How big did the State of San Andreas feel to you as you were playing?

[Kafonix]

Trickery to make a world "feel" big really is a dying art. The way they perfectly balanced vehicle speeds, draw distance, road layouts, time and scenery really made the game feel massive, yet somehow still fast paced. Going back now, the game is really neither of those things, it was all about the feel of it.

 

I remember in 2005 driving across the LV deserts during the game daytime, arriving at SF at sunset and feeling like a whole day had really passed when really only 5 minutes had. It was a lot easier to lose yourself in these games because even though they felt alive and breathing, they weren't trying to portray reality too closely. It was its own world, and that in itself made it more intriguing to me. If I wanted to explore a realistic world all I had to do was walk out a door.

 

.....But then again, being an impressionable kid more than likely helped.

Well, I still feel everything you said in today's GTA SA map playing SAMP and singleplayer.

I really can not identify with the GTA V world, and only partly with IV, and that only because of the intriguing atmosphere IV had.

[mrfilmpjesmaker123]

It was and still is huge. I dare you to go play right now and you'll find new locations guaranteed.

[thehambone]

SA is still an awesome map to me. It still feels pretty large, even though it isn't all that large in reality.

Edited January 13, 2017 by thehambone