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A video game world without GTA can hardly be imagined. It's a series that has become synonymous with the very terms "open world" and "video game violence." But this video game voyager and, often times, punching bag almost didn't get released at all.
"[The original GTA] was a real mess for years, it never moved on, it never went anywhere" said Gary Penn, a developer for the original PSone game, the hint of years laying a deep gravel to his voice.
"It was almost canned, the publisher, BMG Interactive, wanted to can it, as it didn't seem to be going anywhere. There are probably two key things it fell down on. Two critical things. One of them is stability, which is a really boring one but it crashed all the fucking time. So even if you did get something in the game, you couldn't really test it. Now the other thing that was a problem was the handling -- the car handling was appalling,"
What saved the game from eternal vaporware was essential a bug which made the game much more aggressive and, in the long run, a lot more interesting.
"One day, I think it was a bug, the police suddenly became mental and aggressive," described Penn. "Their route finding was screwed I think and that was an awesome moment because suddenly the real drama where, 'Oh my God, the police are psycho -- they're trying to ram me off the road.'"
"That was awesome, so that stayed in,"
And Nico thanks you for it.
Source: CVG
Comments
13 years, 10 months ago
That's really interesting that GTA wasn't canned was because of a bug.
13 years, 10 months ago
I think I recall hearing that the first GTA was on the rocks from that Machinima gaming history series, but I can't be sure. But that's interesting that one of the cornerstones of the police chases in that game was first a bug. That's pretty cool. I remember from somewhere (not sure if Brad said it on one of the podcasts or from somewhere else) that the objects flying around in Alan Wake was originally a bug, but they decided to incorporate it into the game. It seems a lot of stuff that wasn't intentional becomes an integral part of many games, which is pretty damn cool. It's also nice to see that devs, for the most part, are open to changing their formula when something comes up that may be promising. Thanks for the article, Joseph.
Oh, and when it was posted on twitter I first read it as you almost canceled the original GTA. I was like "wtf?" lol
13 years, 10 months ago
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by 4Player Podcast, M. M said: RT @4PlayerPodcast: Original GTA was almost cancelled by Joseph Christ - http://4pp.tv/gx [...]
13 years, 10 months ago
hah
13 years, 10 months ago
So that is where the origins of Derpy Police Officers in open world games comes from
13 years, 10 months ago
To this day, the original GTA is still my favourite.
13 years, 10 months ago
That's probably the funniest and coolest ways a series like GTA has lasted... all because of one glitch.
13 years, 10 months ago
I wonder what the world of gaming would be like without GTA?
13 years, 10 months ago
Wasn't the original game banned in Britain? The original game had some huge controversy back in the day. And now it is so hilarious for the graphics were basically on par with SNES at best lol.
13 years, 10 months ago
One of Scotland's best ever exports - developed in Dundee, where GTA was born. The game itself was just crazy - who here who played it didn't enjoy leading the Hare Krishnas to their death, getting them to follow you on to the train tracks before running off them and seeing them get fried? And I miss making my guy spit and burp!
The police in GTA2 was smarter than anything since though - that was some sweet AI. Still gotta love the GTA series, and it's nice remembering the very beginning.
13 years, 10 months ago
The most fun part of GTA was the crazy cops anyway. So if the police followed the law, it might've become the most boring open world series ever, eh? Funny.