GTA VI ""Leaks"" Analysis Thread

[fireflightim]

On 7/11/2021 at 7:35 PM, Len Lfc said:

Someone actually went through all that effort to make that map, then made a rookie mistake and got caught out lol

 

It's definitely telling and indicative of poor UI design, but in no way is it definitive proof of illegitimacy. 

 

There are two arguments right now when it comes to the UI. Its novice and therefore fake, could have easily been whipped together. Two, it can't be temporary because Rockstar wouldn't take the time to fully design a UI because that'd be a waste.

 

Well, if it's easy to whip up and lacks polish, then couldn't that just be a temporary early implementation of the UI? That photo of the early GTA V beta menu if anything should be in favor of a temporary unpolished UI, because that UI looks absolutely great and fully polished, yet it didn't end up being implemented.

 

I'm sure these features go through various stages, and perhaps it's an early build that hasn't gotten any love from the design department yet.

 

Idk, I'm still remaining skeptical, just my two cents.

[Kerminator369]

As real as a pair of vinewood tits 

[Kirsty]

Hmmm, how likely would R* re-use names that already exist within Florida in some form?

 

For example, Tortona Lane exists in Horizon West, Florida. Mayacoo Lakes is a country club in West Palm Beach, Florida (similar to "Lake Mayacco").  Flamingo, Mud Lake, Crocodile Lake, Crocodile Point are some places I found skimming Google Maps.

 

In other words, any Floridians about to verify? Might be over-analysing here but just opening up a discussion how "easy" it might be to make up names like this yourself as well. I did a search of GTAF and already found a couple of posts about the idea of a Quincy World, for example.

[ivarblaauw]

On 7/12/2021 at 8:21 AM, Kirsty said:

Hmmm, how likely would R* re-use names that already exist within Florida in some form?

 

For example, Tortona Lane exists in Horizon West, Florida. Mayacoo Lakes is a country club in West Palm Beach, Florida (similar to "Lake Mayacco").  Flamingo, Mud Lake, Crocodile Lake, Crocodile Point are some places I found skimming Google Maps.

 

In other words, any Floridians about to verify? Might be over-analysing here but just opening up a discussion how "easy" it might be to make up names like this yourself as well. I did a search of GTAF and already found a couple of posts about the idea of a Quincy World, for example.

If I know one thing (as a non US citizen), is that the US has loads (and I truly mean loads) of street names, location names etc. 
I am pretty sure that all of the names in GTA V are also located in the US in one form or another. 

If we as fans or developers can think of such names, trust me; the people who decide on street names do the same... Hell, in my country they literally named EVERY street in a neighbourhood after LOTR and Hobbit characters. 

 

About the UI design, I have experience in UI (and UX) design for over 8 years and things like this interface can (and will) easily be changed around to a few days before the final product is finished.

They are quite easy to change and when you are still in (early) development, UI design is the one thing that no one cares about in the slightest. It should work, that is it. 

 

*I also had a conversation with the supposed Jim Smith before he deleted his account. He said that he was visiting a friend who works for R*.  He gave no more info, but I feel that, if real, he made this video while no one was watching and had only a few seconds to do so. 
He blurred out the sides to make sure his friend wouldn't be compromised.
Jokes on him though. We don't know how many people have access to this, so if it is for example only three persons and the map is real, I am sure he is f*cked. F.

Edited July 12, 2021 by ivarblaauw

[palmtreegoblin]

Sure, UI during development is supposed to just work. I get that. It still doesn’t explain the sloppy padding and sh*t animations. Those are minute mistakes that I can’t see being made, even at a concept level. Or why they wouldn’t just use V’s assets. Then again, I don’t work for Rockstar. 
 

I don’t know. I’m personally not buying it. “Basketball” sticks out as another red flag to me. Reads the same as any other wishlist “leak”. 
 

Unless someone comes forward and claims this as their work we realistically can’t know the legitimacy of this. Not until we get our first look and can attempt to map the trailer to it like we did with RDR2. 
 

Spoiler

I’m not sure if anyone else noticed this but the two lakes in the middle of the island make it look like a skull and whether or not this is real I think that’s pretty badass. 

