Rockstar rode with ex-cops and visited strip clubs to research GTA VI's Florida
Rockstar's Rupert Humphries told Game Informer the GTA VI team rode around at night with ex-cops, visited strip clubs and spent time in the Everglades and the Keys to get South Florida right.
Rockstar's team rode around at night with former police officers and visited strip clubs and nightclubs while researching Grand Theft Auto VI, according to Rupert Humphries, the studio's senior vice president of narrative. He described the trips to Game Informer for its GTA VI cover story, and IGN and GamesRadar+ have since reported his comments.
"We go and try to experience everything," Humphries said. Besides the ride-alongs and the clubs, his list included time on the beach, in the Everglades, down in the Keys "and beyond". IGN places the research in Miami and South Florida, and GamesRadar+ says the team has made many trips like this over the years.
Humphries was open about the limits of the map. "We don't have time to take you everywhere," he said, "but we want you to be able to explore and get a feel for most of the places, cultures, and vibes."
He also explained why the setting suits the series:
"This game and its stories really thrive in an environment where you have rich people and poor people right next door to each other. And crime and corruption is the thread that pulls everyone together."
As GamesRadar+ points out, development is led by Rockstar North in Edinburgh, which is a long way from the Everglades. The story follows Jason and Lucia.
From Miami to Leonida
According to IGN, the map has six regions: Vice City, Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park. Activities shown so far include kayaking, street and off-road racing and airboating. IGN also notes that this is the first Vice City game set in the present day. The last one was Vice City Stories in 2006.
GTABase has compared the in-game locations with places it believes served as their models. This is the site's own analysis, not something Rockstar has confirmed:
- Ocean Beach: South Beach
- Cortez Hotel: Colony Hotel
- Lucia's apartment: Belmar Condominium
- Megamundo: One Biscayne Tower
- VCIA: Miami International Airport
- Port Vice City: PortMiami
- Stockyards: Wynwood
- Leonida Keys: Florida Keys
- Mount Kalaga: Providence Canyon, Georgia
- Ambrosia: Clewiston
- Port Gellhorn: Panama City
- Grassrivers: Everglades
On the strip clubs, IGN notes that they appeared in the unofficial gameplay leak, but Rockstar has not shown any official strip club gameplay.
