[VC|WIP] Grand Theft Auto: East Coast Stories

[Swoorup]

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the official GTAForums home of the Grand Theft Auto: East Coast Stories total conversion. This is a community project not done by one person, but by many. It's a rather large, ambitious modification that aims at bringing a new game to the PC platform, set in the same universe and continuity as the rest of the Grand Theft Auto series (From GTAIII up until GTA:VCS, respectively). Grand Theft Auto: East Coast Stories is currently in development, aiming to bring the two classical cities Liberty City (from GTAIII and GTA:LCS) and Vice City (from GTA:VC and GTA:VCS) together in one solid, playable map. Not only that, but the cities are due for a revamp, seeing as the total conversion is set in 1993, and neither of the two cities feature a rendition set in this time-period. We're also going to revamp the cars (Maybe take some from SA), along with some new weapons and a whole new storyline featuring returning characters. By the final, we hope to have created a whole new game as close to Rockstar quality as humanly possible, though certain things we are not capable of doing.

 

 

Set on the East Coast of the fictional United States of America (GTAmerica) in which the Grand Theft Auto series takes place, the game is played out through the whole of Liberty City and Vice City, two complete opposites. Liberty City remains the dark, gritty place you remember, only we are looking at the City from an Earlier stage than any GTA has pictured it, and it still looks pretty much the same, except for a few map changes. The Callahan Bridge is gone, and Ferry Stations are the only way between Staunton Island and Portland Island. Numerous other changes are scheduled to be made. Vice City, on the other hand, has improved greatly since we last saw it. Many of the buildings have received an upgrade, but some of the districts have fallen into the slums or have been bought by the illustrious Vercetti Syndicate, while Real Estate Kings continue the Delevop the City beyond its own means.

 

Furthermore, the only way to travel between the two cities is by a long boat-ride, or a flight from Francis International Airport to Escobar International Airport (or vice-versa).

 

 

- Remodeled Fort Staunton - Callahan Bridge Removed - Staunton Island Ferry Station* - Portland Island Ferry Station* - Destroyed Shoreside Vale Bridge - Sex Club 7 = Paulie's Revenue Bar - Remodeled Hepburn Heights - Fixed LCS Portland Safehouse - Remodeled Leone Mansion (Taller, more extensive, also include a destroyed version and an in-construction version) - Some buildings in Staunton Island Slightly Shorter, But Skyscrapers Much Shorter. - Gates at Portland Docks - More Punk Graffiti Around Town - New Interiors - Kenji's Casino Changed To Marco's Casino (For Sale) - Love Media Building Now Just a Normal Building - One Building of Liberty Campus Destroyed (Darkel's Fault) - Removed Stadium Gotta replace it with something! - One of the Towers in Wichita Gardens Demolished - Cartel Mansion Under Construction - Shorter Hospital in Shoreside Vale - Remove Subways & Tunnels Now just to remove the entrances to said subways and tunnels! - Doll House in the Red Light District - Accessible Lighthouse With Interior - Accessible Docked Ship With Interior - Remove Dirt From Sawmill In Portland - Remodel Joey's Autoshop - Remodel Greasy Joe's In Portland - Remodel HEAD Radio Studio To Have a Helipad - Replace Easy Credit Autos - Remodel 8-Ball's Autoyard - Remodel Ma Cipriani's Restaurant (Now Only a Home) - Leone Casino in Saint Marks - Taller Police Station in Portland (Just Cause It Looks Better!) - Francis International Airport Interior (Like in San Andreas) - Whole City Re-Textured

- Taller buildings in Ocean Beach - Fully Constructed Construction Areas (One Next to the Bay Should be a Park like in GTA:VCS) - Taller buildings in Downtown - Remodel Cherry Poppers (Remove Ice-Cream & Add Security) - Remodel Boathouse - Enterable Trailers at Docks - Remodel Dock Condos (Taller With Garages At Back) - More Garages at 8-Ball's Bomb Shop (Except 8-Ball removed) - Remodel Fort Baxter Air Base (Comprehensive) - Remodel Little Havana (SA Ganton Style Houses) - Remodel Sunshine Autos (Test Ground & Added Building) - Remodel Moist Palms Hotel (Taller) - Taller Buildings All Throughout The City - Remodel Scrapyard (Add More Junk and make it bigger) - 3 Destroyed Buildings in Little Havana (Well-Separated) - Remove Phil's Place - Remove Auntie Poulet's Hut District in Little Haiti (Now a lot for sale) - Taller Moist Palms Hotel (Now Vercetti Resort) - Destroyed Greasy Choppers Biker's Bar - Remove Scum Hole - Enterable Rock City Shop - Enterable Jock Sports - Enterable Vice City Community Arts Center (Love Fist Building) - Different Dirt-Track in Downtown - Remove Big Bills Bowls Sign (Easy!) - Move Mars Cafe - Remove "Easter Egg" - Remove Tacopalypse Sign - Remodel East-Most Prawn Island Mansion - Remodel Interglobal Films - Remodel Prawn Island Shops - Remodel Vercetti Estate Maze - Make Vercetti Estate destroyed model (Interior & Exterior) - Remodel Mall Interior (All Shops + Interiors) - Different Beach Track - Fix Ocean Beach Marina Piers - Destroyed Bridge Between Washington Beach & Vice Port

