San Andreas Starter Save Discussion [PS2]

[Thicc Romney]

I`m planning on making a starter save because I accidently deleted my save file on my ps2 ( I KNEW i should of made a backup on my 2nd memory card).Anyways heres what I`m planning on doing:

• Completing the courier mission in Los Santos.
  
• Spraying all tags in Los Santos
  
• Completing 8 track in Los Santos
  
• Collect all the oysters in Los Santos and Red County
  
• Complete Taxi,FireFighter,Vigilante,Burglary, and paramedic missions
  
• Buy all the safehouse in Los Santos and Red County.
  
  What else is possible to do before the mission Big Smoke, I`m going for about 25% before continuing
  

[Lethal Vaccine]

You can't. 25% is not possible unless you mod the game or some sh*t. The highest you can get on ANY platform (other than iOS/Android) is 13.37%. On iOS/Android, you can reach 14.97% due to the Los Santos/San Fierro/Las Venturas Gyms are open from the start of the game, thus, you can learn the moves for the extra 1.60%.

 

Just go to Youtube and watch zmoonchild and fnxrak do the Starter Save. Those guys are extremely good. Also very good with Special Vehicle collecting and such...

 

Some of the things you list aren't even complete. Like...You CAN do ALL 250/250 Collectables before "Big Smoke."

 

Actually, just read here... -----> http://gtaforums.com/topic/798072-100-mobile-games-and-starter-saves-no-conversations/

 

Read khsh97's description. That is EVERYTHING you can do. His is for Mobile, thus @ 14.97%, but you can do everything he did, except the Gym Moves...

 

Here is his Original Topic, which you can reply in. The Topic above is only for POSTING Starter Saves or 100% Mobile Saves. NO DISCUSSION ALLOWED.

 

When it comes to SA, I personally never did a Starter Save, but I did them for III, VC, LCS, VCS, and CW. However, if I were to do a Starter Save for SA, I personally would only be doing Los Santos stuff, like you listed. I wouldn't do the full 13.37% as I may not have the skill to do things in locked territories with a 4 star wanted level. I might be talking out of my ass, and it might even not even be that bad, but I simply never tried it, thus I can't comment on it, but by the looks of it, it seems a bit difficult like the IV Starter Save with a 6 star wanted level.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Militia

[Space Cowboy]

As Militia said there are couple of things you are missing

- stadium events: Bloodbowl (SF), Dirt Track (LV), Kickstart (LV)

- horseshoes, snapshots, oysters in restricted areas

- courier missions - I recommend doing LV Burgershot courier first to learn the basics of surviving in 4-star territory and then SF courier

 

Doesn't count towards the percentage, but still useful:

- getting pilot license early (just dont fly too far away from the mainland- this would glitch your game)

- unlocking restaurants early by initiating a date with any girlfriend- this will unlock all restaurants and CJ can get easily fat

 

 

You may consider doing additional challenges like obtaining weapons that aren't available in LS (such as minigun), getting Katie, Michelle and Barbara early (and possibly experiment with 2- timing dates and their proofed vehicles) or getting vehicles such as Sandking, Sea Sparrow and saving them in LS.

 

Useful topics:

http://gtaforums.com/topic/304874-care-and-feeding-of-a-san-andreas-impound-garage/ if you want to play with impounds

http://gtaforums.com/topic/424135-proofed-cars-from-jealous-girlfriends/ getting proofed girlfriends' cars is a bit tough challenge to start with, you may come back to it once you are more experienced

 

There's still a lot more to it, so if you want to know anything, just ask.

[Lethal Vaccine]

In a Starter Save, you can only get 3 (I think) AP Girlfriend Vehicles. The AP Monster, AP Romero, and AP Police Ranger....If I am not mistaken. I don't think you can date Denise or Millie early, and I also don't think you can date Helena early to get the AP Bandito, either.

