First off, San Andreas will be an entire state, not just a single city. Within San Andreas there will be three cities, Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco), and Las Venturra (Las Vegas).
San Andreas will be larger than any previous GTA game by far, clocking in at four to six times larger then any of the previous games in the series.
Moving from one city to another will be seamless as you'll actually travel through the countryside to reach each of your destinations.
The game engine will allow for much more varied and detailed environments than any of the previous GTA titles. Graphics updates include real time reflections on cars, windows, mirrors, etc., radial lighting, soft shadowed lighting for indoor environments, and separate models for day and night for added detail.
GTA: SA will feature interior locations for the "vast majority of the buildings." These locations will also serve as more than just a save location opening the way for "new types of gameplay" like robbery.
Purchasing property and GTA: SA will be more fleshed out, allowing you not only to buy but also to build (probably scripted and not free form but cool nonetheless). At one point you'll even have the opportunity to build and run a fully operational casino.
GTA: SA is based in the early 90's, opening the game up for some intense gang warfare.
As usual Rockstar will be going all out on the voice acting. No confirmations thus far, but it has been rumored that Dave Chappelle may make an appearance.
Radio stations will still be in place and you can bet that Rockstar will use an even larger catalog of music. With three different cities to choose from we'll probably see different sets of radio stations in different cities further expanding the play list.
GTA: SA will tie in with the rest of the GTA series, featuring cameos from previous characters and borrowing plot points to further expand the GTA universe.
The new AI system in GTA: SA should keep things interesting with each ped reacting more intelligently to their surroundings (really this time). Peds will also have expanded dialogue. The AI system also ties into a dynamic difficultly system that changes the difficulty based on your performance, making it easier or more challenging depending on your skill level.
Gangs, Los Angeles, and the 90's go hand in hand (in hand) and GTA: SA will reflect this with the ability to recruit a gang to accompany you on some missions. Get in a car with some of your gang members and you'll be able to take the phrase "drive-by" to a whole new level. The gang recruitment wont stop there, you'll actually get into "running and commanding a criminal organization." As always this system will be intuitive enough to avoid any troublesome micro management.
Mini games will make a reappearance, but as with everything else in GTA: SA, they will be refined and expanded upon.
Rather than only using missions to push the story forward, GTA: SA's plot and your location within that plot will always affect what you are doing, regardless of if you're on a mission or not. Everything you do in the game will tie in.
Burglary will be more prominent in GTA: SA, but will require lots of skill, planning, and preparation.
As you change your location within the game the gameplay will change along with you, allowing different activities in different locations. One example would be gambling in Las Venturra.
There are hundreds of skills to acquire in the game and just about every mission will have you doing something new.
GTA: SA will be the first GTA to feature the need for food. Depending on how you eat and what you do you'll see your character get fatter or thinner which then ties into your stamina meter and actually effects other ped's reaction to you (FAT BASTARD!). Getting fatter will have its consequences and will make some missions more difficult. This actually cuts both ways because you can also go to the gym and improve your physical condition, increasing your strength, speed, and changing your character model.
Targeting and control in third person games has always been an issue, but Rockstar has some interesting solutions that have yet to be revealed. Dan Houser's advice is to play the shooting levels in Manhunt to get any idea of what they have in mind.
Character control will be more varied, allowing for swimming, multiple combat stances, and attack styles.
GTA: SA will feature a "s---load of weapons" all of which will reflect the real world weaponry of the early 90'. All the weapons in the game will have their own unique feel and you'll also be able to double up on the pistols using one in each hand.
Animation will also be refined with rag doll physics and location based hit detection.
The vehicle physics engine has been further tweaked but nothing specific was mentioned.
New forms of transportation will be introduced in San Andreas, but the only one mentioned was the bicycle. Apparently you'll be able to speed up by mashing buttons. Ahh the days of Track and Field
A trio of images on the official San Andreas Web site seemed to confirm what many who have been following the game suspected. It will be set in modern times (not the 1970s-set game some had said) and will have a heavy West-Coast gangsta flava.
The first image could be taken from any one of the many late 1980s/early 1990s gangsta films, such as Menace II Society or Colors. It depicts a quartet of corn-rowed, Uzi-toting O.G.s performing a drive-by shooting from a car from the same period.
Shot number two shows a young hood, also with an Uzi, squatting in front of a tricked out old-school convertible, often called a "hooptie" or a "hoo-ride." He is wearing what looks like a Carhartt jacket and Timberland boots--the de facto gangsta uniform circa 1994.
The last shot shows the same character riding a bicycle down neighborhood straight out of Compton, with single-level homes set against a smog-colored sky. No information was released on whether bicycles can be ridden in the game.
The Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas site also has a new splash page, which changes each time the site is loaded. One shows a blond woman bending over to show the tattoos on her décolletage, another features a baseball-cap wearing gangsta sporting what could be called "mad bling." A third shows, a scantily clad Latina in a bandana halter top, and a fourth shows a snarling thug with tattoo sleeves and a shaven head.
[UPDATE] Early, this morning, Rockstar released the first plot summary of GTA: SA, which confirmed its early 1990s millieu. Here it is vertbaim:
"Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers.
Now, it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.
On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets."
