Grand Theft Auto / Developers Foresight

open/close all folders

GTA Radio

Since the beginning but especially since well known songs featured in Vice City, the radio stations have been like real life stations, playing licensed music, with their own DJs, stories and details of events which can be seen taking place in the game universe, even having different shows at different times of the day. It's such a detailed world that it got its own trope page: GTA Radio.
One of the radio adverts in Vice City is for 'Complete The Look', a clothing store that sells stereotypical 80's clothing. What clothing it advertises depends on what station you hear the advert on, with seven variations for each of the game's music playing stations.
In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto V (but not the other games), radio host comments will change based upon the weather (in the case of San Andreas) and time of day (in the case of GTA V). Some DJs in San Andreas and V will also remark on current game events, such as the riots that dominate Los Santos during the final stage of the game for the former, and Jay Norris' assassination for the latter beyond the evolving news report segments.
In IV, noting that many players were trying to identify the songs being played on the huge radio stations, Rockstar added "ZiT", an expy of smartphone music identification apps like Shazam and SoundCloud. (By V, though, they simply started listing the song with the radio station.)
In V, Kenny Loggins has a unique line to say if "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" plays on a Saturday.

GTA III and GTA: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto III:
- There is an enclosed area limited by four high walls. If you manage to jump over one (with the help of a tall vehicle, for example), you can read the text "You weren't supposed to be able get here you know" on one of the walls.
- One of the most famous features of the game, at least partly due to how often it was mentioned by Moral Guardians, was the fact that, if you employed the services of a prostitute and then killed her, you could get your money back.
- "Cutting the Grass" for Salvatore Leone has you following a target of interest as he gets driven around by a taxi. Normally, you are supposed to keep your distance or you will scare them off. However, if you kill the cab driver and take his place (or ram the taxi out of the way with one of your own, or even just pull your own taxi into an empty spot in front of the other taxi), the target will get into your taxi and you are the one that drives him to his destination! You still have to kill him afterwards and he will still get spooked if you drive too recklessly.
- Another mission involves being the getaway driver of a bank robbery. If you reach the safehouse of the heist crew without being inside of a car - obviously, not the most common thing a player does in Grand Theft ''Auto'' - then you'll be belittled by a surprisingly rude help prompt saying "You need a getaway vehicle, Idiot!". If you're driving a bogstandard two-seater car instead of a sedan or a van with four seats, you are humorously notified that "They ain't sardines! Get some wheels with enough seats."
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City:
- If a pedestrian wearing roller skates traverses onto grass, they will fall over constantly until they gradually get back onto tarmac.
- During "The Party", if Tommy uses a motorbike to take Mercedes to the strip club, she will not ask about resting her hand in Tommy's lap.

