Concept GTAVI: VICE CITY ORIGINS

[The Coconut Kid]

There’s a history to this place they rather you forget.

It wasn’t always glitz and glamour. They used to call it God’s waiting room. Here, bullet-ridden bodies that wash up with the dawn are forgotten by dusk. Vice Metropolitan Area leads the country in toe-tags at a time when Liberty City, Lenapia and Brannigan are guns-blazing for the coveted title of The Most Violent City in America. Cocaine and exile transform this once-innocent piece of paradise into the hub of the drug economy and the capital of meTV cool.

Vice City: Origins is delivered as the story-driven, single-player companion piece to the base release of Grand Theft Auto VI.  It takes advantage of next-generation capability to re-imagine the game map fully inclusive of multiple violent metropolitan areas, the expansive Grasslands and the idyllic Lucayan islands.

Each location will transform across three pivotal years in Vice City history – 1980, 1985 and 1988. An evolving soundtrack, traffic pattern, civilian population and criminal underworld compliment a fearsome and progressive wanted system, itself underpinned by the technological advances afforded by the War on Drugs.

Discover the chaos, opportunity and injustice through the stories of five protagonists. The Exile and The Shepherd, two boat-arrivals from Cuba and Haiti respectively, are broken and brutalised upon their arrival to Vice City in 1980. They must survive captivity and overcome prejudice & political conspiracy to shape futures for themselves. The Hustler, a seasoned and ambitious drug enforcer confined to the heroin markets of Freedom City and Undertown, takes advantage of changing markets and upheaval to enter the cocaine trade. The Fixer, well-established in Tequesta as a prolific contract killer and flamboyant local personality, seizes upon tension between rival organisations to line his pockets. And The Three Time Loser, lurking in the shadows, is ready to blow it all apart.

Welcome back to VIce City. Things will be different.

 

1. Introduction: Welcome to Vice City: Origins.
2. Soundtrack: The blockbuster soundtrack you know and love – bigger and better.
3. Location: Map area and the Evolution of Vice Metropolitan Area.
4. The Exile: Castro is aiming them like bullets at America.
5. The Hustler: Rising to the top.
6. The Shepherd: Building a life against all odds.
7. The Fixer: The makings of a varsity athlete and more.
8. The Three-Time Loser: Doesn't deserve to win.
9. Gameplay: Tools to make it in this world.
10. Underworld: The run down of gang life, syndicate business and cartel schemes in VMA.
11. Vehicles: Three generations of automobile and all yours for the taking.
12. Weapons: An extensive arsenal curated by our resident gunsmith.

 

1. The Vehicles of Vice City: Added 22/02/23.
2. The Weapons of Vice City: Added 22/02/23.

 

ORIGINAL THREAD: "GRAND THEFT AUTO VI: VICE"
Part of The Coconut Collection

 

ENJOY

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

Jump to next post: Location

Don’t go any further without turning up your stereo.

600 songs, 29 playlists, 20 stations. Dive in and enjoy yourself.

Experience the evolution of music across the eighties. Radio stations emerge and fall out of favour throughout the decade. Fear not – if your favourite station drops off the airwaves, just walk into your local Vinyl Countdown and load up on your favourite cassettes and compact discs.

DJs are numerous – old voices and new. Reni Wassulmaier fronts Post 103 before leaving for their native West Germany. Fernando Martinez grinds his way up from Tent City Disco to host of Emotion 98.3 before the station eventually drops out of circulation. Flash FM cycles through disposable blondes Tabi and Tori while Toni remains a jealous ever-present. Konstantinos Smith dodges sunlight to replace Adam First at goth-rock rebrand Grave 103. Ex-dancer Siobhan spits venom towards former lover Oliver “Ladykiller” Biscuit live from the re-branded Vice City For Swingers.

Playlists have been assembled on Youtube for your listening convenience.

For those who are short on time, enjoy a soundtrack sampler here.

Playlist

1. A Certain Ratio – “Flight”
2. Adam & The Ants – “Physical”
3. Associates – “Boys Keep Swinging”
4. Bauhaus – “Dive”
5. Buggles – “Kid Dynamo”
6. The Cure – “At Night”
7. David Bowie – “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)”
8. Devo – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
9. Durutti Column – “Sketch For Summer”
10. Echo & The Bunnymen – “Crocodiles”
11. Gang Of Four – “Return The Gift”
12. Gary Numan – “Are Friends Electric?”
13. Hawkwind – “Opa Loka”
14. Human League – “The Touchables”
15. John Foxx – “Underpass”
16. Killing Joke – “Complications”
17. Martha & The Muffins – “Revenge”
18. Nina Hagen Band – “Hermann Hiess Er”
19. OMD – “Messages”
20. Orange Juice – “Falling & Laughing”
21. Simple Minds – “Thirty Frames A Second”
22. Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Paradise Place”
23. Spandau Ballet – “To Cut A Long Story Short”
24. Talking Heads – “Psycho Killer”
25. U2 – “I Will Follow”
26. Ultravox – “All Stood Still”
27. Visage – “Tar”
28. Warsaw – “As You Said”
29. XTC – “Radios In Motion”
30. Yello – “Bostich”

Playlist

1. B-52s – “Dirty Back Road”
2. Blondie – “Do The Dark”
3. Boomtown Rats – “Banana Republic”
4. Bryan Adams – “Win Some Lose Some”
5. The Cars – “Up & Down”
6. The Clash – “Washington Bullets”
7. David Bowie – “Sound and Vision”
8. Dire Straits – “Skateaway”
9. Dusty Springfield – “Baby Blue”
10. Elton John – “White Lady, White Powder”
11. Elvis Costello – “Pump It Up”
12. Genesis – “Misunderstanding”
13. The Go-Gos – “We Got The Beat”
14. Huey Lewis & The News – “Now Here’s You”
15. Ian Dury – “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick”
16. J. Geils Band – “Love Stinks”
17. John Cougar – “Miami”
18. John Hiatt – “I Spy (For The F.B.I.)”
19. The Knack – “Baby Talks Dirty”
20. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – “Lies”
21. The Motels – “Party Professionals”
22. New Musik – “Straight Lines”
23. Pat Benetar – “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”
24. The Police – “Bombs Away”
25. The Pretenders – “Mystery Achievement”
26. Rick Springfield – “Jessie’s Girl”
27. Robert Palmer – “Not A Second Time”
28. Rolling Stones – “Miss You”
29. Talking Heads – “Once In A Lifetime”
30. 20/20 – “Yellow Pills”

Playlist

1. AC/DC – “Shoot To Thrill”
2. Aerosmith – “Three Mile Smile”
3. April Wine – “I Like To Rock”
4. Billy Squier – “Big Beat”
5. Black Sabbath – “Neon Knights”
6. Def Leppard – “Wasted”
7. Diamond Head – “It’s Electric”
8. Frank Marino – “Finish Line”
9. Girlschool – “Not For Sale”
10. Heart – “Bebe Le Strange”
11. Iron Maiden – “Phantom Of The Opera”
12. Judas Priest – “Rapid Fire”
13. KISS – “Sure Know Something”
14. Krokus – “Heatstrokes”
15. Lynyrd Skynyrd – “That Smell”
16. Michael Schenker Group – “Armed & Ready”
17. Motorhead – “Love Like A Reptile”
18. Nazareth – “Crazy”
19. Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train”
20. Saxon – “Dallas 1PM”
21. Scorpions – “The Zoo”
22. Thin Lizzy – “Massacre”
23. Tom Petty – “Refugee”
24. Triumph – “I Live For The Weekend”
25. Van Halen – “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”

Playlist

1. Al Stewart – “Year Of The Cat”
2. Andy Gibb – “After Dark”
3. Blackjack – “Maybe It’s The Power Of Love”
4. Bobby Caldwell – “Coming Down From Love”
5. Boz Scaggs – “Jojo”
6. Christopher Cross – “Ride Like The Wind”
7. Doobie Brothers – “You Never Change”
8. Elton John – “Give Me The Love”
9. Fleetwood Mac – “Dreams”
10. Gino Vannelli – “I Just Wanna Stop”
11. Godley & Creme – “Brazilia”
12. Hall & Oates – “Kiss On My List”
13. John Mellencamp – “I Need A Lover”
14. Kim Carnes – “Where Is Your Heart?”
15. Loverboy – “Turn Me Loose”
16. Nicolette Larson – “Lotta Love”
17. Patti Smith – “Because The Night”
18. Red Rider – “Just The Way It Goes”
19. Reo Speedwagon – “Follow My Heart”
20. Robbie Dupree – “Hot Rod Hearts”
21. Roxy Music – “No Strange Delight”
22. Sniff N’ The Tears – “Driver’s Seat”
23. Steve Winwood – “Second Hand Woman”
24. Talking Heads – “Listening Wind”
25. Toto – “99”

Playlist

1. Anita Ward – “Ring My Bell”
2. Beaver Hale – “Groove On”
3. Celi Bee – “Blow My Mind”
4. Change – “Searchin”
5. Chi Lites – “Higher”
6. Cosa Rica Band – “Baila”
7. Foxy – “Get Off”
8. France Joli – “Feel Like Dancing”
9. George McCrae – “Love In Motion”
10. Gibson Brothers – “Cuba”
11. Herman Kelly – “Dance To The Drummer’s Beat”
12. Jimmy “Bo” Horne – “I Get Lifted”
13. Kat Mandu – “The Break”
14. KC & The Sunshine Band – “Black Water Gold”
15. Mad Dog Funk Department – “Cosmic Funk”
16. Miami – “Disco Weekend”
17. Partners – “Dance (Whoever You Are)”
18. Peter Brown – “Crank It Up”
19. Rice & Beans Orchestra – “You’ve Got Magic”
20. Ron Louis Smith – “Party Freaks”
21. Sherman Hunter – “Dance To Freedom”
22. T-Connection – “Saturday Night”
23. T.T Express – “Fox With The Box”
24. True Image – “Secret Lover”
25. Uncle Louie – “Full Tilt Boogie”

Playlist

1. Caldera – “Carnavalito”
2. Carlos Franzetti – “Cocoa Funk”
3. Deodato – “Havana Strut”
4. Fania All Stars – “Que Pasa”
5. Fausto Pappetti – “I Love America”
6. Gato Barbieri – “Evil Eyes”
7. Herb Alpert – “Rise”
8. Irakere – “Gira Gira”
9. Joe Bataan – “Latin Lover”
10. Johnny Martinez – “Los Jovencitos”
11. Louie Ramirez – “El Mundo Nunca Cambiara”
12. Mongo Santamaria – “What You Don’t Know”
13. Raul De Souza – “Sweet Lucy”
14. Ray Barretto – “Confrontation”
15. Yambu – “Sunny”

 

Playlist

1. Afrika Bambaataa – “Zulu Nation Throwdown”
2. Blowfly – “Rapp Dirty”
3. Frankie Smith – “Double Dutch Bus”
4. Funky 4 + 1 – “That’s The Joint”
5. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – “Super Rappin’”
6. Jimmy Spicer – “Adventures of Super Rhymes”
7. King Monkey – “Badd Mann Dann Rapp”
8. Kurtis Blow – “Rappin’ Blow [Part Two]”
9. Lady B – “To The Beat Y’All”
10. Margo’s Kool Out Crew – “Death Rap”
11. Mr. Magic – “Rappin’ With Mr. Magic”
12. Nice & Nasty 3 – “The Ultimate Rap”
13. Spoonie G – “Monster Jam”
14. Sugarhill Gang – “8th Wonder”
15. Treacherous Three – “Body Rock”

 

Playlist

1. Atlantic Starr – “When Love Calls”
2. Betty Wright – “You’re Just What I Need”
3. The Blackbyrds – “Mysterious Vibes”
4. Bobby Womack – “How Could You Break My Heart?”
5. Chapter 8 – “I Just Wanna Be Your Girl”
6. The Commodores – “Wonderland”
7. Dexter Wansel – “The Sweetest Pain”
8. Dynasty – “Adventures In The Land Of Music”
9. Isley Brothers – “Here We Go Again”
10. The Jones Girls – “When I’m Gone”
11. Kool & The Gang – “Too Hot”
12. Leroy Hutson – “So Nice”
13. Linda Clifford – “Never Gonna Stop”
14. Maze – “Joy & Pain”
15. Michael Henderson – “Goin’ Places”
16. Michael Jackson – “It’s The Falling In Love”
17. Millie Jackson & Isaac Hayes – “Sweet Music, Soft Lights & You”
18. Milton Wright – “Keep It Up”
19. Norman Connors – “Handle Me Gently”
20. Ramsey Lewis – “Whisper Zone”
21. Rose Royce – “Love Don’t Live Here Any More”
22. Shirley Brown – “Dirty Feelin”
23. Starvue – “Body Fusion”
24. Teddy Pendergrass – “Let Me Love You”
25. Vicki Sue Robinson – “Hope Your Feelings Are Like Mine”

Playlist

1. Charmion Toussaint – “Caribbean Children”
2. David Martial – “He Ti Mamman Ou”
3. Dife – “Fanm Fet Pou Respekte”
4. Fitzroy Williams – “Ou Gate”
5. FM Band – “Djema Goko”
6. Jean-Jacques Anjot – “Yamadou Mamanene”
7. Jean-Philippe Marthely – “Tracas”
8. Kassav – “Love and Ka Dance”
9. Max & Henri – “Destinee Fatale”
10. Nouvelle VaGue – “Pirouli”
11. NSI – “Gade Sa Ki Ka Passe Dote Kote”
12. Pulsation – “Nous Toujou La”
13. Ryco & Co – “Lopango Na Sengui”
14. Sartana – “Mecage Douvan Komansse Touche”
15. Toto Necessite – “Tripotage”

Playlist

1. Charanga 76 - "C-U-B-A Is CUBA"
2. Charanga 76 - "Good Times"
3. Charanga 76 - "My Forbidden Lover"
4. Charanga 76 - "No Nos Pararan"
5. Charanga 76 - "We Are Family"

Playlist

1. Aldo Nova – “Fantasy”
2. Billy Idol – “Flesh For Fantasy”
3. David Bowie – “Criminal World”
4. Foreigner – “Tooth and Nail”
5. Genesis – “Man On The Corner”
6. Glenn Frey – “You Belong To The City”
7. Grace Jones – “Slave To The Rhythm”
8. Hall & Oates – “Crime Pays”
9. Jerry Harrison – “Things Fall Apart”
10. Kim Carnes – “Voyeur”
11. Lindsay Buckingham – “Go Insane”
12. Night Ranger – “I Need A Woman”
13. The Police – “Wrapped Around Your Finger”
14. Queen – “Body Language”
15. Red Rider – “Lunatic Fringe”
16. Robert Palmer – “You Are In My System”
17. Russ Ballard – “In The Night”
18. Style Council – “Long Hot Summer”
19. Uriah Heep – “Hot Night in a Cold Town”
20. Wham – “Nothing Looks The Same”

Playlist

1. A Flock Of Seagulls – “What Am I Supposed To Do?”
2. Baltimora – “Tarzan Boy”
3. Berlin – “No More Words”
4. Blancmange – “Don’t Tell Me”
5. Bronski Beat – “Run From Love”
6. Chaz Jankel – “Without You”
7. Culture Club – “It’s A Miracle”
8. Duran Duran – “New Moon On Monday”
9. Eurythmics – “Sweet Dreams”
10. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Welcome To The Pleasuredome”
11. Gang Of Four – “Is It Love?”
12. Haircut 100 – “Boy Meets Girl”
13. Heaven 17 – “And That’s No Lie”
14. Howard Jones – “New Song”
15. Human League – “Don’t You Want Me”
16. Icehouse – “One By One”
17. Kajagoogoo – “Ooh To Be Ah”
18. Ministry – “Revenge”
19. Naked Eyes – “I Could Show You How”
20. Orange Juice – “Rip It Up”
21. The Police – “Voices In My Head”
22. Public Image LTD – “This Is Not A Love Song (Club Mix)”
23. Romeo Void – “A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)”
24. Simple Minds – “Someone Somewhere (In Summer Time)”
25. Tears For Fears – “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”

Playlist

1. A-Ha – “The Sun Always Shines On TV”
2. Belouis Some – “Imagination”
3. Billy Idol – “Eyes Without A Face”
4. Blondie – “Dreaming”
5. Bruce Springsteen – “Dancing In The Dark”
6. Devo – “Gates Of Steel”
7. Dire Straits – “Money For Nothing”
8. Erotic Exotic – “Take Me As I Am”
9. Expose – “Point Of No Return”
10. The Fixx – “Are We Ourselves?”
11. Go West – “We Close Our Eyes”
12. Hall & Oates – “Possession Obsession”
13. Huey Lewis & The News – “I Want A New Drug”
14. INXS – “Listen Like Thieves”
15. KC & The Sunshine Band – “Give It Up”
16. Level 42 – “The Sun Goes Down”
17. Madonna – “Everybody”
18. Mai Tai – “Body And Soul”
19. Melissa Manchester – “You Should Hear How She Talks About You”
20. Missing Persons – “Windows”
21. Mr. Mister – “Uniform Of Youth”
22. Phil Collins – “Sussudio”
23. Rolling Stones – “Undercover Of The Night”
24. The Romantics – “Talking In Your Sleep”
25. Simply Red – “Come To My Aid”
26. Spandau Ballet – “Only When You Leave”
27. The Tubes – “She’s A Beauty”
28. U2 – “New Years Day”
29. The Who – “Baba O’Riley (Live)”
30. Yoko Ono – “Walking On Thin Ice”

Playlist

1. Accept – “Fast As A Shark”
2. Aerosmith – “Let The Music Do The Talking”
3. Anthrax – “A.I.R.”
4. Billy Squier – “Everybody Wants You”
5. Bon Jovi – “In & Out Of Love”
6. Def Leppard – “Another Hit & Run”
7. Dio – “Rainbow In The Dark”
8. Dokken – “Tooth & Nail”
9. Exodus – “Bonded By Blood”
10. Great White – “On Your Knees”
11. Iron Maiden – “The Trooper”
12. Judas Priest – “Screaming For Vengeance”
13. KISS – “Is That You?”
14. Krokus – “American Woman”
15. Lita Ford – “Out For Blood”
16. Megadeth – “Killing Is My Business (And Business Is Good)”
17. Metallica – “Escape”
18. Motley Crue – “Keep Your Eye On The Money”
19. Motorhead – “Shine”
20. Ozzy Osbourne – “Flying High Again”
21. The Power Station – “Get It On (Bang A Gong)”
22. Queensryche – “Blinded”
23. Ratt – “Wanted Man”
24. Saxon – “Broken Heroes”
25. Scorpions – “Dynamite”
26. Thin Lizzy – “Cold Sweat”
27. Twisted Sister – “Kill Or Be Killed”
28. Van Halen – “Panama”
29. Y&T – “Summertime Girls”
30. W.A.S.P. – “I Wanna Be Somebody”

Playlist

1. Amii Stewart – “Friends”
2. Anita Baker – “Will You Be Mine?”
3. Brothers Johnson – “Strawberry Letter #23”
4. Chaka Khan – “Ain’t Nobody”
5. Cherelle – “Will You Satisfy?”
6. DeBarge – “I Like It”
7. Delegation – “Oh Honey”
8. Deniece Williams – “Strangers”
9. Dennis Edwards – “Don’t Look Any Further”
10. Dynasty – “The Only One”
11. Freddie Jackson – “Love Is Just A Touch Away”
12. GQ – “(I Love) The Skin You’re In”
13. Isley Brothers – “I Need Your Body”
14. The Jones Girls – “Knockin”
15. Juicy – “Sugar Free”
16. Luther Vandross – “Busy Body”
17. Marvin Gaye – “Life Is For Learning”
18. Patrice Rushen – “Feels So Real”
19. Pieces Of A Dream – “Warm Weather”
20. Pointer Sisters – “I Need You”
21. Sade – “Cherry Pie”
22. S.O.S. Band – “No One’s Gonna Love You”
23. The Time – “Gigolos Get Lonely Too”
24. Tom Browne – “Secret Fantasy”
25. Womack & Womack – “Love’s Calling”

Playlist

1. Alexander O’Neal – “What’s Missing”
2. Aretha Franklin – “Jump To It”
3. Billy Ocean – “Loverboy”
4. Break Machine – “Street Dance”
5. DeBarge – “Rhythm Of The Night”
6. Evelyn “Champagne” King – “Givin’ You My Love”
7. Freeez – “I.O.U.”
8. I’m Talking – “Trust Me”
9. Kashif – “I’ve Been Missing You”
10. Larry Graham – “Sooner Or Later”
11. Lionel Richie – “Dancing On The Ceiling”
12. Madonna – “Into The Groove”
13. Michael Jackson – “P.Y.T.”
14. Miami Sound Machine – “Dr. Beat”
15. Midnight Star – “Playmates”
16. Patrice Rushen – “You Fascinate Me (Get Off)”
17. Pretty Poison – “Night Time”
18. Prince – “I Would Die 4 U”
19. Rockwell – “Somebody’s Watching Me”
20. Shannon – “Sweet Somebody”
21. Sheena Easton – “Sugar Walls”
22. Thelma Houston – “I’d Rather Spend The Bad Times With You”
23. Thrust – “Can’t Wait To Get To You”
24. Whitney Houston – “Thinking About You”
25. Xena – “On The Upside”

Playlist

1. Clio – "Faces"
2. Fancy – "Chinese Eyes"
3. Fockewulf 190 – "Body Heat"
4. Giorgio Moroder – "Shannon’s Eyes"
5. Kano – "Another Life"
6. Kasso – "Key West"
7. Klein & MBO – "Dirty Talk"
8. Lime – "Babe We’re Gonna Love Tonight"
9. Motion – "You and I"
10. My Mine – "Hypnotic Tango"
11. Pineapples – "Come On Closer"
12. Plustwo – "Stop Fantasy"
13. Sandra – "Maria Magdalena"
14. Savage – "Don’t Cry Tonight"
15. Stefano Pulga – "Take Me Higher"

Playlist

1. 2 Live Crew – "Revelation"
2. Afrika Bambaataa – "Planet Rock"
3. Davy DMX – "The DMX Will Rock"
4. Divine Sounds – "Dollar Bill"
5. Dr. Fresh – "Life Is A Ghetto"
6. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde – "Fast Life"
7. Fat Boys – "Can You Feel It"
8. Fatback Band – "Is This The Future?"
9. Freestyle – "Don’t Stop The Rock"
10. Jonzun Crew – "We Are The Jonzun Crew"
11. Key-Matic – "Breakin’ In Space"
12. Pretty Tony – "Will We Ever Learn?"
13. Run DMC – "You Talk Too Much"
14. Timezone – "Wildstyle"
15. Toddy Tee – "Batterram"
16. Two Sisters – "B-Boys Beware"
17. VHB – "Beethoven’s Fifth Street Symphony"
18. Whodini – "Big Mouth"
19. Whodini – "Five Minutes of Funk"
20. World Famous Supreme Team – "Hey D.J."

Playlist

1. Allman Brothers – "Ramblin’ Man"
2. Atlanta Rhythm Section – "Cocaine Charlie"
3. Blackfoot – "Road Fever"
4. Black Oak Arkansas – "Hot N Nasty"
5. Blood Sweat & Tears – "Go Down Gamblin’"
6. Charlie Daniels Band – "The Legend Of Wooley Swamp"
7. Creedence Clearwater Revival – "Pagan Baby"
8. Doc Holliday – "Last Ride"
9. Little Feat – "Dixie Chicken"
10. Lynyrd Skynyrd– "That Smell"
11. Marshall Tucker Band – "Fire On The Mountain"
12. Molly Hatchet – "Gator Country"
13. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – "Let’s Go"
14. Outlaws – "Ghost Riders In The Sky"
15. Ozark Mountain Devils – "Noah"
16. Pure Prairie League – "Two Lane Highway"
17. Ram Jam – "Black Betty"
18. Tony Joe White – "Swamp Rap"
19. ZZ Top – "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers"
20. .38 Special – "Bring It On"

Playlist

1. Al Corley – “Square Rooms”
2. The Blue Nile – “Tinseltown In The Rain”
3. Bobby Caldwell – “She Does It Better”
4. Bryan Ferry – “Slave To Love”
5. The Cars – “Drive”
6. Don Henley – “Boys Of Summer”
7. Duran Duran – “Save A Prayer”
8. Feargal Sharkey – “A Good Heart”
9. Gary Wright – “Really Want To Know You”
10. George Michael – “Careless Whisper”
11. Heart – “These Dreams”
12. Jennifer Rush – “If You’re Ever Gonna Lose My Love”
13. Kate Bush – “Running Up That Hill”
14. Kim Carnes – “Bette Davis Eyes”
15. Lindsey Buckingham – “Trouble”
16. Lionel Richie – “All Night Long”
17. Malcolm McLaren – “Madame Butterfly”
18. Michael Jackson – “Human Nature”
19. Michael McDonald – “I Keep Forgettin”
20. Mondo Rock – “Come Said The Boy”
21. The Motels – “Shame”
22. Mr. Mister – “Kyrie”
23. Paul Young – “Every Time You Go Away”
24. Prefab Sprout – “Appetite”
25. The Sherbs – “We Ride Tonight”
26. Spandau Ballet – “True”
27. Steve Perry – “Captured By The Moment”
28. Tina Turner – “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”
29. Toto – “It’s A Feeling”
30. ZZ Top – “Rough Boy”

Playlist

1. Barrington Levy - "Robber Man"
2. Black Uhuru - "Sponji Reggae"
3. Bunny Wailer - "Cool Runnings"
4. Dennis Brown - "Wolves and Leopards"
5. Dr. Alimantado - "Best Dressed Chicken In Town"
6. The Gladiators - "Can't Stop Righteousness"
7. Gregory Isaacs - "Stranger In Town"
8. Jacob Miller & Little U Brown - "Backyard Movements"
9. Johnny Clarke - "Rudeboy"
10. Junior Mervin - "Police & Thieves"
11. King Tubby - "Keep Dubbing"
12. Lee "Scratch" Perry - "Jungle Lion"
13. Max Romeo - "One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards"
14. Mighty Diamonds – “Pass The Kutchie”
15. Peter Tosh - "Wanted Dread & Alive"
16. Trinity - "Three Piece Suit"
17. UB40 - "King"
18. The Upsetters - "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Goodbye"
19. U-Roy - "Chalice In The Palace"
20. Yellowman - "Sensemilla"

Playlist

1. Fania All Stars – “Back To My Roots”
2. Gato Barbieri – “Fiesta”
3. Henri Guedon – “Afro Blue”
4. Herb Alpert – “Rise”
5. Irakere – “Chekere Son”
6. Joe Bataan – “Latin Strut”
7. Jose Mangual Jr – “Que Chevere”
8. Louie Ramirez – “El Poeta Lloro”
9. Mongo Santamaria – “Mambomongo”
10. Paquito D’Rivera – “Mariel”
11. Poncho Sanchez – “Una Mas”
12. Ray Barretto – “El Nuevo Barretto”
13. Ray Mantilla Space Station – “Carajillo Con Mantilla”
14. Sonora Pancena – “Vas Por Ahi”
15. Tito Puente – “Generacion 80”

Playlist

1. Alexander O’Neal – "What Can I Say (To Make You Love Me)"
2. Babyface – "If We Try"
3. Bobby Brown – "I’ll Be Good To You"
4. Chaka Khan – "Soul Talkin"
5. Cherrelle – "Keep It Inside"
6. Evelyn “Champagne” King – "Flirt"
7. Guy – "Round and Round"
8. Herb Alpert - "Diamonds"
9. Joyce Sims – "Come Into My Life"
10. Karyn White – "The Way You Love Me"
11. Kashif – "Love Changes"
12. Mac Band Featuring The McCampbell Brothers – "Roses Are Red"
13. Millie Jackson – "Hot! Wild! Unrestricted!"
14. Morris Day – "Fishnet"
15. New Edition – "If It Isn’t Love"
16. Shalamar – "Playthang"
17. Sheena Easton – "The Lover In Me"
18. Teddy Pendergrass – "Joy"
19. Today – "Take It Off"
20. Vanessa Williams – "The Right Stuff"

Playlist

1. ABC – “King Without A Crown”
2. The B-52’s – “Summer of Love”
3. Billy Idol – “Fatal Charm”
4. The Cars – “Strap Me In”
5. The Cure – “Just Like Heaven”
6. Curiosity Killed The Cat – “Red Lights”
7. David + David – “It Ain’t Easy”
8. David Bowie – “Bang Bang”
9. David Lee Roth – “Stand Up”
10. Debbie Harry – “French Kissin’ In The USA”
11. Dino – “Summergirls”
12. Eurythmics – “Heaven”
13. Fine Young Cannibals – “She Drives Me Crazy”
14. Hall & Oates – ‘Downtown Life”
15. Huey Lewis & The News – “I Know What I Like”
16. Icehouse – “No Promises”
17. Information Society – “Walking Away”
18. INXS – “New Sensation”
19. Level 42 – “Children Say”
20. Madonna – “Live To Tell”
21. Noiseworks – “Touch”
22. Pat Benatar – “Invincible”
23. Peter Gabriel – “I Don’t Remember”
24. Primitives – “Crash”
25. Prince – “U Got The Look”
26. Roxette – “Paint”
27. Simple Minds – “Oh Jungleland”
28. The System - ”Don’t Disturb This Groove”
29. Wet Wet Wet – “Sweet Little Mystery”
30. .38 Special – “Back To Paradise”

Playlist

1. Adonis – “Lost In The Sound”
2. Blaze – “If You Should Need A Friend”
3. Byron Stingily – “Just A Little Bit”
4. Derrick May – “Strings Of Life”
5. Farley Jackmaster Funk – “U Ain’t Really House”
6. Fingers Inc – “Mystery Of Love”
7. House To House – “Taste My Love”
8. Inner City – “Big Fun”
9. Kariya – “Let Me Love You For Tonight”
10. Kenny Jammin’ Jason – “Don’t Want It”
11. Liz Torres – “Can’t Get Enough”
12. Marshall Jefferson – “Open Our Eyes”
13. Master C&J – “In The City”
14. Phuture – “Your Only Friend”
15. Professor Funk – “The Visions”
16. Ralphi Rosario – “You Used To Hold Me”
17. Raze – “Caught U Cheatin”
18. Steve Silk Hurley – “Jack Your Body”
19. Ten City – “Devotion”
20. 2 Puerto Ricans, A Blackman & A Dominican – “Do It Properly”

Playlist

1. Alisha – "All Night Passion"
2. Company B – "Fascinated"
3. Connie – "Funky Little Beat"
4. Denise Lopez – "Sayin’ Sorry (Don’t Make It Right)"
5. Expose – "Come Go With Me"
6. Genuine Parts – "Did It Feel Like Love?"
7. Jay Novelle – "If This Ain’t Love"
8. Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam – "Can You Feel The Beat"
9. Nice & Wild – "Diamond Girl"
10. Pretty Poison – "Catch Me (I’m Falling)"
11. Secret Society – "Find Yourself"
12. Sequal – "It’s Not Too Late"
13. Solid – "Loving You (Club Nu Mix)"
14. Voice In Fashion – "Only In The Night"
15. Will To Power – "Dreamin’"

Playlist

1. 2 Live Crew – “Throw The D”
2. Afro Rican – “Give It All You Got”
3. DJ KJ & MC Kooley C – “Big D”
4. Fresh Celeste – “Get It Boy”
5. Gigolo Tony – “Smurf Rock”
6. Gucci Crew II – “Gucci Bass”
7. Half Pint – “Stump N Grind”
8. Kooley C – “Let Yourself Go”
9. L’Trimm – “Cars That Go Boom”
10. LeJuan Love & DJ Mann – “I Still Feel Good”
11. M-Cee Zeus – “Chicken Head”
12. Maggotron – “Bass Invaders”
13. MC Cool Rock & Chaszy Chess – “Boot The Booty”
14. MC Shy D – “Shake It”
15. Original Concept – “Pump That Bass”
16. Prime Choice – “The Beat Is Fresh”
17. Rodney O & Joe Cooley – “Everlasting Bass”
18. Sir Mix-A-Lot – “Square Dance Rap”
19. Whodini – “I’m A Ho”
20. Worse ‘Em – “Triple M Bass”

Playlist

1. Bauhaus – “Dark Entries”
2. The Chameleons – “Swamp Thing”
3. Clan Of Xymox – “Back Door”
4. The Cult – “Big Neon Glitter”
5. The Cure – “Cold”
6. The Damned – “Shadow Of Love”
7. Depeche Mode – “Fly On The Windscreen”
8. Fields Of The Nephilim – “Slow Kill”
9. Flesh For Lulu – “Sleeping Dogs”
10. Gene Loves Jezebel – “Desire”
11. The Jesus & Mary Chain – “Just Like Honey”
12. Killing Joke – “Love Like Blood”
13. Love & Rockets – “Holiday On The Moon”
14. March Violets – “Walk Into The Sun”
15. The Mission – “Stay With Me”
16. Railway Children – “A Pleasure”
17. Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Jigsaw Feeling”
18. Sisters Of Mercy – “Lucretia My Reflection”
19. The Smiths – “How Soon Is Now?”
20. Virgin Prunes – “Alone”

Playlist

1. Accept – “Monsterman”
2. Anthrax – “A.I.R.”
3. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name”
4. Cinderella – “Shake Me”
5. Def Leppard – “Animal”
6. Great White – “Gonna Getcha”
7. Guns N Roses – “Out Ta Get Me”
8. Iron Maiden – “Can I Play With Madness?”
9. Judas Priest – “Reckless”
10. L.A. Guns – “Shoot To Thrill”
11. McAuley Schenker Group – “Gimme Your Love”
12. Metallica – “Shortest Straw”
13. Motley Crue – “Girls Girls Girls”
14. Ozzy Osbourne – “Shot In The Dark”
15. Poison – “Look What The Cat Dragged In”
16. Queensryche – “Revolution Calling”
17. Saxon – “Live Fast Die Young”
18. Slayer – “Silent Scream”
19. Tesla – “Modern Day Cowboy”
20. Twisted Sister – “Hot Love”
21. Van Halen – “Good Enough”
22. WASP – “Wild Child”
23. White Lion – “Hungry”
24. Whitesnake – “Give Me All Your Love”
25. Winger – “Headed For A Heartbreak”
     

Handporn version | Discman version

With thanks to @universetwisters

 

Independence FM exists in tribute to those of you who love to contribute your own mixes and suggestions.

 

Choose an existing station or create your own. Throw them in a Youtube or Soundcloud playlist and link them below. Make sure to let everyone knows the playlist is for Vice City Origins.

 

Please do not directly post Youtube videos in this topic. They will slow down the thread and will be removed.

 

Mixes will be listed here. Keep an eye out for the upcoming Nightclubs section. Word is they're looking for DJs...

Independence FM Playlist:

 

The Makepeace Mix | @Ivan1997GTA | Post
The Wave 103 Remix | @Ivan1997GTA | Post
The ID85 Remix | @Ivan1997GTA | Post
The Los Santos '87 Rink Nights Mixtape | @kobeni | Post
The Gusenberg '88 Goth Party Tape | @kobeni | Post

 

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

Jump to next post: The Exile

Turn the clock back 45 years.

 

The first thing you notice is the filter. Glitz and glamour are absent. Instead, smoke, anger and hatred cling to your screen. Squint a little tighter and you’ll make out flashes of light in the distance. Don’t mistake them for neon. No – these are the flames engulfing Glamour City Gatorbowl. This is the rage of the Freedom City Riots.

 

Welcome to Vice City at the height of Hell Year.

 

The entire Vice Metropolitan Area becomes your stomping ground. It covers three counties and spreads across four major cities: Fort Tequesta, West Jaega, Vice Beach and Vice City.

 

You will cut through the Grasslands and float among the Lucayan Commonwealth – simply Lucaya for short.

 

And finally – Vice Keys. The Keys reside in their own county area. Expect to stand out here. They don’t take too kindly to your kind. Especially when you’re arriving by the boatload.

 

Conditions won’t always be hellish. Vice City Origins progresses through three distinct periods – 1980, 1985 and 1988 –  with extensive transformations that occur under your hand. You will lay the foundations for what becomes a formidable skyline and brighten the lights of Ocean Beach towards their world famous best.

 

Where it all begins.

Vice Beach comprises ten neighbourhoods. You rediscover it in an immediate state of disrepair and smothered by an urgent state of panic towards migrants. You will steer it towards prosperity and its eventual revival.

 

Vice Beach (Miami Beach):

• Atlantic Beach (North Beach)
• Dynasty Beach (Mid Beach)
• North Point Village (North Bay Village)
• Ocean Beach (South Beach)
• Playa Del Sol (Sunny Isles Beach)
• Prawn Island (Hibiscus Island/Palm Island)
• Price Island (Fisher Island)
• Seminole Creek (Indian Creek)
• Shoreside (Surfside)
• Sol Harbour (Bal Harbour)

 

Mainland.

Mainland has previously received a pitiful depiction. No longer. Vice City extends across thirty-three distinct areas. It is separately policed, first by GCPSD and later by the much better-equipped VCPD, and eventually has a dedicated public transportation system – the Vice City Monorail. Long-distance rail travel between counties is possible at the Tran-Rail Transfer Station in Seminole. It is serviced domestically and internationally by two airports and also hosts Fort Baxter Air Base.

Mainland transforms across the eighties. Migrants breathe new life into the suburbs. Little Havana, which already exists in 1980, dramatically expands with the arrival of 125,000 Marielitos. It later splits into Little Managua with the arrival of Nicaraguans. Elsewhere, Little Haiti is established and renews an area once notorious for crime and vice.   

Cranes will begin to tower throughout the decade. Vice City throws the buildings up as fast as they can get the steel. Burnett, the future financial center of the mainland area, and the lavish Burnett Key, will eventually transform the Downtown skyline.

Vice City (Glade County):

• Alhambra (Coral Gables)
• Arawakan (Allapattah)
• Banana Grove (Coconut Grove)
• Burnett (Brickell)
• Cable City (Carol City)
• Downtown (Downtown Miami)
• East Bay (Upper East Side)
• Eldorado (Doral)
• Escapada (Aventura)
• Escobar International Airport (Miami International Airport)
• Felicity (Dadeland)
• Fort Baxter (Homestead AFB)
• Flagstaff (Flagami)
• Freedom City (Liberty City)
• Greek Heights (Olympia Heights)
• Holywater (Edgewater)
• Key Belair (Key Biscayne)
• Key Richmond (Key Virginia)
• Little Haiti (Little Haiti)
• Little Havana (Little Havana)
• North Vice Beach (North Miami Beach)
• Prospect Bay (Cutler Bay/Palmetto Bay)
• Richman (Richmond Heights)
• Seminole (Hialeah)
• Siren (Omni)
• Sunshine City (Florida City)
• Tolima (Kendall)
• Travis (Civic Centre)
• Undertown (Overtown)
• Val Halla (Opa Locka)
• Valeria (Wynwood)
• Vatican Islands (Venetian Islands)
• Viceport (Port of Miami)

 

Your doorstop heaven.

Vice Keys, all four of them, reside within Mansfield County. Head here when you need to wind down.

Vice Keys (Florida Keys):

• Archipelago (Key Islamorada)
• Lorca (Key Largo)
• Mansfield (Key West)
• Sticksville (Stiltsville)
• Tortuga (Key Marathon)

 

The Grasslands are an ecosystem unto themselves.

This place is more than swamp - though you’ll be hard pressed not to get lost in them. The swamplands dominate the western area of the game map. They spawn endlessly and if you roam far enough, you’ll be eaten by phantom alligators.

There are two major avenues in and out of The Grasslands: Covice Trail and Reptile Way. Scores more if you befriend the locals and soak up their advice.

Furthest west of the map, you’ll encounter Grass City. Grass City was once the thriving hub of the South Florida fishing industry – now recent government regulations force its populace to rely upon smuggling for their living.

You will also encounter Mikasuki Indian Reservation and Wildlife Preserve. This self-sustaining community is heavily self-policed. It will, much later, become home to an expansive casino gaming complex.

 

Grasslands (Everglades):

• Covice Trail (Tamiami Trail)
• Grass City (Everglades City)
• Mikasuki Indian Reservation (Big Cypress Indian Reservation)
• Reptile Way (Alligator Alley)

 

Jaega moves slow. It is South Florida of a more innocent age – until it isn’t.

You discover Jaega as a mix of shacks, swampland and dwindling seaside economies, all each existing alongside obscene amounts of wealth.

Eleven locations make up Jaega County. Its major metropolitan area is West Jaega. Both offer convenient access to the Grasslands.

 

Jaega County (Palm County):

• Belmont (Belle Glade)
• Blackbyrd Beach (Boynton Beach)
• Dayton Village (Dunbar Village)
• Electra Beach (Riviera Beach)
• Jaega Gardens (Palm Beach Gardens)
• Lake Futile (Lake Worth)
• Prestige Beach (Palm Beach)
• Roca Baton (Boca Raton)
• Sunray Beach (Delray Beach)
• Tenement City (Pleasant City)
• West Jaega (West Palm Beach)

 

The lay of the land here takes a lot of getting used to.

Tequesta used to be farmland – still is in a lot of places. But its complex network of canals also provided fertile ground for smuggling. Port Tequesta, dredged early in the twentieth century, turned this pursuit into industry. And from this industry grew Fort Tequesta.

Fort Tequesta and surrounds have a notable rural western influence. Much of this comes from the local land baron and dairy owner William Weston. This influence has dwindled in recent years, but runs deep into the state political machine. Indeed, his son Devin has little interest in making a career out of selling cheese.

The area has since achieved notoriety as Fort Tequila – a party-economy favoured by Spring Breakers.

 

Tequesta County (Broward County):

• Daley (Davie)
• Dutch Beach (Dania Beach)
• Fort Tequesta (Fort Lauderdale)
• Holland Beach (Hallandale Beach)
• Indian Hill (Lauderhill)
• Mendares (Miramar)
• Pembridge Pines (Pembroke Pines)
• