Neil
24-02-2008, 09:55 PM
Some we already know, some we don't, all in one place so who cares xD
This is all C&P from this link (http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=37386), incase you don't wanna go look at that
If you don't wanna read this all and just want to CTRL+F it here are the names of the "categories"
Location
Main Protagonist
Characters
Gameplay
Vehicular
Technology
FACTSHEET - LOCATION
The city of New York is revisited yet again, under the name of "Liberty City". Yes, we're going back to the setting of Grand Theft Auto III. The setting date has yet to be confirmed but as told by Rockstar Games, it's "Modern Day". Most likely, the 2006-2007 years.
Rockstar has confirmed that all areas of New York City aside from one are in. Staten Island didn't made the cut, sadly.
* Manhattan, mostly the business district is now "Algonquin".
* Brooklyn goes under the name of "Broker".
* Queens has been parodied to "Dukes".
* The Bronx, has been changed to "Bohan".
* New Jersey goes under the name of "Alderney".
Also, they're planning on naming every single street. Unlike the "Welcome to ...", you're travelling to streets, rather than parts of cities. Giving an more adapt view of the map, and makes the reuse of a single city, more realistic. The name of each street is displayed in the bottom right part of the screen as you travel through them.
Some of the confirmed streets;
* Rotterdam Hill, located in Alderney. Here's Niko's first Arms Supplier called "Little Jacob".
* During the demo, they've been through several streets. Some magazines were kind enough to share these: Presidents City, Chinatown, Lancet, Hatton Gardens, Middle Park East, Lancaster, Ruby Street, Cod Row, Denver Avenue, Exeter Avenue, Northwood, East Holland, Silicon Street, Quartz Street, The Triangle, Easton, Diamond Street and Calcium Street.
Rockstar Games tells it's New York City they've been building over. No doubt they aren't, for those who just simply can't ignore the fact that they've gone back to LC for the 5th time; Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Grand Theft Auto Advance, now GTAIV.
Here's some "pushtroughs" to fully convince you, some of the noticed landmarks:
* "Liberty Ferry" - If this wasn't obvious already. This is the ferry dock, allowing you to dock your boats. Which, yes are confirmed aswell.
* "Liberty Tree Newspapers" - These were the little "ZOMBIE OF ELVIS FOUND" newspapers scattered all over Grand Theft Auto III. These *******s were behind that little joke .
* "PLATYPUS LIBERTY CITY" - The ship was in the first trailer. Obviously, reading Liberty City on the back of it.
Some more landmarks were noted in several magazines, along some seen in the trailers aswell.
* TW@ Internet Café. Located in Algonquin, near Middle Park. Available for you to access a limited internet. This one returns from Grand Theft Auto III, located on Stauton Island. Read more about that in the "Factsheet - Gameplay Facts".
* Middle Park. Located in Algonquin, Liberty City´s equivalent of "Central Park". Note the name change; It used to be Beleville Park.
* Star Junction. Located in Algonquin, Liberty City's equivalent of "Times Sq.".
* Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster. The lawfirm of Tom Goldberg, this is where you send your fake resumé/CV to via the TW@ Internet Café. Involves with the first set of missions. Read more about that in the "Factsheet - Gameplay - Missions". At this point it's unknown where it's located.
* Roman's Cabs. This is where your incredibly rich cousin "Roman" works at. He's been lying around about his life, just to get Niko(you) to the United States. It's speculated that Roman's Cabs is located in Broker.
* Getalife. LC's equivalent of "Metlife". It's located on Algonquin, obviously. As Metlife's located on Park Ave, Manhattan. It's a large building, and the hillarious name will be able to be seen from all over the city.
* BOABO. Beneath the Off ramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass. The replacement of the DUMBO, Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass.
* Statue of Happiness. The smiling replacement of "The Statue of Liberty".
FACTSHEET - MAIN PROTAGONIST
The main protagonist is Niko Bellic. (prenounced "Bell-ich"). He's an Eastern-European man, in his mid 30's, who came from that part of the world, towarths Liberty City to find "the American Dream". That, and his cousin Roman pursuaded him to come.
Unlike CJ from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, his physics are "dead right", and cannot be customized in the way of "muscles" and "fat". You can change his physical look, tough. Like clothing, hairstyles and facial hair.