San Andreas

There's a sign atop a bridge saying, 'There are no easter eggs up here. Go away.'
San Andreas also changes how CJ speaks based on his physical appearance. The developers knew some players would try to get CJ as fat as possible, so they have CJ speak alternate lines to any NPC he interacts with based on his weight (he'll say "Lunch money!" when he takes someone's money for example), or based on his clothes (dress in a suit and he'll say "Just cause I dress nice I can't bang, huh?" as he's stomping a pedestrian). He still speaks normally in cutscenes.
During "Pier 69", CJ can kill Ryder without chasing him in a boat using a sniper rifle. Doing so will prevent Cesar from calling CJ since he saw the whole thing at the pier.
Certain missions in San Andreas can't be started if CJ is too fat and you'll get a special cutscene telling you this. For instance, the mission Green Goo, which requires CJ to put on a jetpack, won't begin because the jetpack won't fit around him.
- Although if you unlock the jetpack for free roam by finishing the said mission or cheating, CJ can still wear them no matter how fat he is- the limitation is actually due to a pit in Area 69 where you can drop down into, but can't climb out of unless you're fit enough.
- Additionally, there's an early mission that ends with Sweet calling CJ, telling him he's getting too skinny, and recommending a gym to go to so he can build muscle. If CJ gets fat before this mission, Sweet will be a lot more critical of CJ's physique and recommend the gym to lose weight. Additionally, Big Smoke will also chime in with a phone call of his own.
"Stowaway" has you destroying a plane by planting C4 before jumping out with a parachute, and the plane can be destroyed by shooting it from the inside. Not only do you get a funny mission failure cutscene for jumping out of the plane without a parachute, but if you happen to have a parachute before you start the mission, you can just shoot the plane and jump out before the explosion kills you, skipping most of the mission.
Many areas have proper pathfinding for cars even if traffic never spawns there. Lose a wanted level in a place such as the San Fierro docks and you will see the police cars making their way back onto the main roads.
If you go one dollar past $99,999,999, the money counter rolls over and adds another digit. The actual limit is $999,999,999.
In the first mission, if you destroy the Ballas car, the cutscene with Sweet announcing their appearance is skipped.
One mission requires Carl to find an informant hiding in an abandoned village just west of the airfield. If Carl is spotted, the guy will try to make a getaway in a helicopter. If Carl doesn't manage to kill him, but does get to the other helicopter nearby, it's possible to chase the guy all the way to Las Venturas, where the guy meets some people in an underground carpark.
Catalina's missions are set up in a way that lets you do them in any order you like. For example, the Dillimore gas station mission is not far from where you first meet her but you can do the Palomino bank mission first instead. The foresight part comes from CJ and Catalina's in-game dialogue, which is different depending on which one of her missions you did previously.
When CJ goes to Jizzy B's club in "Ice Cold Killa", Jizzy B's Broadway will be outside. Whatever CJ does to the car will carry over to the subsequent chase. If CJ shoots out the tires, Jizzy B will have a harder time controlling it. If CJ actually destroys the car, the chase will start with Jizzy B jacking a pizza delivery boy's scooter.
One of Mike Toreno's missions has CJ buying the abandoned airfield and taking flying lessons. The longer CJ waits between buying the airfield and taking the lessons, the more times Toreno will call him to remind him of his orders, getting progressively angrier each time.
The mission where CJ rescues Maccer and Paul from the desert has them stop at a snake farm and run afoul of the proprietors. While the player's first instinct would likely be to kill them before proceeding, the game doesn't say to do this and CJ can just run back to the casino. If he does this, the snake farmers will chase them to it and then they'll have to kill them. (Yes, they. Maccer and Paul will fight the farmers as well.)
Levelling up CJ's driving skill enough changes his car-driving animations. At the start, Carl will have both hands on the steering wheel and turn around to look behind him when reversing. After buffing his driving skill, he'll only have one hand on the wheel, and when reversing will simply glance up at his rear view mirror.
In "Management Issues", CJ will be tasked with kidnapping and drowning Alan Crawford, Madd Dogg's manager. Once you snatch him from the show, the objective will point out that you must NOT be witnessed in the process of killing him, which why you need to shake off Crawford's security while going to the pier. But you DO let Crawford's men follow you to the pier, you will have an additional objective to wipe them out.

City Stories

In the PSP version of Liberty City Stories, there is a new sign in the alley from GTA III, with a goofy smiling face with outstretched arms, and the message "Hello again!" In the PS2 port of LCS, the sign reads "You just can't get enough of this alley, can you?"
The Liberty City Stories side mission Karmageddon has you causing havoc by ramming into traffic with the fire truck. The game accounts for lots of things you can do to the cars, even ramming them into the water when there are only a few areas where that is practical.