This List is Subject to Changes, and some things may never be implemented while others not mentioned are, As there is no Final plan for the Map.

 

 

Following the tragic loss of millions of dollars, the Leone Family began to lose influence and respect within the underworld of Liberty City. The Sindacco Family were laughing at them, the Forelli Brothers thought they could take over, and the underground mafia of the Castrogiovanni Family were plotting to take control of the whole city once all the Families were taken care of, but Salvatore Leone believed there was still one thing left to do: save face and redeem the respected name of the Leone Family and put an end to their fear of defeat once and for all.

 

Recently joining the Leone Mafia, Toni Cipriani climbed the ranks quickly, but both he and the Leone Family as a whole was betrayed by an old school friend and fellow mobster leaving them even further down the foodchain of Liberty City's underworld. Now it's up to him to fulfill the seemingly-impossible mission of gaining the trust and allegiance of Tommy Vercetti, the paranoid drug baron of Vice City who, since 1986 when he first rose to power, became corrupted with power. However, both the Forelli Family and the Sindacco Family are uniting and trying to muscle in on the potential down south, putting an end to the Leone Family with the hoped-for allegiance of Vercetti, along with protecting their new made-man, Alberto Marino, the traitor to the Leone Family.

 

The fate of the Leone Family is in Toni's hands, it's down to his carnal need for revenge on Alberto to gain Vercetti's trust, annihilate the competition, and re-establish the Leone Family's honor in two cities torn between glamour and gluttony, decency and degradation, respect and rivalry - Liberty City and Vice City.

 

 

Although the total conversion is built upon Vice City, several gameplay and engine changes are in planning. There are now no more load-screens between islands, allowing players to enjoy a more seamless game space. Furthermore, there are now multiple load-screens when loading the game, climbing is not planned to be implemented, and neither is the ability to swim, but there are multiple clothing options in the game; more than 100 different player skins are being implemented, allowing the player to change their shirt, shoes, and pants during the course of the game. However, no tattoos or haircuts are planned to be implemented. New side-missions not featured in the original Grand Theft Auto III or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, airport access between cities, additional support in side-missions (when exiting cars normally ended a side-mission, the player now has two minutes to retrieve a new vehicle, and resume the side-mission), mafia wars (similar to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas's gang wars in many respects), players can bribe the hospital staff or police officers to keep their weapons after getting wasted/busted, as well as an option to buy vehicles and assets, often triggering new side-missions. The famed Trip Skip from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is also making a re-appearance in the second attempt and onward of a mission. Higher pedestrian and vehicle density, along with some NPC's using cellphones while walking on the streets, new/improved animations, more realistic particles physics, reductions in clumping of pedestrians and vehicles, further draw distance and increased density of objects, buildings, etc. are all planned.

 

 

A Full List of Changes is still T.B.C.

 

 

A Full List of Changes is still T.B.C.

 

 

A Full List of Changes is still T.B.C.

 

 

Below is a list of characters featured throughout the course of the game (mentioned characters that don't give missions are not listed here):

 

- Toni Cipriani

- Alberto Marino

- Joey Leone

- Luigi Goterelli

- Giovanni Casa

- Salvatore Leone

- Alfonso Castrogiovanni

- Roberto Castrogiovanni

- Alice

- 8-Ball

- Tommy Vercetti

- Big Mitch Baker

- Cesar Vialpondo

- Ma Cipriani

- Catalina (Briefly)

- Claude Speed (Briefly)

- David Sindacco

- Paulie Sindacco

- Johnnie Forelli

- Mike Forelli

- Bruce Tanner

- Mystery

- Misty

- Phil Cassidy

- Mickey Hamfists

- Misty

 

There may be more, but these are all I remember right now without actually looking it up.

 

 

Screenshots can be seen in our Photo Album which is Available Here.

 

Box-Art

Loadscreen

Official Map - Coming Soon!

 

 

 

Furthermore, this is where we'll put all the random stuff from now on, so here it goes...