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by palmtreegoblin

[ivarblaauw]

On 7/12/2021 at 10:55 AM, palmtreegoblin said:

Sure, UI during development is supposed to just work. I get that. It still doesn’t explain the sloppy padding and sh*t animations. Those are minute mistakes that I can’t see being made, even at a concept level. Or why they wouldn’t just use V’s assets. Then again, I don’t work for Rockstar. 
 

I don’t know. I’m personally not buying it. “Basketball” sticks out as another red flag to me. Reads the same as any other wishlist “leak”. 
 

Unless someone comes forward and claims this as their work we realistically can’t know the legitimacy of this. Not until we get our first look and can attempt to map the trailer to it like we did with RDR2. 
 

  Hide contents

I’m not sure if anyone else noticed this but the two lakes in the middle of the island make it look like a skull and whether or not this is real I think that’s pretty badass. 

 

I didn't notice that, but damn, that is actually quite cool. Not something I noticed yet, but something very 'R*ish'.

 

And we can never know until we see the first images ingame.

 

I also just checked the map of 1985 by the way:

 

I checked some close ups and I have never seen a more obvious piece of photoshop in my life. Look at the small island and you can literally see the same area 3x, which is done by the stamp clone tool. 

 

I have worked with photoshop for over a decade and recently created my own renditions of vice state:
Throw in a blur and it is similar to what we see here. Hell it even was leaked by fakers on reddit to say it was the real gta VI map (and it isn't even finished yet, still needs colour correction for the cities)

 

You can call me out on it if the 1985 one ends up being real, but seriously the 1985 one is fake. 100%. 

Edited July 12, 2021 by ivarblaauw

[Len Lfc]

On 7/12/2021 at 7:21 AM, Kirsty said:

Hmmm, how likely would R* re-use names that already exist within Florida in some form?

 

For example, Tortona Lane exists in Horizon West, Florida. Mayacoo Lakes is a country club in West Palm Beach, Florida (similar to "Lake Mayacco").  Flamingo, Mud Lake, Crocodile Lake, Crocodile Point are some places I found skimming Google Maps.

 

In other words, any Floridians about to verify? Might be over-analysing here but just opening up a discussion how "easy" it might be to make up names like this yourself as well. I did a search of GTAF and already found a couple of posts about the idea of a Quincy World, for example.

Sandy Shores exists in a few areas, surrounding Los Angeles

There's also a Grapeseed Spa, nearby.

Chumash seems to be quite prevalent, too.

 

Tbf, they did have to change New Bordeaux to Saint Denis. It's unlikely they'd change all these names, and that one had a specific reason (Mafia 3). But worth bringing up, at least.

 

[Dourvas]

Bob Henderson just posted on twitter that the new map leak ain't legit. Take that as you will...

[Spider-Vice]

On 7/12/2021 at 4:38 AM, fireflightim said:

It's definitely telling and indicative of poor UI design

Which Rockstar isn't really known for - let me clarify that an artist following some basic design guidelines is different from the design of the actual UI you see as an user, e.g. not liking a font, an icon, etc... @palmtreegoblin kindly linked a picture that was found in an artist's portfolio a few years ago that showed the GTA V pause menu in development. Everything was properly aligned and calculated and gridded, like, you know, an actual designer would do.

 

The fact this is all over the place can indeed be a sign of illegitimacy - what do you mean that UI wasn't implemented? That's pretty much how GTA V PS3's and Xbox 360's pause menu looks, having been changed a bit for the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions. Except the multiplayer parts shown in the screenshot because that was for the thing before GTA Online (a factions-based multiplayer) during development, but that's just those specific bits.

[shaqqy10]

lol

[ivarblaauw]

On 7/12/2021 at 12:26 PM, Dourvas said:

Bob Henderson just posted on twitter that the new map leak ain't legit. Take that as you will...

No he was trolling, just to f*ck with us.

 

 

On 7/12/2021 at 12:37 PM, shaqqy10 said:

lol

suddenly no link to the supposed minimap. Plus the real map has extra roads there; so no it isn't a perfect match. not even close.

[Itscoming2020]

On 7/12/2021 at 12:24 AM, Kirsty said:

I think the shakiness is to add to the illusion of mystery, to create hysteria, as that way the leaker will get the most thrills out of it versus a perfectly detailed video.