GTA IV

In Grand Theft Auto IV you get a mobile phone. If you're in a car listening to the radio when someone contacts you, the car speakers skip just before it rings, as often occurs in real life.
The subway stations have performers at rush hour that you can tip. You can meet a girl on the in-game internet, and after your dates she will blog about them. You can even take the Roosevelt Island tram ride.
Not to mention the meeting up with friends to play pool, go bowling, get drunk, even drive drunk which immediately prompts the cops to pursue you and your character saying drunk driving might be a bad idea. When you haven't seen a friend in a while their dialogue will be different to if you see them often. In the expansions, you can play air hockey and go to the nightclub for drinking games.
In the first Francis mission in Grand Theft Auto IV you are supposed to kill a man, take a flashdrive off his body, lose the police and deliver the flashdrive to Francis. However, as seen here at 13:08, if the target falls in the nearby water, he drowns and the mission succeeds immediately, with no need to deliver the evidence since, as far as the game's concerned, it's pretty well disposed of.
There is even dialogue recorded and programmed to play for events that wouldn't happen normally; each friend can say different things no matter the occassion. Roman actually has dialogue for when he steals a car even though it would almost never happen by accident.
Police will often be seen chasing and arresting NPCs on foot. If you park a police vehicle near an arrested NPC, the policeman will actually direct the criminal to the car before realising his mistake, giving you a wanted level.
If a driver pulls away when a character^note is grabbing one of the car's door handles, they will ragdoll while continuing to hang onto the car. Assuming the character doesn't collide with other objects, they can be dragged for several seconds.
A head-on collision with another car at high speed can occasionally send the other driver flying through their windshield. It can also happen to you, too.
Following NPCs for long enough, or even just staring at them for too long, will result in the computer-controlled character noticing and making a remark of the "go away" variety.
Eavesdropping on NPCs using cell phones, it's possible to follow complete conversations (they aren't just making random remarks). Also applies to V.
Unlike the GTA III era when everything is open 24/7, but like in San Andreas, there are a few cases where businesses are not open during certain hours of the day, most notably the fancy car dealership downtown. If there happen to be NPCs inside the dealership when it closes, they actually end up trapped inside.
During Roman's Sorrow, you are told to go to your apartment first before going to the cab depot, but you can visit the two in either order, and dialogue will change accordingly.
During the mission "Final Interview", the intended path is to shoot your target, then fight your way out of the front of the building. There are two ways to bypass this. First, by using a knife, your kill is considered silent and you won't receive the cutscene where a worker runs into the room and calls the cops. Second, if you do decide to go loud, there's nothing stopping you from jumping out the window, avoiding the need to fight your way through the lobby.
In The Lost And Damned mission "Roman's Holiday", you can complete the mission the normal way by making a long drive from the gambling den to the warehouse with Roman. Or you can just call his taxi firm whose number is given away in a blink-and-miss-it line in a cutscene and have Roman drive to you.
Killing a person in a car makes them fall and hold down the horn or gas pedal. Aiming at a person in a car makes them hold their hands up and either get out of the car or attempt to drive away.
Street Vendors have propane tanks in their stalls that will explode if you hit them. To go further, only the hot dog and hamburger stands have propane tanks in them, the nut stalls do not.
In The Lost and Damned Clay can still equip an Assault Shotgun if you take him to enough gang wars even if you don't have it unlocked yet. However to prevent players from getting the weapon early if Clay dies with the Assault Shotgun out it won't become a drop for you to pick up until you complete the required mission.
"Pest Control" requires the player to kill Ray Boccino who rides with a group of bodyguards. If you are good enough friends with Packie, you can rig Boccino's car with a bomb before even starting the mission, as his car is near the mission starting point. The bomb won't despawn if you start a mission, allowing instant completion. Boccino even stops at gas station, making one wonder if R* made his route this tactic in mind.
Some missions will start with an objective saying "Get into a vehicle". If you get in a boat, the objective will change to "Get in a vehicle other than a boat".
During your second encounter with Eddie Low, the intention is to obviously kill him before he kills you, but if a cop comes by and you lure him into attacking the cop without taking his knife, the cop unloads on him rather than the usual arresting procedure to be sure he's dead just the same.
Calling ZiT while in a Mr Tasty that's playing one of its jingles will result in said jingle being identified. Identifying the GTA IV theme even restores your health meter to full.
Signs on car washes that say taxi drivers get washes for $3 while everyone else pays $5 reflects how the car wash actually works-take a taxi through one, and it is indeed cheaper.
During the mission "Photo Shoot", Marlon doesn't have a specific character model, instead appearing as any generic member of the North Holland Hustlers. Regardless, Playboy X has different dialog for whatever skin the game chose for him, including claiming he's "dressed like a damn canary" if he's wearing yellow.