 

As for difficulty, I think it's simple. I only had trouble comprehending what I had to do through what I was reading. But then OrionSR and fnxrak took me step by step and held my hand so to speak to explain it. Once I actually knew what was going on and how it's done, I was able to do it. It's all about understanding, not so much being difficult. However, trying to tow one of them back to a Garage while on a 4 star wanted level is probably way harder...Or perhaps way more annoying. I got the AP Hustler and AP Romero when I was in San Fierro during the Story. Later on when I unlocked Verdant Meadows Airstrip and The Desert, I got the AP Monster, AP Bandito, and AP Police Ranger. Didn't care for Millie's AP Feltzer, since I get the AP/EC2 Feltzer from End of the Line. If Millie drove her Club as a jealous girlfriend, I would get it, though, but that doesn't happen. I have Millie's Pink AP Feltzer in my Mobile Save, though.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Militia

[ChiroVette]

I know this is an old thread, but I didn't want to start a new one. Just watched this AWESOME video posted by MetalMilitia89 and I loved it.

 

 

 

This summer at some point, I want to create a better Starter Save than my usual ones I have done over the past 12 years. Usually I do them with only the Los Santos stuff done, but Militia called attention to the fact that you can do a ton of stuff with a wanted level it never occurred to me to consider!

Edited June 22, 2016 by ChiroVette

[Lethal Vaccine]

You and I both....It was only 6-7 weeks ago when I finished my 13.90% Starter Save for SA. I never thought I'd actually be able to do half of the stuff. Before I reached 13.90% (With Big Smoke Passed and EC Black Perennial Acquired), I had a Starter Save @ 8.02% Completion (With Big Smoke Passed and EC Black Perennial Acquired). This didn't include ANYTHING in The Country, San Fierro, The Desert, or Las Venturas. Slowly but surely I tried some of the tasks and didn't find anything difficult, thus proceeded with trying more. I started with trying NRG-500 Challenge (Without Maxed Bike Stat), Blood Bowl, as well as bringing Rare Vehicles back from San Fierro and Las Venturas to Los Santos. I got a lot of practice and then thought I could even do the Collectibles of which I did. I thought Snapshots were the easiest followed by Oysters and last, the Horseshoes. The Horseshoes weren't a problem and were standard stuff, but there is about 15 or so you need using a Seasparrow and if you're new to all of this, obtaining a Seasparrow in and of itself can be a problem for beginners and getting it from locked territory to bring back to Los Santos to store on the Mulholland Roof. I've been blown up by Hydra Missiles trying to get the Horseshoes you need the Seasparrow for at least 25 times before getting all of those 15 in a row without being blown up. Once you store it on the Roof of the Garage (Yes, that can save on top of the Garage as most people who don't collect Special Vehicles or look into any of this sort of stuff wouldn't know this probably), you can then use it to get around to the Oysters for instance easier, etc. Something I learned was you can actually BE IN locked territory WITHOUT spiking any wanted level. If you know the boundary lines, you can just park the Seasparrow somewhere, while you swim a bit to where the Oyster is. Get it, then swim back to the Seasparrow and proceed. There is only about 15 of them that no matter what, you will need to get with a Wanted Level but using the Seasparrow once again helps for that and using a fast Motorcycle to grab the handful of them ON the Island of Las Venturas helps, too. Some of them are in Pools on the actual Island of Las Venturas where getting a wanted level can't be avoided...Only the Oysters in which are off the coast and in the actual Ocean and sh*t can be avoided with the Wanted Level.

 

Since I was at it, I decided to take Photos of some Stats of mine in my Starter Save as well as my Rare Vehicle Collection. The "R" on the Map is indicating Ryder's House in Ganton for the Mission "Ryder." I only did Big Smoke and acquired the EC Black Perennial for my Starter Save, as well as doing all required tasks for 100% to reach 13.90%. Plus, obtaining 9 Rare Vehicles found in Vigilante, Locked Territory Spawn Points, or Locked Territory Found in Traffic (Turismo).

 

Stats:

 

 

Rare Vehicle Collection:

 

Edited June 22, 2016 by MetalMilitia89

[ChiroVette]

Nice car collections!

