On GTA V's Switching Mechanic

[Pipeline]

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

GTA V. I enjoyed it. The story was interesting and fun most of the time. But, that is not what this thread is about.

As the title suggests, this thread is about the switching mechanic in GTA V. I don't have a problem with it as such, it's just I feel Rockstar could have implemented it better.

If you have played the game and chosen a certain heist plan on a certain mission, you will get to control two of the characters. One is flying a cargobob. The other is piloting the submersible attached by the winch to the helicopter. In the mission, you drop the submersible into the water, then pilot it to a certain location to pick up a certain object. You then switch back to the character piloting the helicopter and pick the submersible back up.

However, it does not exactly work like this is free roam mode. I was attempting to explore the Alamo Sea with a submersible, so I used the same technique used in the mission: I picked it up with the helicopter, then dropped it in the sea. And then I saw the problem.

Attempting to safely land the helicopter on the shore, instead of crashing it into the sea, will result in the submersible de-spawning.

So, basically, I was wondering if I could get one character into the submersible, and the other into the helicopter. I am not sure if it is possible, because it is quite difficult to get two characters to meet up, aside from using the "Hang out" option in the phone (which, I might add, disables switching.)

Maybe I am not trying as hard to do this as I should. Maybe I am correct, and it is impossible.

I will continue trying.

Anyway, I suppose this thread could be used for anyone who can think of a solution to this problem, or maybe simply a discussion of the switching mechanic and it's flaws.

 

[Able Seacat]

I haven't tried so I'm not sure if it's possible. To explore the Alamo Sea I just piloted a diving boat along the connecting river and went scuba diving there. I'm not sure if you can go up the river with sub though :s

 

[RJ 17]

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

GTA V. I enjoyed it. The story was interesting and fun most of the time. But, that is not what this thread is about.

As the title suggests, this thread is about the switching mechanic in GTA V. I don't have a problem with it as such, it's just I feel Rockstar could have implemented it better.

If you have played the game and chosen a certain heist plan on a certain mission, you will get to control two of the characters. One is flying a cargobob. The other is piloting the submersible attached by the winch to the helicopter. In the mission, you drop the submersible into the water, then pilot it to a certain location to pick up a certain object. You then switch back to the character piloting the helicopter and pick the submersible back up.

However, it does not exactly work like this is free roam mode. I was attempting to explore the Alamo Sea with a submersible, so I used the same technique used in the mission: I picked it up with the helicopter, then dropped it in the sea. And then I saw the problem.

Attempting to safely land the helicopter on the shore, instead of crashing it into the sea, will result in the submersible de-spawning.

So, basically, I was wondering if I could get one character into the submersible, and the other into the helicopter. I am not sure if it is possible, because it is quite difficult to get two characters to meet up, aside from using the "Hang out" option in the phone (which, I might add, disables switching.)

Maybe I am not trying as hard to do this as I should. Maybe I am correct, and it is impossible.

I will continue trying.

Anyway, I suppose this thread could be used for anyone who can think of a solution to this problem, or maybe simply a discussion of the switching mechanic and it's flaws.

It's....tricky, definitely, but it actually is possible to get your characters to meet up in Free Roam. When it occurs, though, they'll say something like "Oh wow, fancy meeting you here, wanna hang out?" Basically, the characters "respawn" every time someone either does a mission, or drives from one end of the state to the other (north and south). So really it's going to take some luck on where the character's spawn in when you originally switch to them.

Now, I'd suggest having Trevor in the cargobob since I believe you can switch away from him in an aircraft and when you switch back to him (within a short amount of time) he'll still be in the aircraft. The problem is I don't know where the submersible spawns "after that particular mission" so I don't really have a point of reference on the map. Doesn't it spawn in the city? Like, is it always on that boat that you steal it for in the preparation missions for the heist you're talking about? If so, I'd get Trevor, get into a cargobob, and start heading in the direction where the submersible is. Switch over to one of the other guys, get in a car, and start heading in that direction.

Switch back to Trevor every now and then just to make sure he's still on course/in the cargobob, but then quickly switch back to the other character and they should still be in their car in the general area that you were when you switched. Basically you'd be trying to get the person on the ground into the submersible then switch to Trevor (who should be nearby in the cargobob) and pluck them out of the water and take the sub where you wanna go.

That's how it should work "in theory". Of course, I'm afraid I have no way of assuring you that will actually work in practice. For all I know, the person in the sub could abandon it and let it despawn as soon as you switch back to Trevor to pick them up.

Now, if you know you CAN pick up a person in a sub already and take them where you need to go and I misread your OP, then you're already in plenty good shape. Just pick up the guy in the sub and drop'em in the water, then switch to them and the AI will fly the guy in the cargobob safely off somewhere random, they won't just suddenly fall out of the sky if you switch away from them.

 

[Pipeline]

The problem is I don't know where the submersible spawns "after that particular mission" so I don't really have a point of reference on the map. Doesn't it spawn in the city? Like, is it always on that boat that you steal it for in the preparation missions for the heist you're talking about?

On that point:
For me, the submersible spawns in a sort of junk yard next to Trevor's hangar. There's a water tower in the way, so I have to be careful not to scrape the rotors against it.

The thing is, last night I did manage to get two of the characters together (Michael and Franklin). Problem was, as soon as I switched to one of them, the other would start wandering off, usually to their vehicle. I tried to make Michael get into Franklin's vehicle, but I suppose the game prevents you from doing that because the only way to enter it would be to steal it from them.

On the point of wandering off, when one of them did get into their vehicle, they would start driving off and refuse to stay still for even a moment. But that is not really important right now.

If I can get Michael/Franklin into the submersible, then get Trevor into the cargobob, things should work out.
Yes, the submersible is a vehicle, but it cannot move out of water. They would most likely stay in the vehicle until it was dropped into the sea. So maybe it'll be a little easier than expected.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will continue trying this.