GTA V - Story Missions

Dialogue between characters will frequently change to reflect on which missions you have actually completed. For instance, if you decide to do some Sequence Breaking on a Sniping Mission as Trevor and shoot some guards before Ron warns you about them, Trevor will mention having cleared the area already. Similarly, if you decide to hang out with one of the other player characters, their banter changes depending on where you're at in the story, and there's at least one or two throwaway lines for each activity and unique to each character combination.
Heists also have varying dialogue depending on which crew members you selected, and it all sounds natural, completely averting Mad Libs Dialogue. One of the most impressive throwaway lines has to be during the "smart" version of The Jewel Store Job, which begins with Franklin climbing to the roof and throwing sleeping gas into the ventilation system. On the off-chance that you visited Ammu-Nation and purchased grenades or sticky bombs, Michael will call you over the radio reminding you to switch grenade types. It might have been Annoying Video Game Helper material if it didn't show such impressive attention to detail.
One of Trevor's missions for Josh requires him to use a jerry can that is provided at the beginning of the mission. If you already have a full jerry can, Trevor will compliment himself for being "one step ahead". If you don't have enough gas to use, Josh will mention that he has more in his car.
During the mission "Reuniting the Family" Jimmy will mention that Amanda cheated on Michael with "the guy on Vespucci Beach who thinks he's Jesus." If you go down to Vespucci Beach you can actually meet the guy. His name is Jesse.
In one story mode mission, Mike shoots out an airplane's engine while Trevor chases the disabled plane on an ATV. The route the plane takes will go very close to Trevor's own home. If you detour slightly and drive past Ron's house, Trevor will yell at him as you pass.
Trevor: Ron! You'd better be working!!!
During By The Book, Steve, Trevor and Mr K's dialogue will change depending on which torture instruments you do or do not use and in which order. Mr K also has two voice tracks for the scene that includes clear and slurred speech depending on whether you pull out his tooth or not. Also, letting Mr. K die by not injecting him with adrenaline will lead to a special cutscene.
- You can also end the torture sequence early by shooting the target before he's been fully identified, which causes an incredulous (and funny) reaction from Dave and some unique dialogue.
During Trevor's hunting minigame, you take pictures of your kills with Trevor's phone. You're supposed to send them to Cletus, but you can actually send them to any of Trevor's contacts. This results in the recipients leaving some amusing replies.
Michael: Could you be any more of a redneck?
Michael: Thanks, but I'm more of a medium rare kind of guy.
Michael: Glad to see you have so much time on your hands.
Franklin: Is there anything you won't shoot?
Franklin: Why u sending me photos of dead animals?
Franklin: I hope u gonna eat that.
Jimmy: Politically correct as ever, Uncle Trevor.
Lamar: I only smoke homies with 2 legs.
Lester: You really need to get a better handle on your media.
Tao Cheng: WTF? Is this some kind of threat?
Wei Cheng: Is this some kind of threat?
Dave: That one I can't arrest you for.
Wade: One for the wall!
Ron: Y u no take me hunting Trevor?
Oscar: I know where there's some mules you can take out too.
Devin Weston: That's not how you alpha-male a vegan.
Nigel: Now if we could just get a photo of you WITH the dead animal, Jock? Mrs. Thornhill would be so happy.
Joe: See I knew you wasn't one of those lefty animal rights activists!
Josef: Guns! Meat! America!
Josh: I'm picturing it with Lenny's face.
Maude: Does this mean ur makin me dinner?
Ursula: Ew that's disgusting!
Patrica Madrazo: carino you're so unpredictable xx
Various contacts: Dude, seriously.
Various contacts: Is that what I think it is?
Various contacts: What the fuck, Trevor!?
- There is an aversion to this trope, though, in that characters who get killed over the course of the story (i.e., Devin & Tao Cheng in Ending C, Michael in Ending B) will still respond to the images from the grave.
- Cletus himself has a few unique responses if you send him a picture of a dead person.
Cletus: Jeessus Trevor that is definitely no elk.
Cletus: Why are you sending me snuff?
In the mission where Trevor heads to Los Santos, just before then he detours with Wade to a trailer park to mop up the remainder of the Lost. It is scripted to start raining as you near the trailer park, and if you're in a car without a roof, when the latter asks what the stop is, he'll complain about getting wet. If the car has a roof, he'll omit his complaint and simply ask what the stop is.