 

Actually the Oyster collection is a particularly attractive get for a starter save. Don't get me wrong, I love San Andreas, but one thing I absolutely HATE is the picky girlfriends. I am pretty sure that with maxed sex appeal from all 50 Oysters collected, you don't have to go through the grief of constantly changing your appearance, muscle and fat proportions, worrying about your car and clothing sexual appearance, and that you can pretty easily max out the girlfriends.

 

I would also do the starter save a little different than what some on Youtube are doing. Before venturing out of Los Santos and dealing with the constant fire from an automatic wanted level, I would make sure to have completed Paramedic and Vigilante level 12 for the increased health and armor, and would spend about 20 minutes carefully flying the Shamal around Los Santos to get my pilot's license so I can just waltz into all the airports.

 

By the way, is there any way to get a BP police vehicle, obviously other than the tank? Would definitely make for easier early Vigilante clearance.

Edited June 22, 2016 by ChiroVette

[Lethal Vaccine]

Thanks. Getting them this early is quite challenging. Getting some of these later is as easy as taking it found in traffic once Las Venturas is unlocked, etc. But having all of these in the beginning is good so you can use the legendary EP/FP Conversion and make all of these Rare Vehicles EP/FP with Gray Imports Mission, etc...

 

Yeah, that is why I also like the Oysters cuz they you don't need to bother with looking a certain way. You can date 3 of the 6 Girlfriends in a Starter Save, too, and unlock fast food restaurants before completing "Ryder," however the fast food isn't needed. As you can see from my Starter Save and the Stats, 0 Meals Eaten...Used only Vending Machines...

 

Yeah, that is something I didn't care to have early, a Pilot's License. I would get shot time to time, but nothing too bad. It's easy to quickly hop on top of the booth, then jump down onto the ground, grab your Vehicle and continue into the airport once the gates open from the inside.

 

Tbh, zmoonchild and others show that Paramedics, Vigilante, etc, etc, isn't even needed. They literally show starting a new game and then going to go do everything in the beginning without even bothering with Paramedics and Vigilante and things like that until much later. The less Health/Armor, the more challenging, although, I also did the wanted level tasks when I had Paramedics and Vigilante already complete.

 

EDIT: About Vigilante, you can technically get Barbara's AP Ranger in a Starter Save and use it for Vigilante Level 12, but it's not needed. It's actually really simple. I get an HPV-1000 and drive in front of the enemies while they are driving toward me and then I use Free Aim with M4 or Minigun to blow their Vehicles up and eliminate them. Then I get back onto the HPV-1000 and renew the Level and Time. Continue and reach Level 12. I don't even use SMG and doing drive-by on them or anything. That isn't a good strategy...I saw zmoonchild get to Level 25 or so doing what I just described. He's the one who gave me a lot of ideas and things I learned from him. Same with fnxrak. fnxrak's style is "easier" than zmoonchild, so his Videos are nice to watch. zmoonchild goes all out and does some incredible stuff, but fnxrak plays it a bit more safe and if it's your first time, I'd watch him. If you're getting better and have experience, then watch zmoonchild do all of this stuff...

Edited June 22, 2016 by MetalMilitia89

[WedaSan]

How do you lose hunger at the beginning of the game? I just completed Taxi mission and gonna take care of other side missions, however CJ is starting to get hungry since delivering 40+ passengers. Now that I just did 50 passengers, I'm trying to lose hunger by finding some restaurants, however most of them are "locked", therefore cannot buy foods.

 

I read that all of restaurants are only available after completing the third main mission "Ryder". So the only way to lose hunger before the first main mission "Big Smoke" is to save+reload?

[OrionSR]

You can reduce hunger by eating or drinking from vending machines, or vendor carts like noodles or ice cream.  It takes a while, but you can even put on a little fat by continuously pounding down the Sprunk. It helps to load up before starting missions like paramedic or taxi that can stress the player's hunger.

 

The fast food joints can be opened early by meeting a girlfriend (Katie is probably the easiest) and taking her on a date. The date fails immediately due to the permanent 4-star wanted level of restricted territory but it leaves the fast food vendors open, though unmarked.

