The Characters of GTA3   <2:18 AM CST - schu>
Both gta-3.com and gta.niteshade.net are reporting that IGN has another GTA3 related update, and indeed they do.  This time they are covering the different characters you'll find in GTA3, including, yourself (the player), 8-Ball, Luigi, Joey Leone, Luigi "The Snake" Goterelli, and Miguel.  Along with their character profiles they have also included three pictures (below) that are larger versions of the character shots posted on grandtheftauto3.com.  Check out PS2.IGN.com for the full update.

Joey Leone

Luigi "The Snake" Goterelli

8-Ball

Crazy Sh*t   <2:18 AM CST - schu>
I'm not sure if everyone will find this as funny as I did, but chances are, if you use Windows (or try to anyway), you'll enjoy it.  Don't ask, just click!  This week's link was supplied by Rev Ted.

Site Updates   <2:18 AM CST - schu>
Ok, today is the last day of my move so I probably won't be doing another update or replying to any email until Monday.  If you saw how much sh*t I have to move today, you'd understand.  After Monday I'll be stuck with dialup for a short while, no big deal, just please don't send me any huge attachments without asking first.

Dan Houser Chat!   <6:35 PM CST - schu>
You may recall that El Bazo was organizing a chat with Rockstar's Dan Houser a few months back.  Well, that chat event fell through because Dan was in the middle of audio recordings for GTA3.  Dan apparently has a little more free time now and has agreed to take part in a chat event over at El Bazo's newly redesigned, GTA Scraper.  Here are the chat details:

Date: Saturday, September 8th 2001
Time: 8pm GMT
Place: transbay.fdf.net, channel #GTA

8PM GMT is:  3PM Eastern, 2PM Central, 1PM Mountain, and 12 PM Pacific.  You can also bring up the time and date settings in Windows to see how far you are behind or ahead of the GMT listing (listed under time zone).  

I.E., I live in the central time zone which is -6 GMT time, so you simply subtract 6 from the time listed.  If you live in Moscow for instance, you are +3 GMT so you simply add 3 hours.

IGN Notes   <6:35 PM CST - schu>
Here are just a few notes I took from the recent update at PS2.IGN.com.  I omitted anything that has already been mentioned before.  I've added this new information to the GTA3 Info section.  The vehicle list and the weapons list have also been altered slightly to utilize the newer screen shots and vehicle IDs.

New Information:

• GTA3 is packed full of ambient sound effects to make the experience more realistic.  Different types of buildings and peds all have their own set of effects.  One example of this, is that if you are near a hospital you'll hear voices from inside talking about hospital related topics.  I would imagine that this will carry on to different building types (restaurants, bars, night clubs, etc. - all with their own set of sound effects and conversations).  Each ped also has their own set of lines, from mumbling old women to "businessmen complaining about about needing a vacation."  All this sound is layered on top of the sounds of a noisy city with the appropriate echo filters when you're in certain environments.  
• Earlier previews mentioned that the player can sprint, but after awhile he'll have to stop and take a rest.  This has now been altered slightly.  If you run a lot, the character will get in better shape and later in the game he won't have to rest as often because his endurance has gone up.
• Pesky police helicopters can be brought down with heavier weaponry, like the rocket launcher.  I would really like to be able to snipe the pilots out of their helicopters as well, like in Soldier of Fortune.
• When you die you end up in the hospital, just like previous games in the GTA series.

PS2 Controls:

Button	Action
Square	Jump
Circle	Hit / Kick / Fire
Triangle	Enter / Exit Vehicle
X	Accelerate
R1	Aim
R2	Change Weapons
Analog Sticks	Movement
D-Pad	Movement

  
Teknics (gta.niteshade.net) also informed me that I missed one of the hidden shots on IGN.  For some reason they screwed up at the bottom of their hand's on impressions article and put the same picture of the helicopter twice, rather than the correct before and after scenes.  I've added this shot to the eighteenth screenshot page.

Screen Shot Studies   <6:35 PM CST - schu>
Here are just a few shots I picked out that would be useful in IDing new cars or have stuff that I don't recall seeing in past shots:

• I put together a nice new GTA3 interface guide shot if you care to take a look.  I think the new blue radar looks better than the old yellow radar as well.  Note the ammo count, it appears to also show how many bullets are in your current clip.
• For some reason I never noticed that the helicopter kicks up dust and debris when it gets close to the ground.  You can see it in the old shots, it just never occurred to me until now.  I'm also not sure why the helicopter is all white in the new shots, I hope they stick with the old blue and white, NYC PD, look.
• As you can see, sniping at people has different effects depending on where you hit them.  These both look like head shots to me, but the guy just lost his head, the woman lost just about everything.
• Some very nice damage effects.  We still don't know if you can be shot while in a car or if you can snipe people while they are driving.
• Another cutscene shot.
• Two rooftop shots, the first is quite nice, but the second is my favorite shot out of the latest batch.

  
Here are some cars I'd like some help IDing if anyone is up to the task:

• Convertible 1
• Convertible 2
• Looks like a hard top Shark with a custom paint job.
• Custom Paint Muscle Car
• Pickup Truck in the background of this shot & this shot.
• The front end of the SUV, not sure if that changes anything or not.
• Any comments on the van?

  
GTA: Epicenter's New Home   <6:35 PM CST - schu>
GTA: Epicenter has a great new design and is now available at a brand new URL, www.gtacenter.com.

