First Impressions Review: GTA Online Content Creator (BETA)

So, I tried the Content Creator for GTA: Online a couple weeks back and it was...actually pretty fun.  At first glance, it’s a little intimidating with all the menus and options and the way the HUD is set up, but the five-minute hands-on tutorial was enough to get me creating my first deathmatch like a pro.  In addition though, the location I chose for doing the tutorial inspired a certain theme for it: rooftops.

Following what I learned, I worked on the deathmatch for hours placing checkpoints, weapons, etc. and tested it to see how things would’ve played out.  Using what I experienced in playtesting, I made various changes to make things easier to get around or even things out for the ground-level players, and even placed a more hard-to-get weapon somewhere to add a challenge for those who knew where to look.  This is where I had the most fun; I was basically put into an imitation deathmatch simulator with AI representing both my own team and the enemy‘s.

When you playtest your deathmatches, you can also choose to take damage normally or, if you prefer, you can move around the field completely invulnerable to any sort of damage.  Yup, any.  The invulnerability option not only prevents damage from bullets and melee, but vehicles and heights don’t do a thing either.  This allows you to move around the field without worry to see how everything’s going to play out, and can be turned off just as easily without interupting the simulation.  To do this, all I did was press O (B if you use a 360) and change the option from the menu the button opens.

There are some flaws to it though - placement limitations being one of them.  When I first approached this option I wanted to place as many weapons as possible, only to find out that by doing so, I quickly ran out of room to place other things like health packs and body armor and was forced to limit things and take a more organized approach...which, if you knew of the crew I lead, was kind of difficult for me to do.

Another thing I was iffy on was the checkpoints themselves.  Specifically, their spacing; it’s a little too far.  Although it did force me to consider an aspect of attacking the high-ground and actually winning for once, the residential area I was adding some mayhem to felt more and more cramped as I tried to meet the checkpoint minimum.  This made placing checkpoints difficult and eventually forced me to expand it from just the roof to the roof and the ground and even go beyond that by adding two more homes to the combat field.

All-in-all, it’s a fun thing to experiment with and create your own deathmatches and races, but it could use a little more work in some areas.  I’d rate the Content Creator for GTA:O an 8.7/10.

By the way, if any of you guys play GTA:Online, I’d like to ask that you give my deathmatch, High Ground, a try.  Give it a thumbs-up if you like it and offer some ideas on improving it if you feel it could be better.  I’ll be sure to read the feedback and update the deathmatch if I like your ideas.