[WedaSan]

3 hours ago, OrionSR said:

You can reduce hunger by eating or drinking from vending machines, or vendor carts like noodles or ice cream.  It takes a while, but you can even put on a little fat by continuously pounding down the Sprunk. It helps to load up before starting missions like paramedic or taxi that can stress the player's hunger.

 

The fast food joints can be opened early by meeting a girlfriend (Katie is probably the easiest) and taking her on a date. The date fails immediately due to the permanent 4-star wanted level of restricted territory but it leaves the fast food vendors open, though unmarked.

What about weapons? Which weapon you keep for starter save?

[WedaSan]

Are these contents also not available at the beginning (i.e. before "Big Smoke")?

-GYM workout

-rifle range in ammunation

-buying clothes

-driving school

-freight train side mission

-import/export garage

-gang wars

 

[OrionSR]

Gym equipment is available at Verona Beach, but no gym moves can be learned on pre-mobile versions.

With enough effort, it's possible to unlock Michelle's Driving Suit In the Beginning.

 

[WedaSan]

51 minutes ago, OrionSR said:

Gym equipment is available at Verona Beach, but no gym moves can be learned on pre-mobile versions.

With enough effort, it's possible to unlock Michelle's Driving Suit In the Beginning.

 

I have empty fat/muscle as I was clearing stuff for starter save. So the only way to raise them up is by doing gym workout? 

 

Tried to use gym in Ganton near the Boxville that starts burglary side mission, but no marker to enter the gym. So it's just like fast-food restaurant which only unlocked after progressing the story?

 

Another question:

Freight Train side mission is only available after officially unlocking Las Venturas?

[OrionSR]

There is an outdoor gym along the path on Verona Beach with equipment that can be used to increase muscle or lose fat early in the game. Muscle can be built naturally in game by climbing and other forms of exercise but progress is very slow, and iirc, you need to maintain a healthy amount of fat.

 

It's been so long that I forget some of the details, but yeah, I don't think the Freight Train mission is available at all until LV is unlocked. Don't forget, it's a two part mission.

 

You might be able to find useful information in this topic:

 

Edited January 27 by OrionSR

[Hearse Rider]

5 hours ago, WedaSan said:

I have empty fat/muscle as I was clearing stuff for starter save. So the only way to raise them up is by doing gym workout? 

There's also the hotdog van, and some spawn in Red County if you're not playing on your PC. If you can afford a safe house with a garage (the El Corona safehouse is the cheapest), you could buy one, and tow the van with a tow truck or tractor to store both, but never enter the van.

 

If it's the PC version, you'll have to get one from the restricted areas, so it's much less practical. You could drown it to then undrown at a specific spot, or carry it on a Beagle's wings, but either can easily go wrong.

 

If you want to gain muscle without using the outdoor gym, grabbing a bike speeds up the process.

Edited January 27 by Hearse Rider

[OrionSR]

3 hours ago, Hearse Rider said:

or carry it on a Beagle's wings

Woah! People do that?

[Hearse Rider]

2 hours ago, OrionSR said:

Woah! People do that?

Apparently yes. I saw a player ferry cars around with it on YT (can't find the video right now). But the awkwardly positioned Beagle in Fort Carson is the only unlocked one at that point ofc.

 

PS. Here (from 6:22 to 6:53):

 

 

Edited January 27 by Hearse Rider

[WedaSan]

21 hours ago, OrionSR said:

There is an outdoor gym along the path on Verona Beach with equipment that can be used to increase muscle or lose fat early in the game. Muscle can be built naturally in game by climbing and other forms of exercise but progress is very slow, and iirc, you need to maintain a healthy amount of fat.

 

It's been so long that I forget some of the details, but yeah, I don't think the Freight Train mission is available at all until LV is unlocked. Don't forget, it's a two part mission.

 

You might be able to find useful information in this topic:

 

That would be helpful.

 

Still double-checking which I completed and which I missed.

