Why does the Shady Creek Cabin have its own "area" on the map?

[BennyGod]

It's an extremely minor location. No missions, no activities, just one vehicle. What's the point?

[LeatherJacketSoldier]

Rockstar's creepy pasta. Just material for famous myths.

[Rhoda]

You could say the same about Easter Bay Chemicals, as it fits the same criteria - it's clearly labeled on a map and despite its prominence, serves absolutely no purpose other than housing an import/export spawn when relevant. Even then, the Patriot can be found in other places. Adding details and areas for the player to discover makes the experience feel richer. Not everything has to have a purpose, but think back to the first time you found the cabin off the beaten track and wondered just what the hell it was even for.

[BennyGod]

18 minutes ago, Rhoda said:

You could say the same about Easter Bay Chemicals, as it fits the same criteria - it's clearly labeled on a map and despite its prominence, serves absolutely no purpose other than housing an import/export spawn when relevant. Even then, the Patriot can be found in other places. Adding details and areas for the player to discover makes the experience feel richer. Not everything has to have a purpose, but think back to the first time you found the cabin off the beaten track and wondered just what the hell it was even for.

Yeah, there are plenty of areas like that, but why is one cabin labeled? There's a similar cabin on Mount Chilliad, and there are plenty of unlabeled larger buildings.

[Rhoda]

Who knows? For all we know it could have been a safehouse at one point.

[Flymystical-DJ]

The gist I get from every Rockstar game is that the world designers and the programmers work somewhat separately. Every GTA game seems to have a ton of unused locations that were put there for location detail and never capitalized on by the mission makers. It's understandable as world creation and mission creation are two completly different tasks but it always carries a bit of an uncanny feel to it. It's why GTA4 is one of my favorites as like 99% of the landmarks gets touched upon during missions or at least well scripted side missions. 

 

I feel like Sanandreas could have benefited from an overhaul to the vigilante system that focussed on taking out targets at set locations rather than random vehicles. Would have been a fantastic way to get the most out of every location without much effort. 

Edited April 10, 2021 by Flymystical-DJ

[BennyGod]

On 4/8/2021 at 12:56 PM, Rhoda said:

Who knows? For all we know it could have been a safehouse at one point.

Maybe it was where the Badland missions originally started. Would make a little sense.