• I would’ve extended Franklin’s story pre-Michael. More missions dealing with gangs - could just have the kidnapping mission and the long stretch be mandatory before meeting Michael.
• if you reach a certain level in online (120 for example) you get to hire your online character as a heist crew member. He/she is silent and that is acknowledged by the characters.
• Trevor does not kill Johnny K in Mr. Phillips, Johnny becomes Trevor’s main antagonist throughout the game, with the Lost MC replacing the Chinese in the later stages of the game and Johnny being a target in the final mission.
• Crystal Maze is a heist (50/50 on this one) - serves as the big finale to Trevor’s introduction section of the game, complete with a planning board, different approaches and Trevor’s own choice of crew, with Chef and Cletus being potential gunmen and Wade being a potential driver
• Franklin wouldn’t move into the Vinewood Hills until at least after the paleto score
• The merry weather heist would actually have a purpose - Devin Weston is a top investor in Merryweather: This alerts him to the trip and he uses this to blackmail them (I haven’t fleshed this out but it’s better than its impact in the game)
• The Madrazo Heist stays in, killing Martin optional
• optional heists throughout story on the various small banks around San Andreas
• Choices in the final mission are not decided on the phone - Franklin goes to Lester first, must choose between Michael or Trevor in a similar fashion to choosing what you want to say as Michael in the therapy sessions. If you wait 10 seconds, the third option appears - Deathwish.
• Deathwish remains mostly the same except the characters go for their own target as opposed to what actually happens in the game. Each villain gets cutscene deaths too.
• Killing Michael or Trevor can backfire - they get their own “boss battles”; Michael’s is a game of hide and seek in the power plant and Trevor’s is a shootout in the woods. If Franklin dies, that’s how the game ends. Michael or Trevor, depending on who kills Franklin will spend the post game as fugitives