His exact "background" has never been confirmed. Alot of speculations like Russia and Croatia have been called cause the character from "Behind Enemy Lines", a movie which features a man who looks exactly if not perfectly alike to Niko. His name appears to be Croatian, Niko is a common name in that part of Europe, and so is Bellic. Hence the speculations of his background. But since this is a factsheet, he's just an Eastern-European Immigrant to us.
FACTSHEET - CHARACTERS[/u]
There's been a set of characters named already. Some already have a voice actor confirmed. The links are the names. They link to a picture.
* Niko Bellic. If you still don't know enough about our badass European by now, just head back up a bit... And just pleasure yourself by reading it again.
* Roman Bellic. Roman pursuaded Niko to come cause he has problems. He has lied to Niko about his status by saying he alot of money, women, cars and hottubs. Niko soon finds out he's nothing more than a lowlife with a helllota problems.
* Little Jacob. He's a Caribbean arms dealer. He sells several guns from the trunk of his car, like a 9MM, a Shotgun, a Micro-SMG and a SMG. He also knows Roman, aswell.
* Vlad. An Russian crime boss who has control over the Hove Beach area in South Broker.
* Francis McCreary. Corrupt police officer, who has some dirty information about Niko's past. Allowing Niko to finish his dirty jobs off without making his own fingers dirty.
* Tom Goldberg. The lawfirm of Tom Goldberg, this is where you send your fake resumé/CV to via the TW@ Internet Café. Involves with the first set of missions.
* Elizabeta. The african-american lady from the artwork. She can be seen in the third trailer, like alot of other characters. She turns out to be a very powerfull drug boss in Bohan.
* Manny. Once streetlum-turned-goodheart. A street gangsta who's now completely into cleaning the streets up and giving the kids a future.
* Brucie. The fella who sounded like he's voiced by Seth Green. This guy's is pretty wealthy, and the perfect example of white trash-wannabe-gangsta. He's rich, and is completely out of his mind by Anabolic-steroids.
* Playboy X. A "friendly face" introduced by Elizabeta, gives you a few of your first missions.
* Duane Moore. A friend of Playboy X, he's only been told to be a friend of Playboy X...
* Ray. A shady mafioso character.
* For a detailed version of some of the characters, follow this link.
Another character will be voiced by a Croatian star by the name of Ruslana Lyzhicko. The character she'll be voicing has yet to be confirmed. All we currently know is her name and that she's gonna voice an character. Speculations say Elizabeta. But don't bother thinking of that. No confirmation = No caring. Just a mention for the sake of it.
FACTSHEET - GAMEPLAY
Atlast, the Gameplay part. Huh? This is what everyone wants. Anyway, everything that's been in the magazines, and on websites, is here. If it's confirmed, it's here.
Let's start off with some gameplay facts about the HUD. If you don't know what HUD means; Head-Up Display. Like healthbars, current weapons, money. etc...
* A thin green band has been added around one half of the Mini-Map, indicating your Health. The other half is for Armor, in an orange color.
* You can press RB to open car trunks.
* When you commit a crime, and a police officer has spotted you. Your radar will be flashing red and blue. With a circle called "The search area", when you leave this area the police will abort trying to find you. But if you're spotted trying to leave the area within the circle, the circle will move along you for as long as you're still being followed. The more wanted level you'll gain, the larger this "Search Area" becomes. Eventually, hits City wide.
* The six-star-wanted level is back.
* The game doesn't mark targets off with an huge arrow above him. How to find the target now is up to you.
* The GPS in less expansive cars is basic, while in more newer cars it'll actually talk you to your direction.
* The time on your HUD will equal 1 hour ingame = 2 minutes in real life.
* Free-aim is available in both drive-by's and footgunning. You can also auto-target like Crackdown's, specific body parts.
* There's 18 radio stations. You can listen to 'em in a car or from your phone.
Interesting so far. Now, onto the facts involving your character.
* Girlfriends ARE back in the game. Hate or like, just live with it.
* You cannot gain weight, nor can you get yourself muscled. You can alter your look like hairstyle, facial hair and clothing, tough.
* Niko is able of climbing ladders, escape ladders, and telephone pole's can be climbed on. Wether he can climb walls, gates, fences etc aswell, unknown at this time.
* Niko can swim. He won't drown once he hits the water.
* Niko can order taxi cabs, and either hit the trip skip button(Y), or he can just take a look from inside the cab and take the full time to get to his destination. Which features a "Cinematic Camera" like setting.