Are You An Outsider?   <8:25 AM CST - schu>
Well, if you held out for the last few days you may have just saved yourself a few bucks, because IGN has just gone public with all the insider GTA3 information and loads of new shots.  How many new shots?  Not one, not two, not three, but 49 new screenshots in total.  There are nine new shots on the Hands On Impressions page (two of them are not posted, I had to dig for them), and forty new shots on the GTA3 Preview page.  These aren't your run of the mill shots either.  A lot of them show the full interface on screen and others are just mind boggling.  Here are some of the more interesting shots, if you want to view them all, they start on the fifteenth screen shot page:

Wasted!	Before	After
Nice Interior Detail	Awesome Custom Paint Job	747 In The Background
Amazing City Scene	One of the Boats In GTA3	Very Nice Skyline

Just a few comments on those shots above (moving from left to right):

• The Wasted! shot is one of the two hidden shots on the Hands On Impressions Page. The other shot a really nice sniper shot.
• I think the before and after shots pretty much explain themselves :)
• I'm really interested to see how many of the cars have that level of interior detail, down to the leopard print seat covers and the pink fuzzy dice.
• I really, really, really hope the PC version will have some sort of vehicle editing support.  Can you even imagine some of the custom paint jobs?  Damn I can't wait to see this game again.
• This is the second shot of a 747 we've seen.  I know for a fact that there are Cessnas that fly around the city and now we have proof that the 747 is another target to aim your rocket launcher at.
• There are a few really nice night shots in the bunch, but this is one of my favorites.  The Casino one is also really nice.
• It looks like we finally have a shot of one of the boats in GTA3.  I'd imagine we can also expect some sort of speed boat as well.
• The size of the skyscrapers downtown really adds to the realism, this shot might also give you some idea what it's like in the downtown/commercial section of town.
• Oh, almost forgot...  Here are a few convertibles ( 1 & 2 )

Just a few more things I should mention:

• 8 Health, no blur...  Hmm...
• Can the M16 Zoom?  You decide...
• Oh, almost forgot...  Here are a few convertibles ( 1 & 2 )

GrandTheftAuto3.com Updated   <9:57 AM CST - schu>
GrandTheftAuto3.com has been updated with 19 new shots and higher res movies.  I've added the twenty new shots to the the screen shots pages, they begin on the eighteenth screenshot page here at G!, or just go to GrandTheftAuto3.com and take a look.  The new shots are just as insane as the new IGN shots, even better in most cases.  They are all very, very clean and you can see the detail ramping up as GTA3 gets closer to release.  I've also compared all the movie files sizes and they have all increased by a 1MB or so, after downloading them and comparing they do appear to be smoother than the originals.  I can't seem to find the gang fight movie anymore though, weird.  I'll post more on this later, if I think about it any more right now my brain will explode.  

Site Updates   <9:57 AM CST - schu>
Ok, I've added all the new screens.  You can check them out at IGN and at GrandTheftAuto3.com or you can see them in the GTA3 Info section.  They all start on the fifteenth screen shot page.  By the way, those shots bring the total here at G! up to 240 screenshots, if you add in all the artwork, movie shots, and everything else, GOURANGA! now has a grand total of 477 GTA3 images.

Are You An Insider?   <4:45 PM CST - schu>
Well, if you are an insider, an IGN Insider that is, you can now get access to exclusive GTA3 content.  I'm not an IGN Insider and I probably won't become one just for their enhanced GTA3 preview.  I thought about becoming one and then posting whatever they had to offer, but I'm sure that wouldn't go over too well with the IGN people :).

The City Canard   <4:45 PM CST - schu>
Azz recently opened a newspaper for his other site, Somewhere.  The newspaper is done in the style of the Liberty Tree, but is designed to build an atmosphere for his map project, Somewhere.  You can check his new newspaper out at www.btinternet.com/~gtazz/canard.

Blurry GTA3   <4:45 PM CST - schu>
Well I got a lot of replies on the blurriness issue and there seem to be two camps.  The first camp claims that the blur is just motion blur to add more realism to the game and to help the framerate along.  Their main evidence is in the GTA3 movies.  In many of the movies where you are getting beat up pretty bad there is no blur to indicate blood loss.  Pyriis and OutForBlood both cited the gang fight movie on the grandtheftauto3.com where you get beaten to death and there is no blur.  There are two counters that I can think of for this.  One is that the blood loss blur is an option that can be turned on and off and the second possible explanation is that the blur is only in certain builds of the game and the build used to shoot those movies didn't have it in there yet.  The second camp is led by Tank over at GrandTheftAuto3.net, they claim that the blur kicks in when you loose a lot of blood and your health gets below a certain point.  Their main evidence is in the screenshots.  Most screenshots with the blur appear to show the player near death and they usually have blood all over the place.  At this point, I'm not sure where I stand, part of me hopes for motion blur throughout the entire game, if it's done right it could be a very cool effect.

GTA2 More Extreme On The Move   <4:45 PM CST - schu>
After Niteshade put a hold on their hosting services, No Fear had to move his site to a new host.  You can check out his site, GTA2 More Extreme, at it's new URL, www.GTA2ME.f2s.com.  Here is an update from No Fear on the move and on the return of GTA2:ME:

Dear G! readers,

GTA Extreme... remember? GTA2 More Extreme... does that ring a bell? Let me refresh your memory and tell you that GTA2 More Extreme, the sequel to the successful GTA site, GTA Extreme has returned. Not only that, GTA2 ME had to be moved to another host, due to the fact that Niteshade Industries stopped hosting its great sites. And since recently I'm proud to mention that it is the best GTA2 maps site, with ALL the GTA2 maps available! Nicely reviewed along with screenshots. You can find GTA2 More Extreme on the F2S network, by visiting it at www.GTA2ME.f2s.com.

-Everything's back like the way it was-

New GTA Sites   <4:45 PM CST - schu>

• GTA Forever - www.gtaforever.de
  Elmo's new GTA2 / GTA3 German fanpage.

• BUSTED! - www.busted.nano.pl
  According to Junior, this is the first Polish service to feature GTA3

GTA3's Blurry Shots   <4:40 AM CST - schu>
I was talking with the Tank, the webmaster at GrandTheftAuto3.net, and he had a very interesting and plausible theory on why some of the GTA3 screenshots appear to be blurred.  Tank was guessing that the screen may become blurry if you loose a lot of blood and get extremely low on health.  It does make sense, considering that most of the shots that are blurry are also quite bloody and typically show the player surrounded by cops.  Take a look at some of the blurry shots below and decide for yourself:

• Blurry 1
• Blurry 2
• Blurry 3
• Blurry 4
• Blurry 5

The only major flaw I can see in it, is that some of the in-game cutscenes have a slight blur to them as well.  I'll try running it by Rockstar and see what I can find out.

More Vehicle IDs   <4:40 AM CST - schu>
Mike sent in a few GTA3 vehicle IDs I thought I'd post.  First off is the Space minivan, which according to Mike is a Chevy Venture.  After comparing it to Rev. Ted's Dodge Caravan guess, I'd have to agree that the Venture is a better match.

