't see the point to doing it, and it seems like bad business to me, but what do I know.

Have you gassed anyone with the fire extinguisher yet?? If you get close enough you can clang em on the head! I like to eat til I puke in the fast food place (after you do that they refuse to serve you) :thumbsup:

I just got back from a driveby on my lawn tractor.

This game is so incredibly big and fun!
I love the main group of guys you hang with.
Grove St. 4 Life!

LMAO Fearless Hyena! I just put my mower in the garage and quit because the cops were on my tail. I didn't have an automatic on me but I wanted to do a driveby :)

How is the game any more racist than GTA3 and Vice City? The game uses the same stereotypes as movies like Boyz in the hood, hell they even shares a few cast members :) Face it, LA has/had gangs, It might not have been as bad as portrayed in the game and it coulda been worse for all I know(I'm not far into the game) and if you're going to make a game or movie, you're are going to focus on the worst/best of situation to make it entertaining. The media does the same thing when covering stories in Iraq, they don't show they guy that went to work and bought food for his kids, they show the guy arming his kids with guns. The Sapranos don't show normal people, it shows a mob boss with more italian stereotypes than you can imagine. I'm too tired to type any more so I'm going to bed.

oh yeah, The game isn't all bad. Spoiler: You even get to beat up a crack dealer, goto the crackhouse and beat everyone up there too because they got your old friends hooked on drugs. then you have the ambulance and police missions to help more people.

I didn't even know you could eat that much!

I'm still looking forward to robbing people blind at night - there is just so much to do in San Andreas. The other thing i've noticed ist hat unlike previous GTA's, you can't just go in guns blazing - the police/rival gang members have more health, aim better, and generally tear you to shit before you can take them out.

Another cool death I've discovered is execution style with the shotgun (or any shotgun headshot for that matter) - the target gets DECAPITATED!

Does anyone here know how the girlfriend thing works yet? I've read about it elsewhere, but I haven't seen hwo to get a girl yet...

After more gameplay, the only things that really get to me are the car cameras (would it be soo difficult to get a fixed external camera?) and the brightness - I'm going to have to recalibrate my TV to play the game, because they designed it for people who have their brightness too high. I don't see why they couldn't include a more powerful software brightness tool...

I've heard of this by other people too in more than one location. They said it was funny as hell :thumbsup: Apparently, the district manager basically told the workers than if anyone came in NOT dressed up they would be sent home. So I definitely see this as being approved by the Head Office or whatever.

Damn there's so much stuff in this game!

Take a knife, walk up behind someone (target them) and attack. He'll grab em & slit their throat manhunt style!

The girlfriend thing comes later in the game. A heart icon will appear on your screen and you can go to the house and choose like.. where to take her to dinner, etc.

Being able to climb over things is such an improvement. It used to be frustrating as hell to have to run around and look for a gap in the wall...

Alright, anyone gone into the showers in the locker room of the police station?? :lol:

Spoiler: I do believe that's a double sided purple dildo that I'm holding

9.9 on iGN, Best PS2 Game they have ever played.

Sounds good to me :thumbsup:

Too bad I only have Xbox, but in two weeks, halo 2 baby ;)

Halo 2's gonna be friggin' sweet. The single player can't compare to this, but that multiplayer is gonna be orgasmic as fuck.

oh man I just played the Hydraulics level where you play DDR basically. that was a RIOT!!!

fun stuff. this game is fucking great

How much point you got on that mission? I got 1600 something.

Damn the game is awsome.

HA HA!! I just did the Big Smoke mission where Spoiler: you're on the back of the bike with Big Smoke and the guys are chasing you with the huge truck. Then you go down the sewer outlet and the truck jumps off the bridge down into the aqueduct with you. San Andreas just did a Terminator 2 reference...best game EVER!!

-Lasereth

oh my God. I just played the part Lasereth mentioned. It was a mirror image of Terminator 2 in the aquaduct.........this is fucking insane. I love this shit.

seems like I got 1800-1900

Woo! I got 2200.
My car is kickin some ass now with new exhaust, paint job, and tires.

has anyone figured out how to rob houses on your spare time? after the one robbing mission with ryder, i could never find houses to rob, or that van I need. HELP?

Anyone play the multiplayer mode? My li'l brother chose a cop and he kept trying to kiss me!