* When Niko purchases clothes, he has to pick them seperatly from shelves rather than the "Walk-in Closet in Stores" from San Andreas.
* Niko can use Auto-Aim, or manual Aim. Wether you feel like using is up to you.
* Niko can take cover a-la Gears of War. But don't be too exited. The enemies, and police can do the same.
* Niko has a cellphone to his service. Using that he can call, and recieve calls from his contacts. There's several tabs for the cell phone inculding "Photos", and "Multiplayer" and even more. Wether it almost replaces the Start Menu is not confirmed.
* Missions can span over several days, allowing Niko to start the mission on let's say Monday, do something like shopping 'till Thurday, when he can e.g assasinate the target.
* Multiplayer IS CONFIRMED. Rockstar Games has confirmed that the game can hold up to 16 player matches. That is currently the most we know about the MP part.
* Niko can enter the Police Database in any stolen Police car, and compare taken photographs(with the cellphone) to make missions easier..
* The internet is availible for Niko to use in the game also. Niko can use the internet to gain information about contacts or people he needs to kill. their location for example.
* Time Limited missions return, also the "Time Limited Actions" return too. Like being at the subway at 9:00AM, but arriving at 9:01AM. That would result in a mission failure.
* Shooting different parts of the body has different impacts (e.g shoot a security guard in the foot at the top of the stairs, and he'll come tumbling down.)
Onto the vehicular stuff.
* Boats are confirmed. So, Liberty Cities' waterway's can be explored aswell.
* Cars have an all-new animation when being "taken", Niko slams the window in. And tries to hotwire the car after. Doesn't take alot longer than the usual "Oh, the keys are in the ignition" animation. There's up to five different animations, but this is the only known one at this time.
* Helicopters are in the game. Several can be seen in the 2nd Trailer. .
* Airplanes are LEFT OUT of the game. Wether it's the 9/11 case and the respect of those who died. Or just the size problem, we don't know.
* Motorcycles are in the game. Two golden oldies are returning; PCJ 600 and Sanchez are both confirmed. On a side note, when Niko hops on one, an helmet spawns on his head instantly. Wether if you like it or not, deal with it. If you crash 'enough, it'll fly off your head sooner or later and become a ragdolling object on the road.
* Bicyles aren't in the game either. The whole Gang-banger-on-a-kiddy-bike didn't fit in well with the background of Niko.
* Names of several vehicles have been confirmed: The Stallion makes a return, the Willard, the NRG-500, the Admiral and the Comet. In translation, the Plymouth HEMI Cuda, the Ford LTD, MV Augusta, the Mercedes Benz, and the Porsche 911 make a return.
* Bullet holes will appear on the car, tires will pop with a little air-leaving-the-tire effect, and glass will take bullet holes aswell. As seen in the 2nd Trailer.
* Cable Cars can be spotted in the 1st trailer. Wether they can be entered, is currently unknown.
* The default camera angle is slightly over to the drivers' side. Different angles are available however. You can move the camera aswell, but if you're not touching it, it will remain at the more central position leaning towards the drivers' side. There's also a Chase Cam, Dashboard cam and the traditional bumper camera.
* When drivers in other vehicles pass by with their radio on. You can hear it muffled, and feel the bass off it through vibration.
* Even tough there's no airplanes in the game. There's atleast one confirmed airport. It's the John F. Kennedy Airport, on the southern part of Brooklyn(Broker in GTAIV). It'll be re-named after it's GTAIII counterpart - Francis International Airport.
Onto some of the map's confirmed thingies:
* The map is ¾ the size of San Andreas, inculding desert, country and rural area.
* The island effect will take return, and parts of the maps are connected to eachother by bridges and tunnels. Unlike other games of this day, water will still take the place as a "wall", rather than a impassable cliff.
* There's NO Country Side whatsoever. Only city. But, with the pass over to next gen consoles. It might be made possible throughout DLC.
* Rockstar Games' Dan Houser confirmed that the games' entire city will be open from boot time. Which basicly means that you can explore the entire map from the first minute you start the game.
* Houser also mentioned that Liberty City will become a whole city on the island. Nothing will go to waste on open spaces. Well, other than Middle Park.
* There's a subway system, covering Broker and Algonquin. You know, the Manhattan Subway System. MSS, crossing over to Brooklyn. There's no other information on this, yet.