In the mission "Hood Safari," Trevor, Franklin and Lamar are escaping from the police on Seasharks, and the suggestion is made to split up since it'll be easier to lose the cops. The "Dev team" part comes in that you can not only choose to escape with one of the other characters, but they have specific dialogue to reflect this.
- In the same mission, if the player uses a sniper rifle during the shootout on Grove Street, Lamar will make unique comments.
- In an Easter Egg, the Grove Street gang is pedalling away as Franklin, Lamar and Trevor arrive at the dealer's house. If you hurry, and enter Grove Street from the other end, you can actually hit them with your car. You can then pick up the ~$200 they had on them.
If you use a cheat code from GTA IV, you get... dial-up modem noise.
During the Deathwish ending, Trevor is supposed to kill Steve Haines by shooting him in the head with a sniper rifle, causing the cameraman who works for him to Freak Out at what just happened. However, if the player decides to blow Steve up with an RPG instead, a unique cutscene will show the rocket heading towards him, and subsequently ending him. The cameraman also doesn't say anything afterwards, due to being caught in the blast.
In Friend Request, when watching the final assassination of Jay Norris over the TV, the player can turn down the TV volume before calling him. The response and explosion can both be heard over the cellphone.
Crystal Maze has a special aerial Establishing Shot of the O'Neils Farm if Trevor arrives there by plane.
If Franklin ignores Michael's instructions to drive into Simeon's car dealer store and instead just leaves the area (or drives around randomly), Michael will comment on Franklin's stupidity and promptly knock him out, failing the mission.
After Trevor murders Johnny Klebitz, Ashley will fall to her knees and cry over his corpse; you're actually given the option to kill her too. If you do, Trevor will comment on it and Wade will bring it up as you leave to confront the Lost. If you don't, news on the radio will mention she died of unrelated causes later on.
- Later in the mission, Trevor confronts Ortega (leader of the Aztecas) and executes him. Or rather, you could execute him, or you could choose to just walk away and spare his life. If you do, he'll appear later when the Aztecas attack Chef's meth lab, and this time he must be killed.
In "The Wrap Up", Trevor appears on a vantage point, giving sniper support to Michael and Dave. While controlling him, you can go down to the courtyard where Michael and Dave are and join them, and some Merryweather mercs will spawn along the way for just the occasion. Trevor can go to the parking lot as well (while AI-controlled, he will follow them), and Michael, if AI-controlled, will get into a Dominator and drive off. As Trevor, you will still be chased by the Merryweather chopper, but he has no lines. In Morningwood, Michael will be waiting for you, whereas normally, Trevor would be waiting.
In "The Paleto Score Setup", Michael is required to trip the bank's alarm by shooting it. If Michael doesn't have any guns in his inventory, you'll get a special objective to pick one up at the nearby Ammu-Nation. Additionally, you're unable to run out of money until you buy a gun you can use.
At the beginning of the Subtle approach for "The Big Score", Trevor and Michael will talk about the crew for the heist (specifically, the first Gunman). Their dialogue will change depending on if it's the player's first time using that Gunman, if they've used them on one or more heists before, or if they've been taken on all heists where crew members are available. Similarly, the Gunman's own dialogue will be different, depending on what specific heists they have been brought along on.
During the events of "Pack Man", Franklin will say that he needs to catch up on some sleep. If you go into first person and look over, you can actually see him dozing off.
In what is definitely a bad example of this trope, the game has some clever ways of preventing the player from going Off the Rails during certain missions.
- During the mission "Father/Son" the truck being chased is scripted to get away. As if making the truck indestructible and making it drastically speed up when overtaken wasn't enough, any grenades/sticky bombs thrown during the chase will not explode!
- Similarly, if you started "Predator" as Frankin, the O'Neil's SUV is indestructible until it crashes into the canyon. Realistically speaking, Franklin could've outright prevented the subsequent Sniping Mission via a well placed sticky bomb.
- During the beginning of the mission "The Wrap Up" a helicopter is scripted to crash into the walkway leading to the staircase that Dave runs down, preventing Michael from following him. If the player somehow manages to destroy the helicopter before it crashes and runs down the stairs, they will instantly die when they reach the bottom for no reason!

