Brian Provinciano's Grand Theftendo!
Ablang
Entertainment System (NES). It is a tribute to Rockstar Games' Grand
Theft Auto III running on the 8 bit, 256x240 resolution, 2 bit colour
x 2 bit palette, 1.79 Mhz system, written entirely in 6502 Assembly
Language!
Purely a project of my spare time, it has progressed very nicely. I
had kept the development of it quiet until the very end of October
2004, in which GTA: San Andreas, and more importantly, GTA: Advance
were released. After the release of GTA: Advance, a top down take on
Liberty City, I decided there was no better time to show the world my
efforts. It will still be a while before it's finished, but enough is
done that it has something to show for itself.
Here you will find information on the game, it's history, and how it
is being developed. From the paper to the PC, to the NES, it's come a
long way since it began. Read further for all of the details!
Not only will the game be available as a free download when it is
complete, but as will the be the development tools. If you have the
programming skills and dedication, you will be able to make your own
NES games as well!
All of the code, graphics, etc. are done from scratch by me. When it's
released, the dialogue will be all original, and the character's names
have been changed. I did not reverse engineer anything to create it,
trace any graphics, convert any audio, it's all original. Grand
Theftendo is simply a spare time, fan project for fun, to pay tribute
to Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto.
Most Frequently Asked Questions
Will GTN be for sale?
This game is not going to be for sale. It will be available as
a free download when it is done.
When will GTN be released?
It will be released when it is completed. No release date is
set, but it should be completed some time around late 2005. Remember,
it's a spare time project, and my real work takes priority.
How will I be able to play GTN?
The game will play on emulators provided they support the
mapper it uses.
More >>
The History of GTN
Grand Theftendo has been developed entirely by myself, Brian
Provinciano. As a long time GTA fan, I had always planned on creating
my own version as a spare time hobby project. I really enjoy low level
programming, and love tapping into the power of systems in ways no one
else has done before. And if I was going to make a GTA, why not do it
on a new system... well maybe not new, but a system which hasn't had a
GTA before.
In late 2002 I whipped up some simple graphics and wrote a very basic
engine to make sure the NES could pull off a GTA style game. It was
very simple and contained very little of an actual game, but laid
things out. At the time, other projects had to take priority, but in
mid 2003, the actual development of GTN as it is now began.
I began by drawing a number of small sections of the map in 2D NES
style art, measuring, adjusting, and scaling accordingly. Once I made
sure the scale would work with my chosen sprite resolution, I used my
measurements to draw the entire city on an 8.5x11" sheet of paper. I
drew a second refined version, then pasted four sheets together and
drew a version on 17x22" of paper. I then drew more portions of the
map, each to scale on 8.5x11" sheets of paper as an additional test.
Following the drawing by hand, I began drawing the entire map into my
PC as a large bitmap. Each building would begin as lines, be filled in
with two shades of gray to give them a 3D effect, then I would add
shadows, then the details. Once the majority of the map's base was
down in the PC, I wrote the graphic tools to convert it for the NES,
and began developing the engine, as well as my own NES assembler.
My NES assembler was completed at the end of December 2003, although
it is constantly evolving as I need new features. That's the beauty of
writing your own compilers! Along with the assembler, I built a
standard code library with functions for dealing with the NES
registers, math, memory, 16 bit integers, and other generic code.
Using that base, I began to build the engine as well as many other
tools for graphics, text, and other game resources.
No release date is set, although I am putting more time into the
project now than ever before!
More Details!
Grand Theftendo takes place in a city based off of GTA3's Portland,
the first of the three cities in Liberty City. Since I've been working
on the entire game myself, it would take far too much time to draw all
three cities (let alone code all of the missions!). You wouldn't
believe how long it is taking to draw the entire city in 2D for the
NES! As well though, because it only has one city, I am focusing on
packing as much as possible into it, so it will contain a fully
interactive and detailed city, rather than three bland ones.
I started playing GTA back in the original days of it's top down
gameplay (GTA1 & 2 for the PC), and still love to play them every so
often. The 8-bit roots of GTA began with them, when they were ported
to the Game Boy(Color) in 1999/2000. They were produced with a
completely flat 2D perspective, and it worked nicely. However, I
didn't feel GTA3 could be pulled off as well with the flat 2D
perspective as was done on them, since it was initially a third person
3D game and not simply a top down 3D one. I decided to give it a
top-down-front view to create more of a 3D feel. Each car needs more
animations, the game needs more memory, but it's definitely worth it.
Pure top down versus front angled top down might seem minor to some,
but I know it makes a huge difference to most! The ability to see the
walls of buildings and front of characters really adds to the game
experience!
Developed for the fans by a fan, I've taken the time to make it as
comfortable as possible. I believe that a pure 2D GTA can be pulled
off well on an 8-bit system! I have put in a lot of effort to make
sure the driving is tight, and movement smooth.
For more information on the development process, have a look at the
development information pages:
* Designing The City of Grand Theftendo!
* The Tools Behind Grand Theftendo!
* Frequently Asked Questions
I won't be updating this site daily, or even weekly for that matter.
Be assured though, Grand Theftendo is under steady (spare time)
development!
http://www.grandtheftendo.com/
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"Kunal Trow, anyone?" -- Me, from his favorite video game