Next up is the Rocket.  Mike generally agrees with Alfadog's modified Ferrari theory, but he also tosses in a heavily modified Chevrolet Monte Carlo as a possibility as well.  You can also compare it to a few shots of the Testarossa, right here.  JapCars also wrote in, but he mainly wrote in to debunk the Ferrari theory altogether, citing the Testarossa's rear light grill among other things as proof.  Personally, from the back, I can completely see a definite Ferrari influence, Alfa never claimed that the front looked anything like a Ferrari, just that it looked like it was inspired by the Testarossa.  It all comes down to the fact that all the cars in GTA3 are either heavily modified versions of their real life counterparts, or they are combinations of different cars.

This last guess is on the Shark.  Mike contends that the Shark looks more like an older Porsche, possibly a 356 Speedster.  I think I'd have to disagree with him there, I think Alfadog was correct in his Porsche Boxster guess. The Boxster is almost a complete match, compare the shots for yourself.

Crazy Sh*t   <4:40 AM CST - schu>
Don't ask, just click!  If you're still bored you can go beat the crap out of someone or maybe just play pong with a twist.  I'm not really sure what to make of this.  Oh, I almost forgot, Rev Ted sent this in last time with his other stuff on the Aries.

M16 Confirmed   <5:45 AM CST - schu>
I spoke with Rockstar's Dan Houser briefly on the full list of weaponry available in GTA3.  According to Dan, the rumors of an M16 being in the game are absolutely true.  The guys at GrandTheftAuto3.net had used this picture as proof, but with all the shadows it was hard to tell.  For some reason if never occurred to me that this picture has a clear shot of the M16 :) ...  Here is a nice clear shot of the AK47s for comparison.  For more on the real life M16, check this page out.

GrandTheftAuto3.com's Missing Screenshots   <5:45 AM CST - schu>
Did anyone else happen to notice that GrandTheftAuto3.com's screenshot thumbnail gallery has two mislinked shots, and that two shots that were originally on there don't appear anymore?  It shows 20 shots, if you click on the eighth and ninth shots in the thumbnail gallery, they open completely different full size pictures.  This must have been done recently because I have full size shots of the thumbnails shown on their site.  It wasn't until I checked the site again for dElAvA's update (next headline) that I realized there were two awesome shots on there I had never seen before.  Take a look at the new shots (top two), and the shots they replaced (bottom two):

Anyway, it looks like Rockstar has inadvertently given us two new shots.  Either that, or I'm on crack.

GTA3's Powerups   <5:45 AM CST - schu>
dElAvA did a quick write-up on the powerups (cash and weapons) in the latest batch of shots.  I guess they aren't really powerups, but for lack of a better word, that will have to do.  Here is what dElAvA sent in:

"Well I was looking through the new screens and I saw the powerups, and since no one has done any thing on them, I figured I would.

I noticed that when you pick up a wad of money, green text comes up showing the amount. The value of a human life has gone down since the good old days of GTA. You used to get 200 a ped now it's 35 and 39.  What I'm guessing is that that they will put the bat and any other melee weapons, plus the grenade and cocktail highlighted in red.  With the guns and money highlighted in green."

List of powerups in new screens

• Screen 05 [Money] Highlighted in green
• Screen 19 [Money] Highlighted in green
• Screen 08 [Colt 45] Highlighted in green
• Screen 13 [Bat] Highlighted in red
  

I'm not sure why they use different light halos to show the different weapons.  Unless the dropped items disappear after they lay around for awhile and turn red just before they are going to disappear.  Either that, or maybe if your ammo count for that particular weapon is full it shows up in red ( I.E. You have a bat, you don't need another bat, so it shows up in red showing that you can't pick it up )...  The latter sounds like the most reasonable explanation.  I would also guess that different peds carry different amounts of money, depending on their importance or perhaps it completely random.

It's time to play, Spot The Powerup.  Here are some powerups in older screens:

• Colt 45
• Colt 45
• ???
• ???

Thanks to dElAvA for making this update possible and for inadvertently turning up two new shots :) .  Check the August 9th update in the Old News section for another update dElAvA did on the weapons of GTA3.

Site Updates   <5:45 AM CST - schu>

• I've added the M16 to the list of weapons in the GTA3 Info section.  I've also changed the Uzi picture link on the weapons list to one of the newer shots.
• By the way, yesterday's update was not aimed at anyone in particular.  It was primarily aimed at a non-GTA message board that seems to be filled with GTA3 bashers.

GrandTheftAuto3.com's Video Footage   <11:55 PM CST - schu>
Some naysayers have been expressing concerns about the quality of the last set of GTA3 movie's that were posted at GrandTheftAuto3.com.  Mainly these weaker willed "fans" have been commenting that the movies are a direct reflection of GTA3.  Dan wanted to make it known that the last set of movies were very low resolution, mainly to make them easier for people on dialup connections to download .  The movies do not do the game justice.  I don't think any movie or screen shot could, you just have to see the game in person.  Anyway, Rockstar is planning on posting some higher res movies in the future to dissuade any future concerns.

Centuri 7 Updated   <11:55 PM CST - schu>
James Mclauren has updated his GTA2 map, Centuri 7 (177k).  This latest release adds a mansion for the player that includes its own sprayshop, machine gun shop, and anti-grav skywalks.  I think James is still looking for help with mission scripting, so if you have the skills and you're willing to help out, please send James an email.

The GTA3 Scene   <11:55 PM CST - schu>

European GTA3 Box Art - GTA-3.com
GTA-3.com has released the European box art for GTA3.  You'll notice that European version has GTA3 on the front whereas the US version has Grand Theft Auto 3 on the front.  Word has it that Rockstar is doing this to avoid confusion with GT3 (Gran Turismo 3) here in the US.

Dan Houser Interview - GTA Gaming Army
Tek over at gta.niteshade.net posted a short interview with Rockstar's Dan Houser in his August 16th update.  The interview answers a few questions about the new grandtheftauto3.com site.

