Mapping Los Santos! Building/landmark analysis

[Fido_le_muet]

I think we know about this for a very very long time but I'm not sure about what you guys think.

 

[WhatThe?]

HmmI think we know about this for a very very long time but I'm not sure about what you guys think.

 

Hmm, Good question.

 

They look the same.. If they are this is going to be a Massive Map... Because the house is quite a distance away from those two buildings.

[koeklin]

I don't know but it is a hypothesis that I have also for several days...

[GTA-Addicted]

The roof-part almost looks identical, in both shots I can recognize the green color

[faizanali]

I think we know about this for a very very long time but I'm not sure about what you guys think.

 

hmmm wait let me think.....

if the building is same then there must be a residential area front of the building in the 2nd pic

[JamesBuxton]

Judging by how they look the same, and there's the hill in the background on both picks, you may be right.

 

Great spot!

[[enforcA]]

 

I think we know about this for a very very long time but I'm not sure about what you guys think.

 

the lod textures of "both" buildings seem to be (or "are") the same, i checked them via photoshop (using better quality frames from the trailer), you can easily overlay both sides (front and side) of the building in both pictures (everything (windows, spaces between them, white points, dark lines, lower roof line, etc.) fits up to 100%),

 

another point is the building right next to the one we are talking about, in the right picture (scene with the airplane) a nearby building comes into view when the camera starts to fade out and the v logo appears, can't say if it's the same nearby building as in the left picture, but atleast it's a building nearby

 

edit: before i forget it: don't forget the chasing scene with the cops on foot, the same lod texture is seen on the building in the background

Edited July 21, 2012 by [enforcA]

[r34ld34l]

"The city was simply too small for effective and enjoyable flying. It was the first time we made a high definition open world, and it was a massive amount of work to make something on that scale – we simply could not make an environment big enough for planes to work properly. Fear not, they are returning in what is our biggest open world game to date."

- Rockstar Q&A

That's the most important thing we know since October.

If we follow those words, that means that the map is going to be bigger than LA Noire's or RDR's.

And it takes easily 10 minutes to cross the LA Noire map by car so that's pretty huge...

I won't comment any further on this subject since it isn't the topic but by these words, the map seems significantly big.

 

Back to the topic now guys. Anyone noticed some new things ?

How long it takes to travel from one side of map to another is irrelevant in three separate games, where max speed is totaly different.

Horse could go 50km/h, while "inferno" go 200km/h and some 50s classic go like 80km/h. Talking "on the bluff" about speeds, but you get my point.

[baggy890]

This is my first time posting on this forum.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this before but if they have I am sorry for repeating it.

http://www.imageshack.us/f/27/46873222.png/

http://www.imageshack.us/f/268/40580914.png/

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

[The Outlaw Josey Wales]

This is my first time posting on this forum.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this before but if they have I am sorry for repeating it.

http://www.imageshack.us/f/27/46873222.png/

http://www.imageshack.us/f/268/40580914.png/

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

that sounds about right, man. but then wouldnt that mean that there is downtown LS, then over a big hill you have the beach and the pier? that doesnt sound right to me, and it doesnt sound like something R* would do. but then again ive never been to los angeles in my life anyways.

[baggy890]

 

This is my first time posting on this forum.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this before but if they have I am sorry for repeating it.

http://www.imageshack.us/f/27/46873222.png/

http://www.imageshack.us/f/268/40580914.png/

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

that sounds about right, man. but then wouldnt that mean that there is downtown LS, then over a big hill you have the beach and the pier? that doesnt sound right to me, and it doesnt sound like something R* would do. but then again ive never been to los angeles in my life anyways.