To Rob houses you have to find a truck like the one you used in the mission. I haven't been able to find it yet. I've been too busy provoking gang wars and expanding my turf :)

I hit a bug in the car mod garage and got a max insane jump of 9480.something feet. It gave me about $2000+ which reinbursed me for the paint job I accidently bought :)

I got 1700 on the hydraulics mission. I kinda quit trying near the end because I knew I had it won.

One other very weird thing happened to me. I had just finished a mission, I hopped in a car and started to take off and an airplane(looked like a ww2 fighter) crashed into the road and corner of a building destroying a car and burned up. I looked in my stats later on and noticed I got credit for destroying a plane :)

The truck is across from the Ganton gym - its in a yard by what appear to be some apartment style things.

How do you expand your territory though? Somewhere, the game told me that I could recruit supporters by pressing up on the dpad near eligible people, and I got a message that my respect was high enough to have a 3 person gang, but I cant even get the people right outside CJ's house to join up... what do I do?

Has anyone else here used nitro yet? It's CRAZY.... the whole screen got blurry near the end of my run, and I hit a wall so hard my car was done after one hit, though it was somewhat beat up going into the run.

fark...the other ver is spanish...and needs you to log onto a website to get the stupid password to unlock the rar file. full of ads.

I'm sure this game is going to be even more bad ass when I actually start playing the missions! I've done maybe 5 so far...and I can confirm that you can get the guy really fat. Last night was spent getting my character really fat and driving around on taxi missions. I stopped at every Well Stacked Pizza, Burger Shot, and Cluckin' Bell and ate about 8 of the $10 meals each time. That's the about the most you can eat before puking. What's brilliant is that when you get big and fat, the pedestrian and character dialog changes. I can't remember any of the specifics but I'll post some examples if I come up with any. In any case he keeps saying stuff like "I'm hungry" and the change in the dialog is very noticable. Oh I also found that you can change clothes (or strip down to your underwear) if you go upstairs. Picture fat man with an afro and tattoos running around in his underwear. :D

Has anyone been to the Jefferson bar? I think it's called Jefferson or Ferguson, it's right across from a hotel. In any case, one of the video games in there (which you can actually play) is a copy of Stinger, which was a very bizarre game for the NES and arcade and was one of my favorites. Anyone remember that? EDIT: Stinger review at X-E

The design of this game is brilliant!

I agree with the spoiler, it's unmistakable. And in the cop shop. And you can beat people with it.
Pure comedy! :lol:

**edit**

I have to eat my words on this one, there is indeed a multi-player mode. I had no idea they put multi-player in this game and I apologize. One thing that pissed me off about it was I couldn't figure out how to end the mission. I just killed player 2 and then it restarted. Later I thought maybe I should have tried to hit R3, but I still don't know if that would have worked.

I almost gave up on this game because I fell throught the map in the first ten minutes of playing it. However, it seems I was just unlucky as it hasn't happened since.

i was wondering about this for awhile, but i was recently introduced to it. I don't want to spoil anything for anybody, so just keep playing the missions and eventually you'll run into one that tells you how to run the gang. its pretty sweet.

This game has made so many improvements over the original and anyone who liked the original should love this game. I'm not even past the first city yet, but I can tell this has been the best one yet.

Now as much as I love this game I do have two problems with it so far, one small and the other kinda big.

1.) Graphics
This game does tend to drop in fps pretty bad depending on the situation and camera angle. Not to mention the characters really lack detail, but this is excusable.
2.) Story
It's hard to relate to characters who talk like ignorant ass-holes. I mean my problems with these ghetto morons could be the start of a whole different thread (Bill Cosby was right on the money with the comments he made not too long ago). They all come off as so stupid, but I have tried to accept them for who they are and Its been ok. I think Tommy Vercetti was way cooler, but this guy is ok.

This game rocks and I definitely feel that as far as gameplay goes this is far superior to the last one and I have only played it for about 6hrs. For those of you who don't have it I am sure christmas just isn't coming fast enough. ;)

xiangsu, I hate to call out your last response as a bit racist, but come on man. This game is supposed to center around L.A gang culture. How do you expect them to talk?

"Hello sir, I do believe I'm about to jack your automotive transport. Hmm. Indeed"

I think the game does a very good job of portraying what it is trying to. Whether the charaters talk in ebonics or not.

OK, so the game was *finally* released in europe and I want to buy it today for the long weekend here in Austria, but it is only in German!!!! (my german is okay, but not perfect)

My question is: are there subtitles in this version and how much talking is neccessary to understand what to do in the missions....I have been itching to play this game for a month, and I want to buy it, but not if I cant understand what is going on!

these "ghetto morons" actually talk like that if you were to go to a place similar to where they live. it's very realistic. I wouldn't want it any other way....