GTA V - Freeroam

If Michael misses a therapy session, then the therapist will call Michael and the player will be forced to have the conversation over the phone. Also, the contents of the session are dependent on how Michael is played. For example, if the player keeps Michael away from prostitutes and the strip club then Michael will express no lecherous issues to the therapist. This is averted later in the story though where his kids will chastise him for being unfaithful even if the player had never cheated while playing as Michael. The last comment of each therapy is dependent on the last crime Michael had commited.
The fact that you can run into another playable character on the game map off-mission should count. Doing so triggers a conversation similar to what happens when you call someone to hang out. You can also "kill" the character^note, though they will only be considered "injured". If you die after doing this, you will both respawn in a hospital and will text each other on the incident. For instance, if Trevor "kills" another character, he will remark on how said character is so hard to kill. However, the character who murdered the other will be charged for their medical bill.
Stick too close to another protagonist off-mission (as in walk too close to them for a long time), they will become annoyed with your stalking. Continue after being warned thrice, they will knock you on your ass, instantly sending you to a hospital.
If you kill Amanda, Jimmy, Tracey or anyone one of his friends as Michael, he'll freak out. Fortunately for him, they'll just end up in the hospital and send him the bill. The same applies with Ron if Trevor accidentally kills him... although Trevor doesn't care as much except telling the player it was their fault for running Ron over. Ron will send him the bill anyway since he's in deep debt. Franklin's reaction is a simple precision F or S strike, wondering how a pro driver like him could hit someone like that. Trevor's response is the funniest though...
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Pay my hospital charges."
The Altruist Cult will almost always welcome Trevor into their little abode (unless he attacks). Going there as Michael or Franklin results in them immediately attacking. If Trevor delivers a victim for the cult for the fourth time and slaughters all of them after they turn on him, nobody will be in the village from then on and the cult theme will no longer play.
Ballas gangsters will not only insult Franklin for being part of the Families, but also Michael and Trevor if either of them wears green.
As Trevor, people can call the cops on you and get you a wanted star just because you're wearing a dress if you hang around them long enough to allow them to.
As Michael or Franklin, press right on the D-Pad (console) or 'E' (PC) while on foot and near pedestrians; your character will give a friendly greeting. However, doing this as Trevor makes him lash out an insult at them. The foresight part is that exactly what he says depends on who he's speaking to. (Specifically, fat people, poor people, senior citizens, gang members, cops and hipsters.)
- If you do this repeatedly on a particular NPC, they will react by either running away or attacking Trevor, again depending on who you throw insults at.
There are small windows of opportunity throughout the story where Michael, Franklin or Trevor can call people on their contacts list to engage in conversation. An example of such a small window is when the player first gains control over Michael. Before returning home after forcing Franklin to crash into Simeons store, Michael can call Dave Norton. This is before Dave is even introduced in the story!
Whenever Trevor, Franklin, or the Online protagonist aims the Micro SMG without a scope when out of cover, they will fire it from the hip, but if it does have a scope, they will unfold the stock and aim down the sight. Michael, on the other hand, will always properly aim down the sight, even if the weapon doesn't have a scope. This also happens with the two machine guns.
As Michael, you can catch Jimmy trying to steal his sister's car. Steal it before him, and he'll call you an asshole.

