GTA 5 Director Mode is a brand-new function to play and create your own unique gameplay experiences. It uses the same map and main mechanics as GTA V. Still. It allows you to place props such as vehicles, pedestrians, animals, etc., into the scene and control time of day plus other variables such as weather conditions (e.g., heavy rain or snow). You can freeze time at will and reposition yourself around your scene, including zooming in on your character to see from their perspective, without affecting the world’s state. The cheat feature does not create any effect for this model. You can play this mode with or without the cheat feature.
Save the scene
Once you have a scene set up, you can save it under a given name for future use so that you don’t have to recreate it every time you want to tweak certain aspects in it. You can then load them in-game when you like to play the scenario, making for unique gameplay possibilities.
Share online with other players
Once created, these scenes can be shared online with other players via the Rockstar Games Social Club website (PC only). Each scene is given its unique code, which can be entered into an in-game browser under Community > Director Mode Scenes on the Social Club website.
Create a director mode
You must create a new director mode character/profile before being able to use this feature, of course, so once you hit F1 on your keyboard, for instance, to access all active interactions in GTA 5, select CREATE PROFILE and choose a handle of your choice that’s not been taken already from the list of names displayed.
The same profile can be used for multiple directors
You can use the same shape for multiple director mode characters, but this will not unlock any achievements or trophies in your game, so feel free to create them whenever you want to have some fun with the feature.
Create a profile by logging in to Rockstar’s Social Club
If you’re interested in creating a new director mode character, go to CREATE PROFILE on Rockstar’s Social Club website, after logging into your Social Club account (top right-hand corner of the page; scroll down for Create Profile button).
The step by step guide to starting with Director Mode
The following guide should help get you started with the mode.
How to setup director mode in GTA 5?
Step 1:
Before proceeding, make sure you set your director mode character/profile as active (i.e., take control over it) by selecting it from the list (bottom right corner of the screen, white text box). If using more than one director mode profile/character, choose one of them to activate before continuing with this guide.
Step 2:
You can then launch into director mode via any of these methods:
Open the pause menu and go to APPEARANCE > CHARACTER (under CREATE A PROFILE at the bottom left) and select DIRECTOR MODE from there if that’s where you saved it after creating a director mode character earlier on.
Go straight to the pause menu by selecting START > PAUSE or pressing Esc.
Or press F1 on your keyboard to access all active interactions, select CREATE PROFILE and choose DIRECTOR MODE from there if that’s where you saved it after creating a director mode character earlier on.
Step 3:
Once in director mode, you appear as a floating camera/director icon in one scene of Los Santos (based upon which scene is selected when entering director mode). From here, you can place props and other items in your scenario. To do so: Hover over an item with your cursor, and instead of pushing Left Mouse Button down to take control over it, right-click.
This will add it into your scene for placement purposes. Line up the cursor where you want the item placed and press down your left mouse button. You can also move around from this perspective by holding down your MMB and dragging around as if you were a human player walking/running/sprinting through a scene. You will not break objects in a scene once set up unless using an explosive prop such as a sticky bomb or grenade, generally used to trigger specific mechanics.
Other things you might notice:
- Press HOME on your keyboard (by default) whenever NOT hovering over an active object (e.g., vehicles, props, etc.) located within one of your scenes to switch back-and-forth between director mode and normal GTA V gameplay.
- Press END on your keyboard to switch back-and-forth between the camera modes of director mode. This is very useful to have a different perspective, e.g., first person or third person (over the shoulder). You will not die in director mode if shot by enemies or police, but once your health reaches zero, you will be sent back to the last checkpoint/checkpoint area and lose access to all scenes where you placed props and vehicles.
- Props and any vehicles created within one scene cannot be accessed outside that scene UNLESS they are added into another scene (hover over it with your cursor and press the left mouse button down for this) create multiple interactions.
- You can listen to WAVE 103, Vinewood Boulevard Radio, etc. by getting into any vehicle in the scene which has a radio, e.g., cars with custom soundtracks added cannot be heard in director mode unless you get inside one of them and select the radio station via your on-screen phone or audio menu.
- You can hear Car Radio stations in-game while driving around, but NOT custom soundtracks (e.g., Custom Soundtrack) created for cars directly without getting inside the car first. These are only radio stations that were activated when built initially into your template (see here for more information).
Multiplayer
If you have a friend with a separate profile created on your system, they can join director mode sessions with their character and play alongside yours. To do so:
- Open the pause menu and go to APPEARANCE > CHARACTER (under CREATE A PROFILE at bottom left).
- Here, using the drop-down menu options located under CREATED/FRIENDS.
- Choose any of your friends that have been added to this group by yourself or others. This is done via OPTIONS > FRIENDS from the pause menu as per normal gameplay.
- Be sure to hit SAVE before exiting this screen otherwise, and changes will not be permanent. Exit the pause menu.
Play as per usual in director mode! When playing with friends, they will spawn into levels by either entering a vehicle you are already inside or being pushed out onto the map where any props have been placed. Try to stay together if playing co-op within one scene or pointing your friend(s) towards locations/vehicles/props etc., is recommended.
Staying close together helps avoid spawning issues which can sometimes occur. Note that props may occasionally disappear during play, but simply respawning them via their respective placements in the scenario should correct this issue if necessary.
Apart from this, if you are interested to know more about Charcoal in Minecraft then visit our Gaming category.