Why am I not surprised that people are yelling "racism" when black gangbangers are portrayed as they portray themselves. The italians didn't cry out over GTA III or VC.

I love it how this game is great at offending people who want to be offended :D

I do think the game does a great job at being realistic, but I just have never been a big fan of that kind of culture. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy the game, its just some times it bugs me when they talk like that. I prefer Vice City's main character, but I still like this one. The game is freaking amazing, I have been playing it non-stop.

And I am definitely not racist, I like Wayne Brady.

In all seriousness, I used to be friends with guys who talked like that, didn't bother me then. For some reason whenever I started playing this it just seemed to bother me a bit. Don't know why, maybe its because I am really not a big fan of rap culture and I don't like guys like 50cent. So when I am playing this game it kind of reminds me of the stupid stuff on T.V.

Anyone know whether or not we get to see Kid & Play in this game? They were tight as hell dog...

**on a side note**

I am sure there were many "african americans" who didn't like playing as a white guy in the 80's, but I am positive no one called them racist for making any comments about that. I think most white people, given the choice to create a white or black player in this game, would make a white character.

It's a game and a great one. It would not be improved by letting anyone that was offended by any part of it make changes. I have only played for a few minutes and my guy is so fat, he can barely move. I like all of the improvements over VC

How exactly do you go about making your guy fat?

I know you have to do things like eat shitty food and never run/work out, but that seems kinda impossible considering the majority of the time you're on foot.

Won't running around cancel out the crappy food you eat?

Dude, reading this thread, I can't help it to say:

I can't wait for the PC version! Not that I don't like consoles but I don't have any, and the few times I tried playing GTAIII on ps2 didn't work for me.
So I'm patiently waiting, but it's going to hurt....

Now continue your discussion of all the cool things I will have to wait for :)

I am HUGE and I run around all the time.

Spoiler: I've been working out at the gym and have 100% muscle, and it still looks like I'm as fat as you can get in the game. Now I've got a crew who respect me...gang members will follow you if you're tough

Spoiler: FAT -- ok, go to any food place, and hit left twice once you get to the counter, that chooses the the most expensive fattest $10 meal. i.e. skip the salad meal. Eat exactly 10 of them, repeat, profit!! Then go to the next place. (comedy option: eat as much as you can, puke it all up, and waste all that effort)...man I love this game :D

You'll be large and in charge in no time :lol:


Sorry for the spoilers, but that worked for me!! :D

I seriously hope you're being sarcastic, because all those people you just mentioned are white.

Anyways, I can attest to the realism in the dialog/dialect they use in this game. My mom's husband is black, and he talks like this. They live in the ghetto parts of Inglewood, and whenever I go there, that's how many of their neighbors talk. It's a culture. Respect it. Just 'cause they choose to say "axe" instead of "ask" doesn't mean they're morons.

My little brother took his game back home and I'm having GTA withdrawal. Heeelp meee!

wayne brady is white? knp also? i hope youre being sarcastic

This game is fucking rad!

I think that Los Santos is just the tip of the iceberg...

This game is starting to irritate the shit out of me.

Primarily because of the AI in the gang system... it's pointless. You can't even do anything with it!

I'm going around trying to get the different territories and I recruited 5 members in my gang. So I'm walking around looking for gang members trying to start a gang war, but gang members are scarce for some reason... so I'm walking around for 20 mins trying to find some, and one by one my guys start dying off. Not because of gunfire, but because of getting hit by a goddamn car crossing the street. WTF? My whole gang has been wiped out multiple times because of this. They are STUPID. Most of the time they don't even make it to the gun fight.

On top of that, when you ARE in a gang war, they dick around. I seriously pick off ALL the opposing gang members by myself. I see my gang members fire their guns, but I don't know wtf they're trying to shoot. They're pretty much all dead by the end of the first wave anyhow.

I really wish they would've worked the bugs outta the AI, because at this point (and I've been doing this for a few hours this morning), the system doesn't seem to work like it should. It seems like you waste more time trying to get guys only to have them screw around and die off as opposed to you just doing it yourself.

Another thing is the random glitches in the game. For about an hour yesterday, the randomization in the game turned off because EVERY pedestiran was a cop. That was so goddamn annoying.