In a somewhat recently released magazine, they've had some tidbits about the first set of missions in the game. They involve with the shady character Tom Goldberg(check back above).
But first, some facts to the mission structure:
* In the previous games, colored circles were indicated as the "Point of Destination/Interest" for missions. This time, they're orange.
* Mission "marks" like targets, or cars you're supposed to tail are no longer indicated by a large arrow above it. Now you've got to find tactics to discover who your target is.
* For several missions, you'll have to use the Grand Theft Auto Internet, in Internet Café's around the city. (e.g TW@)
* You can arrange ambushes, attacks and such with your cellphone. You can use "friends" you've made earlier throughout the game as allies for missions.
FACTSHEET - TECHNOLOGY
This part of the Factsheet is just in for those who care about the stuff like "ragdoll" and such.
The game's visual engine is "RAGE", Rockstar Games custom build game engine. RAGE is short for Rockstar Advanced Game Engine. This engine was also used in the Tennis game "Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis". Rockstar Games intends to use this engine to enhance the visual graphics like animations, graphical quality and their advanced animations they use to fit in with the current state their in. Also, the engine can be used to advance small things like smoke going with the current "wind flow". Little things can make a great game.
Also, the Euphoria engine has been confirmed. One of the best complete engines outthere. Rockstar Games has purchased this engine, which can be read in this article. To learn more about the Euphoria Engine, click here.
There's no loading time during gameplay. Only the initial start up load. But when ingame, no loading times occur, not even when entering interiors.
Improvements to the graphics systems, results in better graphics ofcourse. A short sum-up of what everyone basicly wants to hear when it comes to the technical background:
* Pop-ups(trees/buildings popping up out of nowhere) will virtually not show up at all in the game.
* RAGE is confirmed, and will be used.
* The Euphoria Engine is confirmed aswell, and will be used.
* There's only one loading time left. And that's the initial startup load. No other loads will occur when playing, not even when going in/out interiors.
* The AI is greatly improved. Enemies will take cover, and people on the streets do more than just walk. They read books, newspapers, call someone, or just small things like those.
* The vehicle handling has been greatly improved. The cars handle better, and more realistic. The suspension reacts realisticly to the atmoshphere.
This is all C&P from this link (http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=37386), incase you don't wanna go look at that
If you don't wanna read this all and just want to CTRL+F it here are the names of the "categories"
Location
Main Protagonist
Characters
Gameplay
Vehicular
Technology
FACTSHEET - LOCATION
The city of New York is revisited yet again, under the name of "Liberty City". Yes, we're going back to the setting of Grand Theft Auto III. The setting date has yet to be confirmed but as told by Rockstar Games, it's "Modern Day". Most likely, the 2006-2007 years.
Rockstar has confirmed that all areas of New York City aside from one are in. Staten Island didn't made the cut, sadly.
* Manhattan, mostly the business district is now "Algonquin".
* Brooklyn goes under the name of "Broker".
* Queens has been parodied to "Dukes".
* The Bronx, has been changed to "Bohan".
* New Jersey goes under the name of "Alderney".
Also, they're planning on naming every single street. Unlike the "Welcome to ...", you're travelling to streets, rather than parts of cities. Giving an more adapt view of the map, and makes the reuse of a single city, more realistic. The name of each street is displayed in the bottom right part of the screen as you travel through them.
Some of the confirmed streets;
* Rotterdam Hill, located in Alderney. Here's Niko's first Arms Supplier called "Little Jacob".
* During the demo, they've been through several streets. Some magazines were kind enough to share these: Presidents City, Chinatown, Lancet, Hatton Gardens, Middle Park East, Lancaster, Ruby Street, Cod Row, Denver Avenue, Exeter Avenue, Northwood, East Holland, Silicon Street, Quartz Street, The Triangle, Easton, Diamond Street and Calcium Street.
Rockstar Games tells it's New York City they've been building over. No doubt they aren't, for those who just simply can't ignore the fact that they've gone back to LC for the 5th time; Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Grand Theft Auto Advance, now GTAIV.
Here's some "pushtroughs" to fully convince you, some of the noticed landmarks:
* "Liberty Ferry" - If this wasn't obvious already. This is the ferry dock, allowing you to dock your boats. Which, yes are confirmed aswell.
