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8/8/04
Heres some info about swimming in san andreas:
Moving the left analog stick forward triggers the classic 'Breaststroke' movement. If you hold down the 'X' button whilst
doing so, CJ will switch to freestyle mode, and swim a whole lot faster. However, this can only be done for a limited time,
before his stamina runs out.
You can dive down under water by pressing the 'Circle' button. Again, you can hold 'X' to swim faster underwater, and
witness the local marine life, before swimming back to the surface. If somebody is chasing you, swimming underwater will cause
the pursuer to lose your trail.
When swimming underwater, a Breath-o-meter appears. Should the meter fall below '0', CJ drowns.
Lighting effects change in rivers lakes and other such areas.
If CJ drives a vehicle into the water, he can walk back to land from any beach or grab onto a hedge, aslong as it's near
enough to reach. (Providing that he escapes the vehicle quickly enough)
Whilst in water, you can jack boats. However, timing must be perfect, and if you do it well enough, the pilot will walk
off the edge of the boat in fear.
Non-playable characters can also swim.
The wave physics have been completely re-worked. If a storm is to hit San Fierro, the water becomes rough and choppy.
The waves also affect boats, and may push them around a little
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An Australian magazine, Games ™ has a new article about San Andreas.
Unlike most articles featuring the cities of San Andreas, this is actually about the state of San Andreas and the new gameplay
features which we can expect to see when we get our hands on the game in October. There aren't really any new screenshots
apart from maybe one showing a few small buildings in one of the countryside towns, however it's nothing special to worry
about.
A lot of what was mentioned has been seen and written before, however some things were discussed in a lot more
detail, and some unknown things were released to the readers. One of the first main things we'll pick out from the article
is the stats. We know previous GTA games have had statistics tracking, however nothing on the scale of San Andreas. There's
going to be a lot of stats which will be associated with everything that you do in the game. Running, Swimming, Shooting,
Driving Cars, Driving Motorcycles, Driving Bikes, Swimming, Sprinting, Strength, literally everything will be recorded for
your stats screen. The more time you spend doing certain things, the better you will become. While we already heard the basics
of this from other magazines, there's a little more detail here. If you spend a lot of time driving a motorbike, your stats
will increase, but that's not all. What will actually happen is that the more you drive on the motorbike, the better you will
be able to drive it. Things like it's handling when turning corners, braking and even how easily you fall off will all be
built up as you work on the statistics. We also pick out from the article that statistics are not necessary, but useful. While
a few missions will require you to be in shape, Rockstar assures us that you do not need to spend hours levelling up before
attempting a mission, and that you will gradually build up your stats as you play through the game, however hardcore players
may wish to perfect their stats to make the game a lot more fun and interesting.
Games ™ also covered part
of the eating section of the game. As we already know, each different type of food, and each size of food will cost a differing
amount of money, however what we know now is that each food will have it's own stamina rating to a degree. Some will be healthier
some will be fatter, and depending which you eat, CJ's physical shape and fitness will change, however you can balance out
what you eat with exercise. If you eat too much junk food or way too much normal food you'll become fat and pedestrians will
call you a "Fat Bastard". If that wasn't hurtful enough, your gang will also tell you "Dude, you need to lose some weight".
Every
pedestrian and non-player character has a brain. We've heard that all before, however not in as much detail. They don't just
have a brain as in walking around on screen and avoiding cars like in Vice City, but they actually live in the game world.
If you wish to be a stalker, you can follow a pedestrian. In the morning he'll get up, go out of his house, and will then
have a destination to go to. The pedestrian will go to work, go to the store, meet up with a girl et cetera. This blows Vice
Cities level of interactivity with pedestrians out of the water, but there's more! You might even see a couple walking down
the street holding hands and if you push between them, they'll react and grab each other again. Along with the pedestrians
actions, there is also a huge amount of new dialogue. Each type of pedestrian will now have an hour of dialogue compared with
what we called a large 10 minutes which they were given in Vice City.
The magazine also discusses some smaller features
which are equally, if not more important that most of the stuff mentioned before. Carjacking. How can you have a game about
stealing cars without carjacking playing a huge part? You cant, which is exactly why Rockstar Games have changed the animations
when performing a jacking. You'll pull open the door, beat the driver and then throw them out onto the road. We've also heard
that you'll be able to bust some big moves on the bike which could add even more replay value to the game as people will be
able to stunt off all sorts of objects and pull some sweet moves. The final main point which the magazine discusses is that
the dodo from GTA3 will make a return, however this time it's not going to have clipped wings. There'll be a ‘Full Wing
Dodo' in San Andreas which will be driveable or rather flyable and also very useful for crossing the huge state of San Andreas.
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GMR's september issue just came out and has new details. Minor but
very good information nonetheless.
-Other San Andreas towns are: Shady Creeks, Flint County, Whetstone, Fern Ridge,
and Red County. Possibly other stereotypical town names as well.