GTA V and GTA Online - Freeroam

GTA V has so many of these, IGN has created a list that reaches 100 examples. The kicker? It's incomplete.
Pressing the fire button in a vehicle with no weapon equipped makes the character Flip the Bird at people.
Unlike IV, throwing yourself at a wall doesn't mean you either climb or don't — it means you smack into it or fall over it, injuring yourself. "Repossession" is the first time you are required to climb over a fence, and due to this change, Lamar will laugh at you if you jump into the fence.
Shooting the approximate location of the gas tank on a car makes it leak gasoline, and it will eventually run down and stop working. The gas trail may be ignited in the meantime too. If you switch to first-person, you can see the fuel guage dropping from 'full' to 'empty'. Electric cars don't do this.
Rev up your car when you're at a red light and you'll challenge the guy next to you to a race. Honk your horn enough at a guy in front of you and he'll get pissed off and start driving dangerously to get away from you.
When you are next to someone who is in a convertible, you can hear the radio station that they are listening to. If you change to that radio station in your car, it will play the same song.
If you get three or more wanted stars, police officers switch from shouting their movements to using hand signals.
Harming cops instead of killing them makes them retreat. Shoot a cop in the leg or foot, and other officers will often drag them to cover.
Shooting bullets or firing rockets at any of the player characters' homes will get you an angry phone call from said character telling you to knock it off. Continuing to do so will get you a text message to the same effect. They’ll also text you if you sneak around, set fires, or throw grenades at the houses.
If you decide to steal a protagonist's car while as someone else, an angry call will come in telling you to stop stealing his car. Franklin will also call if you steal his bike, and Michael will text you if you steal Amanda or Tracey's cars.
Causing a car's alarm to activate and stealing it after the alarm has stopped, will let you off scott-free of cops. (This also works in 4.)
If the police witness drivers trying to attack you and you're simply just trying to drive away, the cops will chase the attackers, getting them off your tail.
It's possible to hold up certain stores. But if you rob the same store twice within a moderate period of time, the clerks immediately recognize you and summon the police. Showing up in a mask will prevent them from recognizing you... unless you've also robbed that same store with that same mask.
- You can rob stores using a gun without bullets, but if you happen to pull the trigger while performing a robbery, the clerk will immediately fire upon you.
In both online and offline mode, calling people frequently will cause them to complain about it. Do it enough without reason (i.e. calling and hanging up rather than selecting a conversation) and they'll start to snub you.
Lester: Call me back when you get that brain of yours working.
Ron: Call me when you've grown a brain!
It's possible to catch most vehicles with the Cargobob's hook, right from regular cars to tanks, but the hook cannot catch convertibles with their roofs down.
Towing a trailer will slow your vehicle down. That's not unusual for a driving game that lets you do that. What is unusual, though, is that the physics engine also means that your car will be slower to accelerate if you have passengers riding with you, providing a few hundred extra pounds' worth of weight for your car's engine to pull. (Upgrading the armor, though, doesn't seem to make your car heavier.)
You can send in-game texts to other players, for free, but only if they're in the same lobby. Calling them on the other hand, costs about GTA$10. Texting cross lobby yields no money fee either. No news on cross lobby calls.
Suicides in Online are usually free. The "easy way out" you take varies from a cyanide pill, to putting a gun to your head. Doing it on mission will tell you that there's "No easy way out this time!".
Showering after your character has been shot or killed (creating wounds) will clean them off your character.
You can do donuts with cars in V, however, if you do it to a car with tires not meant for extensive drifting long enough, the tires will burst, just like in real life. Buying bulletproof tires will allow you doing donuts without bursting them.
If you're on a motorcycle, landing from a great height wheels first will not protect you from damage or getting wasted.