 

Because at the end of the day... they're all working from home, there's no other excuse for a shakey video in 2021.

i dont think QA testing is at home, they need direct communication with a person from the Dev team. They give them a room in the office. Cmon R* is so secret, they would never ever allow someone to play the game at home
QA Testing in India is only for Online stuff. R* Lincoln makes the QA for the real games also as far as i know only at the Nightshift at the moment

https://hitmarker.net/jobs/rockstar-games-compliance-qa-tester-nightshift-1265086
This is a full-time permanent position based out of Rockstar’s unique game studio in Lincoln, UK.
We are currently only hiring for our Nightshift (6:30 pm – 3:00 am).

Finding bugs at night, fixing at the daytime.... Which means something is in the End of Development and has a deadline

and yes businesses are open. People that cant / doesnt want to work from home are allowed to work in the office, as long the Max. count of people is under the limit. Nightshift = No persons in the office

Edited July 12, 2021 by Itscoming2020

[ivarblaauw]

On 7/12/2021 at 1:43 PM, Itscoming2020 said:

i dont think QA testing is at home, they need direct communication with a person from the Dev team. They give them a room in the office. Cmon R* is so secret, they would never ever allow someone to play the game at home
QA Testing in India is only for Online stuff. R* Lincoln makes the QA for the real games also as far as i know only at the Nightshift at the moment

https://hitmarker.net/jobs/rockstar-games-compliance-qa-tester-nightshift-1265086
This is a full-time permanent position based out of Rockstar’s unique game studio in Lincoln, UK.
We are currently only hiring for our Nightshift (6:30 pm – 3:00 am).

Finding bugs at night, fixing at the daytime.... Which means something is in the End of Development and has a deadline

Keep in mind that they have multiple games in development, at least:
- GTA V E&E
- GTA VI

Alongside that rumored:
- GTA Trilogy remakes
- GTA IV remaster
- Red Dead Redemption remake
- Red Dead Redemption 2 for next gen

So yeah... enough stuff where it might be for.

Edited July 12, 2021 by ivarblaauw

[bakerach]

On 7/12/2021 at 5:03 AM, ivarblaauw said:

I didn't notice that, but damn, that is actually quite cool. Not something I noticed yet, but something very 'R*ish'.

 

And we can never know until we see the first images ingame.

 

I also just checked the map of 1985 by the way:

 

I checked some close ups and I have never seen a more obvious piece of photoshop in my life. Look at the small island and you can literally see the same area 3x, which is done by the stamp clone tool. 

 

I have worked with photoshop for over a decade and recently created my own renditions of vice state:
Throw in a blur and it is similar to what we see here. Hell it even was leaked by fakers on reddit to say it was the real gta VI map (and it isn't even finished yet, still needs colour correction for the cities)

 

You can call me out on it if the 1985 one ends up being real, but seriously the 1985 one is fake. 100%. 

The bottom image is the only "obvious" Photoshop here, it's got more than enough resolution to see very clear edges of the various pieces of the composition (the bizarre 90° cuts and very hard edge on the western city border, the abrupt transition from Florida landscape to a desert and then Rockies-esque mountain range for some reason).

 

Like I've said about 100 times in this forum, the 1985 image is very low res, far too much to make out much detail in any specific area.  If you have 10 years of Photoshop experience at any high level, this should be obvious to you at a glance.  I don't know what you mean by "checked some close ups" because there aren't any higher resolution versions of the 1985 leak as far as I know, so simply magnifying a low resolution photo wouldn't do you any good.  Anyways, why would someone go to the hard work of creating a fake map by stitching together various shots from Google Earth just to get lazy and clone stamp a couple of sections instead of using unique locations?  It makes no sense that someone would give away the fakeness of their creation like they when they literally have a world full of options to choose from.

 

The "clone stamped" areas are just pixelated groups of similarly colored buildings on a small island.  Props for at least being able to explain a specific point of contention, but like everyone else, you've failed to make a compelling case against the 1985 map imo.

[seth297]

i hope this map is real it would so fun to go to disneyland

[bakerach]

On 7/12/2021 at 8:22 AM, seth297 said:

i hope this map is real it would so fun to go to disneyland

I doubt it's real, but if Vice City is the location then I'd be very surprised if they didn't have some type of large Orlando-style theme park in the central area of the map.

