Director Mode

Director Mode is a gameplay mode introduced in the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V with the Rockstar Editor, and later added to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 with the Freemode Events Update, on 15 September, 2015.

Description[]

The mode is accessible from the Rockstar Editor menu and the Interaction Menu. The player can also access Director Mode from a contact called Los Santos Talent on each protagonist's mobile phone which immediately launches the player into Director Mode. After the Freemode Events Update, this contact was changed to Acting Up.

Director Mode is not available if the player is currently in a vehicle, wanted or active in a mission.

Casting Trailer Menu[]

Actors[]

Main article: Director Mode/Actors

In Director Mode, the player is able to select a single actor from 17 different categories to control in a customised free mode map.

Animals
Beach Bums
Costumes
Downtown
Emergency Services
Gangs
Heist Characters
Laborers
Military
Online Characters
Professionals
Special Characters
Sports
Story Characters
Transport
Uptown
Vagrants

Director Mode GTAVpc Actor Unlocks — Unlock message.

Some actors are only available after being unlocked during Story Mode gameplay. The player will receive a HUD message indicating a character has been unlocked for use in director mode. When selecting the actor, there is an option to cycle through various outfits for most characters. Some of the NPC models can also be changed in this menu. If the actor is wearing a mask, or other face-obscuring accessories, they can not be removed once in the session.

Settings Menu[]

Setting	Options	Description/Effect
Time of Day	Midnight Pre-Dawn Dawn Morning Midday Afternoon Sunset Dusk	Sets the time of day in the game. Each time starts from a pre-defined hour (i.e. Midnight always starts at 00:00/12:00 AM). When accessed in-session from the Interaction Menu, additional options are available to freeze time and make manual fine adjustments.
Weather	Clear Broken Cloud Overcast Hazy Xmas (snow) Smog Fog Rain Thunder	Sets the weather in the game. For players who do not participate in GTA Online, it is the only way to experience snowy weather in Los Santos, though snow does not accumulate as it does in GTA Online.
Wanted Status	Normal Low Medium High Disabled	Sets the Wanted Level, from Normal (unwanted but usual rules will apply if the actor commits any crime) or pre-set to Low (2 stars), Medium (3 stars) or High (5 stars) or can be Disabled (no wanted level can be gained in the session). Note that players may continue to be attacked by police, military and security guards if Disabled is chosen while they are in the midst of battle, or if attacked directly. First responders (fire, ambulance) will still arrive. Does not disable "good Samaritans" who may attack if they witness a crime.
Pedestrian Density	Normal Low Medium High None	Sets the density of pedestrians in an area. Choosing "None" also eliminates non-flying animals.
Vehicle Density	Normal Low Medium High None	Sets the traffic density. Choosing "None" also prevents parked vehicles from spawning, as well as aircraft and trains. Trailers, however, still spawn, as do the UFOs.
Restricted Areas	On/Off	Enables/disables the restricted area status from all places. The player may still be attacked by Merryweather Security at the Los Santos Naval Port.
Invincibility	On/Off	Enables/disables the invincibility cheat.
Flaming Bullets	On/Off	Enables/disables flaming bullets cheat.
Explosive Bullets	On/Off	Enables/disables explosive bullets cheat.
Explosive Melee	On/Off	Enables/disables the explosive melee attacks cheat.
Super Jump	On/Off	Enables/disables the super jump cheat.
Slidey Cars	On/Off	Enables/disables the slidey land vehicles cheat.
Low Gravity	On/Off	Enables/disables the low gravity cheat. Having low gravity activated and then jumping from an aircraft at height will result in a very long descent to the ground, and a still fatal fall unless invincibility is active.
Clear Area	On/Off	Removes all possible entities in the area, such as dead pedestrians or wrecked vehicles on settings change.

Note: entering certain areas will disable some of the set conditions. For example, entering a building or tunnel will disable super jump; low gravity will be cancelled if the character enters a body of water. If a player is armed when changing a setting, they will be disarmed afterwards, even in the midst of battle.

Shortlist Actors[]

Manage the list of up to 10 actors marked as shortlisted. The player can access these actors from within the Director Mode session without needing to return to the Casting Trailer. Attempting to add an 11th to the shortlist will warn the player that this will remove the first actor from the list.