When browsing the internet on your phone, if you're browsing secure pages such as your Portfolio and you try to go back you'll get a "this page has expired," just like in real life.
If you park your car in an illegal location and leave it to take part in an activity (such as the Vinewood Tour), the car will have been impounded by the police by the time you get back.
Unlike the III era and even IV for the most part, some businesses are only accessible during certain hours of the day. You cannot visit movie theaters in the middle of the night, for example, and the Vinewood Tour is only available between certain hours too. Also, areas where NPCs gather during the day (shopping areas, sidewalk cafes, etc) are vacated at night.
It's possible to run into birds while flying aircraft. No damage is done to the aircraft but it does generate a distracting sound effect and bloody animation.
There's a random event where the current protagonist sees a broken-down van and walks towards it, only to get tased from behind by a man, then they wake up on train tracks while a train is heading towards them. If you're playing as Trevor during this and activate his special ability before getting tased, he'll be unaffected and the assailant will freak out.
If you park by a police station, leave the vehicle, and an emergency call comes in while you're there, a cop will commandeer your vehicle and drive away in it. (Unless you stop him, though this will trigger a high wanted level, of course).
Hit the brakes hard in a newer car, and the wheels will lock-up briefly and repeatedly, as what happens on a real car with ABS. Except on older cars like the Rat-Loader, which do this much more slowly, as if the driver is performing cadence braking.
Having sunglasses on while in first person will tint the screen, with the color depending on your glasses. The filter also decays over time (~45 seconds), representing your brain adapting to the change.
Wearing a mask while in first person will cause a very slight shadow to appear on the edges of the screen to simulate a mask's ability to cut off some peripheral vision, although for gameplay reasons the shadow is dim enough to not cut off any of your view in first person.
In Online, multiple players can pile into 4 door cars. While the two players in the front seats can change the radio station, this affects the music playing for everybody and can induce the same sort of squabbling that occurs in real life. The suckers in the backseat, however, cannot affect the station because they can't reach it and so are stuck with whatever is playing.
Shoot out the headlights of a police car at night and the cop in the passenger seat will pull out a flashlight to shine out the front window.
Shooting the light bar on any emergency vehicle (Police car, Ambulance or Fire Truck) can cause its siren to sound out of whack.
Gasoline poured on sand burns out considerably quicker than gasoline poured on asphalt.
You can go to pubs and clubs and buy drinks as normal. Down several in quick succession (3, sometimes you'll be allowed one more) and the bartender will concernedly stop you.
When using the Heavy Revolver Mk II and the Double Action Revolver, gently pulling the trigger button (without actually firing) will actually cock the hammer and spin the cylinder, much like a real double action revolver.
In certain heists and setups, cutscenes will change slightly depending on the absence or presence of certain members. This is most notable during the "Prison Break - Plane" setup, where the absurd speed of the Velum might prompt players to try to beat it to LSIA, and when they almost certainly do, they'll be in the delivery cutscene while those that stayed at the airstrip wont.
Your character's sex affects the way some NPCs interact with you; for example, Lamar will greet a female player character in the beginning with an awkward attempt to ask her out, and Trevor, when encountered for the first time, will go on a mild rant about the player character not showing him her chest.
In the "Deliver EMP" setup for the Humane Labs Raid, the mission is supposed to end with the players getting in a Humane Labs truck and driving out of the facility as the backup arrives - the cutscene thus has the players driving out while the forces drive in. However, if the players instead decide to drive/run up the mountain instead, the cutscene will also reflect this and still show the security arriving without showing the players driving out.

Developers Foresight / Grand Theft Auto

Previous

Index

Next

Developers Foresight / Grand Theft Auto

Edit Locked

Previous

Index

Next