Mapping Los Santos! Building/landmark analysis

[Deffpony]

So that map must shrink down by 30%?

No not necessarily. First we need a model of the LC empire state building. Then we need to make sure the bank tower is scaled accurately to that. if the whole map is scaled accurately to the ratio of the bank tower building and the empire state building I think it wll be spot on

[Choco Taco]

So that map must shrink down by 30%?

I would say about 12%.

 

[Dick Valor]

^^^

Keep up the good work with all these cool comparison models, guys! Wish I had the skills and the know-how to contribute... but, well, you know how it is.

[Deffpony]

Can someone help me find who originally posted that scale model with autocad. I wanna try and get the cad file from them.

 

I found a 3d model of LC and took a couple more shots at scaling some images. And once again its rough but I think it gives us an idea in terms of scale

 

 

 

I took an image of the other guys scale model and tried to scale it to my measurements. As I stated its a decent size smaller but not alot. If I can get is cad file I can have it scaled perfectly

 

 

Notice how the map on his image is smaller than the map in my model. Thats because his LS scale is a bit off.

[iiConTr0v3rSYx]

It was originally posted by gtamodeller, on page 318/319.

 

Wow, J-B. We posted at that exact same time.

[J-B]

 

Can someone help me find who originally posted that scale model with autocad. I wanna try and get the cad file from them.

 

 

This guy : http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showuser=683014

 

edit: got ninja'd

[Deffpony]

Thanks I just found his original post. I pm'd him hopefully I can get the cad file. Like I said, I think his scale is only off by maybe 10 percent which is really impressive

[Choco Taco]

edit

Edited April 12, 2013 by Choco Taco

[bakerach]

@deffpony: GTA V looks to be scaled much more realistically than IV. The Empire State building wasn't close to as tall as it is in real life, which is why the distorted camera was used to create the illusion of a larger city. In screens we've seen of V, particularly the ones of Michael on the bike, the US Bank tower looks to be closer to its real life height than the ESB was, so I believe the tallest tower in V will be taller than the tallest from IV.

[Deffpony]

@deffpony: GTA V looks to be scaled much more realistically than IV. The Empire State building wasn't close to as tall as it is in real life, which is why the distorted camera was used to create the illusion of a larger city. In screens we've seen of V, particularly the ones of Michael on the bike, the US Bank tower looks to be closer to its real life height than the ESB was, so I believe the tallest tower in V will be taller than the tallest from IV.

Actually this isnt true. The model of GTA IV that I got is exactly the same size as the 1:1 scale of the empire state building

[Choco Taco]

@deffpony: GTA V looks to be scaled much more realistically than IV. The Empire State building wasn't close to as tall as it is in real life, which is why the distorted camera was used to create the illusion of a larger city. In screens we've seen of V, particularly the ones of Michael on the bike, the US Bank tower looks to be closer to its real life height than the ESB was, so I believe the tallest tower in V will be taller than the tallest from IV.

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=428381

[Deffpony]

^^So yea, its basically a 1:1

[Magic_Al]

@deffpony:  GTA V looks to be scaled much more realistically than IV.  The Empire State building wasn't close to as tall as it is in real life, which is why the distorted camera was used to create the illusion of a larger city.  In screens we've seen of V, particularly the ones of Michael on the bike, the US Bank tower looks to be closer to its real life height than the ESB was, so I believe the tallest tower in V will be taller than the tallest from IV.

Actually this isnt true. The model of GTA IV that I got is exactly the same size as the 1:1 scale of the empire state building

That's what I'd expect too. Objects and buildings in GTA are generally full size, but exist in a smaller land area than the real-life city they're from. An area of 72,000 city blocks might be reduced to 300. The most important landmarks get squeezed close together, separated by just a few blocks of buildings that represent dozens of blocks of similar buildings in a real city.

[Deffpony]

There are some small variances. The base of the actualy empire state building is slightly wider. But other than that its spot on. Hence my standard of comparing the empire state building to the bank tower in order for size comparisn

[Fido_le_muet]

Fido, could you please replace my map in OP with my new map in this post, thanks.

Done.

[Fail_At_GTA]

It seems like all the countryside stuff is directly north of the city. Im hoping a lot of what we haven't seen is to the east of Los Santos.

[ChillyPhilly]

Posted this in another thread as well.

 

Alright. With a few hours to spare, I thought I'd whip out my geographical brain once more and see what I can figure out to give us a sense of scale in regards to Los Santos.

 

Let me start off by saying that it is quite big, and that it's likely we haven't seen much of the eastern area (think the oil drill scene at the end of Trailer 1). Nonetheless, I felt it important to use the US Bank Tower as a reference point, assuming that it is the same scale as the real-life version (which is, as stated, 310 metres/meters, or 1018 feet).