Recently Used[]

A list of recently used actors.

Exit to Story Mode[]

Quits Rockstar Editor and returns to GTA V Story mode.

Enter Director Mode[]

Launches the actor into the map.

Gameplay Features and Limitations[]

There are no clothing stores or barber shops accessible in this mode.

Random events and minigames are not available, nor is hunting, the amusement park rides, or the movie theaters. The Mount Chiliad cable car is not functional.

Parachutes are not available to NPC characters, but can be used by the protagonists if chosen as actors.

Safehouses may be entered, however the Vanilla Unicorn may not. Mission-related structures cannot be entered but a number of buildings such as the Pacific Standard Public Deposit Bank, the meth lab, convenience stores and liquor stores may still be entered, though the latter two may not be robbed (in fact in Director Mode there are no cashiers present, though cash registers will still dispense money if shot or hit, though cash does not accumulate and cannot be spent).

The Phone is only functional as a Snapmatic camera. It cannot be used to summon services. As a result, the Atomic Blimp and taxi rides are not available (though both still spawn, with taxis being hijackable).

The actors that have access to weapons will have all weapons unlocked by the player at whatever point in the storyline has been reached (regardless of whether the protagonists own them), with unlimited ammunition (weapons do have to be reloaded as normal, however, with the exception of the minigun, which can fire indefinitely). Ammu-Nation is not accessible and no weapons are scattered around the map, but new weapons can be collected from dead drops. Additionally, weapons do not have any finishes or attachments, except if a particular weapon has an attachment by default (any sniper rifle's scope being an obvious example, as well as the Combat PDW's integral suppressor).

Vehicle access is limited to whatever is spawned naturally although all actors can access whatever vehicles are stored in the storage garages of the Story Mode Protagonists (not including special vehicle menu content or the protagonists' default vehicles). Aerial vehicles and watercraft will spawn if saved in a corresponding hanger or dock. Vehicles stored in safehouse garages or parking spaces may also be accessed by going to the garage itself, though removing the vehicle may cause it to vanish from the in-game garage, too. This does allow the actors to access some special vehicles such as the Space Docker.

Los Santos Customs is not accessible, leaving the player with no option to customize cars (however existing customization to in-game stored vehicles remain). Only vehicles from storage garages can be repaired by respawning them.

The subway system may be ridden as normal.

Prostitutes still spawn in their customary locations at appropriate times of night, but may not be hired.

Points of interest marked by the player on the regular game map are retained in Director Mode's map.

All radio stations are available, however generic versions of Weazel News bulletins may play rather than story-specific updates.

If the invincibility cheat option is not enabled, the death of the actor will end the Director Mode session and return the player to the casting trailer. The same applies when the actor gets busted.

The Ghost of Mount Gordo still spawns between 11 p.m. and midnight, and the Thelma and Louise sequence also occurs. If 100% completion has been achieved in the main game, the UFOs will also appear.

First person view is only available if the three protagonists or personally created Online characters are chosen. Some characters are unable to operate vehicles or take cover. Animal characters, of course, are unable to do this as well, in addition to not being able to use weapons (though some have the ability to attack). "Invincibility mode" also does not apply to birds.

Members of The Lost MC will attack the player, regardless which actor is in use, if they approach The Lost MC Clubhouse in East Vinewood. This is also true for all gang locations including the Los Santos Vagos in Rancho, and The Families and Ballas in and around Grove Street.

Locations on the game map will reflect the status of the storyline at the point Director Mode is activated. For example, if activated after completing The Wrap Up, the remains of a crashed helicopter will be visible at the Kortz Center. If activated immediately after The Paleto Score, and if the gas station across from the bank was destroyed, the station will still show damage for a time. Locations created for GTA Online (such as The Diamond Casino & Resort, Arcades, etc.) are not available; a notable exception is the Pacific Standard Public Deposit Bank in Vinewood which was made accessible in story mode when it was added to Online, likely due to the fact it doesn't trigger a loading sequence when entered.

