Pick up heat by the way you drive. The cops didn't see you steal it, so the heat is on the car, not you.
If they see you, you take the heat.
Cops on your tail! When they chase you the minimap flashes.- ―Felony explained during Hot Wheels.
Felony, also referred to as heat or notoriety, is a feature in Driver: Parallel Lines and Driver 76 which measures the player's criminal activity and is used to determine the amount of law enforcement should pursue the player and how aggressive they will be.
When the player has felony, they will be pursued by the City Police and eventually the SWAT team.
Behavior[]
Felony indicators[]
Position of the felony bars; vehicle (left) and on-foot (right) (top: 1978, bottom: 2006).
Felony can be gained while on foot or in/on a vehicle. To represent the individual felony ratings, a felony bar is positioned at either side of the display; on the left, an in-vehicle felony bar is located to the right of the Speedometer, while on the right, an on-foot felony bar is located to the left of the Minimap. A steering wheel and pedestrian icon are placed below each of the felony bars to differentiate them. On the Wii version of the game, these bars are moved below the respective dials and are different in design.
Both felony bars have 20 slots which are filled with red or yellow when the player accumulates felony or suspicion. On the Wii version, these 20 slots are replaced with 5 "stars", although the amount they are filled remains just as variable as the 20-point system, and is not a fixed star rating.
In Driver 76, there is no felony bar. Instead, the respective felony icons will glow red and blue or yellow when the player accumulates felony or suspicion.
Minimap in both eras flashing as the player has active felony (left: 1978, right: 2006).
The Minimap will begin flashing red and blue once felony has been gained and will continue to do so until the player stays out-of-sight of police for 10 seconds. The "patrolling" icon used to identify police vehicles and officers on the map will also switch to an "alerted" icon, the extended cone illustrating their field of vision. Until all felony (both on-foot and in-vehicle) is lost, the alerted icon will remain active and is applied to all police vehicles and officers.
"Chase in progress!", 1978.
"We've lost the suspect!", 2006.
Alongside the visual indicators, audible cues from the Police Dispatch system also notify the player of both their own and the police's actions. When gaining or regaining felony, the player will hear "Chase in progress!" from the dispatch transmitter. When evading police, "We've lost the suspect" will be heard.
Gaining felony[]
- If a cop sees or hears you commit a felony while in a vehicle, it will be attributed to that vehicle. The felony bar increases while you continue to commit crimes, as does the aggression of any pursuing cops.
- ―Driver: Parallel Lines user manual.
Like previous titles, felony can be gained by committing a variety of crimes, from higher severity crimes such as firing weapons at police officers, homicide and collisions with police vehicles, to crimes with less severity, like speeding and running red lights. The amount of felony the player receives depends on the severity of the crime. Committing a number of less extreme crimes will stack up felony points just as much as committing a single, extreme crime would.
Like Driver 2, felony is applied to the player (on foot) and their vehicle independently, meaning crimes committed in a vehicle will not be associated to the player themselves, but the vehicle they were driving at the time they committed the offence. Likewise, if the player commits a crime on foot, any vehicles they enter when out-of-sight will not have felony applied. If the player remains in-sight of police while entering a vehicle, the current amount of felony points will be transferred over to that specific vehicle.
T.K. first gaining suspicion and then transferring felony to a nearby vehicle.
Not only can felony be transferred to the player's current vehicle if they enter vehicles while actively in pursuit, but it can also be transferred if the player hangs around patrolling officers for too long. The vehicle felony bar will begin filling up with yellow felony points, indicating that the patrolling officers are gaining suspicion of the vehicle the player is currently driving. The rate at which this fills up depends on what the player is doing; driving quickly or possessing a weapon increases the felony suspicion much faster than hanging around at distance would.
Sustaining and increasing felony[]
Once the player has gained on-foot felony, the amount of felony points within the felony bar cannot be reduced, even if the player avoids criminal activity once they have made their escape. The police now have the player on their "watch list" and will instantly recognize them should the player cross paths with them.
Felony points increasing upon committing more offences.
Continuing to commit offences while actively in pursuit of the police will only increase felony. Again, committing additional crimes on-foot will only increase the player's on-foot felony bar, but should the player re-enter a vehicle previously involved in an offence, on-foot felony will once again be transferred over to the vehicle.
Clearing felony[]
Because felony attributed to the player themselves is not directly associated to felony of a particularly vehicle, the player can switch between vehicles once out-of-sight to easily evade the police, provided they have/do not commit an offence on foot. Likewise, the player can use vehicles they haven't committed an offence in to escape police if they have already committed an offence on foot.
Should the player switch out of a vehicle with felony while out-of-sight of police, provided they do not have any on-foot felony, the player can flee the area to increase their chances of losing all active felony. Once all active felony has been lost, cop icons will return back to their "patrolling" state. Felony gained on-foot can be cleared if the player:
- Enters their Safe House lounge, even if the player is actively being pursued.
- Enters any Ray's Autos.
- Triggers any Mission or Side-Job before returning to freeroam.
- Restarts the game.
"Clear Felony" option available at Ray's Autos.
Choose this option to clear the vehicle of any felony.
Felony gained in a particular vehicle can be cleared by:
- "Clear Felony" option in Ray's Autos.
- Respraying the vehicle or applying custom Bodyworks.
- Switching it out for the same model found in traffic and storing it at Ray's Autos.
Gaining suspicion[]
Suspicion filling up the vehicle felony bar while hanging around police.
Arming a weapon in front of police officers or police vehicles can raise suspicion before attributing felony points and engaging in police pursuit. When police become suspicious of the player, their felony bar will begin to fill up with yellow, the amount depending on how long the player hangs around them.
Suspicion will also arise should the player (with on-foot felony) - in a vehicle with no felony - pass-by or hang around police officers. The rate at which the suspicion fills up the felony bar depends on how long they hang around - as well as how quickly they pass - the police officers.
Felony points[]
Both the on-foot and in-vehicle felony bars can contain a maximum of 20 felony points each. Certain actions will attain the player more felony points than others, while some will issue the player with a full bar of points instantly.
Gallery[]