  
GTA3's New SUV   <11:55 PM CST - schu>
After posting Friday's update I received numerous emails on the identity of the SUV in question, and I think we might at least have a partial match.   Out of all the emails, I think both Teknics & Matthew Kern might be on the right track.  Both Tek and Matthew submitted the Isuzu Rodeo, and it does appear to be the closest match so far (check the 360° view).  Not a perfect match mind you, but a little bit closer than the rest.  The main things leading myself and others to that conclusion are the back doors, the rear bumper, and the shape generally matches.  The rear end of the GTA3 SUV doesn't match perfectly because of the spare tire and license plate placement, however it's one of the only SUVs, that has a bumper that that molds around the car and up to the taillights.  Matthew, Tek, and I might be proven wrong after a front end shot comes out, but when it comes down to it, the back doors don't match as closely on any of the new SUVs, except maybe the Nissan XTerra.  One other SUV that may have been an inspiration is the 93' Jeep Cherokee.  It has an identical rear end to the GTA3 SUV, but that's about where the similarity ends.

What do you think? Agree, disagree?  Try this link, if you want to compare the new SUV's to the shots below.  Thanks to everyone who sent in emails, especially Teknics, Matthew Kern, Papa SmurF, Eile Giest, Dave, OutForBlood, and Pyriis.

Niteshade To Cancel Hosting   <11:55 PM CST - schu>
Tek has decided to stop hosting all the sites on the niteshade.net domain.  If you have a site currently being hosted on a niteshade.net domain, please read the following and check gta.niteshade.net for any further updates:

"Past events have been leading to this announcement, and this is an announcement that I've long avoided. However today is the day that I must make my message heard.

ALL hosting will be terminated Saturday, August 25. All final backups by our systems will be made between Sunday and Monday of this week. If you're hosted on the GTA: Gaming Army Network please backup your files and then promptly remove them from your FTP space. Our systems will be programmed to start immediate removal of files promptly on Saturday morning. In case you cannot make a backup you may ask for our system's backup and it will be provided.

We'll be making all attempts to pass the message along to every hosted site's owner. We shall post on GTAzz Forums, send mails to Azz and schu, posting it on our site, sending ICQ Messages, and slowly but surely passing out emails.

We're giving you a week's notice and we feel that is more then fair, seeing as how our TOS say we can delete sites whenever we'd like without discretion.

NO ACCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE. We're on a journey to create a real network and in doing so our webspace will promptly fill up with the two main sites on the network (GTA:GA and DTD) so we cannot make any acceptions.

Thank you, also, this decision cannot and will not be reversed. Perhaps in the future hosting will be re-enabled but for now and for a long time to come it will be terminated.

I proudly recommend http://www.f2s.com as a replacement host, they give everything we once gave"

GTA3 Car Debates   <11:55 PM CST - schu>
Apparently Rev Ted didn't agree with Alfadog's guesses yesterday, so he sent in his own batch:

"I know this is getting ridiculous, but here we go again:

The Panto is NOT a Pinto, by any stretch of the imagination.  My first inclination was to say "Yugo", but I had a hard time finding 4-door Yugos, until I stumbled across this Yugo built on a Fiat license.  It's the Yugo Skala 128.  Pretty good match, methinks.  However, the 1978 Fiat 128 the Yugo was built off of matches even better, right down to the round headlights.  Here is the best shot for comparison.

My first thought on the "Sentinel" had been "Chrysler", but I couldn't find one that looked like that, so I went with the Dodge... and then I went to the bank, and there was the one I was thinking of.  The new Chrysler Sebring.  I think they're both based on the same platform, but the Sebring matches just a little better, especially in the back.  (www.chrysler.com/sebring-sdn/ext/index.html) Check out the Exterior "Virtual Tour", and spin to match the angles in the shots.

And a few of the others, if they haven't already been named:
Aster - Chevy Astro (1990-1994)
Space - Dodge Caravan (1996-2000)
Ariant (that Mustangy-car we never could figure out) - '86 Dodge Aries
(uweb.superlink.net/joshea/aries.htm)
And I couldn't pass this up on the Aries:
(www.adcritic.com/content/spoof-dodge-88-dodge-aries-k-car.html)"

In Alfadog's defense, I believe with some of the cars he was merely pointing out where they stole the names from :) ...

The next email came in from Pete and Hellfire who are in the process of IDing the SUV that keeps popping up in the new shots.  They also threw in a few comments about the tank looking thing and the ice-cream truck looking thing.  Here is what they had to say:

"Well me (pete) and my good buddy (hellfire) were trying to identify the SUV bombarding the new GTA3. I'm betting its an Isuzu Trooper (1999-2000) and hellfire says the front is from an Isuzu and the back is from a Land Rover Freelander. Judge for yourself.

Anyway I was wondering about the tank too, those don't look like tank treads to me.  I'm thinking its an armored transporter but those really look like wheels to me. Also the ice-cream van according to me is a Volkswagen Westfalia (retro 1970's)."

I'm really stuck on the SUV, it's the weird back doors that are throwing me off.  I don't think it's a Trooper, mainly because the Trooper has a split back door, and this one doesn't.  Anyway, if anyone else wants to wager a guess, here are the three main SUV shots:

Screen Shot Studies   <11:55 PM CST - schu>
dyar1 wrote in with something he noticed in the newest batch of screen shots.  If you look at the new tank shot, you'll notice that there is some sort of camouflage net over the top of the entire area.  Now then, remember back to the good old days of GTA.  Where was the very first tank you encountered (if you didn't cheat).  It was also under a net type thing in the middle of Liberty City (dyar1 actually cited the tank under the net in San Andreas). Ok, so maybe we're stretching this one, but it does seem rather reminiscent . While I was playing GTA I decided to snap some screens for old times sake:

Tank under a net then	Tank under a net, now
Don't mess with the guy in the tank	You should have seen this one coming
Broken bridge then	Broken bridge now

On a side note, dyar1 used to run the old GTA site, Mission Failed :) ...

Moving on...  Rev Ted was looking at the new GTA3 shots and thinks he may have spotted the elusive convertible (the red car on the right).

Here is another shot I've been meaning to mention.  There have been previews that mention the ability to gain roof access to some buildings, but I never thought we'd be able to get on top of buildings this high.  Look at the broken bridge render and compare the elevation of the towers to the bridge towers in the background of the roof shot.  Looks pretty high up to me.

Can someone tell me what is going on with the building in the background of this shot?  It almost looks like its on fire or something.  Like back in GTA when when shot a building with the rocket launcher and flames would start coming out of the windows.