 

Side stuff I have completed:

-Taxi Driver CLEAR

-Paramedic CLEAR

-Firefighter CLEAR

-Vigilante CLEAR

-Burglary CLEAR

-Pimping CLEAR

-Club Dancing (all 3 levels) CLEAR

-LS Courier CLEAR

-LS Stadium (8-Track) CLEAR

-LS BMX Challenge CLEAR

 

Have not done:

-100 spray tags

-50 oysters

-Unique stunt jumps 

-Ammunation rifle range

-Anything in locked areas

-Rampages??

 

So I'm still checking if there's any other side stuff that's available but I still don't know yet.

 

I heard some of them are not required for 100% completion.

 

My weapons, maybe you have better suggestions.

Melee: Knife or Katana

Pistol: Desert Eagle

Shotgun: Sawn-off Shotgun

SMG: MP5

Sniper Rifle

Assault Rifle: AK-47

Thrown: Molotov

Heavy: Rocket Launcher (using parachute to the northeast rooftop from the highest building, only possible after completing paramedic due to extended health required, otherwise CJ will die)

Extra: 2500 Spray Can (enough for all 100 tags?)

[OrionSR]

Weapon notes: I tend to swap weapons a lot as I develop a starter save, mostly because I want to make skill progress on the various weapon types, but also because I don't like leaving dropped weapons lying around. Dropped pickups tend to get stuck in game memory if the player leaves the area before they timeout and disappear, which can clog up the pickup pool, especially when the collectible pickups haven't been collected yet.

 

I prefer the M4 (end of LSX runway) over the AK because the extra range can be used to pin a group of attackers beyond the range where they will stop and start shooting. 

 

Beware of the parachute. A minor crash can throw the player from a bike and trigger the freefall animation that leads to a bone crunching instant death on impact. On more than one occasion I've lost a lot of progress from restricted territory when a minor crash occurred when trying to return home to save my progress. So now I never carry a parachute unless I intend to use it right away.

 

You might want to put off collecting the last oyster until you've decided how far you want to push your starter save. Collecting the last oyster will set any girlfriends below 0% progress to 45% progress, which is enough to allow Michelle's She-Drives dates. This is how Michelle's Driving Suit can be unlocked on a starter save, one of the more difficult 4-star challenges.

 

Are you planning to complete objectives in restricted territory? 4-star exploration and starter saves was one of my favorite extended play activities back in the day. Highly recommended. I made the mistake of putting off the courier mission until last because I thought they would be the most difficult. Which was true, but the skills I developed for these missions enabled me to survive the 4-star police onslaught. At the time I was saving deaths and arrests as long as I made some progress. But after learning to evade the cops with a bike I reverted to an earlier save without the unwanted stats and did it all again. 

[WedaSan]

2 hours ago, OrionSR said:

Weapon notes: I tend to swap weapons a lot as I develop a starter save, mostly because I want to make skill progress on the various weapon types, but also because I don't like leaving dropped weapons lying around. Dropped pickups tend to get stuck in game memory if the player leaves the area before they timeout and disappear, which can clog up the pickup pool, especially when the collectible pickups haven't been collected yet.

 

I prefer the M4 (end of LSX runway) over the AK because the extra range can be used to pin a group of attackers beyond the range where they will stop and start shooting. 

 

Beware of the parachute. A minor crash can throw the player from a bike and trigger the freefall animation that leads to a bone crunching instant death on impact. On more than one occasion I've lost a lot of progress from restricted territory when a minor crash occurred when trying to return home to save my progress. So now I never carry a parachute unless I intend to use it right away.

 

You might want to put off collecting the last oyster until you've decided how far you want to push your starter save. Collecting the last oyster will set any girlfriends below 0% progress to 45% progress, which is enough to allow Michelle's She-Drives dates. This is how Michelle's Driving Suit can be unlocked on a starter save, one of the more difficult 4-star challenges.