All the information released by Rockstar indicate that the controversial Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has not lost the rough-and-ready nature of its predecessors. GameSpot will have more on this highly anticipated title--which is due in Q4 2004--as they become available.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot POSTED: 05/11/04 09:16PM
San Andreas will be larger than any previous GTA game by far, clocking in at four to six times larger then any of the previous games in the series.
Moving from one city to another will be seamless as you'll actually travel through the countryside to reach each of your destinations.
The game engine will allow for much more varied and detailed environments than any of the previous GTA titles. Graphics updates include real time reflections on cars, windows, mirrors, etc., radial lighting, soft shadowed lighting for indoor environments, and separate models for day and night for added detail.
GTA: SA will feature interior locations for the "vast majority of the buildings." These locations will also serve as more than just a save location opening the way for "new types of gameplay" like robbery.
Purchasing property and GTA: SA will be more fleshed out, allowing you not only to buy but also to build (probably scripted and not free form but cool nonetheless). At one point you'll even have the opportunity to build and run a fully operational casino.
GTA: SA is based in the early 90's, opening the game up for some intense gang warfare.
As usual Rockstar will be going all out on the voice acting. No confirmations thus far, but it has been rumored that Dave Chappelle may make an appearance.
Radio stations will still be in place and you can bet that Rockstar will use an even larger catalog of music. With three different cities to choose from we'll probably see different sets of radio stations in different cities further expanding the play list.
GTA: SA will tie in with the rest of the GTA series, featuring cameos from previous characters and borrowing plot points to further expand the GTA universe.
The new AI system in GTA: SA should keep things interesting with each ped reacting more intelligently to their surroundings (really this time). Peds will also have expanded dialogue. The AI system also ties into a dynamic difficultly system that changes the difficulty based on your performance, making it easier or more challenging depending on your skill level.
Gangs, Los Angeles, and the 90's go hand in hand (in hand) and GTA: SA will reflect this with the ability to recruit a gang to accompany you on some missions. Get in a car with some of your gang members and you'll be able to take the phrase "drive-by" to a whole new level. The gang recruitment wont stop there, you'll actually get into "running and commanding a criminal organization." As always this system will be intuitive enough to avoid any troublesome micro management.
Mini games will make a reappearance, but as with everything else in GTA: SA, they will be refined and expanded upon.
Rather than only using missions to push the story forward, GTA: SA's plot and your location within that plot will always affect what you are doing, regardless of if you're on a mission or not. Everything you do in the game will tie in.
Burglary will be more prominent in GTA: SA, but will require lots of skill, planning, and preparation.
As you change your location within the game the gameplay will change along with you, allowing different activities in different locations. One example would be gambling in Las Venturra.
There are hundreds of skills to acquire in the game and just about every mission will have you doing something new.
GTA: SA will be the first GTA to feature the need for food. Depending on how you eat and what you do you'll see your character get fatter or thinner which then ties into your stamina meter and actually effects other ped's reaction to you (FAT BASTARD!). Getting fatter will have its consequences and will make some missions more difficult. This actually cuts both ways because you can also go to the gym and improve your physical condition, increasing your strength, speed, and changing your character model.
Targeting and control in third person games has always been an issue, but Rockstar has some interesting solutions that have yet to be revealed. Dan Houser's advice is to play the shooting levels in Manhunt to get any idea of what they have in mind.
Character control will be more varied, allowing for swimming, multiple combat stances, and attack styles.
GTA: SA will feature a "s---load of weapons" all of which will reflect the real world weaponry of the early 90'. All the weapons in the game will have their own unique feel and you'll also be able to double up on the pistols using one in each hand.
Animation will also be refined with rag doll physics and location based hit detection.
The vehicle physics engine has been further tweaked but nothing specific was mentioned.
New forms of transportation will be introduced in San Andreas, but the only one mentioned was the bicycle. Apparently you'll be able to speed up by mashing buttons. Ahh the days of Track and Field
A trio of images on the official San Andreas Web site seemed to confirm what many who have been following the game suspected. It will be set in modern times (not the 1970s-set game some had said) and will have a heavy West-Coast gangsta flava.
The first image could be taken from any one of the many late 1980s/early 1990s gangsta films, such as Menace II Society or Colors. It depicts a quartet of corn-rowed, Uzi-toting O.G.s performing a drive-by shooting from a car from the same period.
Shot number two shows a young hood, also with an Uzi, squatting in front of a tricked out old-school convertible, often called a "hooptie" or a "hoo-ride." He is wearing what looks like a Carhartt jacket and Timberland boots--the de facto gangsta uniform circa 1994.
The last shot shows the same character riding a bicycle down neighborhood straight out of Compton, with single-level homes set against a smog-colored sky. No information was released on whether bicycles can be ridden in the game.
The Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas site also has a new splash page, which changes each time the site is loaded. One shows a blond woman bending over to show the tattoos on her décolletage, another features a baseball-cap wearing gangsta sporting what could be called "mad bling." A third shows, a scantily clad Latina in a bandana halter top, and a fourth shows a snarling thug with tattoo sleeves and a shaven head.
[UPDATE] Early, this morning, Rockstar released the first plot summary of GTA: SA, which confirmed its early 1990s millieu. Here it is vertbaim:
"Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers.
Now, it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.
On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets."
All the information released by Rockstar indicate that the controversial Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has not lost the rough-and-ready nature of its predecessors. GameSpot will have more on this highly anticipated title--which is due in Q4 2004--as they become available.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot POSTED: 05/11/04 09:16PM
