the development team found that players experienced greater freedom when controlling three characters in missions. lead mission designer imran sarwar felt they opened up more strategic manoeuvres. he cited a combat scenario with the lead protagonists where michael de santa sets up at a sniper outpost and provides covering fire for trevor philips, who makes a frontal assault on the enemy position while franklin clinton manipulates flank points. benzies felt that character switching streamlines the interplay between free roam and linear mission gameplay, as it eliminates "san andreas" cumbersome long-distance drives to mission start points. players may "explore the whole map without having to worry about the long drive back", according to benzies. houser noted the mechanic's use during missions negated long drives as well. the open world's dynamic mission content is a feature borrowed from "red dead redemption", where it was received positively. dynamic missions present themselves while players explore the open world, and may be accepted or ignored. the team implemented dynamic content throughout the open world. in los santos, for example, players may encounter an armoured van and try to intercept it to steal its contents.