 

We're in need of people to help us! The following is a list of openings:

 

- 1 Dedicated Modelers [Prerequisites: GMAX or 3DSMAX, three modeled mods online or evident capability of modding]

- 2 Modelers [Prerequisites: GMAX or 3DSMAX]

- 4 Texturers

- 5 Scripters [Prerequisites: Latest version of Sannybuilder and CLEO]

- 1 Hacker [Prerequisites: Knowledge in scripting and/or hacking .exe limits/functions]

- 5 Beta Testers [Prerequisites: High-End PC]

 

To apply, please go to the Official Website (Link is at the top of the page) and apply via the "Contact Us" page. Though, due to time-constraints, contacting us without selecting the right option for the appropriate message will result in your message most likely being ignored. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we're all very busy on this modification. Thank you.

 

 

The Team

 

Swoorup (Leader & Technical Director)

The Rocker (Co-Leader & Administrator & Creative Director & Freebaser [Texturer, GFX Artist, Sound Technician]) (MIA) (We Hope you Return)

ALMOST610 (Map Modeler)

Frank.s (Map Modeler)

MasterK (Freebaser [Texturer, Coder])

MinnieMan121249 (Characters & Weapons Modeler)

Ashwin the new boy (Sound Effects, Particle Modeler, Car Modeler)

 

Ex-Team Members

 

The_Sorrow (Senior Scripter) - He was great to work with, and having him on the team was an experience we will never forget. Lots of thanks to you, The_Sorrow, for the first original side-mission you did for us.

 

Contrubutions

 

ManDog (Toni Cipriani Player Model)

GTA: LC Team (Liberty City)

Maxorator (Path Limit Hack)

Edited June 26, 2013 by Swoorup

[Frank.s]

Everyone, we would really appreciate it if you, yes you! post your opinion or constructive criticism or any ideas you might have.

If you don't want to read a lot of text to find out what this TC will be like then there are screenshots on the first and second post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2011 by Frank.s

[The Rocker]

I agree. The previous topic got 3,941 views before it moved here, within a time-period of two-weeks, with 246 replies, only 6 of which were by non team-members. That just ain't cutting it.

[Gravarty]

Cool, you finally moved to "MAPS".

[The Rocker]

Yeah man, figured the mod wasn't getting enough publicity in the III Maps Section. Update: Just put a strike through all the stuff I did in my spare time, just simple stuff you guys needn't worry about. When I learn how to when my break comes, I'll get down to doing a lot more modeling.

[nkjellman]

This mod looks fantastic. The story is great and it follows the III era story line. Some mods Ive seen sometimes dont seem to follow it well but I can tell there trying to. I hope this is successful.

 

But Ive got three questions.

1. Are you placing Vice City far south of LC, or are you puting it up in the air?

2. Are you guys going to implment planes?

3. Why are you using some of the SA radio stations?

 

Ive got a high end PC, and Im willing to be a beta tester.

[lalalala93]

this mod sounds really good, i woudnt mind testing it cos i have a decent pc that can run gta sol at 30fps most of the time

also with the vehicles could you use maxo's vehicle loader to have extra cars like zr-350, nrg 500, hpv1000 etc and also use the tuning parts from sa and use it for vehicle loader

Edited August 26, 2011 by lalalala93

[ALMOST610]

@ The Team, I think I know what is causing the Alphabug and how to fix it, give me some time and I will post a picture.

 

@ lalalala93, Because the map has been shifted around outside the normal boundaries and there is about 9,000 maybe 10,000 objects with VC & LC Combined we have had to modify the EXE which can make Maxo's Vehicle Loader crash the game as Memory addresses will not be in the same place and the game wont know what to do.

 

@ nkjellman, In our first release that was only for the team, the VC was moved away south from Liberty City, but in doing so it would take alot of hacking to enable Vehicles paths and water was an issue but Frank.s found a workaround, we would also have a problem displaying the map for VC.

So in the first public release we plan to move the City somewhere between 500 & 1500 into the sky, we must settle on a Number that we are all happy with and once it is in the sky Paths can be enabled thanks to Maxorator who has created a .flt file that allows us to have 10x-20x more paths in VC. The other things can most likely be done just with coding, but water will still be an issue.

I can not answer the other questions as either Swoorup or The Rocker, has say over those things.

 

 

EDIT: Alpha Bug

 

If this is what you lot where meaning with the Alpha Bug, my idea that I had from the start was right on what was causing it and how to fix it.

 

 

- March 6, 2013 - Image Links Updated to A610 Ucoz

Edited March 6, 2013 by ALMOST610

[nkjellman]

 

@ The Team, I think I know what is causing the Alphabug and how to fix it, give me some time and I will post a picture.