* "Liberty Tree Newspapers" - These were the little "ZOMBIE OF ELVIS FOUND" newspapers scattered all over Grand Theft Auto III. These *******s were behind that little joke .
* "PLATYPUS LIBERTY CITY" - The ship was in the first trailer. Obviously, reading Liberty City on the back of it.
Some more landmarks were noted in several magazines, along some seen in the trailers aswell.
* TW@ Internet Café. Located in Algonquin, near Middle Park. Available for you to access a limited internet. This one returns from Grand Theft Auto III, located on Stauton Island. Read more about that in the "Factsheet - Gameplay Facts".
* Middle Park. Located in Algonquin, Liberty City´s equivalent of "Central Park". Note the name change; It used to be Beleville Park.
* Star Junction. Located in Algonquin, Liberty City's equivalent of "Times Sq.".
* Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster. The lawfirm of Tom Goldberg, this is where you send your fake resumé/CV to via the TW@ Internet Café. Involves with the first set of missions. Read more about that in the "Factsheet - Gameplay - Missions". At this point it's unknown where it's located.
* Roman's Cabs. This is where your incredibly rich cousin "Roman" works at. He's been lying around about his life, just to get Niko(you) to the United States. It's speculated that Roman's Cabs is located in Broker.
* Getalife. LC's equivalent of "Metlife". It's located on Algonquin, obviously. As Metlife's located on Park Ave, Manhattan. It's a large building, and the hillarious name will be able to be seen from all over the city.
* BOABO. Beneath the Off ramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass. The replacement of the DUMBO, Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass.
* Statue of Happiness. The smiling replacement of "The Statue of Liberty".
FACTSHEET - MAIN PROTAGONIST
The main protagonist is Niko Bellic. (prenounced "Bell-ich"). He's an Eastern-European man, in his mid 30's, who came from that part of the world, towarths Liberty City to find "the American Dream". That, and his cousin Roman pursuaded him to come.
Unlike CJ from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, his physics are "dead right", and cannot be customized in the way of "muscles" and "fat". You can change his physical look, tough. Like clothing, hairstyles and facial hair.
His exact "background" has never been confirmed. Alot of speculations like Russia and Croatia have been called cause the character from "Behind Enemy Lines", a movie which features a man who looks exactly if not perfectly alike to Niko. His name appears to be Croatian, Niko is a common name in that part of Europe, and so is Bellic. Hence the speculations of his background. But since this is a factsheet, he's just an Eastern-European Immigrant to us.
FACTSHEET - CHARACTERS[/u]
There's been a set of characters named already. Some already have a voice actor confirmed. The links are the names. They link to a picture.
* Niko Bellic. If you still don't know enough about our badass European by now, just head back up a bit... And just pleasure yourself by reading it again.
* Roman Bellic. Roman pursuaded Niko to come cause he has problems. He has lied to Niko about his status by saying he alot of money, women, cars and hottubs. Niko soon finds out he's nothing more than a lowlife with a helllota problems.
* Little Jacob. He's a Caribbean arms dealer. He sells several guns from the trunk of his car, like a 9MM, a Shotgun, a Micro-SMG and a SMG. He also knows Roman, aswell.
* Vlad. An Russian crime boss who has control over the Hove Beach area in South Broker.
* Francis McCreary. Corrupt police officer, who has some dirty information about Niko's past. Allowing Niko to finish his dirty jobs off without making his own fingers dirty.
* Tom Goldberg. The lawfirm of Tom Goldberg, this is where you send your fake resumé/CV to via the TW@ Internet Café. Involves with the first set of missions.
* Elizabeta. The african-american lady from the artwork. She can be seen in the third trailer, like alot of other characters. She turns out to be a very powerfull drug boss in Bohan.
* Manny. Once streetlum-turned-goodheart. A street gangsta who's now completely into cleaning the streets up and giving the kids a future.
* Brucie. The fella who sounded like he's voiced by Seth Green. This guy's is pretty wealthy, and the perfect example of white trash-wannabe-gangsta. He's rich, and is completely out of his mind by Anabolic-steroids.
* Playboy X. A "friendly face" introduced by Elizabeta, gives you a few of your first missions.
* Duane Moore. A friend of Playboy X, he's only been told to be a friend of Playboy X...
* Ray. A shady mafioso character.
* For a detailed version of some of the characters, follow this link.
