Grand Theft Auto siteseeing

June 13, 2005 6:58 AM

I'm looking for some siteseeing guides for San Andreas. What's to see in Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas? What makes for a nice country drive?

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is finally out on PC, which means the game is now 10x more beautiful and screenshot friendly. Does anyone know of good fan sites that catalog interesting places to go, beautiful sites, etc? I know of two: an online guide to real world destinations and Grovestreet on Flickr. But I'm looking for something more comprehensive, like a detailed map with lots of location markers and places to go. Those maps exist for gameplay stuff (oysters, tags, horseshoes, etc) - how about for places that are just plain interesting to look at?

While it might be fun for everyone on AskMe to post their favourite spot in the game, I think it might not be so productive. I'm hoping somewhere deep in the fan community there's already a comprehensive guide. I went looking but didn't find one.

posted by Nelson to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

As you're aware of the maps I'm sure you're aware of the Photo Ops which are generally of interesting structures, etc...

There are a couple of great maps to get you started on gamefaqs, including a 'secrets' map which lead to some interesting sights, such as jokes like a historical marker sign at the 'Golden Gate Bridge' which give details on the size and construction of the 3D model.

gamefaqs GTA:SA faq's and maps

(it's ps2 but should suffice)

Other than that I've not seen any guides to the sights.
posted by lyam at 7:31 AM on June 13, 2005

This looks like a good map here. I'd post my favorite locations, but I just got the game on Thursday, and I'm trying to finish up Half Life 2 before starting San Andreas. (Plus, World of Warcraft keeps getting in the way!!)

Speaking of SA being released, I have a story to share about when I went to buy it on Thursday that still confuses me:

I go to Best Buy, and it is not on the shelf. There isn't even a place for it on the shelf, so it's not like it's sold out. I figure it's probably prominently displayed somewhere that I'm not looking, being such a big game, so I ask one of the dudes.

Me: "Do you have any copies of San Andreas for PC?"
Dude #1: "As far as I know, they're not making that. That game is for PS2."
Me: "Uh, actually it was released for PC on Tuesday."
Dude #1: "Really?"
Dude #1 walks over to Dude #2 and asks him about the game's existance.
Dude #2: "Yeah, it looks like they're never gonna release that. MAYBE for Xbox, but probably never on PC."
Me: "Um, wasn't is supposed to be released two days ago?"
Dude #2: "Kevin was just reading something from the manufacturer saying it's not coming out."
Rather than check the computer, like I asked, Dude #2 leads me over to "Kevin".
Kevin: "Yeah, I was just reading a release from the company, and there's some sort of legal issue because they have an exclusivity contract with Sony, so it's affecting the PC release. If it is released, it probably son't be until the end of the year. If you remember, the same thing happened with the release of Vice City on the PC." (I actually didn't remember that, since it never happened.)
When I pointed to the media blitz recently stating the game would be out on June 6th, he said they "didn't have time to change the advertisements." My mind screamed "BULLSHIT!", so I thanked them for their time, left, drove down the street to CompUSA and bought the game right off the shelf.

Okay, so the most obvious answer here is "Best Buy employees are idiots". But how does non-existant information like this disseminate through the store? The only other reason I can think is that they were sold out, or not carrying the game, and this is some elaborate ruse they set up to make people not buy the game elsewhere. But how is that viable solution? Like I wouldn't attempt to verify this ridiculous story? I'm just left very confused. (And to make it even more confusing, the Best Buy website says that location has the game in stock.)

And before you ask, yes, I did consider going back to the store with the copy I just bought and showing it to them, but I was on my lunch break and was running out of time.
posted by emptybowl at 7:44 AM on June 13, 2005

It sounds like Best Buy decided not to carry GTA:SA for the PC and came up with the lame cover story.
posted by Kwantsar at 11:40 AM on June 13, 2005

I thought about that possiblity, but as I said, their website has it for sale and the website said that the particular location I was at had copies available, too. (In fact, every Best Buy in a 100 mile radius has copies listed.)
posted by emptybowl at 11:59 AM on June 13, 2005

Well, as far as I know, there is some sort of exclusivity contract with Sony which is why the xbox and PC versions came out only now. The employees' story has probably just been embellished and has gained truth after it has been told to people for over a year.
As far as seeing beautiful stuff, I think you're best off just exploring. It's fun to find the stuff out yourself. For example, just get a mountain bike and ride around the countryside, there's plenty of interesting terrain there.
posted by lazy-ville at 2:37 PM on June 13, 2005

When I saw this question I thought of coming in here and posting some joke about GTA.. but then I come in here and realize you were actually asking about GTA and not some real place called San Andreas. Oh the pains!
posted by wackybrit at 5:44 AM on June 14, 2005