 

@ lalalala93, Because the map has been shifted around outside the normal boundaries and there is about 9,000 maybe 10,000 objects with VC & LC Combined we have had to modify the EXE which can make Maxo's Vehicle Loader crash the game as Memory addresses will not be in the same place and the game wont know what to do.

 

@ nkjellman, In our first release that was only for the team, the VC was moved away south from Liberty City, but in doing so it would take alot of hacking to enable Vehicles paths and water was an issue but Frank.s found a workaround, we would also have a problem displaying the map for VC.

So in the first public release we plan to move the City somewhere between 500 & 1500 into the sky, we must settle on a Number that we are all happy with and once it is in the sky Paths can be enabled thanks to Maxorator who has created a .flt file that allows us to have 10x-20x more paths in VC. The other things can most likely be done just with coding, but water will still be an issue.

I can not answer the other questions as either Swoorup or The Rocker, has say over those things.

 

 

EDIT: Alpha Bug

 

If this is what you lot where meaning with the Alpha Bug, my idea that I had from the start was right on what was causing it and how to fix it.

 

But what do you think they will do about the height limmit? If they have LC as the bottom map then Vice City will be up in the sky. So if they rase the height limmit so you can fly around Vice City then when your in LC you can fly a heli up and hit the bottom of Vice City. Or are they working on a way to stop the heli from acending so high in LC, or not let you fly in LC, like what Rockstar did. But another question is what will they do with the radar? It would constantly have to change. Last is why dont they decide to make this on GTA United for GTA SA?

 

Edit: I have that bug on my Vice City. Is that from hacking the .exe?

 

Edit 2: I see in your pics the radar is blank, there is no clouds, no paths, and no water. Im gussing your in the sky Vice City above the GTA Liberty City map.

Edited August 27, 2011 by nkjellman

[ALMOST610]

I am not sure about those questions as we have only just decided to put VC up in the air, I guess we have not used GTA United as I think this project was for VC and from what I hear the GTA United Team never let anyone use there mod as a base, or pieces from it.

[nkjellman]

I am not sure about those questions as we have only just decided to put VC up in the air, I guess we have not used GTA United as I think this project was for VC and from what I hear the GTA United Team never let anyone use there mod as a base, or pieces from it.

Ok I see. I think if you plan it right you wont even realize your realy up in the sky when your in Vice City. But obveusly you making traveling between citys a teliport loading screen making it look like your going from one to the other. But I think you guys are going to have a problem with boats. They may try to float up to the highist water level. I remember doing this with the elivated water behind Shore Side Vale.

[ALMOST610]

We have not even got water in VC yet so we dont know what will happen, from what I recall there will be a Ferry from LC to VC & Vice-Versa, or you could take a Flight From Escobar or Francis, and i have been told that if you take a boat to a certain limit outside the map you will appear (Spawn) in the Water of the opposite city, that last one I do not think will be implemented immediately as there is no water yet.

[nkjellman]

But you guys will have a HUGE problem when your in the bottom map with boats wanting to rase to the higher water. But in SA I think you can controll how deep the water will effect you. (underwater effect, and floating boat. But if the boat is under the water aready it may not be an issue. But you guys have the GTA LC map. So if you take a boat behind shore side vale and try to drive under the elivated water. Your boat will float up to the higher water. Id assume that you have the water in LC because your using the LC mod as a base.

 

Edit: I read your retexturing both maps. I can tell your going for an LCS look for LC but for Vice City I wouldnt competly change the textures around too much, because it should seem like the same city.

Edited August 27, 2011 by nkjellman

[ALMOST610]

I presently cant test this as there is not boat paths in LC. Do note that VC does not have an Underwater effect, the water is just a large plain that has an effect on the Player when it comes in contact with them.

 

Edit: I am not too fond of the idea to retexture VC, but I am willing to give The Rocker the benefit of the doubt and see what he comes up with, I cant be against something that I am not sure of yet.

Edited August 27, 2011 by ALMOST610

[nkjellman]

Ok that sounds fine. I love the ideas of this mod and I think that it will be a sucess. But I was not too crazy about the Statue of Liberty/Statue of Happiness idea, simply because it was not there in the III era LC.

 

But if you have the reguler LC mod installed and you go behind shoreside vale and drive the boat off the edge where there is water above you you will see what Im talking about. It does not happen to other boats driving it happens to your boat. But Im wondering about flying. Because your puting the citys ontop of each other will you allow flying in both of them, one of them or not at all? What I mean is flying the heli's that are in the game and the skimmer. And how high will you be able to go?