[ivarblaauw]

On 7/12/2021 at 2:08 PM, bakerach said:

The bottom image is the only "obvious" Photoshop here, it's got more than enough resolution to see very clear edges of the various pieces of the composition (the bizarre 90° cuts and very hard edge on the western city border, the abrupt transition from Florida landscape to a desert and then Rockies-esque mountain range for some reason).

 

Like I've said about 100 times in this forum, the 1985 image is very low res, far too much to make out much detail in any specific area.  If you have 10 years of Photoshop experience at any high level, this should be obvious to you at a glance.  I don't know what you mean by "checked some close ups" because there aren't any higher resolution versions of the 1985 leak as far as I know, so simply magnifying a low resolution photo wouldn't do you any good.  Anyways, why would someone go to the hard work of creating a fake map by stitching together various shots from Google Earth just to get lazy and clone stamp a couple of sections instead of using unique locations?  It makes no sense that someone would give away the fakeness of their creation like they when they literally have a world full of options to choose from.

 

The "clone stamped" areas are just pixelated groups of similarly colored buildings on a small island.  Props for at least being able to explain a specific point of contention, but like everyone else, you've failed to make a compelling case against the 1985 map imo.

The fact that there is a gradient like fade from city to countryside is the first give away. This is done with a brush with a faded edge. This is visible all around Vice City. Except for a few buildings which are randomly on the outskirts, without any roads. 
Also I would like to point towards the highways which, once they reach the city, disappear in a fade. 

Also there is no visible highway system in the city, which, even if blurred, would have been obviously visible. 
The small island doesn't even have any roads at all.

 

The blurred image is actually another give away. If there is an image like this, why is it blurry? 
Look at the 'new leak'. This one is blurry, yes, but hell even at that point we can obviously see loads of details and even read names of locations. We live in 2021 ffs, the other leak was late 2018. Everybody has smartphones, and if you work at R* at this level, you walk around with the latest tech. 

If I am wrong, you can tell me and I'll be the first to say: 'okay I was wrong'. But today I am 100% sure this 1985 map is fake. At most it might be a concept map, but in that case they have done a terrible job of city planning.

[seth297]

On 7/12/2021 at 1:27 PM, bakerach said:

I doubt it's real, but if Vice City is the location then I'd be very surprised if they didn't have some type of large Orlando-style theme park in the central area of the map.

it could be real i am not one to bash guys on reddit or people here for no reason  just because they think it is real. 

is it real probably not but maybe it looks far more likely to be real then the last one . 

everyone said rdr 2 map was fake lets wait and see.

[bakerach]

On 7/12/2021 at 8:27 AM, ivarblaauw said:

The fact that there is a gradient like fade from city to countryside is the first give away. This is done with a brush with a faded edge. This is visible all around Vice City. Except for a few buildings which are randomly on the outskirts, without any roads. 
Also I would like to point towards the highways which, once they reach the city, disappear in a fade. 

Also there is no visible highway system in the city, which, even if blurred, would have been obviously visible. 
The small island doesn't even have any roads at all.

 

The blurred image is actually another give away. If there is an image like this, why is it blurry? 
Look at the 'new leak'. This one is blurry, yes, but hell even at that point we can obviously see loads of details and even read names of locations. We live in 2021 ffs, the other leak was late 2018. Everybody has smartphones, and if you work at R* at this level, you walk around with the latest tech. 

If I am wrong, you can tell me and I'll be the first to say: 'okay I was wrong'. But today I am 100% sure this 1985 map is fake. At most it might be a concept map, but in that case they have done a terrible job of city planning.

Again, it's too low res to make definitive statements like this.  The city transition to rural boundaries looks quite similar to Los Santos in V.

 

The roads are the size of (if not usually smaller than) city blocks, so thinking that they'd be "obviously visible" is off-base.  If you look at the "Keys" islands in the October leaks, you can see how faint the highway is connection the mainland to the islands.  Again, someone with a decade of high-level Photoshop experience should be able to figure these things out.

 

Despite what you may think as an armchair city planner, you aren't "100% certain" of anything in regards to these leaks.

