GTA III no aeroplanes

Archived from groups: alt.games.grand-theft-auto (More info?)

Is it true that Rockstar removed functional aeroplanes from GTA III in
order to prevent re-enactments of the WTC attacks, or is the timing
just a co-incidence?

Phil Hibbs.

Archived from groups: alt.games.grand-theft-auto (More info?)

"PhilHibbs" <snarks@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1120058027.954304.233460@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Is it true that Rockstar removed functional aeroplanes from GTA III in
> order to prevent re-enactments of the WTC attacks, or is the timing
> just a co-incidence?
>
> Phil Hibbs.
>

I found this at http://www.internetnews.com/specia [...] 716_889361

"Take-Two Interactive has been particularly hard hit by the events [of
September 11th]. The company's headquarters, although not in the immediately
vicinity of the World Trade Center, remained closed as a massive rescue
effort required that much of the downtown area in New York remain closed for
days.

The company, while having to catch up from days of lost work, announced that
some titles needed to have its content tweaked and would face delays. Those
games are Grand Theft Auto 3 and Smuggler's Run 2. After some changes, they
will hit stores in October instead of the planned release during September."

Exactly what the changes were, I don't know. Maybe it was just the presence
of flying planes near tall buildings, or maybe there was a mission involving
flying a plane into a building. The closest I can get to any information was
this, from
http://www.wired.com/news/business [...] y_related:

"Rockstar Games, a game developer located in Manhattan's Wall Street area,
has begun reviewing its controversial car-combat game Grand Theft Auto III,
which takes place in a fictional setting called Liberty City.

'So far, we have come across certain small contextual references that we
were no longer comfortable with,' said Sam Houser of Rockstar Games in an
e-mail, 'as well as a couple of very rare gameplay instances that no longer
felt appropriate to us.' "

I suppose it could have been anything really. Characters talking about
blowing up buildings, or saying bad things about New York or the US
Government. An awful lot of things would have upset people just after
September 11th that probably wouldn't even be noticed now.

Archived from groups: alt.games.grand-theft-auto (More info?)

I have no idea what Rockstar did or didn't do re. 9/11 and GTA3,
however the Dodo is quite functional, once you know how to fly it. It
took a while, but I've learned to fly throughout the city at will and
can stay up in the air pretty much until I get bored or try some risky
landing or exploration.

It is very challenging -- I suggest reading the "Dodo Flying FAQ" --
but quite doable given a bit of practice. I had tried quite a bit and
wasn't getting it, until I saw one great tip that allowed me to master
the skill. Use the middle of the three camera angles from behind the
plane, and lightly tap up or down until the red nose of the plane is
just visible underneath the wing. This ensures that your plane is
level, and from that point on you just kind of aim it by tapping left
and right, and tap up or down a tiny bit more or less to gain or lose
altitude.

PhilHibbs wrote:
> Is it true that Rockstar removed functional aeroplanes from GTA III in
> order to prevent re-enactments of the WTC attacks, or is the timing
> just a co-incidence?
>
> Phil Hibbs.

Archived from groups: alt.games.grand-theft-auto (More info?)

In message <1120058027.954304.233460@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
"PhilHibbs" <snarks@gmail.com> wrote:

> Is it true that Rockstar removed functional aeroplanes from GTA III in
> order to prevent re-enactments of the WTC attacks, or is the timing
> just a co-incidence?

I very much doubt it.

Flying high enough with the Dodo you can get up to pretty interesting
places (The top of Love Media comes to mind), but the majority of the
buildings dotted around that are slightly less tall don't seem to have
any collision detection.

The Dodo (Or Tank) just goes through it, and it's possible to land
'inside' a building by doing a sharp nosedive. It's also possible to
the the main guy trapped inside one, although more often the game will
simply throw you through the wall if you touch any of the walls.


Cheers,
Rob
--
..__ __ |__ |__ .|__ __ | Rob White, Half Man Half Biscuit.
| / \| \ | | || ||| /__\ | mflt35@dsl.pipex.com
| \__/|__/ |_|_|| |||__\___ | Wimbledon, London, England.