[ALMOST610]

I have been testing the Flying and am not sure what Swoorup has limited it to but presently you can fly up from LC to VC and keep going untill VC is not Visible (For Me atleast, We have all got our VC at different heights) Presently it is the only way to get to VC, with the script we are using, as soon as the game loads you are in a Hunter Hovering above LC.

 

I dont think the Statue Of Liberty is such a great idea, maybe there could be one in VC only it is of Tommy Vercetti.

 

Swoorup or The Rocker might give you the link to the files When/If they give you a Beta Tester Job, not sure when either will be online as I dont know what TimeZone they are in.

 

Edit: I think some of the Flying things will be decided when we get the map in a Stable/Finished Stage.

[nkjellman]

Well if you guys are having flying in both maps you may need to figure out a way to have a height limmit for LC and one for Vice City. Otherwise you may have to not allow flying in LC, which is the bottom map if I'm correct. But you guys can do the Dodo like what was done in the LC mod. The RC height limmit will stop it from reaching Vice City.

[ALMOST610]

I guess we will both just have to wait and see what happens, the mod first has to reach the stage of Beta 1 or Beta 2 and if we get that far these things will be thought through.

[The Rocker]

Okay guys, damn a lot of discussion while I was asleep! I'm in GMT +02:00, it is currently 08:00AM here. First off, flying between the cities is going to be disabled. ALMOST610 recommended using a cull zone box to prevent the two cities from being seen by each other, and then a large empty collision plane is going to be placed under Vice City, so getting there easily will be disabled. Water might be a problem, but we're going to disable going behind Shoreside Vale by making the mountain larger and creating empty collision planes around that edge of the map. I am currently using my own script for testing things which places me in a Sentinel XS at Ma Cipriani's place, and when I go to Francis Intl. Airport, I get teleported to Vice City. Also, we're using some San Andreas radio stations because this is 1993, set around the same time as San Andreas. Also, I'll post a screenshot soon of how Vice City is going to be re-textured, just a brief teaser.

 

@nkjellman & lalalala93 - Are you guys both willing to be beta testers? This involves a lot of driving around in both maps and doing random stuff. I'll implement spawning for cars, helicopters, etc. and then upload the SCM.

Edited August 27, 2011 by The Rocker

[ALMOST610]

@ The Rocker, How about instead of removing the Subways (As they would still exist in '93) you could just right into the story that somewhere along the Subway Line the Tunnel has broken and the Subway has been submerged in Water.

[The Rocker]

Technically, the tunnels didn't exist until 1998 or thereafter, only the Shoreside Vale tunnels remained, and these are now flooded. I left these in, though. But good thinking on the leakage:

 

"The projects has been plagued with problems, such as leakage, as well as corruption, leading to the project winding up over-budgeted and behind schedule."

 

Reference

[Swoorup]

@Rocker

I hope not out project

 

@Team I tried out Max new vehicle loader, with now including an id start element by which we can adjust which ID the first care will use. I tried it with GTA ECS exe and changed the id_start to 12000 but it didnt work for me people!!!

Edited August 27, 2011 by Swoorup

[The Rocker]

Hmmm, okay! Liberty City is still a little high up, the floorbed shows above the water, so I'm going to lower it a little bit.

 

EDIT: To fix the water and seabed issue, just lower LC by 5 units.

Edited August 27, 2011 by The Rocker

[Swoorup]

But I thought the seabed is already fixed? You just have to adjust waterpro.dat i think!!

Btw havent been modding since last week

[The Rocker]

I didn't know that, but I adjusted the height, and it works for me, now. Going to do the official stripped .scm in a moment.

[Swoorup]

Ok man send me the finished IPLs and stripped SCM too.

[nkjellman]

Yes I can test. I randomly drive around in GTA alot anyways, and no matter what whether its an offical retail game, or a mod I can find a bug with in the first 20 minuts. I dont knoww why but I guss its my luck. So when your ready send me the files and Ill test them for you.

 

Edit: I hope you guys make the height limmit, relitive to the Citys higher than Rockstar did. The low ass height limmit in Vice City was very annoying and unrealistic.

Edited August 27, 2011 by nkjellman

[The Rocker]

Also remember that the higher you go, the worse things look down on the ground. So we can maybe double the height, but that's about it.

[nkjellman]

Also remember that the higher you go, the worse things look down on the ground. So we can maybe double the height, but that's about it.

I remember on GTA IV, not TBOGT you could fly a tiny bit higher than the tallist bulding in Vice City. I was playing on Vice IV. Or you could make the height limmit relitive to each city as high as the GTA LC one.

[The Rocker]

As long as it doesn't look bad, then of course! I'll send you the files soon, man.