[ivarblaauw]

Allright, If you don't want to believe me, that is okay.

Even if you blur an image of Los Santos to similar qualities, you will distinctly see the highways throughout the map. 

I specifically mentioned highways, since these should be present throughout the city. They aren't. 

Again, if I am wrong, you are fully in your right to tell me that once the game releases. But with my experience in Photoshop I am sure this is fake. 100% sure.

[Spider-Vice]

On 7/12/2021 at 12:43 PM, Itscoming2020 said:

i dont think QA testing is at home

QA are testing from home. A lot of companies have QA nightshifts for dedicated QA studios like R* Lincoln. You can login into remote machines or virtual machines so no content is stored your personal machine.

[bakerach]

On 7/12/2021 at 9:02 AM, ivarblaauw said:

Allright, If you don't want to believe me, that is okay.

Even if you blur an image of Los Santos to similar qualities, you will distinctly see the highways throughout the map. 

I specifically mentioned highways, since these should be present throughout the city. They aren't. 

Again, if I am wrong, you are fully in your right to tell me that once the game releases. But with my experience in Photoshop I am sure this is fake. 100% sure.

I've worked with Photoshop at a professional level for over a decade.  You aren't 100% sure, you're just 100% convinced.

 

Btw, the image isn't "blurred," it's low resolution with lots of artifacts from heavy image compression.  But as a Photoshop veteran, I'm sure you knew that.

Edited July 12, 2021 by bakerach

[fryday]

On 7/12/2021 at 2:06 PM, ivarblaauw said:

Keep in mind that they have multiple games in development, at least:
- GTA V E&E
- GTA VI

Alongside that rumored:
- GTA Trilogy remakes
- GTA IV remaster
- Red Dead Redemption remake
- Red Dead Redemption 2 for next gen

So yeah... enough stuff where it might be for.

And 1 out of 6 is a new game....horrible Trend of warming up old sh*t.....

[Itscoming2020]

On 7/12/2021 at 3:03 PM, Spider-Vice said:

QA are testing from home. A lot of companies have QA nightshifts for dedicated QA studios like R* Lincoln. You can login into remote machines or virtual machines so no content is stored your personal machine.

yeah sure if you talk about Lame QA for uninteresting Software & Programs, we talk here about R* and a Game thats worth more than a Billion. They will never  allow QA from Home

[Orthur]

On 7/12/2021 at 4:58 AM, palmtreegoblin said:

I've been thinking about this for about a day. This is my take:

 

Let's only take a look at the HUD elements.

 

 

The pause screen doesn't exactly scream Rockstar quality to me beta, alpha, or not. It would take one GD student with a focus in UX to come up with something better on a weekend. There is no consistency in padding.

 

This screenshot is from the discovery of a portfolio of a Rockstar employee that worked on the beta CNC menus (and possibly other things, I don't really recall):

 

 

Notice the orange guides on the menu? Those are "rulers" to make sure the padding has complete consistency. Something this leak completely disregards. 

 

Let's take a look at another Rockstar game for example just for the meme.

 

 

Notice how "INDEX" has the same exact padding as the map markers.

 

From a UI/UX perspective, this seems fake to me. You could definitely go ahead and use the "it's in early development!!!!" argument but Rockstar literally just used IV's UI design when V was in it's infancy. Why wouldn't they just do the same here? Especially if the game is (allegedly) in it's early stages and E&E exists. Seems like it'd take an afternoon to just port in V's UI.

 

Fantastic map design, though. 

 

This is a great post! I knew something was wrong with the "leaked" map but I didn't realize it's the bad design/padding until you pointed it out.

 

Would you mind if I post this on Reddit? I'll obviously credit you. It's sad to see so many people being gullible to a leak like this, honestly.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Orthur

[KonradGM]

R* pretty much told the devs to hide their phones while game testing + to use curtains when drone was spotted outside their windows. R* is above a lot other companies when it comes to their secrecy. Sure most companies don't want stuff to leak but R*/T2 will send literal detectives to people if they leak stuff. Generally speaking working in an office there are usually cameras there so doing any photo won't be obvious neither will show much. 