Hm, what else... oh yes, the people in the game can commit crimes, and when they do, the cops go after them like they go after you.. this also gives you a chance to kinda do whatever you want because they don't pay attention to. Oh, but there's an exception... gangs. I walk by a rival gang, they fire at me RIGHT in front of a cop, he doesn't do shit, so I fire back and get stars.

I like the stealth missions and the fact that manhunt was pretty much built into this game :D

..and I think game mags exaggerate when they say the land is 5 times as large as vice city. One of em said it took 30 minutes to go from one island to the next, but... I can go from one side of Los Santos to the other in about 1 minute (maybe 2 TOPS), which is the ENTIRE lower right quadrant of the map. Unless he walked/ran, there's no way it takes 30 minutes (real time) to go to another city..

Getting territories is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be at first. The only reason I take fellow gang members with me is the moment they start shooting I know where the enemies are and I can take them out. The opposing gang is hard to find in their little section, makes it hard as hell to even start a gang war lol.

The one use I've found for gang members is that they can shoot at the enemy without ammo restrictions and, more importantly, wihtout getting any police attention. What makes me mad, though, is that the enemy cops/gang members all aim pretty well when they are shooting at me (a cop has shot me twice from about two screens away while I was super sprting away from him and zig zagging) but all the player-friendly AI aims like two year olds playing with guns. I have no problem with shitty AI, but I do have an issue with intentionally shitty AI.

I was only able to play a few minutes at my friend's house and I just rode a bike around. That was fun though.

Is it just me, or do I find it extremely easy to find opposing gangs? Just stay out of the rural and wealthy areas and they're everywhere! For me, it seems I can't turn one street corner without being shot at; unless I'm in Ganton of course.

Also: Spoiler: Avoid killing your pool opponent and taking your money back. If you do it too much, no one will play pool with you anymore.

has anyone figured out where to go to flight school? I tried to go to the easter bay airport and fly a plane, but it says i need to go to pilot school

Take a car to the guy who says you can't enter, jump onto the car, then jump onto his kiosk. Then simply walk off the back into the airport. Even without the licenese you can fly the dodo and a small pasenger jet. Just be careful not to go into any unopened territories. You'll get a four star wanted rating and a jet will shoot you down.

The rhythm based missions are annoying as all hell. I'm stuck on Life's a Beach...my 250 pound, shotgun-toting gangster has to have a dance-off to steal a car. Basically, it's brought my game to a screeching, button mashing halt. So, I'm glad I only rented San Andreas.

Whaaaat. The rhythm games are easy as heck. Just go practice at the alhambra club.

i got all cut and now im buff, and i got a bandana for my head and face, and took off all my clothes except my boxers, and took the dildo i found in the police shower, and went on a motorcycle. whenever i found a hooker, i got off and beat her to death with it, then got back on and proceeded to find another one. the dildo ninja strikes again!

haha..i just got the game today..its so great!

Game is good, but I wish it had better graphics or physics like ragdoll. But sadly it is very limited becauses of the PS2's Video and CPU.

A buddy of mine and I played from 2 PM to 6 AM with one break of about three hours in the middle. It was primarily expanding gang territory, though we did do some missions as well. We found that the other gang members serve pretty much as an early warning system, and then it's easiest just to hole up on top of a high building or in a back yard (depending on the region) and take out the enemy with the AK. I will say that Spoiler: I am looking forward to killing Tenpenny. That son of a bitch is going down.

I love this game. It keeps getting better and better. I want to play it now but I have to clean up and do *gasp* homework!

-Lasereth

Bah, these racing missions are pissing me off. If I wanted a racing game I would have bought a racing games.

Yeah. Good for you, buddy. ;)

(Imagine if this was posted in a non-GTA thread; oh the humanity!)

oh my GOD!!! Spoiler: I'm not believing this. I just raced the main character from GTA:III in a pink slip competition.......and Catalina just left with him. That means latina Catalina is the latina Catalina from GTA:III......the bitch that shot you in the beginning of GTA:III. We've been doing missions with the bitch that fucked you over in GTA:III. This is fucking awesome. Even better, Tanner was wearing the same fucking shit he is in GTA:III. I love this............

Ha ha, there's been racing missions in every GTA game ever. It's a part of the GTA franchise. :)

-Lasereth

I'm stuck on a stealth mission. I prolly just need some more practice.

You'll get access to flight school during a mission, you can't miss it.