 

Are you planning to complete objectives in restricted territory? 4-star exploration and starter saves was one of my favorite extended play activities back in the day. Highly recommended. I made the mistake of putting off the courier mission until last because I thought they would be the most difficult. Which was true, but the skills I developed for these missions enabled me to survive the 4-star police onslaught. At the time I was saving deaths and arrests as long as I made some progress. But after learning to evade the cops with a bike I reverted to an earlier save without the unwanted stats and did it all again. 

I think I might do it. I want also to familiarize with locked areas as well. Would be troublesome if I'm playing main story but unfamiliar with the areas.

[Hearse Rider]

2 hours ago, WedaSan said:

I think I might do it. I want also to familiarize with locked areas as well. Would be troublesome if I'm playing main story but unfamiliar with the areas.

Surviving the "one-time" (non-courier) sub-missions isn't that hard. Even I managed to eventually do it. Just fly to SF or LV, complete the challenge, and get out. If you manage to buy the Mulholland safehouse, you can shorten your route back to LS from LV. I had some success with landing on the LV airport and getting to a car in front of the hotel/terminal-like building there. In my experience, this airport is completely safe when you're not in an aircraft until a helicopter shows up or you get the gate to open, but sometimes nothing spawns in front of the hotel, and you end up spending too much time inside the airport. You can try landing closer to the hotel or exit if you can survive the missiles though.

 

If you buy the Santa Maria safehouse, it becomes much easier to survive trips back from SF. You can't really use the airport because every aircraft there is locked, and cops still spawn inside. It's also hard to find a fast boat, even fast boats make big, bulky targets to hit in the open, and you're extremely vulnerable when you have to get into the water to find a good one or because yours is about to explode, so going by land is the only real option for trips from SF/Mt. Chilliad to LS.

 

The courier missions are the hardest though with cops constantly on your tail while they take 5-6 levels to complete.

Edited January 28 by Hearse Rider

[OrionSR]

1 hour ago, WedaSan said:

Would be troublesome if I'm playing main story but unfamiliar with the areas.

Oh, wow. I had not considered that you may not have completed the story at least once. I would expect completing missions and collections in restricted territory to be particularly challenging if you are unfamiliar with the map. Not that you couldn't, or shouldn't attempt it, but I wouldn't put off enjoying the story just to complete challenges people invented mostly to make the game more challenging when replaying the game. I consider 4-star exploration to be a replay activity, but... Whatever floats your boat. 

 

1 hour ago, Hearse Rider said:

The courier missions are the hardest though with cops constantly on your tail while they take 5-6 levels to complete.

Drive slowly and turn a lot. The bots are better programmed to chase players driving fast and straight, so don't do that. If you are calm and in control it's not too tough to confuse the crap out of the cop bots. Once you master that the player is all but invincible while driving a bike.

[WedaSan]

23 hours ago, OrionSR said:

Oh, wow. I had not considered that you may not have completed the story at least once. I would expect completing missions and collections in restricted territory to be particularly challenging if you are unfamiliar with the map. Not that you couldn't, or shouldn't attempt it, but I wouldn't put off enjoying the story just to complete challenges people invented mostly to make the game more challenging when replaying the game. I consider 4-star exploration to be a replay activity, but... Whatever floats your boat. 

 

Drive slowly and turn a lot. The bots are better programmed to chase players driving fast and straight, so don't do that. If you are calm and in control it's not too tough to confuse the crap out of the cop bots. Once you master that the player is all but invincible while driving a bike.

It's actually will be my first playthrough in SA. I haven't really fully played SA myself in the past. However after learning about starter save, playing "blind" is no longer an option.

 

Learning from my harsh lesson from playing "blind" in GTA III where I skipped side mission and collectibles, totally unaware that some gangs will be hostile to me as the story progressed and I had very minimal arsenals as I have not learned weapon spawn points and skipped hidden packages. That was my fatal mistake for playing "blind".

 

Since then I always do every possible side mission and collectibles at the beginning of the game in any GTA game I play, and eventually learned about starter save. Even though there is no more fatal consequences like in III such as extreme hostile gangs in other GTA games.