Thats why i decided to post what I found. At first I thought that this pier was was off to the west, in the general direction that the plane is flying at the end of the trailer, and I think this is what most people suspect. However when I found this it made me think that the pier is in fact behind the hills, which suprised me too. It seems strange and I may well be wrong but the images seem to show that the pier is behind the hills

[The Outlaw Josey Wales]

 

This is my first time posting on this forum.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this before but if they have I am sorry for repeating it.

http://www.imageshack.us/f/27/46873222.png/

http://www.imageshack.us/f/268/40580914.png/

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

no, wait, one was taken from infront of the observatory, and the other from the left side, so lets say it faced directly south, then that means the oil feilds or whatever those are would be on the east side, but if it faced north, itd be on the west, which means that the pier is opposite the griffith observatory, which i think would mean that behind the helicopter screensh*t in the back, all that is water, and we were all right.

 

Check it out:

 

 

by the way, the oil rig ones is on top, and the pier one is on bottom.

[baggy890]

This is my first time posting on this forum.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this before but if they have I am sorry for repeating it.

http://www.imageshack.us/f/27/46873222.png/

http://www.imageshack.us/f/268/40580914.png/

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

no, wait, one was taken from infront of the observatory, and the other from the left side, so lets say it faced directly south, then that means the oil feilds or whatever those are would be on the east side, but if it faced north, itd be on the west, which means that the pier is opposite the griffith observatory, which i think would mean that behind the helicopter screensh*t in the back, all that is water, and we were all right.

 

Check it out:

 

 

by the way, the oil rig ones is on top, and the pier one is on bottom.

I see what you mean, thats probably where I was going wrong then. Thanks for your feedback.

[The Outlaw Josey Wales]

welcome, bro, but thatnks for bringing it to attention, that gives me a better idea of how things are arranges, also, on the peir picture, the big rounded hitt on the far right horizon is the big rounded hill to rhe right of the observatory on the oil rig picture

[baggy890]

 

welcome, bro, but thatnks for bringing it to attention, that gives me a better idea of how things are arranges, also, on the peir picture, the big rounded hitt on the far right horizon is the big rounded hill to rhe right of the observatory on the oil rig picture

You mean that the far right hill on the pier scene is the same hill as the highest peak to the right of the observatory on the oil field scene?

 

EDIT: My thought was that because the slope is the opposite side of the observatory in each picture, then each picture must be taken from opposite sides of the hills.

Edited July 21, 2012 by baggy890

[Edward-Is-A-Flunky45]

welcome, bro, but thatnks for bringing it to attention, that gives me a better idea of how things are arranges, also, on the peir picture, the big rounded hitt on the far right horizon is the big rounded hill to rhe right of the observatory on the oil rig picture

You mean that the far right hill on the pier scene is the same hill as the highest peak to the right of the observatory on the oil field scene?

 

EDIT: My thought was that because the slope is the opposite side of the observatory in each picture, then each picture must be taken from opposite sides of the hills.

That means that at least Los Santos will be huge...

[faizanali]

welcome, bro, but thatnks for bringing it to attention, that gives me a better idea of how things are arranges, also, on the peir picture, the big rounded hitt on the far right horizon is the big rounded hill to rhe right of the observatory on the oil rig picture

You mean that the far right hill on the pier scene is the same hill as the highest peak to the right of the observatory on the oil field scene?

 

EDIT: My thought was that because the slope is the opposite side of the observatory in each picture, then each picture must be taken from opposite sides of the hills.

That means that at least Los Santos will be huge...

i hope it will be bigger than two SA's

[The Outlaw Josey Wales]

welcome, bro, but thatnks for bringing it to attention, that gives me a better idea of how things are arranges, also, on the peir picture, the big rounded hitt on the far right horizon is the big rounded hill to rhe right of the observatory on the oil rig picture

You mean that the far right hill on the pier scene is the same hill as the highest peak to the right of the observatory on the oil field scene?

 

EDIT: My thought was that because the slope is the opposite side of the observatory in each picture, then each picture must be taken from opposite sides of the hills.

i understand that, but im just saying, it doesnt really match up when you really look at it, you know?

[koeklin]

 

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

So there is a hill (with the griffith observatory) between L.S Dowtown and Santa Monica...

hmm...

 

Sorry but there's no hill between LS Downtown and Santa Monica!