Spoiler: I can't believe Catalina dumped me for that no named homo! I hated her at first but I was really disappointed when she left me.

I took over a bunch of gang territory but after the first city it's all pointless.

Peter Fonda has the best character in the frickin game. He reminded me of a Dennis Hopper character but I cant remember what movie. He seems to have dissappeared from the story, maybe I'll get to hear more of his commentary later in the game.

Each city has a really different feel. Los Santos definately had you doing amateur things that look silly after you get to Las Venturas and start getting into the big time crime rings.

The Place is pretty huge, Going from the first town to the second town can be one hell of a trip if you take a wrong turn. It doesn't take 30 minutes but it's a long and sometimes boring trip, especially when a mission takes you from one town to another only to kill you and make you drive back to restart the mission.

The game really isn't that hard though. The only thing that has really tripped me up is the distance you have to travel for some missions only to put some kind of instant fail clause at the end, then you have to drive all the way back to restart the mission. The Trip skip thing is nice but there's only 1-2 semi-hard missions that use it.

who are you supposed to approach to join your gang? I cant get anyone to respond to my Up arrowing near them (I am supposedly able to support a 3person gang)

In order to recruit a gang member you have to target them like you are going to shoot them and then press up.

They may have exaggerated how long it takes to travel but the game probably is 5 times the size of Vice City. Los Santos (just the city) alone is much bigger than VC was. Factor in San Fierro, Las Venturas, and all the rural areas and I'm sure it's about 5 times as big.

I'm stuck on toreno's last flight. I just keep dying, I cannot figure out a good way to beat it. anyone got any advice?

My point is, what the hell is a rhythm game doing in GTA? Why make it a required, totally linear mission? Ideally, I ought to be able to just take the van and not be forced to dance at all. And why is a locked van an insurmountable obstacle for a car thief? It just isn't why I play Grand Theft Auto Games--criminal mayhem please, not dance parties. ;)

But that's just me.

The racing missions are easy. Just get a nitro mod on your car :)

the nitro graphics are awesome :thumbsup:


I usually do much better WITHOUT nitro though, since most of the races require (so far anyway) a lot of turning, rather than straightaways. I spend the dough on getting nitro on my lowrider and pimped it out and everything and went and nitroed off a cliff and exploded....

then I went and got the equivalent to a Ford Escort hatchback and blew away the competition

Spoiler: I'm at that OG Loc Mission where you have to steal the car, get it fixed, then not even tap it against anything while you try and parallel park it between two cars. This level never fails to completely piss me off. ARGH!

This game is amazing, I've only played a small amount and I fuckin love it. God bless you Rockstar.

thanks, kutulu.

I love the game so far, but I have to say...they could have improved the player control, especially when fighting....I often find that CJ is turned the wrong way when I am trying to use my AK on some thug.

I havent been able to get very far in the game because 1. the three missions i can do i cant do and 2. my ps2 is a piece of crap and whenever i get close to completing one of these missions it freezes cuz it is a dirty whore. I guess ill just have to get one of them new ps2s this weekend

Does anyone have the problem of when using the uzi or mp5 that when you try to shoot at someone you're suddenly turned the wrong way and shoot straight up in the air? This keeps happening to me in the ryder mission where you have kill everyone around the train. Any suggestions?

The shooting in the air problem was pissing me off last night. Doesn't he know that random gunfire is dangerous?

Heh, Woozie kicks ass. I can't believe he beats Karl at video games. I have to say, Woozie and The Truth are my favorite characters in this game.

While the game is mostly kick ass I wish some things were diffrent.

I wish lock on and crosshair were two diffrent buttons, or maybe if they used the analog so that a light push of the button brought up the crosshair, and a heavy push of the button caused lock on.

All the camera angles suck when driving. Third person view blocks what's right infront of you and in first person you can't see whats beside you . Going high speeds or up hills only makes it worse. I constantly have to push my stick up to see what the hell is in front of me. It would have been much better if the camera was tilted up about 5-15 degrees.

Does the blurriness go away as your drving skills increase?

I'm not enjoying this one very much... I loved GTA3 and Vice City but I can't cope with all the glitches, terrible camera design and poor graphics. All the RPG elements haven't seemed to change the gameplay very much and insofar just seem like aesthetic.

None of the missions I've played yet are original or set themselves apart from GTA3 and Vice City and I certainly don't care about the main characters, instead all I'm doing is laughing everytime they say something. At least Vercetti was a bad ass and you wanted to see him go to the top.