 

In the first image I got together a bunch of screens that show the skyline. I did not use these these, bar the one taken from Griffith's Observatory, to find the distance. Measuring out the 310 metres gives a sense of overall scale we're dealing with in Los Santos in each screen, but is only valid for one part of the shot (the part between the two red lines). The Griffiths shot is taken of a centre point (being the docks area, roughly) and I added in some extra lines to show why the scale can be a bit distorted and why this is something of a 50/50 picture.

 

 

Below, I wanted a street-level shot from a recognised, landmark point in LS that also showed the Bank Tower. I went into Google Street View and found the same scale of the Bank Tower, then used Walking Directions to measure the distance. Using this, I found that Michael on his bicycle was taken in an area just under a mile from the Bank Tower. This adds weight to the increased draw distance announcement.

 

 

I used fido_le_muet's work to work out on the Griffiths Observatory shot where the Michael cycling screenshot was taken, roughly. I used the Brooks Brothers building as a reference point, and then matched this up onto the shot. The distance looks accurate on the Observatory screenshot.

 

 

I repeated the Google Street View process for the golf sequence from Trailer 1; analysed the screenshot and figured that in order for it to be 0.9 miles again (by coincidence, mind you), the screenshot would have been taken from towards the southern end of the greens.

 

The vertical line represents the balanced point in the screenshot (i.e., not 'leaning', as I demonstrated in the first set of shots).

 

[kesta195]

Really great work This has reassured any doubts I had about the size. The distances are bigger than they look in the observatory screen.

[GKP]

How did it reassure you Kesta - It only underlines the fact that 1 mile is a significant distance across LS.

[kesta195]

How did it reassure you Kesta - It only underlines the fact that 1 mile is a significant distance across LS.

Yes, so what? I can't believe you expected any different. 1 mile is a significant difference across any city this gen. It's just how it is.

[GKP]

thats 40 seconds of driving in a fast car.

 

It didn't HAVE to be that way though. Some suburbs ...a few extra blocks would of neither taken much time , nor strain the game engine.

[kesta195]

thats 40 seconds of driving in a fast car.

 

It didn't HAVE to be that way though. Some suburbs ...a few extra blocks would of neither taken much time , nor strain the game engine.

40 full seconds of fast, interrupted driving in a straight line towards a fixed point? That's longer than you think, unless that wasn't what you meant.

[boxmonster]

Those height comparisons don't really mean anything if you don't take the field of view into account. Just compare the two bicycle shots they are like no more than 3 feet away from each other yet there is a significant height difference between the heights of the buildings far away; different FOVs.

[GKP]

Yeah thats what I meant. Its ok...it just means that we can get from one area to the next too quickly . Its a jarring experience when on a mission ( at least in city missions) to go from a safehouse to target area so fast, its hard to suspend belief.

[Deffpony]

Really great work This has reassured any doubts I had about the size. The distances are bigger than they look in the observatory screen.

This actually coincides with my scale and findings almost exactly. I know you thought that my findings were wrong, but if these are right then so is mine

[skillz7855]

Anyone with a brain should have known LS is pretty big not looking from the observatory down.

[kesta195]

Really great work    This has reassured any doubts I had about the size. The distances are bigger than they look in the observatory screen.

This actually coincides with my scale and findings almost exactly. I know you thought that my findings were wrong, but if these are right then so is mine

I have to say deffpony, the image you created made LS look much smaller than in these new pics, but if they are in fact on the same scale then good work.

 

@GKP I'd say when you factor in traffic, reduced speed and the lack of a direct route it will take you 3 minutes to get from the golf course to downtown. IMO that's not too shabby for that distance when you compare it to the rest of the city. Assuming this is correct, it will probably take you maybe 8 or 9 minutes to traverse the city from corner to corner.

[dyz]

thats 40 seconds of driving in a fast car.

 

It didn't HAVE to be that way though. Some suburbs ...a few extra blocks would of neither taken much time , nor strain the game engine.

40 full seconds of fast, interrupted driving in a straight line towards a fixed point? That's longer than you think, unless that wasn't what you meant.

You are right, 40 sec is long if your in a fast car driving straight. The City looks massive cant wait!

[dyz]

Really great work    This has reassured any doubts I had about the size. The distances are bigger than they look in the observatory screen.

This actually coincides with my scale and findings almost exactly. I know you thought that my findings were wrong, but if these are right then so is mine

But you made the city look small but what i can see with the new pictures from philly the map look's massive (i'm just talking about the city area not the country) so im really happy with the size! so if this is true the city is way bigger then liberty city

[ChillyPhilly]

The size of LS will be fine. Trust me, it'll feel a LOT bigger when driving through it. Trust Rockstar too; they're masters of creating illusions, with RDR being the perfect example.