 

 

Santa Monica buildings:

 

Edited July 22, 2012 by koeklin

[Barcasam7]

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

So there is a hill (with the griffith observatory) between L.S Dowtown and Santa Monica...

hmm...

 

Sorry but there's no hill between LS Downtown and Santa Monica!

 

 

Santa Monica buildings:

 

Santa Monica is exactly in line with downtown in real life and it will be the same in this game. The bottom screen Downtown is right of the picture and isn't captured. There is no big hill between the downtown and Santa Monica. However in the screen at Santa Monica looking towards the mountains, the camera is panning left diagonal away from the CBD. So it's look at the mountains. If the picture was panning diagonal right you would easily see the CBD, in fact I think the screen is more panning to the region of Beverly hills and hollywood of the game. Looking at the first screen you have posted, there is actually quite a big gap between Downtown buildings and Santa Monica. It's hard to gauge with an air picture because everything looks a lot smaller in the air, than on ground level.

 

[Barcasam7]

I think we know about this for a very very long time but I'm not sure about what you guys think.

 

Possibly, the camera is being placed like diagonal right off the screen. There are 2 foreground tall buildings near it which would appear on the screen maybe and they are located in the same line as that building, that's why it's puzzling. Definitely resembles the shape, just shocked such a run down apartment building is so close to Hollywood.

[baggy890]

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

So there is a hill (with the griffith observatory) between L.S Dowtown and Santa Monica...

hmm...

 

Sorry but there's no hill between LS Downtown and Santa Monica!

 

 

Santa Monica buildings:

 

Santa Monica is exactly in line with downtown in real life and it will be the same in this game. The bottom screen Downtown is right of the picture and isn't captured. There is no big hill between the downtown and Santa Monica. However in the screen at Santa Monica looking towards the mountains, the camera is panning left diagonal away from the CBD. So it's look at the mountains. If the picture was panning diagonal right you would easily see the CBD, in fact I think the screen is more panning to the region of Beverly hills and hollywood of the game. Looking at the first screen you have posted, there is actually quite a big gap between Downtown buildings and Santa Monica. It's hard to gauge with an air picture because everything looks a lot smaller in the air, than on ground level.

Yeah I didn't think there was a hill between downtown and Santa monica that's why these images puzzled me a little, but thanks for your explanation

[[enforcA]]

quality enhanced pictures, different methods used (frames used: only 10 to avoid motion blur, because the camera starts to zoom out):

(click them to get to the full size 720p *.png versions)

 

 

Edited July 22, 2012 by [enforcA]

[GreatGig]

Just a quick question for you folks. In the scene with the crop duster there's a winding road in the background. Has anyone found out where it might lead or whereabouts it might be?

[GtaVComments]

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

So there is a hill (with the griffith observatory) between L.S Dowtown and Santa Monica...

hmm...

 

Sorry but there's no hill between LS Downtown and Santa Monica!

 

 

Santa Monica buildings:

 

Santa Monica is exactly in line with downtown in real life and it will be the same in this game. The bottom screen Downtown is right of the picture and isn't captured. There is no big hill between the downtown and Santa Monica. However in the screen at Santa Monica looking towards the mountains, the camera is panning left diagonal away from the CBD. So it's look at the mountains. If the picture was panning diagonal right you would easily see the CBD, in fact I think the screen is more panning to the region of Beverly hills and hollywood of the game. Looking at the first screen you have posted, there is actually quite a big gap between Downtown buildings and Santa Monica. It's hard to gauge with an air picture because everything looks a lot smaller in the air, than on ground level.

Yeah I didn't think there was a hill between downtown and Santa monica that's why these images puzzled me a little, but thanks for your explanation

So, does this mean that in the police chopper screenshot, the chopper is actually heading in the direction of the observatory, i.e the camera in this screenshot is positioned with the observatory behind , so we dont see it?

 

Anyone?

[kesta195]

' date='Sunday, Jul 22 2012, 13:29'] quality enhanced pictures, different methods used (frames used: only 10 to avoid motion blur, because the camera starts to zoom out):

(click them to get to the full size 720p *.png versions)

 

 

But how can there be mountains south of downtown, when in the helicopter screenshot, there is water there instead, as that is where the vincent thomas bridge is?

