[Niall]

Grand Theft Auto III: Your Questions Answered – Part One (Claude, Darkel & Other Characters)

Claude

SCORPIO7188 Is Claude a mute or is he a man who doesn't talk? I remember CJ calling Claude a mute in the race in San Andreas.

Rockstar says: It may now seem obvious that people should all talk in games, but this was not necessarily the case in 2001, certainly not in an open world game. We were making up a lot of procedures as we went along, and we decided that the NPCs (Non Playable Characters) should talk and we would have to figure out how to make them talk (using motion captured cutscenes, something that had never really been done before, at least not on the scale we were doing it). So we decided that the game’s protagonist would not talk, partly to aid people identifying with him, but mostly because we had so many other problems to solve and this did not seem like a major issue. We started to discuss introducing a talking lead character when working on Vice City, but it was a lot of work. While the structure of GTA3 may seem obvious or natural now, and the use of cutscenes made in the game’s engine that look and feel like the game may seem simple and easy, it really was not the case back in 2001 when we had to figure out all of these things for the first time. Oh and in San Andreas, CJ calls Claude a mute because he does not talk and CJ finds this unnerving.

fan_GTA On one of the trailers GTA3 beta, Claude says, "Get out of the car". What were the reasons that Claude did not say any words?

Rockstar says: This is fake. This is an old bit of gameplay footage, for sure, but we think the voices were added at a later date by someone online as at no point did we plan for Claude to have a voice or even design how a speaking protagonist would be implemented until Vice City.

ARMORALLL After the last mission is complete is that Claude who says "When the chopper finally got taken out, better than the fireworks on the 4th of July"??? I've always wondered about this!

Rockstar says: No – it is a witness in a news report who says that.

Vortex94 Who was the inspiration for character Claude? I really like his attitude i.e silent but deadly.

Rockstar says: There wasn’t any one single inspiration – we just liked the idea of a strong, silent killer, who would be juxtaposed with all of these neurotic and verbose mobsters in an amusing way. He seems stronger and in control, while they seem weaker and frantic.

Dapunkilla What’s the backstory on Claude? For example his last name, family relatives? Where he's from? Or maybe even a short bio?

Rockstar says: He’s a bank robber with a noisy and psychotic girlfriend. More than that, it is hard to say. Definitely a drifter, probably from the west coast, new to Liberty City. Surname may or may not be Speed.

nikobelic2500000 At the end of Grand theft Auto 3, did Claude actually shoot Maria?

Rockstar says: We're not sure about this. Some think he did, and some think he didn’t. Certainly in an original version of the script, Maria had a longer, really annoying speech, but then someone in the audio department wisely put an end to that. Quite what that means for Maria, who can say.

Dapunkilla What became of Claude’s fate? Is he dead in the GTAIII canon or he alive?

Rockstar says: He certainly isn’t dead. What else became of him, we don’t know.

therealtreefitty How did Claude's appearance change or take shape during development?

Rockstar says: We iterated his look many, many times until we were happy – usual sort of things, weight, face, some clothing.

Darkel

BenDeR. Darkel, such a strange character... Pictures of him are available on GTA III's official website and his name appears in GTA III's booklet. I heard somewhere that he was supposed to give you some kind of "rampage-like" missions. What was exactly his purpose? Why wasn't he included in the final version of the game?

Rockstar says: Darkel was just a crazy bum who gave you some crazy missions. They were removed a few months before the game was done and long before 9/11 because they just weren’t as good as the rest of the game, and tonally they were a little odd. He started with 5 missions and they were slowly all cut. When only one or 2 were left, they were all removed as the character just didn’t work alongside the other characters. None of these missions involved blowing up buses of school children although that is a funny rumor!

Etoddgta Will we ever see a release of the beta Darkel missions?

Rockstar says: No. The guys at Rockstar North are far too busy working on future stuff to ever figure out how to fix these old unfinished missions and get them running.

Other Characters

SammiiDoogles There are many references to GTAIII characters and brands (El Burro graffiti in LC for example) in GTAIV, but do any characters (other than Lazlow) actually exist within both 'universes'? Is that where Donald Love went? Did he hop dimensions into the GTAIV universe?! Plot twist!! Are the two universes completely separate? I understand it'd make almost no sense having two Liberty City's but is there any way we'll see characters from GTAIII return? GTAIV has some amazing characters, but some of the characters in the III era are just unforgettable.

Rockstar says: El Burro is referenced as he was also referenced in GTA 1, so it felt appropriate that he should cross “universes” – the “universes” are the worlds interpreted at different definitions, 2d, 3d and high definition, so we felt brands and radio / back ground characters would exist in both, but 3 dimensional characters would not. This is the logic (as far as it could be considered logical) behind it – so no, we don’t believe any GTA3 characters could exist in the GTA4 universe.

FeelThePayne Why was Ray so paranoid? lol < He was also voiced by Robert Loggia too WOW!

Rockstar says: He was a bent cop who knew his luck was almost up and he was about to come to an unfortunate end – this would make anyone paranoid…

VladTheZenga09 Guy with the baseball bat on the artwork.. who is he? I'm pretty sure it isn't Toni Cipriani 'cause on the artwork he is the guy with hands in his pocket, and these two guys are not the same.. at least to me.. cheers.

Rockstar says: He is a character from an early piece of concept art by our long standing character concept artist at Rockstar North, Ian McQue, that Stephen Bliss (who is one of the guys who illustrates our Grand Theft Auto cover art) liked and used to make a cool piece of montage art that embodied the game – we were less concerned with the art really representing characters as much as capturing the vibe of the game – so some of the characters in the art are not necessarily game characters. We did not really think the characters would be such a big deal until after the game came out.

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Grand Theft Auto III: Your Questions Answered – Part Two (9/11, The “Ghost Town”, The Dodo and Other Mysteries)

Presenting the conclusion of our two-part series answering your questions about Grand Theft Auto III – in honor of the game’s 10-Year Anniversary and the Edition for mobile devices that was released last month. Part one delved into questions about Claude and other characters from the game – today’s part two covers many of the long-standing rumors, mysteries and myths about Grand Theft Auto III – and also features a few behind-the-scenes images being released for the first time. Thanks to all GTA fans for submitting these great inquiries – and enjoy!


911


[tr]

VBProject Did you cut off any missions or stuff after 9/11?

Rockstar says: About 1% different. We removed only one mission that referenced terrorists and changed a few other cosmetic details – car details, a couple of ped comments, lines of radio dialogue etc – the game came out a very short time later. The biggest change was the US packaging which remixed the previous packaging into what became our signature style – because the previous packaging [which was released as the cover of the game in Europe] was, we felt, too raw after 9/11. All of the more extreme rumours are amusing but impossible to have been achieved in such a short period of time.

CrazyNiko187 Any chance of releasing GTA3 with all the stuff that was removed due to 9/11?

Rockstar says: No. As above, it really was not very much stuff – just one mission and other than that some superficial and cosmetic details.

Magic_Al The game was released only 41 days after 9/11. It's known that last-minute changes were made to game content because of the traumatic emotional situation at the time. Some are known, such as police vehicles being changed to not look like NYPD, but rumors of bigger changes won't completely go away. Such as: there were school buses and children in Liberty City that were removed, Liberty City had twin towers that were changed into a construction site, and Donald Love was killed by airplane hitting his building and this was edited out so he just disappears. Big changes seem unlikely to do in 41 days considering Rockstar New York was literally in a war zone and there had to be time to test and physically ship the game. Once and for all, can you list everything that was changed after 9/11 and debunk the most ridiculous rumors about this situation?

Rockstar says: As far as we can remember, the list of changes is covered above – the other stuff is nonsense.

Ghost Town

tytiyuiyitytiy Is the location in the beginning where the bank robbery takes place supposed to be a part of Liberty City? Or is it supposed the be another town?

Rockstar says: Yes – it is meant to be part of Liberty City.

bcinvestor1 Is the name of the Island taken out of the game named "Jakota Island," referred to in the game as "Ghost Town?"

Rockstar says: We didn’t take an island out of the game. There were only ever the three. We think what people refer to as “ghost town” is just the small area of a city we built for the bank heist scene at the very start of the game. It never had a name, but we wanted it to be somewhere separate from the liberty map and so we built these few streets floating in space and assumed no one would ever find them. We noticed someone built a bridge mod so you can actually drive there now - amazing…

The Dodo

Blazinbash Was the Dodo ever supposed to stay in flight? don't get me wrong my friends and I spent many fun hours trying to see who could fly the longest, in a plane with clipped wings before crashing into the sea.

Rockstar says: Because we were making a driving and shooting game - even that, as a combination of core gameplay elements, was very, very radical at the time. The Dodo was never meant to be flown very much at all, and it certainly wasn’t grounded as a result of 9/11 – it was just a fun thing that people then went crazy with when they figured out various bugs that let them fly it!

Other Rumored Cut Content and Mysteries

BenDeR. The tunnels in Shoreside Vale, so much speculation has been made about them. They seem to be closed 24/7 due to construction work. Were they originally supposed to lead somewhere or are the workers just too lazy to finish the work, ha!

Rockstar says: There was never meant to be anything on the other end of the tunnel, we were just playing with ways to make the world feel like it continues past the physical boundary. It’s something that we’ve been pushing in all sorts of ways ever since, making the world you experience as a player feel like it’s part of something bigger. This tunnel was one of our first little baby steps in that direction.

WolfRogers Hidden away on the PC version of Grand Theft Auto III are menus and listings for Multiplayer, what was supposed to be planned for Grand Theft Auto III and at what point was it removed?

Rockstar says: We played around with the idea of multiplayer back then but never got very far with it. At the time, we decided to make Vice City instead of dedicating a big team to multiplayer, as we did not feel it would ever really be good enough. When we finally made a multiplayer game, we wanted it to rival the fun and experience of single player, and this was something not possible until much later.

Music/Audio/Voiceacting

tytiyuiyitytiy Who wrote the "My mother's my sister" pedestrian dialogue line?

Rockstar says: Ha – to be honest, we are not sure – we all work together on this stuff – and we supposed too many of us just find rural inbreeding amusing.

OrIGInalPyRO Where did the 'squish' noise that played when you ran over a pedestrian come from? That always made me laugh.

Rockstar says: The pedestrian squishing sound was made up from a combination of squelchy sounds that Rockstar North Audio Designer, Allan Walker recorded live (Rockstar North Lead Music Producer, Craig Conner seems to recall crushing fruit and raw chicken in a vocal booth...) and then they added a few more layers from our SFX library.

Etcetera

Left: An early screenshot shows the bus that was removed and a more cartoony style for the Claude character. Right: A screenshot from the final PlayStation 2 release in 2001.

Bruciesautos Why were the graphics in very early screenshots cartoonish?

Rockstar says: Before we properly got started on building the game we tried out a few different looks. Some of these were released during development. We toyed with a very cartoony style but pulled it back quite a lot.

cannoman5 Is it true that the Ammu-Nation clerk's appearance and voice was Dan Houser?

Rockstar says: No, not true. However it does look (but not sound) like a relative of his.

Luc de Mooij (via Facebook) How is the cannoli at Marco's Bistro?

Rockstar says: Horrible! Stale as hell.

Early Development Questions

Jamie Press (via Facebook) What's the script like for all GTA games?? How long do they roughly last and how are they formatted? also would you ever consider releasing a script from a GTA game?? Thks Can't wait for GTAV!

Rockstar says: They are long. Very long. And they only seem to get bigger with each subsequent Grand Theft Auto production. Check out the image set below which shows a picture of the GTA3 script alongside the GTAIV script for some sense of what we mean.

Left: The original story and mission scripts from Grand Theft Auto III. Right: Seven years later - a glimpse of the voluminous Grand Theft Auto IV script.

GTA III Cover Art Slideshow

This post has been edited by Niall on Saturday, Jan 7 2012, 08:18

[The_Sorrow]

How do i ask questions?

This post has been edited by The_Sorrow on Thursday, Dec 15 2011, 21:24

[bluesboyjr]

QUOTE (The_Sorrow @ Thursday, Dec 15 2011, 22:21)

How do i ask questions?

You can't anymore, Rockstar only took questions for a weekend or so a few weeks ago.

Some interesting answers here, but nothing particularly ground-breaking. It's mostly clearing up misconceptions and beating around bushes. That's our Rockstar!

[Duxfever]

The even better part is, there's another part coming soon!

[Niall]

PART II is out today. I will update the first post as soon as I can.

[Craig]

This was really interesting, just read the second part, it really helps clear some of the rumours, myths and urban legends up.

[Andreaz1]

I loved the idea but I have to agree with bluesboy, it feels like they are beating around bushes with some answers. I can't really explain, it's just a feeling I get. Or maybe I just really wished there would be some truth to all of the myths that are flying around about GTA III.

[Tycek]

I don't think R* is hiding something. It just years of myths and misleading informations created in minds of some people picture that wasn't real. And because of that people would like to think that GTA III was totally different, but nobody can't tell how it should look like.

[_____]

Actually I feel relieved because now we know that most of the rumors were lies. Claude is not mute after all and he is not dead either, so I guess all the other protagonists that didn't die during the story are also not dead.

[Money Over Bullshit]

What exactly was different about the cover art?? I don't see it

[Niall]

This is the original cover art they used for Europe,


and this is the one they made after 9/11 for the US.


This post has been edited by Niall on Saturday, Jan 7 2012, 03:10

[Marzipan_jew]

It seemed like they were BSing a little in the answers. They mentioned how hardly anything was changed because of 911 and how all of the other rumors (mentioning school buses) except the ones they stated were true, is BS. Yet you can clearly see school buses in the beta, along with the school.

They also said only one mission was cut out, but didnt go into detail what the mission was. It probably was donald loves mossion.

[Knife]

Well I don't see what the BS was. School buses were in. They were removed. Because of 9/11? They say no. I don't think it would have taken 9/11 to make them reconsider that.

[Magic_Al]

Apparently they want to preserve the mystery of Donald Love's disappearance. If they answered that question then it wouldn't be a mystery. Look at all the deleted scenes from the Star Wars movies that fans demanded be released, and now people consider those parts of the story even though they were cut.

[Andreaz1]

QUOTE (Magic_Al @ Friday, Jan 6 2012, 00:50)

Apparently they want to preserve the mystery of Donald Love's disappearance. If they answered that question then it wouldn't be a mystery. Look at all the deleted scenes from the Star Wars movies that fans demanded be released, and now people consider those parts of the story even though they were cut.

They have actually answered that before, but they gave the "Nobody knows, he left and never came back" sort of answer. That's why I feel like there is something that they are not telling us.

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/arti...r-donald-l.html

[Money Over Bullshit]

QUOTE (Niall @ Thursday, Jan 5 2012, 20:47)

QUOTE (Money Over Bullsh*t @ Thursday, Jan 5 2012, 11:00) What exactly was different about the cover art?? I don't see it  This is the original cover that they used for Europe, and this is the one they made after 9/11 for the US.

I don't see how that could be deemed offensive in the slightest

[Knife]

In the days/weeks following 9/11 I think America was very sensitive and I think it shook R* quite hard too. They just didn't fancy the idea of a box art with building and explosions.

[buzbegone]

QUOTE (Knife @ Friday, Jan 6 2012, 22:51)

In the days/weeks following 9/11 I think America was very sensitive and I think it shook R* quite hard too. They just didn't fancy the idea of a box art with building and explosions.

I'm glad they changed it. It's become such an icon to the series.

[Money Over Bullshit]

QUOTE (buzbegone @ Friday, Jan 6 2012, 15:29)

QUOTE (Knife @ Friday, Jan 6 2012, 22:51) In the days/weeks following 9/11 I think America was very sensitive and I think it shook R* quite hard too. They just didn't fancy the idea of a box art with building and explosions. I'm glad they changed it. It's become such an icon to the series.

There's being sensitive to people's feelings and there's just being too cautious.

I prefere the European boxart even though the US boxart was the start of a trend it just looks really sh*tty and amateurish compared to the other one IMO.

[Magic_Al]

The shards design is great because it's so reusable. They could have kept doing completely unique artwork for each game like GTA 1-3 but the shards thing really ties the series together, which is nice since otherwise there isn't a continuing protagonist like Master Chief or Lara Croft to be an icon.