-Each city will have its own airport including a working
Dodo (fancy that!)
-You will be able to pickup hitchhikes (...no comment...)
-Operateable tow trucks are accessible.
If you use your noggin, you could make some sadistic situations using this gem. >:]
-A 360 camera is in use. Use the
right analog stick to use it.
-A crapload of outfits are avalible. Topping Vice City's number of clothes.
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--
While targetting an opponent, the camera will move to just above CJ's right shoulder, giving the player a better view of the
action. Holding the target button longer will aim towards the opponent's head.
-- Draw distances are confirmed as being
2x higher than Vice City in the urban areas and 4x higher
in the rural areas.
-- Streets are now much more full, with the feeling of 'emptiness' from Vice City now completely gone. There will be
an endless stream of other cars for CJ to steal.
-- Two small towns in the rural areas have been named as Angel Pine and
Dillamore
-- The legendary mountain has been named as Mount
Chiliaid, and is over half a mile tall. Rivers, beaten tracks and cliff
top roads criss cross what can be described as the largest object in any Grand Theft Auto game, ever.
-- A female character
from a previous game will return, lodging in a forest cabin which CJ will come to use as a hideout.
-- One mission involves
Carl and his unnamed female accomplice travelling to Dillamore gas station, attempting to rob the office, but being hampered
by the bullet proof glass recently installed by the owner. Instead, Carl and friend steal the fuel tanker which is sitting
outside. One twist - the fuel tank trailer isn't connected to the front, so Carl must connect the two. Once an escape has
been made, players must take care not to jack-knife the vehicle on the treacherous rural roads, all the while being chased
by the owners of the gas station in their cars.
Vehicles
-- Combine Harvesters will be included, and are likely
able to be player controlled.
-- Mobile Hot Dog Vans will be present, but as yet no missions involving sales are confirmed.
--
The police helicopter will include a spotlight which can be shot out.
-- Updated versions of the Walton, Voodoo, Sabre,
Sanchez, Patriot & Linerunner (with or without trailer) will be present.
-- A 4x4 vehicle (four wheel drive) will be
incorporated in the rural areas, allowing players to traverse the bumpy terrain with ease.
-- For the ultimate driver,
a monster truck will allow for the crossing of extremely difficult ridges, bumps and even shallow rivers.
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PSM2 Magazine (UK) have released a 4-page GTA San Andreas feature.
The feature focused mainly on mission scripts, from the demo they were shown by Rockstar.
If you were to make the two stand side by side, CJ would make Tommy look like
a cartoon
- Playstation Magazine UK |
Some minor details were released:
- After the logo screen loads up, a large map sparks up, with options for Select,
Options, Audio and Display.
- The map was "an approximately America shaped large, fat, empty, beige shape,
save for a square in the bottom right corner, occupying less than a quarter of the total map available. This was Los Santos"
- A haircut doesn't come cheap, at $500
- In the mission 'Menace', it takes three passes before all of the Ballas
are face down on the sidewalk.
PSM2, a UK Playstation 2 Magazine, has presented new information in its latest
issue.
-- On sitting down in Reece's barber
shop, players can scroll through a list of haircuts, previewing each one. Some cost up to $500 to apply to the character.
--
The map is 'America Shaped', and Los Santos is less than a quarter of it, in the bottom right corner.
-- Streets will glow
orange due to the harsh sunlight.
-- During a four-person driveby, each character can have an independent target, and a
car health meter is displayed on screen to show the damage which has been inflicted on the car.
-- Achievements made during
a mission will affect what leisure options are available to CJ. |
PSM2 also promised a huge feature in next months issue.
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It was a good time to be a Grand Theft Auto fan last night, as Rockstar
Games officially unveiled the first screenshots from its upcoming sequel,
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (which you
can read all about here) to a
stunned and completely receptive crowd. Totaling three in all, the small
batch of screens
were originally unveiled on the official San Andreas
website, but not publically advertised until this morning when the
the
company sent out its mailer.
Luckily the mailer also marked a brand new update for the website too, as
the first bits of information pertaining to the story were revealed. It read
exactly like this:
"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 film stars and millionaires do their best to avoid the
dealers and gang bangers.
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."
Unfortunately those quotes above are the only bits of info that we have so
far;
as Rockstar is obviously going to keep the meatier details under wraps
until it later this year. At the very least, we
finally know which era that
game now takes place and that it has a conceptual style reminiscent of the
popular 1990s
gangsta films like Boyz in the Hood and Juice.
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Late today, Rockstar gave many PlayStation 2 owners what they've
been
waiting for--their first glimpse of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
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
in the 1970s, as 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 cornrowed, Uzi-toting OGs 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 a neighborhood
street 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 verbatim:
"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 indicates that the controversial
Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas has not lost the rough-and-ready nature of its
predecessors. GameSpot will have more details on
this highly anticipated
title--which is due in Q4 2004--as they become available
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