[Barcasam7]

In the 2 images above you can see that the Griffith observatory (circled in red) lies on the tall hill, and on one of the images the land slopes down to the right before coming to a smaller peak. Then on the other image the land slopes to the left before coming to a smaller peak. This slope (outlined in yellow) is consistent on both of these images. From these 2 images you can tell that they are from opposite sides of the hills with the observatory on. Therefore I believe that the scene with the runners on the pier is taken directly from behind the hills shown in the image with the BRUTE machinery.

So there is a hill (with the griffith observatory) between L.S Dowtown and Santa Monica...

hmm...

 

Sorry but there's no hill between LS Downtown and Santa Monica!

 

 

Santa Monica buildings:

 

Santa Monica is exactly in line with downtown in real life and it will be the same in this game. The bottom screen Downtown is right of the picture and isn't captured. There is no big hill between the downtown and Santa Monica. However in the screen at Santa Monica looking towards the mountains, the camera is panning left diagonal away from the CBD. So it's look at the mountains. If the picture was panning diagonal right you would easily see the CBD, in fact I think the screen is more panning to the region of Beverly hills and hollywood of the game. Looking at the first screen you have posted, there is actually quite a big gap between Downtown buildings and Santa Monica. It's hard to gauge with an air picture because everything looks a lot smaller in the air, than on ground level.

Yeah I didn't think there was a hill between downtown and Santa monica that's why these images puzzled me a little, but thanks for your explanation

So, does this mean that in the police chopper screenshot, the chopper is actually heading in the direction of the observatory, i.e the camera in this screenshot is positioned with the observatory behind , so we dont see it?

 

Anyone?

I think definitely, I'd say it's not right next to it, but it certainly is heading that direction by the looks of it.

[Fido_le_muet]

Latest updates :

 

(removed The Promenade)

 

[GTAgamersquirrel]

,Sunday, Jul 22 2012, 13:29] quality enhanced pictures, different methods used (frames used: only 10 to avoid motion blur, because the camera starts to zoom out):

(click them to get to the full size 720p *.png versions)

 

 

But how can there be mountains south of downtown, when in the helicopter screenshot, there is water there instead, as that is where the vincent thomas bridge is?

Its because the buildings are blocking the mountain range.

[CaptRobau]

Impossible. If you draw a line between Downtown and the building in green towards the harbor in the helicopter shot and you do the same in the jet flyover shot, you'll see that the harbor is where your mountain is.

 

 

It's a good thing though that there aren't any mountains/hills there as they wouldn't leave much room for much of Southern LA and the cities to the Southeast such as Anaheim, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, etc.

 

@Fido_le_muet

 

For some reason, there's an empty Flickr pic showing up below the Echo Lake screenshot in the OP. Thought you might want to know.

 

Additionally, I'm thinking your positioning of Echo Lake on your map seems to be off. I will admit I'm no mathematician but as far as I know the closer the object the larger it will look. I compared the two screens below because they were both at ground level. I calculated that US Bank in the golf shot was roughly 1.6 times larger than the Echo Lake shot. I then measured the pixel distance from the approximate location of the golf scene and multiplied it by 1.6. I then drew a line that long from the US Bank to the place where Echo Park should be, which is the map on the right. I did encounter a problem though as your map shows the Mellon building behind one of the California Plazas. Two shots, one being the Echo Lake shot, show that that is not possible. So I switched around two blocks to get the Echo Lake perspective. Anyway, what it comes down to is that Echo Lake, at least on your map should be much closer (if my calculations are correct). If the position of California Plaza that I changed is also correct it also means, Echo Lake is much closer to it's RL location.

 

 

On a side note, I'm missing the shot of PizzaThis with Capitol Records in the background on the front page. It's only one building but it's not on any other shot. It'd be nice to have it up there, for completeness, if you have the time.

Edited July 22, 2012 by CaptRobau