[nicktestbranch]

On 7/12/2021 at 9:18 AM, Itscoming2020 said:

yeah sure if you talk about Lame QA for uninteresting Software & Programs, we talk here about R* and a Game thats worth more than a Billion. They will never  allow QA from Home

on principle, that's a bit of a ridiculous assumption. even if they know the risk of material leaking slightly increases with employees working from home, they still have all the tools and procedures in place to identify those accountable who would leak content. a QA tester would likely be able to perform their job through a VPN to their office, where their activity is strictly monitored and audited up the ass to minimize the chances of something sensitive getting out. and who are they hiring that would be willing to risk losing their job and career over not following simple rules in a WFH environment?

 

 

[ivarblaauw]

On 7/12/2021 at 3:05 PM, bakerach said:

I've worked with Photoshop at a professional level for over a decade.  You aren't 100% sure, you're just 100% convinced.

 

Btw, the image isn't "blurred," it's low resolution with lots of artifacts from heavy image compression.  But as a Photoshop veteran, I'm sure you knew that.

100% sure or convinced, that is the same thing...

 

Anyway, if it is blurred due to it being made blurry or being compressed (why would it be?), the result is similar. You would still have to see the highways. There are none on the 1985 map within the city boundaries. No loops, no highways connected. Just highways leading into the city and poof, they are gone. 

 

The northern most highway leading into the city fades away, the other slowly changes color and is gone 1/3rd into the city. 

 

But if you think it is real, be my guest

I am 'convinced' it is fake due to the things I stated above, 100%.

 

And to finish; the two additional islands have no harbors whatsoever, just 100% surrounded by beach. I like beach, but damn even this is too much Where are the marinas, harbors, etc?

Edited July 12, 2021 by ivarblaauw

[bakerach]

On 7/12/2021 at 9:53 AM, ivarblaauw said:

100% sure or convinced, that is the same thing...

 

Anyway, if it is blurred due to it being made blurry or being compressed (why would it be?), the result is similar. You would still have to see the highways. There are none on the 1985 map within the city boundaries. No loops, no highways connected. Just highways leading into the city and poof, they are gone. 

 

The northern most highway leading into the city fades away, the other slowly changes color and is gone 1/3rd into the city. 

 

But if you think it is real, be my guest

I am 'convinced' it is fake due to the things I stated above, 100%.

 

And to finish; the two additional islands have no harbors whatsoever, just 100% surrounded by beach. I like beach, but damn even this is too much Where are the marinas, harbors, etc?

"Sure" means you know.  "Convinced" means you believe.  Not the same in English.

 

The poor image quality is because we're seeing a compressed photograph of a monitor, so you have possible cheap phone camera quality + monitor pixels + compression artifacts all leading to a muddy image when you try to look at details.

 

If you look at this image, you can see how faint the highways become outside of the areas with high contrast between the roads and their surroundings:

 

Once the highways get into any visually busy area, be it the city in the top right or the land/beach/water border by the "Keys," they become much less distinct.  The bridge from the mainland to the northernmost island is a great example of this, you can make it out but it's almost impossible to see once it gets to the water.  Regardless, it's pretty easy to see where the highway goes into the city on the north side.

 

The beaches around the other islands is my one sticking point with this leak, as it does seem odd, but in the "Rio" island you can see a distinct break in the beach on the northwest side, seemingly indicating a seaport.

 

Of all the leaks, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of how convincing it is and how difficult it would be to fake from scratch.  Of this, I'm 100% sure.  I'm not 100% sure it's legit, but I'm 100% sure this is the most involved creation of any leak so far and certainly has the hallmarks of a top-level AAA open-world map like we've come to expect from Rockstar.  Knowing what I know about image quality having been a visual media professional for 10+ years, nothing except the beach borders raises any suspicions in my mind.

[Kirsty]

On 7/12/2021 at 3:07 AM, ivarblaauw said:

Hell, in my country they literally named EVERY street in a neighbourhood after LOTR and Hobbit characters.

Off-topic but that’s brilliant, I want to live in one of those streets  

 

 

On 7/12/2021 at 8:18 AM, Itscoming2020 said:

yeah sure if you talk about Lame QA for uninteresting Software & Programs, we talk here about R* and a Game thats worth more than a Billion. They will never  allow QA from Home

R* have been 100% remote since March 2020. QA or not, NDA covers it.