My GTA: SA first thoughts
Yeechang Lee
and impressions:
* We all heard how SA's map is six times VC's size, but there's no way
to fully appreciate this except in person. Only by driving around
Los Santos and the countryside (I recommend a motorcycle), weaving
around its freeways (with traffic moving noticeably faster than in
the previous games) and cloverleaf interchanges, its extensive
above- and below-ground railway track system, *then* remembering
that what you've seen is only a *small portion* of the overall game,
can you begin to grasp the game's scale.
[A repost of something I posted in another thread.]
* Despite what I wrote above, I think the most 'soothing' part of the
game so far is riding a bicycle. No need to pump the pedals too
hard; the speed from just holding the X button down is fast
enough. Cruising around this way is very relaxing. Bunny hops are
fun.
* Another emendation to the above: I wrote it after only circling half
of Los Santos. I hadn't yet penetrated the rural eastern portion of
the region. My gosh, metro Los Santos is *enormous*! (And, again,
I've yet to even be allowed into two thirds of the game!) And I've
yet to do any serious exploration of the interior beyond South
Central LS.
* The mini video game (running on a Sega Genesis, no less) in one in
CJ's house is fun; nice to know there's more. Haven't seen the pool
table yet, or the dog track.
* Having toured the entire Los Santos rail system, it seems there are
only a handful of trains on the tracks.
* To Los Angeles-area posters, what areas of Los Santos ring true to
you, besides the really obvious things like the Vinewood sign? I'm
not very familiar with Los Angeles, but I have been to Santa Monica,
and gasped with surprise when I saw Santa Maria beach; it is a
*perfect* recreation. Those who have seen the boardwalk and the
funky houses alongside it will know what I mean when they see it. As
a San Francisco resident who takes the cable car home every day and
who lived in Las Vegas for two years, I look forward to seeing San
Fierro and Las Venturas.
--
Read my Deep Thoughts @ <URL:http://www.ylee.org/blog/> PERTH ----> *
Cpu(s): 25.8% us, 4.5% sy, 69.6% ni, 0.0% id, 0.0% wa, 0.1% hi, 0.0% si
Mem: 516148k total, 512444k used, 3704k free, 4128k buffers
Swap: 2101032k total, 631640k used, 1469392k free, 178896k cached
Phidias Barrios
>
> * To Los Angeles-area posters, what areas of Los Santos ring true to
> you, besides the really obvious things like the Vinewood sign? I'm
> not very familiar with Los Angeles, but I have been to Santa Monica,
> and gasped with surprise when I saw Santa Maria beach; it is a
> *perfect* recreation. Those who have seen the boardwalk and the
> funky houses alongside it will know what I mean when they see it. As
> a San Francisco resident who takes the cable car home every day and
> who lived in Las Vegas for two years, I look forward to seeing San
> Fierro and Las Venturas.
I live in the Los Feliz area which borders between L.A. and Glendale.
The flood channels ring very true. Pershing Square looks pretty
accurate with the purple paint. East Beach reminds me of a particular
stretch on PCH with the Gladstone's restaurant.
Phidias.
Seth Bullock
Idlewood=Inglewood
Verona Beach= Venice Beach
Verdant Bluffs=Palos Verdes
Bone County is like Palmdale, out where they build the aircraft in the
desert, not far from the military installation.
San Fiero is very much like San Francisco, though I haven't seen many
Victorians while driving. The hills are there, though.
All incredibly faithful reproductions, just like they did with Miami in
Vice City.