Both Online Protagonists created by the player can be used as Actors. They will spawn wearing whatever clothing they had on the last time they were accessed in GTA Online; as with the story mode characters, they cannot change clothes within Director Mode. They will have access to the same array of weapons as the other Director Mode characters; Online-exclusive weapons such as the Up-n-Atomizer are not available. Online Protagonists also can only access the same assortment of vehicles as "regular" characters. Certain customization options, such as mood and walk style and some actions, are not available. On PS4 and Xbox One, players can still use their Online Protagonists in Director Mode, even if they allow their PlayStation Plus/Xbox Live Gold membership to lapse and cannot access Online itself.

Actors can still be attacked and killed by cougars and sharks. Aside from enabling invincibility mode, this can be avoided by disabling the Pedestrians setting.

Interaction Menu[]

While in the map and on foot, the interaction menu provides the player access to the following options:

Menu

Options

Description/Effect

Settings

Access the full settings menu including additional fine tuning controls as described above.

Location

Land Act Dam
Storm Drain
Observatory
Radio Telescope Array
LSU
Cove
Mount Gordo
Waypoint
User Location 1
User Location 2

Place the actor in a pre-defined area of the map.

Action

The Bird
Rock
Salute
Jerk
Blow Kiss

Air Thrusting
Thumbs Up
Jazz Hands
Air Guitar
Wave

Surrender
Shush
Photography
DJ
Air Synth

Provides access to a subset of the GTA Online Character Actions.

Dialogue

None
Hi	Bye
What's Up	Whatever
Yes	No
Thanks	Cheer
Frightened (Strong)	Frightened (Mild)
Shocked (Strong)	Shocked (Mild)
Insult (Strong)	Insult (Mild)
Curse (Strong)	Curse (Mild)

Spoken dialogue. Each category can have up to 4 different phrases. Unavailable for some actors, such as the Online Protagonist and animals.

Switch Actor

<list>

Access any of the recently used actors or actors shortlisted.

Garage

Spawn a selected vehicle from the Story Mode garages.

Scene Creator

Place and edit props from the Content Creator in up to 4 scenes.

Rockstar Editor

Launch the Video Editor.

Return to Casting Trailer

Leave the map but stay in Director Mode.

Quit Director Mode

Return to Story Mode.

Unavailable Characters[]

Notable major characters missing from the Actors list include:

Notable missing Strangers and Freaks/Random Events characters:

Oversights[]

There's a glitch where attempting to enter Director Mode will cause the game to restart to the Prologue. Simply reload the game after the loading screen.
There is a minor glitch where if the active actor is any of the three story protagonists and is in first person mode, pulling up the phone will bring up the physical version of the phone and the virtual version on the phone at the same time.
Using the Freeze Time function within Director Mode and then returning to Story Mode by using Load Game from the Pause Menu rather than exiting from Director Mode will result in frozen time in Story Mode. Tested and confirmed on PC only.
After exiting Director Mode back to story mode, the player may not be able to launch a GTA Online session, instead getting an error message that the servers cannot be reached. Closing and reloading GTA V will make GTA Online available again. (Tested and confirmed on PS4.)

Trivia[]

First-Person View is only available when the actor selected is a GTA Online character or a Singleplayer protagonist.
Despite functioning essentially the same as the Explosive Bullets cheat, the miniguns of the Buzzard Attack Chopper will fire explosive bullets, whereas the cheat doesn't have this effect on the Buzzard in normal gameplay.
It is possible to have friendly law enforcement in director mode. If once chooses any "Highway Patrol" actor with a blue tie, law enforcement won't attack the player, unless bumping into them, or NOOSE at a 3-star or higher wanted level. At all wanted levels, neither the Los Santos County Sheriff nor the Los Santos Police Department will attack the player, although NOOSE will.
Within Director Mode is one of the only places where one can hear the voice of the GTA Online Protagonist, albeit only their screaming if they fall from a great height as parachutes aren't available. Reaction options involving speaking will not work, usually with the protagonist character shaking their head instead.
Melee weapons such as the Baseball Bat, Golf Club and Crowbar do not always appear in the inventory, no matter if they have been collected in story mode or not. This makes these weapons technically unobtainable in Director Mode, except for the golf club, which can still be taken from golfers.
With careful and patient planning, and an access point into Blue Hell, static objects can be placed under the map, allowing the player to loosely navigate around Blue Hell.
Despite being inaccessible, the Vanilla Unicorn strip club will still be populated by patrons and strippers (tested on Xbox One).