 

Edited January 29 by WedaSan

[WedaSan]

Just completed 100 spray tags, however GSF homies still carry pistols instead of desert eagles. 

 

Is it glitch or intended? 

I heard 6 tag locations are "reset" in a main mission where spraying tags is introduced. I think it's called Tagging Up Turf.

 

You think only after completing that mission that GSF homies' arsenals are upgraded?

 

The video walkthrough that I watched, probably not at the beginning of the game, as there are many places that unkocked already by looking at a lot of icons on the map.

 

Another question:

Armor is only reduced when you're hit by bullets or explosions (and fire too if have not completed Firefighter side mission)?

 

So falling off from vehicles or high places only reduced your health while your armor is still intact? Also when NPC's vehicle treads on you? 

 

I assume in SA armor is totally unaffected by collisions, unlike in other GTA games. Unlike in GTA III or Vice City where armor is always reduced first and your health is always intact as long as you have your armor, unless you're drowning, which ignores armor and straight reduces health.

Edited January 30 by WedaSan

[WedaSan]

On 1/28/2026 at 1:20 PM, OrionSR said:

Weapon notes: I tend to swap weapons a lot as I develop a starter save, mostly because I want to make skill progress on the various weapon types, but also because I don't like leaving dropped weapons lying around. Dropped pickups tend to get stuck in game memory if the player leaves the area before they timeout and disappear, which can clog up the pickup pool, especially when the collectible pickups haven't been collected yet.

 

I prefer the M4 (end of LSX runway) over the AK because the extra range can be used to pin a group of attackers beyond the range where they will stop and start shooting. 

 

Beware of the parachute. A minor crash can throw the player from a bike and trigger the freefall animation that leads to a bone crunching instant death on impact. On more than one occasion I've lost a lot of progress from restricted territory when a minor crash occurred when trying to return home to save my progress. So now I never carry a parachute unless I intend to use it right away.

 

You might want to put off collecting the last oyster until you've decided how far you want to push your starter save. Collecting the last oyster will set any girlfriends below 0% progress to 45% progress, which is enough to allow Michelle's She-Drives dates. This is how Michelle's Driving Suit can be unlocked on a starter save, one of the more difficult 4-star challenges.

 

Are you planning to complete objectives in restricted territory? 4-star exploration and starter saves was one of my favorite extended play activities back in the day. Highly recommended. I made the mistake of putting off the courier mission until last because I thought they would be the most difficult. Which was true, but the skills I developed for these missions enabled me to survive the 4-star police onslaught. At the time I was saving deaths and arrests as long as I made some progress. But after learning to evade the cops with a bike I reverted to an earlier save without the unwanted stats and did it all again. 

Putting off collecting the last oyster?

Is there any "penalty" for collecting all oysters right away?

[Hearse Rider]

5 hours ago, WedaSan said:

Putting off collecting the last oyster?

Is there any "penalty" for collecting all oysters right away?

Not really a "penalty", but it can be too hard (and therefore pointless) for some players to go knock on her door. Practice and make sure you can consistently go to her home and return without dying before you collect the last oyster to get the most out of its benefits. If you get it without figuring out how to do that, you'll get less use out of it than if you waited until more of the map got unlocked, because the extra relationship scores will eventually drain anyway if you visit SF without picking her up.

 

Or you could get the Bloodring and NRG-500 challenges as well as the snapshots and the courier mission out of the way before collecting the last oyster to make sure you won't lose your progress with her ever again, but this would put pressure on you to never visit SF again once you're done including getting the oyster, until it's unlocked or you're sure you can successfully date with Michelle and survive.

 

If you want to get most oysters anyway, while flying in a Seasparrow, fly as fast as possible and between/next to obstacles like tree trunks, mountains, hills and structures while being pursued by Hydras. The shortest route isn't necessarily the best or safest. The more a missile has to go around, the less exposed you are. If you're exposed and a rocket is moving towards you, quickly try to change direction, because sometimes you can still evade it. The most powerful missiles a Hydra has are just dumb rockets that can't react to moving targets, and the homing ones are weaker (you can survive 1 or sometimes even 2 homing hits if the worst comes to the worst), so be alert and don't assume you're already hit before you are. Rockets can also be possibly blown up with the heli's machine gun (DIY countermeasures), but it's very hard to do.