I don't know if I can be bothered finishing it, maybe if I play some more today my opinion will change. I will no doubt get it on the PC or Xbox, graphics don't make a game but they can certainly hurt it.

Question for all the hardcore people who are probably way further into this game than me: Spoiler: Do you eventually get to return to Los Santos and reclaim all your shit later on, because I really don't much like the idea of having the whole city infested with Ballas after I finish.

Kostya: Yes, near the very end of the game. (Starting from Scratch)

Anyone else besides me think the horse tracks are a little unfair? My brother has about 5 million dollars thanks to that place.

if anyone is very far into the game or has beat the main storyline, please PM me. I'm having trouble with a Woozie casino mission, and I can't seem to beat it for the life of me. Advice despreately needed

Wow. My girlfriend got me this game and it is the best ps2 game I have ever played. sooo much better than Vice City, great story...
I don't get tha many glitches, they haven't caused me any probs yet :confused:
but yeah. It almost had me punchin a guy smack in the face when he said something stupid...and I have to refrain myself from talking gangsta vocabulary...
but otherwise.... fun fun. the story rocks, and besides the tedious dancing mission, the game was great. snaking possiblities are really cool, now I wanna fly planes and stuff...but I've been getting too much work to be playing it recently :crazy:

You don't need to do anything to start flying planes. You can steal it as one of the first things you do.

Here's what you do:
Go to the airport and jack a really tall vehicle. Park it right next to the fence. Jack a regular vehicle and park it next to the large one. Use it like steps to get over the fence. There is a private jet and a dodo there. Fly safely, the planes assplode much easier than they used to.

Right now I'm a little pissed at the game. I used a map to find all the gang tags so I could get the weapon spawns at CJ's house. Well I went to all 100 of them and now I only have 99 tags. I think what happened was I stopped spraying before I got credit for one of them or accidentally marked one as done when it wasn't done yet. Now I have to go back to each one and find out which one can still be targeted. :mad:

Oh man... :lol: That sux!

Anyways, I'm FINALLY outta Los Santos. It took me long enough. Spoiler: I knew that Big Smoke was w/ the po po's, but Ryder too!? And not only that, they're mixed in not only with Tenpenny, but also the Baller's!? Sheeeeit. That chica, Catalina, is one ANNOYING ASS HO! And that Willie Nelson clone, The Truth, is just a tad wierd, wouldn't you say? Anyways, I wish I had that camera when I walked in on Tenpenny lightin' it up!

I think I'm having way too much fun with this game. Also, I have a question for all of you: If you lose the cue stick, how do you get it back? I can't play pool anymore!

Is there an electrician hidden in the game somewhere?

After I got back from theSpoiler: being dumped in the middle of nowhere and killing the witness (I can't believe I wasted all that time expanding territory) mission, my garage doors don't open unless I crash into them at 100mph and they never open when I approach on foot.

The main problem is that pimp-mobiles have disappeared from the streets completely and I have a fine selection of souped up pimp-mobiles in my garages.

Despite the glitches, this is still probably the greatest game I've ever played. The size is mind-boggling.

Haha! I totally lucked out on the tags. I started playing last night and decided to do some base jumping first. On my way to get the parachute, I was walking by a tag in Downtown Los Santos. I tried to target it and sure enough, it was the one I missed! Downtown Los Santos was going to be the third or fourth major area I checked (and that would have been about the 70th tag I checked). Now I have free weapons. Sweet.

I also did the ambulance missions. The R3 missions are a great way to boost stats and get money. It also helps you get to know your way around town.

Alright, I'm having trouble with the following missions. PLEASE help!

#1) Spoiler: I can't seem to beat the Zero mission where you have to gun down all those toy airplanes. No matter how many I destroy, more keep coming and they always eventually make Zero scream "CURSE YOUUUUUUUUU!"
#2) Spoiler: I'm stuck on the pimp's mission where you have to go to different places while that guy's cell-phone battery is running out. I made it all the way through up until the airport. I went through the tunnels and reached a closed gate. They say "They're right there!" and I'm supposed to catch 'em, but the gates are closed and I can't even crash through them! This one is REALLY frustrating.
#3) Spoiler: I'm in the very last (12th) driving school mission, and it is amazingly difficult. I can't stop, I can't crash, AND I have to complete it in 1 minute, 20 seconds. I always make it to the first blip and either end up crashing/spinning-out to a halt (most often), or just plain running out of time.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hey C of A -

1. Spoiler: I spent fucking ages on the Mini-Gun mission. Took me at least 20 attempts to beat. Here's my best tips but it basically boils down to practice and learning the patterns of the first 10 or so sets of planes. Get there as the sun-rises and keep at till sun-down. I don't think it's necessary to destroy every plane, just shoot it till it starts smoking. Holding the fire button down constantly doesn't seem to help because the sight jumps around too much. When 'Mission Failed' appears on screen take Zero's kneecaps out. It doesn't achieve anything but it may cool your blood before your next attempt. I finally beat this mission by switching the lights off, putting my headphones on and sitting a couple feet away from the screen.

2. Spoiler: You may have found one the game's many glitches. Did you go straight to the airport? You need to go to two other points first. The building site, then the docks. Wait for the text to appear on screen before you go to the airport.

3/ Spoiler: It's not 1 minute 20 seconds (I thought it was 1:20 too, don't think I'm being a smart-arse). It's 120 seconds. 2 minutes. After the blip follow the river all the way back to the driving school. Slow down a bit.

To add to jwoody's suggestions

1: Spoiler: A few things you may not know. There's a transmitter behind you. There's no reason not to just hold down the fire button and hose, as there's no ammo limit and you can hit the planes pretty far away. Just keep the gun up so you don't hit Zero. When you get down to half signal, if the transmitter behind you is still up, focus only on it. It's separate from the rest and so easier to defend.
2:Spoiler: I'm not sure about the tunnels you went through. You have to go up on the tarmac once you're past the dead guards at the main gate, which could be interpreted as a tunnel. Once you work out what's wrong there, I'll suggest you NOT shoot the van the guy is in, but just let it drive a short distance away, where it stops and the guys get out to be easily shot without risking blowing up the van.
3:Spoiler: Good luck, is all I can offer.

Spoiler: Yeah I had issues with the final driving school mission, but I realised you can damage your car a fair amount without actually failing, so don't sweat it if you bump into a few things. As for spinning out, try to either switch into reverse and swing the car around or slide while accelerating, and you won't get cut off. Difficult, not impossible.

One thing to add on your first question CofA:

Spoiler: It's timed mission, it doesn't matter how many planes you shoot down as long you keep the transmitters alive for 3 minutes. If you're aiming at a plane in the distance and you can hear another one close by, go for the closest one before it drops a bomb or kamikazes into a transmitter.

lol, I'm nowhere near any of those missions. I can't even have gang wars yet. I've just been exploring, raising my stats, and killing. I want to get my bike and driving skills to 100% before I move on to any more missions. I'm also working to getting hitman level with all guns. It should have been obvious but I just found out that shooting cars does as much towards raising gun levels as shooting people. I've maxed out the AK and sawn-off shotgun (dual shotguns rule). I'm also close to having dual pistols and machine pistols. I'm also building up money to get all the properties I can before I move on.

Have you guys been doing the R3 missions? I've done the ambulance and taxis (the nitro is great). I tried the firetruck and it pisses me off and only tried teh vigilante missions once (got to level 5). They give you lots of money.

To CofA:

2. Spoiler: That mission is tricky -- what I did when I got to the locked gate you describe is park the car next to the guard house, and use the car and the guard house to hop over the gate. You shouldn't have any trouble once you're inside.

Kutulu, if you want a shitload of money, my advice is that you go to the betting place near Mulholland Intersection and put everything on the crappiest odds. Save before of course, then you can keep doing it. Winning three times usually puts you in the millions.

I can attest to that. I ended up betting $11,000,000 on the 12-1 horse and won. :) Yes; that's $132,000,000!!

Cityofangels: Spoiler: On the last driving mission, don't drive through the middle of town, it's a deathtrap. As soon as you take off, go right, over the railroad tracks and down the curved hill SLOWLY, turn left and it's a pretty open area all the way there, make a U turn and head back the same way.

I need some advanced car jacking advice.

Spoiler: On the stealin_cars_using_Zero's special_cell_phone_device_mission I can chase down the car and do the P.I.T. manouvre but whenever I get out to steal the car they just speed off into the distance. I'm totally stumped. What am I doing wrong here? Does some text come on screen when you've done the P.I.T. manouvre correctly?

You can practice the P.I.T. trick all you want in the driving school, provided you get that far in the driving lessons. It'll even give you a percentage grade to let you know how you're doing.