I am a terrible driver. The worst. Any advice?

[cheapdatekate]

Hi,

So, I play GTA IV on PS3, and L.A. Noire on PC with both a XBox 360 controller, and keyboard/mouse. They seem to have the same driving mechanics. I love these games, especially GTA IV. I'd like to get GTA V for PC, but I'm hesitant given how much I struggle with the driving. My problem is over-steering. Whether I use a keyboard, or a controller, I over-steer. I drive in a serpentine pattern when I'm going fast. It takes me way too long to drive anywhere. I can barely drive in a straight line! God help me if I have to turn a corner. I don't even want to tell you how long it took me to get away from the card game at the very beginning of GTA IV. It was ridiculous. It's fine when I'm just exploring the open world, but completing objectives is harder for me than it should be. If I slow down, I can drive straight. I can turn corners without riding up on the curb. You really can't play this way, though. You have to speed at some point. Who wants to be a defensive driver in the GTA world, anyway? If I have to run from the cops, I'm screwed, and so is everything, and everyone on the sidewalks.

Can anyone offer any tips on how I can become a better driver, please? I've tried to use a gentle touch with the controller to make small steering corrections, but I haven't had much success. I find it even harder to be gentle when pushing keyboard keys. Is it even possible to make small corrections this way?

Thank you!

[EXT]

Treat the road as if it does not exist, run over pedestrians at will, and avoid things that will slow you down. Thats all I do and I tend to drive fine, at least in videogames.

[fingRingMaster]

Just buy a steering wheel and use it on your PC for driving.
For other stuff, use Kb/M

[Kouki_Monster]

Try driving around the hills. Maybe try to push the left joystick up and and lean it left or right but try to keep the joystick at the top instead of making small adjustments by just flicking left and right. Sometimes the best option is to stop trying to make corrections especially if you start fish tailing.

When you need to brake before a corner don't slam on the brake, slowly apply the brake. Somtimes all you need to do is let go of the gas for a bit and then power through the turn on the exit.

Just keep driving around the city until you get the hang of it. Try doing it in one car so you get used to it and then try different vehicles.

[cheapdatekate]

Originally posted by Person:

Treat the road as if it does not exist, run over pedestrians at will, and avoid things that will slow you down. Thats all I do and I tend to drive fine, at least in videogames.

When I play, every surface is a road because I will be driving on it whether I want to, or not. Running over pedestrians is one of my favourite parts of the game, but I'd like to do it on purpose rather than because I can't avoid it. I'd like to get to the check point without taking out every garbage can, news box, and lamp post on the way at least once. Just once would be nice lol.

[cheapdatekate]

Originally posted by Kouki_Monster:

When you need to brake before a corner don't slam on the brake, slowly apply the brake. Somtimes all you need to do is let go of the gas for a bit and then power through the turn on the exit.

This is exactly the technique I'm trying to get down. I can do it when I'm driving slowly, but when I speed up, then release the gas, I don't seem to slow down enough, or in time, to make the turn. I'll keep at it. Thanks!

[cheapdatekate]

Originally posted by GrumpyGollum:

Just buy a steering wheel and use it on your PC for driving.
For other stuff, use Kb/M

That could be cool even if I wasn't having driving issues. Thanks! Do you use a wheel for anything? Any recommendations on a specific device?

[bigbenisdaman]

Driving mechanix on gta iv and gta v is completly differant. GTA V has a much grippier/consistant feel to the road.

[OwedEvil]

You need to drive faster. It may seem like i am being sarcastic, but the faster you drive without crashing, the better you'll drive at lower speeds. The only way to perfection (if it exists) is practice.

[Kouki_Monster]

Originally posted by raygunmolly:

Originally posted by Kouki_Monster:

When you need to brake before a corner don't slam on the brake, slowly apply the brake. Somtimes all you need to do is let go of the gas for a bit and then power through the turn on the exit.

This is exactly the technique I'm trying to get down. I can do it when I'm driving slowly, but when I speed up, then release the gas, I don't seem to slow down enough, or in time, to make the turn. I'll keep at it. Thanks!

If you didn't slow down enough for the corner try doing it earlier. Also try to brake in a straight line and not while turning. Try the same corner over and over until you know where your braking point is. Once you get used to that any other corner should start to become easier to take.

[Odra]

I was used to the 3D era driving, which was more arcade oriented.

Then GTA IV came along.

Since Handbraking while turning would turn the Boat-physics Jell-O block into a sliding fridge coated in teflon I took to forums to ask for advice on driving or even a mod that might return the arcade physics.

Bad Idea, all I got was basically "L2Drive", "This is much better", "Realism this", "Realism that", etc.

So (and this is before the "V Style" mod was released for GTA IV) one of the things I did was rebind the Handbrake key to Reverse.

This change really improved my GTA IV experience.

Let's say I was chased by cops on a 2 lane street, and I decided to take a sharp turn left at the next intersection.

I'd continue at regular speed, then right before the corner I'd begin tapping my handbrake (Which is now a Reverse key), then stop tapping and attack the curve. Once your vehicle starts giving into the slidey-bumper-car physics you hold the Handbrake then let go before the car actually slows down.

Truth be told you'd have to develop your own timings, but yeah, never rely on the handbrakes. (unless you are attempting to drift, then a tap or two will do)

[вαтαк]

drive fast peddle to the metal and if you see a unexpecting gta player you floor it and make him eat your tire and watch the back tire splatter the road with his blood

[Mr Peeps]

I can't give you great advice on this, but what I can say is that in my experience, driving slowly can actually be an advantage in getting away from the cops at times. A lot of people panick and are more worried about driving away quickly than getting away from cops, often making random turns or driving right past cops and having to start all over.

When you drive slowly you can be really careful about where cops are, where they're likely to spawn. If you make a bad turn, if you're speeding you're going to go right to the cop and get caught, but if you're careful you can still fix that bad turn and get away easily. I find getting away from cops is more of a game of Mouse trap more than a speedy chase.

Regardless, I have found in GTA 4 that often times good driving does not help you much, if you just shoot out the drivers of other cars, especially when being attacked, you're not much threatened. Often times in missions in GTA 4 the entire challenge of the mission has been completely destroyed by just shooting the driver immediately, to the point that a lot of missions were way to quick or way too easy. The only place where driving was really still an issue were missions that were timed. Unfortunately this won't help you there.

[cheapdatekate]

Originally posted by Odra:

So (and this is before the "V Style" mod was released for GTA IV) one of the things I did was rebind the Handbrake key to Reverse.

I really like this idea, and I'm going to try it right away. Thanks!

[cheapdatekate]

Originally posted by UnknownToaster:

I can't give you great advice on this, but what I can say is that in my experience, driving slowly can actually be an advantage in getting away from the cops at times. A lot of people panick and are more worried about driving away quickly than getting away from cops, often making random turns or driving right past cops and having to start all over.

I never considered that a fast getaway was the problem. That is great advice. I'm definitely one of the panickers you mentioned. I'm going to try this approach, too. Thanks!

[Odra]

Don't get me wrong though, one of my maxims for GTA Driving is "Once the W key gets pressed, it stays pressed"