Edited February 2 by Hearse Rider

[OrionSR]

2 hours ago, WedaSan said:

Is there any "penalty" for collecting all oysters right away?

When the racing suit exploit was discovered a lot of players were disappointed that their starter save would need to be recreated if they wanted it because they had already collected all the oysters. That's the only reason I mentioned it. But this is a difficult and annoying challenge. Michelle is hard to meet in the driving school interior when CJ doesn't get a sex appeal bonus for a nice car in the exterior world. And then there's a lot of driving from LS to SF and the wrong dating type is selected and you need to try again. Ultimate starter saves have always been a game of one-up-manship and bragging rights. It doesn't really matter in the long run.

[WedaSan]

18 hours ago, OrionSR said:

When the racing suit exploit was discovered a lot of players were disappointed that their starter save would need to be recreated if they wanted it because they had already collected all the oysters. That's the only reason I mentioned it. But this is a difficult and annoying challenge. Michelle is hard to meet in the driving school interior when CJ doesn't get a sex appeal bonus for a nice car in the exterior world. And then there's a lot of driving from LS to SF and the wrong dating type is selected and you need to try again. Ultimate starter saves have always been a game of one-up-manship and bragging rights. It doesn't really matter in the long run.

I almost finished every stuff in LS, doing unique stunt jumps and only Oyster left undone.

 

So yeah, I need to rethink about Oyster stuff. 

 

I don't really get the girlfriend mechanic, all I know is collecting all Oysters would ignore every girl's stats requirements to date you. 

 

I remember picking a flower. So that flower is given to any girl to date her?

Edited February 3 by WedaSan

[WedaSan]

On 1/28/2026 at 4:25 PM, Hearse Rider said:

Surviving the "one-time" (non-courier) sub-missions isn't that hard. Even I managed to eventually do it. Just fly to SF or LV, complete the challenge, and get out. If you manage to buy the Mulholland safehouse, you can shorten your route back to LS from LV. I had some success with landing on the LV airport and getting to a car in front of the hotel/terminal-like building there. In my experience, this airport is completely safe when you're not in an aircraft until a helicopter shows up or you get the gate to open, but sometimes nothing spawns in front of the hotel, and you end up spending too much time inside the airport. You can try landing closer to the hotel or exit if you can survive the missiles though.

 

If you buy the Santa Maria safehouse, it becomes much easier to survive trips back from SF. You can't really use the airport because every aircraft there is locked, and cops still spawn inside. It's also hard to find a fast boat, even fast boats make big, bulky targets to hit in the open, and you're extremely vulnerable when you have to get into the water to find a good one or because yours is about to explode, so going by land is the only real option for trips from SF/Mt. Chilliad to LS.

 

The courier missions are the hardest though with cops constantly on your tail while they take 5-6 levels to complete.

Man, completing Unique Jumps on locked areas are pain. The 35th Unique Jump led me to San Fierro airport, tempting me to complete the rest of Unique Jumps.

 

There are two Unique Jumps at the airport. The hard part is trying to reenter the airport, completing the second jump there. When trying to open the airport gate where I have to get off the bike, climb the building to open the gate from the inside, the police keep getting in my way, the gate refused to open even from inside.

 

Playing PS2 version.

Initially I entered locked wanted level cheat so I could complete every stuff at locked areas. But seems like I got warned when saving the game, even if I disabled it by reentering the buttons. Normally I'm always against using cheats for fairplay. So this is the exception as I tried to complete every stuff on locked areas. Never used any other cheats.

 

Worrying that it might ruins the game, I have to deal with 4 stars while completing stuff on locked areas.

 

Unlike in other 3D Universe GTA games where I don't get wanted levels on locked islands.

Edited February 5 by WedaSan