Another character will be voiced by a Croatian star by the name of Ruslana Lyzhicko. The character she'll be voicing has yet to be confirmed. All we currently know is her name and that she's gonna voice an character. Speculations say Elizabeta. But don't bother thinking of that. No confirmation = No caring. Just a mention for the sake of it.
FACTSHEET - GAMEPLAY
Atlast, the Gameplay part. Huh? This is what everyone wants. Anyway, everything that's been in the magazines, and on websites, is here. If it's confirmed, it's here.
Let's start off with some gameplay facts about the HUD. If you don't know what HUD means; Head-Up Display. Like healthbars, current weapons, money. etc...
* A thin green band has been added around one half of the Mini-Map, indicating your Health. The other half is for Armor, in an orange color.
* You can press RB to open car trunks.
* When you commit a crime, and a police officer has spotted you. Your radar will be flashing red and blue. With a circle called "The search area", when you leave this area the police will abort trying to find you. But if you're spotted trying to leave the area within the circle, the circle will move along you for as long as you're still being followed. The more wanted level you'll gain, the larger this "Search Area" becomes. Eventually, hits City wide.
* The six-star-wanted level is back.
* The game doesn't mark targets off with an huge arrow above him. How to find the target now is up to you.
* The GPS in less expansive cars is basic, while in more newer cars it'll actually talk you to your direction.
* The time on your HUD will equal 1 hour ingame = 2 minutes in real life.
* Free-aim is available in both drive-by's and footgunning. You can also auto-target like Crackdown's, specific body parts.
* There's 18 radio stations. You can listen to 'em in a car or from your phone.
Interesting so far. Now, onto the facts involving your character.
* Girlfriends ARE back in the game. Hate or like, just live with it.
* You cannot gain weight, nor can you get yourself muscled. You can alter your look like hairstyle, facial hair and clothing, tough.
* Niko is able of climbing ladders, escape ladders, and telephone pole's can be climbed on. Wether he can climb walls, gates, fences etc aswell, unknown at this time.
* Niko can swim. He won't drown once he hits the water.
* Niko can order taxi cabs, and either hit the trip skip button(Y), or he can just take a look from inside the cab and take the full time to get to his destination. Which features a "Cinematic Camera" like setting.
* When Niko purchases clothes, he has to pick them seperatly from shelves rather than the "Walk-in Closet in Stores" from San Andreas.
* Niko can use Auto-Aim, or manual Aim. Wether you feel like using is up to you.
* Niko can take cover a-la Gears of War. But don't be too exited. The enemies, and police can do the same.
* Niko has a cellphone to his service. Using that he can call, and recieve calls from his contacts. There's several tabs for the cell phone inculding "Photos", and "Multiplayer" and even more. Wether it almost replaces the Start Menu is not confirmed.
* Missions can span over several days, allowing Niko to start the mission on let's say Monday, do something like shopping 'till Thurday, when he can e.g assasinate the target.
* Multiplayer IS CONFIRMED. Rockstar Games has confirmed that the game can hold up to 16 player matches. That is currently the most we know about the MP part.
* Niko can enter the Police Database in any stolen Police car, and compare taken photographs(with the cellphone) to make missions easier..
* The internet is availible for Niko to use in the game also. Niko can use the internet to gain information about contacts or people he needs to kill. their location for example.
* Time Limited missions return, also the "Time Limited Actions" return too. Like being at the subway at 9:00AM, but arriving at 9:01AM. That would result in a mission failure.
* Shooting different parts of the body has different impacts (e.g shoot a security guard in the foot at the top of the stairs, and he'll come tumbling down.)
Onto the vehicular stuff.
* Boats are confirmed. So, Liberty Cities' waterway's can be explored aswell.
* Cars have an all-new animation when being "taken", Niko slams the window in. And tries to hotwire the car after. Doesn't take alot longer than the usual "Oh, the keys are in the ignition" animation. There's up to five different animations, but this is the only known one at this time.
* Helicopters are in the game. Several can be seen in the 2nd Trailer. .
* Airplanes are LEFT OUT of the game. Wether it's the 9/11 case and the respect of those who died. Or just the size problem, we don't know.
* Motorcycles are in the game. Two golden oldies are returning; PCJ 600 and Sanchez are both confirmed. On a side note, when Niko hops on one, an helmet spawns on his head instantly. Wether if you like it or not, deal with it. If you crash 'enough, it'll fly off your head sooner or later and become a ragdolling object on the road.
* Bicyles aren't in the game either. The whole Gang-banger-on-a-kiddy-bike didn't fit in well with the background of Niko.
* Names of several vehicles have been confirmed: The Stallion makes a return, the Willard, the NRG-500, the Admiral and the Comet. In translation, the Plymouth HEMI Cuda, the Ford LTD, MV Augusta, the Mercedes Benz, and the Porsche 911 make a return.
* Bullet holes will appear on the car, tires will pop with a little air-leaving-the-tire effect, and glass will take bullet holes aswell. As seen in the 2nd Trailer.
* Cable Cars can be spotted in the 1st trailer. Wether they can be entered, is currently unknown.
* The default camera angle is slightly over to the drivers' side. Different angles are available however. You can move the camera aswell, but if you're not touching it, it will remain at the more central position leaning towards the drivers' side. There's also a Chase Cam, Dashboard cam and the traditional bumper camera.
* When drivers in other vehicles pass by with their radio on. You can hear it muffled, and feel the bass off it through vibration.
* Even tough there's no airplanes in the game. There's atleast one confirmed airport. It's the John F. Kennedy Airport, on the southern part of Brooklyn(Broker in GTAIV). It'll be re-named after it's GTAIII counterpart - Francis International Airport.
Onto some of the map's confirmed thingies:
* The map is ¾ the size of San Andreas, inculding desert, country and rural area.
* The island effect will take return, and parts of the maps are connected to eachother by bridges and tunnels. Unlike other games of this day, water will still take the place as a "wall", rather than a impassable cliff.
* There's NO Country Side whatsoever. Only city. But, with the pass over to next gen consoles. It might be made possible throughout DLC.
* Rockstar Games' Dan Houser confirmed that the games' entire city will be open from boot time. Which basicly means that you can explore the entire map from the first minute you start the game.
* Houser also mentioned that Liberty City will become a whole city on the island. Nothing will go to waste on open spaces. Well, other than Middle Park.
* There's a subway system, covering Broker and Algonquin. You know, the Manhattan Subway System. MSS, crossing over to Brooklyn. There's no other information on this, yet.
In a somewhat recently released magazine, they've had some tidbits about the first set of missions in the game. They involve with the shady character Tom Goldberg(check back above).
But first, some facts to the mission structure:
* In the previous games, colored circles were indicated as the "Point of Destination/Interest" for missions. This time, they're orange.
* Mission "marks" like targets, or cars you're supposed to tail are no longer indicated by a large arrow above it. Now you've got to find tactics to discover who your target is.
* For several missions, you'll have to use the Grand Theft Auto Internet, in Internet Café's around the city. (e.g TW@)
* You can arrange ambushes, attacks and such with your cellphone. You can use "friends" you've made earlier throughout the game as allies for missions.
FACTSHEET - TECHNOLOGY
This part of the Factsheet is just in for those who care about the stuff like "ragdoll" and such.
The game's visual engine is "RAGE", Rockstar Games custom build game engine. RAGE is short for Rockstar Advanced Game Engine. This engine was also used in the Tennis game "Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis". Rockstar Games intends to use this engine to enhance the visual graphics like animations, graphical quality and their advanced animations they use to fit in with the current state their in. Also, the engine can be used to advance small things like smoke going with the current "wind flow". Little things can make a great game.
Also, the Euphoria engine has been confirmed. One of the best complete engines outthere. Rockstar Games has purchased this engine, which can be read in this article. To learn more about the Euphoria Engine, click here.
There's no loading time during gameplay. Only the initial start up load. But when ingame, no loading times occur, not even when entering interiors.
Improvements to the graphics systems, results in better graphics ofcourse. A short sum-up of what everyone basicly wants to hear when it comes to the technical background:
* Pop-ups(trees/buildings popping up out of nowhere) will virtually not show up at all in the game.
* RAGE is confirmed, and will be used.
* The Euphoria Engine is confirmed aswell, and will be used.
* There's only one loading time left. And that's the initial startup load. No other loads will occur when playing, not even when going in/out interiors.
* The AI is greatly improved. Enemies will take cover, and people on the streets do more than just walk. They read books, newspapers, call someone, or just small things like those.
* The vehicle handling has been greatly improved. The cars handle better, and more realistic. The suspension reacts realisticly to the atmoshphere.