These last two come from the guys at GrandTheftAuto3.net.  For some reason, I failed to notice the massive convoy of army transport trucks in this shot :).  I actually did notice the interesting building in the background of this shot, I just couldn't recall where I had seen it before.  Turns out, it looks exactly like the "Theme Building" at the LAX International Airport.

New GTA Sites   <11:55 PM CST - schu>

• GTA3 Ghetto
  www.geocities.com/gta3ghetto
  This site is still under heavy construction and will probably be relocated to a new server before it fully launches.  So far, it's looking quite nice.

  
Crazy Sh*t   <11:55 PM CST - schu>
Don't ask, just click!  or if you'd rather, go play the game.

GrandTheftAuto3.com Press Release   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
A friend of mine who works with Rockstar was good enough to send me the grandtheftauto3.com press release.  Care to take a look?

ROCKSTAR GAMES PRESENTS A VOYEURISTIC LOOK INTO LIBERTY CITY, THE LIVING CITY IN GRAND THEFT AUTO 3

Phase One Of The Progressive Grand Theft Auto 3 Website (http://www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto3)
Goes Live Today, Wednesday, August 15, 2001

NEW YORK, NY - August 15, 2001 - Rockstar Games, Take Two Interactive Software, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TTWO) high end video game publishing division, is pleased to announce the official website for Grand Theft Auto 3.

Previous incarnations of the Grand Theft Auto franchise have achieved cult status worldwide, selling over 4.5 million units to date. Set to break genre barriers on PlayStation®2 this October, the third installment of Grand Theft Auto captures the same freedom and non-linearity of the original games. Grand Theft Auto 3 now lives and breathes in a diligently reengineered, complete 3D world. The new 3D perspective and stunning graphics invite an even wider audience to explore their inner criminal and immerse themselves in all the dangers, threats and possibilities of a city without end.

A game of this stature requires a website of equal magnitude, and the Grand Theft Auto 3 website delivers. In addition to the usual game updates, the site offers a detailed, voyeuristic look at Liberty City, home to all the mayhem and mafia activities of Grand Theft Auto 3. The website will dissect each of Liberty City's three crime-filled areas prior to the game's launch, showcasing a living, breathing, fully interactive view of the worst city in America and hometown to every backstabbing crime story you've ever heard, read or had nightmares about.

Regular updates include:

• "Screenshots" and "Movies" sections give a sneak peek of the challenges players will encounter along the crime-filled trail that lies ahead.
• The "Characters" section allows visitors to prepare for the inevitable, familiarizing themselves with the mugs of potential allies and enemies.
• The "News" section supplies updates about "the underground goods" - members-only merchandise giveaways
• The "Buy Now" section provides information on how to acquire a copy of the game.

The Liberty City area breakdown begins August 15:

Phase 1: Portland (Industrial Zoned Island)

Phase 1 of the Grand Theft Auto 3 website offers an interactive look into the crevices of Portland, one of the most dangerous areas in Liberty City. The interactive map provides an abundance of locations to visit, each with its own entertaining and informative value.

• "Capital Autos" offers a birds-eye peek into Portland's biggest car dealership. Its own mini website displays cars for sale, and all vehicles in the shop are from the game and driveable.
• "Ammu-nation," another store in Liberty City, showcases an assortment of guns for sale, all of which can be used in the game. "Ammu-nation" also has its own mini website, with a humorous playable radio commercial for the store.
• A "Warehouse Rave Venue" broadcasting live on Rise FM from the Planetarium, Liberty City's 24 hour stay-up-forever club.

Phase 2 and Phase 3 will follow, prior to the games release, to describe the rest of Liberty City with in-depth looks into the gritty locales of Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale. Visit Liberty City at: http://www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto3.

GTA2 Maps - One New / One Updated   <11:00 PM CST - schu>

• Escape (157k)
  Bash had planned on changing the his map's name, but in the end, he stuck with Escape for the final release.  The map is named for the newest addition, an prison break at the start of the level.
  

• Centuri 7 (141k)
  James Mclauren is the creator of a futuristic GTA2 map named Centuri 7.  James originally wrote me because he was looking for help with GTA2 scripts, but he eventually decided to release the map as is.  Currently it doesn't have any missions, but hopefully someone out there will help James out and create some missions for it.  If you think you can help out, please contact James @ jmclauren@earthlink.net.
  

New GTA3 Vehicle IDs   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Alfadog (SVT5) sent me a list of GTA3 autos that he is around 99% sure of their actual identity, based on what they look like and even more so on their GTA3 names:

• Beamer - BMW 7
• Dyablo - Lamborghini Diablo (well duh)
• Hum Vee - Hummer (ditto)
• Panto - Pinto?
• Rocket - Americanized Ferrari Testarossa (something tells me the Crime Boss' punk son would drive this...)
• Sentinal - Ford Taurus
• Shark - Porsche Boxster

Some people have been worried about the look of some of the cars, mainly that some of them look rather poorly modeled.  I'm guessing that the cars will be remodeled for the final PS2 version, they are probably still working out the kinks in newly added reflection mapping.  I would also guess that the XBox and PC versions of the game will feature vehicles and peds with higher poly counts.

GTA3 Easter Eggs   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Easter Eggs, even before the game is released?  Well, it looks that way.  Actually I wouldn't put them completely in the Easter Egg category, but they are close enough... Shoopz was listening to the Flashback FM 95.6 audio clip on the grandtheftauto3.com site and noticed something rather interesting, here is what he had to say:

"When you listen to the "flashback FM 95.6" audio clip in the radio section you can hear three 80s songs that were all songs on the greatest drug lord movie of all time SCARFACE. Also the this may just be a coincident but the announcer was named Tony which could be a reference to the lead character of Scarface Tony Montana. Scarface is easily my favorite movie of and I read that is was one of the influences for GTA3 although the songs are almost laughable now 15 years later, they would set the mood. I think that they put the songs up on their web site hinting that there will be more Scarface references throughout the game."

The second Easter egg comes from Hugo Burck, although I did mention this one awhile back.  Two of DMA's games (GTA3 and State of Emergency) will feature a character named 8-Ball.  The two characters don't look anything alike, but what's strange is that the SOE character named Bull, looks almost exactly like GTA3's 8-Ball.  Take a look at the SOE section at rockstargames.com and see for yourself.

The third and final Easter Egg comes from Big Red @ grandtheftauto3.net.  Big Red noticed that the GTA3 box cover art looks very similar to the poster art for the old Grand Theft Auto movie.

Thanks to Shoopz, Hugo, and Big Red for making this update possible.

Miracle Maker Problems   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
<miracle maker> sent word that his site was recently having some troubles.  Apparently his host decided to restore his site from an old backup without informing him, so six months worth of updates were unavailable for an undetermined amount of time.  <miracle maker> has uploaded the site from a local backup and everything is back to normal.  If you visited the site during that time, you should go back and take another look.  The Miracle Maker site houses the GTA & GTA2 script editing utilities, Miracle Maker 1 & 2.  You can find out more at miraclemaker.cjb.net.

New GTA Sites   <11:00 PM CST - schu>

• Gunman's GTA3 Site
  www.geocities.com/thegunman007

• Joint Games
  joint.online.fr

More on GrandTheftAuto3.com   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Ok, this is the second update today.  I had hoped to get to the updates that are still in my inbox, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  I've still only gone over the brand new GrandTheftAuto3.com site about two times, but it was enough to add a lot of new stuff.  The GrandTheftAuto3.com site contains twelve new QuickTime movies, twenty new large screen shots, a ton of new smaller screen shots, loads of new audio content, five new weapon renders, fourteen new vehicle renders, along with a bunch of other stuff.  Here are some of the major points to pay close attention to:

• Nice new Capital Auto Sale$ site with the new vehicle renders
• Nice new Ammu-nation site with the new weapon renders
• All the movies are at least worth watching once, one in particular shows off vehicle hydraulics:
  
• These two shots should be of particular interest
  Notice the tank like object and the 747's that I mentioned way back in May.
• While sifting through the site I came across this guy who I'm guessing is Darkel.  Basically he is Rockstar's Kill Frenzy replacement plan.  He is a homeless guy who gives you ultra-violent missions:
  
• There are loads of other shots to look at, some show underground subway scenes, other show money out in the street (I guess you have to run over anyone you kill so you can pick up their weapons and cash), there are a few with BUSTED in the lower right hand corner, and lastly, it looks like the SUVs have invaded this newest batch of shots.

I'm sorry if this update seems rather haphazard, but I suppose my goal is to get you to go to the site and experience it for yourself.  It makes a lot more sense when you explore the whole thing and take everything in context.  Like I said before, if you are having troubles with the grandtheftauto3.com address (either it doesn't come up or it still takes you to Liberty Tree), then try the alternate www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto3 address.  If that doesn't work out, try visiting my GTA3 Info section where I've added links to all the movies, I added a new page of screen shots, and I broke the artwork sections into four separate pages, mostly filled with new content.  I'm sure there is something I missed, whatever it is, I'll get to it tomorrow after I get some sleep...

GrandTheftAuto3.com Is Live   <6:00 PM CST - schu>
Check it out, www.grandtheftauto3.com is now open with screens, movies, and loads of other GTA3 stuff.  Liberty Tree has also been updated with four new shots and lots of new articles.  More on this later...

IMPORTANT ADDENDUM!!!
If you are having troubles with the grandtheftauto3.com site (viewing movies, pictures, etc.) it is most likely a DNS problem.  To get around this, try visiting the site using this URL, www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto3

Additionally, there is more to the Portland map you might notice at first.  Here's a hint, try clicking on the Ammunation location and the Capital Autos location.  A lot of the locations have their own separate content with more movies, shots, radio commercials, and even separate web sites with vehicle and weapon artwork.  Try it!

  
Site Updates   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Newly Updated sections are as follows:

• Added third and seventh and eighth movie pages
• Broke artwork section down into four different pages with lots of new stuff:

  Artwork Page 1 - 18 Images
  Artwork Page 2 - 22 Images
  Artwork Page 3 - 16 Images
  Artwork Page 4 - 21 Images

• Added new shots to the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth screen shot pages.
• Added GrandTheftAuto3.com link to the Links section.
• Made some minor updates to the GTA3 Info section.

Official GTA3 Site & Liberty Tree Update   <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Rockstar's webmaster finally revealed why the August issue of Liberty Tree has been running so late.  Here is the email he sent out:

"One and All,

Do not fret over the lack of an update for Liberty Tree August.

Watch for a major, major update this coming Wednesday the 15th.

Watch for a Liberty Tree update to : www.rockstargames.com/libertytree

As well as an entirely different, entirely spectacular update to
www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto3 (aka www.grandtheftauto3.com)

The official website is coming. Make sure you're all on both the Rockstar mailing list and the Grand Theft Auto mailing list."

Rockstar Warehouse   <10:30 PM CST - schu>
I'm running a little late on this one, but for those of you who didn't hear about this elsewhere,  check this out.

Site Updates   <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Sorry about the short update, but I've got a splitting headache right now and I'm also in the process of moving to a new apartment which isn't helping matters any.

Rockstar Denies Release Rumors   <6:30 PM CST - schu>
Over the past few months there have been rumors that GTA3 would be a PS2 exclusive outside the United States, and that the US would be the only country with PC, Xbox, and PS2 releases.  Recently, this rumor was updated by the Official Playstation Magazine UK saying that other versions of GTA3 would be released outside the US, but not until 2002.  Azz wrote Dan Houser at Rockstar Games to see what he could find out about these rumors and received a reply.  Below I've posted the original email Azz sent followed by Dan's reply:

Azz - GTAzz

"I'm sure you've just been inundated with emails of the same sort so I'll try to be brief.

Schu just posted a rather disturbing rumour on http://www.gouranga.com implying that GTA3 may be a PS2 exclusive, at least until 2002. I'm well aware of the "I read it on the Internet so it must be true" syndrome, but as I say, it's disturbing.

As a member of the dedicated (zealous? fanatical maybe) online GTA community I thought I'd prod the money maker and see what comes out, so to speak.

I think of all the people I've discussed this with I have the most open view of games being released for console only, but I'm sure that the PC versions of GTA and GTA2 outsold the PS versions. Anyway, I won't relay your own stats to you, you know them better than I.

I just wanted to write to you and ask you to make an official announcement, one way or the other because if you think you get a lot of email about GTA3's release you should see my inbox ;-)

I strongly urge you to consider the ramifications of not releasing a PC version of GTA3. Streets swathed in blood, limbs hanging from sign posts, Rockstar offices besieged by angry protesters. Or at the very least a strongly worded letter from myself and a few cohorts. Either way it would be disastrous for our little scene, and I know you're a business and you need to make money and we're just a couple of hundred random punters but... but. Well I don't have a but. But something about loyalty and we'll be your best friend and so on."

Dan Houser - Rockstar Games

"Liberty Tree to follow, but have a little faith - this is the state of play.

1) PS2 this October

2) PC to follow in the spring.

We have never moved away from these dates.  I understand the delay may be irritating but this will be to the benefit of all concerned.  We are not answering any questions specific to the PC until well after the PS2 version ships, because we don't know the answer.

Hope this clears up any confusion.  GTA games have always shipped on Sony platforms and PCs - this is unlikely to change, although we may support other platforms, we won't move away from the original locations."

 
So there you have it, hopefully this will put an end to the rumors, but I doubt it.  Whatever you may read, no matter how reliable the source, it doesn't necessarily mean it's true.  I've always tried to make it clear whenever I post a rumor that it is NOT verified fact, so please don't take it that way until it's confirmed by Rockstar, Take2, or DMA.  Thanks to Azz for making this update possible, and make sure you visit GTA: Get That Azzhole for all your GTA & GTA2 automotive needs.

Crazy Sh*t   <6:30 PM CST - schu>
Don't ask, just click!

The Weapons of GTA3   <3:00 AM CST - schu>
dElAvA has been doing some research on the weapons featured in GTA3.  He has compiled a nice list of links where you can obtain information on all of GTA3's weapons.  Click on the weapon title to view the weapon as it appears in GTA3, this shot originally posted by GTA-3.com might also come in handy. All of the comments and links were provided by dElAvA (the baseball bat stuff, the flame-thrower vid, and vehicle flame thrower links were provided by me :) ):

• Baseball Bat (Louieville Slugger)

History of the Louieville Slugger
www.otal.umd.edu/~vg/amst205.F97/vj27/project6/main.html


• Colt .45 Pistol

  "A page full of Colts"
  www.sightm1911.com/ProductionGallery.htm

  "Learn how to use it"
  members.ozemail.com.au/%7Emickay/colt1911.htm
  

• Uzi 9mm SMG

"Sweet is all I can say"
www.btinternet.com/~lonewolf_ace/uzi.htm

• Remmington Pump-Action Shotgun

"I couldn't find specific links for the gun used in the game it has a pistol grip which is not stock.  I don't know what model is in the game but here is a link to Remmington's Pump-Action section.
www.remington.com/firearms/shotguns/pumpact.htm

"This model looks good to me though :P."
www.remington.com/firearms/shotguns/870mrmag.htm

"Also a link to pistol grip modifications."
www.atigunstocks.com/remington.html


• AK47s Assault Rifle

"The AK47 Page"
www.members.tripod.com/sa93/ak47.html

"AK47 Operating Manual"
www.fortunecity.com/olympia/wagner/137/ak01.html

"AK47 Gallery"
www.agr-s.com/html_armoury/ak47.htm

"A poster but a good collection of AKs"
www.rbgungraphics.com/AK47.html


• Sniper Rifle
  

"Information on this weapon in the game is to vague in reviews and on GTA3 sites. If anyone can provide specifics on the model of rifle it is I'll look up more info."

• Rocket Launcher (M72 LAW - Light Antitank Weapon)

M-72 Light Antitank Weapon (LAW)
www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m72.htm

M72-SERIES LAW, OPERATION AND FUNCTION
www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/23-25/FM232_3.htm


• Flame Thrower

"Sweet homemade flame thrower"
www.zianet.com/paulsplans/page4.htm

"A flame thrower from aliens the movie"
www.members.tripod.com/CORP_HICKS/flame.html

Awesome movie of a modified Vietnam era flame-thrower in action.
1919a4.com/gca/kcr-kb-flamethrower.mpg
www.gulfcoastarmory.com/mgvids.html


Vehicle mounted flame-thrower, antitheft system
www.blaster.co.za/


• Grenade - M67 FRAGMENTATION HAND GRENADE

This is currently the grenade issued to US soldiers.
www.fas.org/man/DOD-101/sys/land/m67.htm


• Molotov Cocktail
  

A a drink, a rag nuf said - The history of Molotov Cocktails
history.vif2.ru/library/archives/weapons/weapons2.html

Once again, thanks to dElAvA for this update!

More GTA3 Release Rumors   <7:45 PM CST - schu>
Jay Carter noticed an interesting bit of news in the August 2001 issue of the Official Playstation Magazine UK.  This particular piece of news was on page 14 of that issue, in the letters section.  Apparently someone wrote in asking about XBox and PS2 exclusives.  The editors responded, saying that among other titles, GTA3 will remain a PS2 exclusive until the end of 2002.  This is probably the third report I've heard that GTA3 may be a PS2 exclusive outside the US.  As far as I know, a PC & XBox version is still planned for the US.  This seems very strange to me, mainly because the PC version of GTA actually outsold the PSX version in Germany, granted, the PSX versions of all the games have outsold the PC versions everywhere else, but you would still think they would take that into account.  Anyway, still no official reply from Rockstar on this.  I think the last time I asked about it they said they still didn't know how they were going to work the releases in the different countries.  I'll do some more checking and see what else I can turn up.  Thanks to Jay Carter for this update.

GTA2 Maps & Mods Update   <7:45 PM CST - schu>

• SnowBall City 2 Is 50% Complete
  ILLSPIRIT is reporting that his GTA2 map, Snowball City 2, has passed the halfway mark.  Snowball City 2 is the sequel to ILLSPIRIT's awesome GTA map, Snowball City.  You can find the original Snowball city in the GTA/Downloads/Maps section and the beta for SC2 in the GTA2/Downloads/Maps section.  Here is an overhead map of SC2: 
  
  

• Escape Gets A New Mission
  Bash got bored this past weekend and decided to make some additions to his GTA2 map, Escape.  He added one new mission and also added a major reward for completing all the missions.  These new additions should be complete in about 2-3 days when Escape will be re-released under a new name.  As you may recall, your main goal in Escape is to kill off all the members of the sh*t band, N'Sync.
  

  
GTA MisPak   <7:45 PM CST - schu>
Johan sent me the latest news on his all-in-one utility, GTA MisPak.  MisPak will also include a packer utility that will be similar to WinZip, but with much better compression.  Apparently, the packer can take a 64k file and pack it down to 5 bytes.  According the packer programmer, this thing can pack a 4GB file down to a few bytes.  The compression level depends on the type of file, but this obviously has uses well outside the bounds of GTA mods :).   I'm not sure yet how this will be integrated into MisPak but it does sound interesting.   Here is more from Johan:

"I've teamed up with a programmer who decided to help me create GTA MisPak not only for DOS / Windows but also for UNIX, LINUX, BEOS and MacOS. Release is planned to the 28th of June next year.

MisPak will contain a packer routine that is currently under high priority development. The packroutine is so strong that it crunches a 64 kbyte large file down to approximately 5 bytes. In other words: It will put a decisive blow in to the face of other packprograms such as PKZip."

Some info from the programmer.
"I have only had time to write the unpacker, but it is only two function left to write before I start to write the packer it self, the format it self was not meant to pack smaller files that 1024 bytes, but in some case it will pack files that are as small as 2 byte, but do not how good it will pack on a mp3 or exe files yet before I have write my packer, but I can tell some files that are 4GB to 10 Bytes big, it will pack to 99.9% of the original file size."

 
City on Fire   <7:45 PM CST - schu>
Johan found a Half-Life mod that he thought might interest all the GTA fans out there.  The mod is called City on Fire.  Here are a few of the features planned for COF:

• Realistic Damage System and Bleeding Effects
• Loads of new, unique weapons for different situations
• Different SP game, every time you play
• Make your character with stats and skills
• A Huge Open City to explore and play in
• Realistic AI for new people
• Hopefully, a new vehicle engine

You can find out more about this mod at www.valveworld.com/cof or at www.planethalflife.com/modcentral.

Site Updates   <7:45 PM CST - schu>

• The Liberty Tree update is still in limbo, I'm just hoping it appears this week sometime...
• I went through the GTA3 Info page and rewrote portions of it and updated others.  Mainly stuff about the radar, vehicles, and some other stuff.  So, if you've stolen my GTA3 Info page and put it on your site without my permission, you might want to recopy it and update your site :)

Liberty Tree Running Late   <7:15 PM CST - schu>
The Liberty Tree still hasn't been updated, however I have been assured by the webmaster at Rockstar Games that this month's issue will be appearing "soon."

Even More Screen Shot Studies   <7:15 PM CST - schu>
In the last update I posted a shot of one of the cars on DMA's wall.  Jacob was guessing that the car in question was based off of a Jaguar XK8.  I've changed the link to the Jag picture because the the Jaguar site doesn't appear to work all the time.  Anyway, the new link also has a full 360 view that you can rotate if you want to take a look.

After the last update that I got a few more guesses as to what that car might be based on.  Sean thinks that it looks a lot like the BMW Z8, while Rev Ted and Oz are both contending that the mystery car is actually based off a Porsche Boxter (you'll also notice that there is a convertible Porsche parked outside the DMA offices in that same set of pics at GTA-3.com).  Oz (GTA Sentinel) also pointed out that a Mazda Miata might also fit the bill.  I suppose it could just be an amalgamation of all these cars, either way we probably won't be able to tell more until a larger shot of the car becomes available.

That last new bit of information off the new screenshots comes from Slider.  Slider noted that the pink car in the new IGN shot has different rims than the previous cars.  This leads Slider to believe that DMA is starting to put different looking rims/hubcaps on different cars.  I actually recall getting some email awhile back from a few different fans that were concerned about all the cars having the exact same rims.  Its a minor detail, but one that becomes noticeable if cabs, sports cars, and semis are all driving around with the same rims.  What I'd really like to see if the odd rusted out 70's muscle car.  I see those every day :) ...  Maybe a pimp-mobile here and there and a few low riders for variety :) ...

GTA Venezia   <7:15 PM CST - schu>
RoLaND has just released his new GTA map, GTA Venezia (GTA Venice).  The new map has three different style files which include textures for old Venice, modern Venice, and the mountain roads.  Apparently RoLaND likes the cars in the second style file the best.  You can find screen shots, download information, and details on GTA Venezia at gta.venezia.free.fr.

Alfadog's Fire Truck   <7:15 PM CST - schu>
I keep forgetting to mention this, but Alfadog (SVT5) has created the coolest damn fire truck I've ever seen.  The fire truck is currently the "Two" over at GTAzz.  Go take a look...

Crazy Sh*t   <7:15 PM CST - schu>
Don't ask, just click!  This is a site from the genius who brought us Hyakugojyuuichi!!.

More on PC Zone's Preview   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
A few days ago I posted some stuff on PC Zone's GTA3 preview.  Their preview mentioned that there would be "bikes" in GTA3, that you will be able to "commandeer - police helicopters", and that there will be a "variety of boats" to choose from.  Well, one of those three items is true.  Shall we guess which one it is?  I'll give you a hint.  You won't be flying any helicopters and you won't be driving any motorcycles in GTA3.  Yes, this is yet another preview that contains misleading information.  According to Rockstar's Dan Houser, "there are a few different boats, 0 bikes, and no ability to fly choppers."  So, there you have it.  According to Dan, PC Zone hasn't even seen the game yet, so I'm not really sure where they are getting their information.  I hope that clears things up a bit.  

Screen Shot Studies, Revisited   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Rev. Ted wrote in with his thoughts on yesterday's screen shot study.  Mainly, Ted isn't convinced on Alfa's convertible theory.  Ted had the following to say, "I'm not sure about the "convertible" evaluation. The wheel appears to be turned slightly in relation to the body of the vehicle, which would make that the front of the car, and the gray blotch a side mirror."  

Jacob also sent in a email regarding the screen shot study update.  But his email was regarding a car (below) he noticed on the DMA wall shot at GTA-3.com.  Jacob's comment was that the car looks a lot like the 2001 Jaguar XK8 Convertible.  Looks plausible to me.  Anyone else care to comment?

Site Updates   <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Looks like the Liberty Tree is running a little late.  Hopefully it will be updated in the next 24 hours or so.