[.Lycosa]

So I was watching the film War (2007 with jet li and jason statham, good film!) which was based in San Francisco. Anyway, this shot from the film:



Looks quite similar to this area from GTA3 (Couldn't find a better picture)



Then I found this picture on wikia:



Which bears some resemblance to the Golden Gate bridge:


So I looked up where the Golden Gate bridge links to (Marin County), which has no resembelance to Portland island, however, could Shoreside Vale have been loosely based on Marin County? Marin seems to have alot of upper class houses in a grassy area, much like SSV.





Marin County also has a reservoir, as does SSV:




There are quite a few structural references to San Francisco in the game, so is it possible Staunton or even the entire map was inspired by San Francisco? I could be onto something but then again I could also be an idiot haha.

[bammargera]

Well GTA3 was never a "New York" or "San Francisco" map, it is a generic American city, that is what R* set out to do, but I agree some of the locations you mention probably did inspire the corresponding ones

[sibs44]

LC is made up of many different cities. Yes, from using this example you can say it's like SF, NY, maybe a bit of Chicago in there.

[tommyv2468]

I rember reading somewhere that Liberty City was never mean't to be New York,but rather, a city built off of design and architecture of many American cities.
Liberty City is basically a symbol of America.
Maby thats why they did Liberty in IV.They felt that III era Liberty judt didnt capture New York,so they redid it to match NY.

[thecommander]

I could be wrong, but I remember reading somewhere that Liberty City in GTA3 was based off northeastern US cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. But I guess they could of made it from whatever cities they chose.

[.Lycosa]

I wonder why it was never made obvious where III was based? I mean it's easy to tell Vice City was based in Miami, and in San Andreas it was LA, San Francisco and Vegas but III looks like a mixture of areas.

[tommyv2468]

QUOTE (thecommander @ Saturday, May 12 2012, 06:32)

I could be wrong, but I remember reading somewhere that Liberty City in GTA3 was based off northeastern US cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. But I guess they could of made it from whatever cities they chose.

For a second there I thought I double posted,but it seems we just use the sama avatar

[Miamivicecity]

I'm not sure about anyone else, but when I first played GTA III it just looked like NYC to me minus the Statue of Liberty. Even if it wasn't meant to be a specific city its NYC influence was very evident even back then IMO.

It's obvious now because of forums such as this, but if you asked me in 2001 what city LC was based on I would've said NYC without giving any thought to another city influenced in it.

This post has been edited by Miamivicecity on Tuesday, May 15 2012, 12:09

[sibs44]

QUOTE (Miamivicecity @ Tuesday, May 15 2012, 06:04)

I'm not sure about anyone else, but when I first played GTA III it just looked like NYC to me minus the Statue of Liberty. Even if it wasn't meant to be a specific city its NYC influence was very evident even back then IMO. It's obvious now because of forums such as this, but if you asked me in 2001 what city LC was based on I would've said NYC without giving any thought to another city influenced in it.

Agreed. However when I started to look into the architecture of Staunton I thought it resembled Chicago a little bit because of the "newer" buildings look.

[Butters 2011]

QUOTE (Miamivicecity @ Tuesday, May 15 2012, 12:04)

I'm not sure about anyone else, but when I first played GTA III it just looked like NYC to me minus the Statue of Liberty. Even if it wasn't meant to be a specific city its NYC influence was very evident even back then IMO. It's obvious now because of forums such as this, but if you asked me in 2001 what city LC was based on I would've said NYC without giving any thought to another city influenced in it.

Same here. I always had the feeling that GTA3 was based a little bit on NYC, though only loosely. Then I remember reading an article online that said the same thing, and even Wikipedia states that 3 is based on NYC, yet I'm not saying this means it's true or anything, but many sources seem to hold the belief that Liberty City in III was based on NYC. Then you have the story about the game getting changed due to the 9/11 attacks, yet again in NYC, and many people still hold the belief that the Construction Yard on Staunton Island is meant to resemble Ground Zero in some respect.

[Adrian J.]

Not sure about rest of the city but Staunton Island does has some buildings that represent NYC, and I should know because I live here.
1. City Hall

2. St. Patrick's Cathedral

3. Time Sq

4. Rockefeller Plaza Entrance

5. obvious...

6. 500 Fifth Avenue

7. 20 Exchange Place (except the top)

8. Trump Tower

...and some other stuff, plus the beta LCPD had NYPD colors.
So yeah, not all of LC was based on NYC but some things are sure as hell based on it, but I don't see the SF resemblance.

This post has been edited by Adrian J. on Wednesday, May 23 2012, 04:27

[SL1DE]

No, It's all New York.

[DustyRider]

Since when Callahan Bridge is similar to Golden Gate Bridge? GGB have two pillars, while CB only have one, not to mention CB don't have any type of walkway.
The photo u've got was from beta, if it was similar to anything I would say it resembles Robert F. Kennedy Bridge

[JurzeeDee]

Its inspired by all the major cities Including Philly and Trenton NJ.

[Adrian J.]

Not all major cities, only east coast cities.

This post has been edited by Adrian J. on Saturday, Jun 9 2012, 02:28

[sibs44]

QUOTE (Adrian J. @ Friday, Jun 8 2012, 17:28)

No all major cities, only east coast cities.

There is a little bit of Chicago in it as well.

[Adrian J.]

Only thing that reminds me of Chicago is 'Lips 106 HQ' that looks like Marina City complex, that's about it.
One thing about LC that's from west coast is the airport terminal that looks like it was inspired by LAX's theme building.

[GrandMaster Smith]

Some of the map honestly reminded me of Portland, Oregon.. ontop of one of the islands being called Portland if I remember correctly lol

[Claude_Speed_GTAIII]

QUOTE (GrandMaster Smith @ Saturday, Jun 9 2012, 07:39)

Some of the map honestly reminded me of Portland, Oregon.. ontop of one of the islands being called Portland if I remember correctly lol

Same!

[sibs44]

The weird thing is, I played GTA III the summer I visited San Francisco and I couldn't help but think to myself "Wow, this place reminds me of when I went to SF!"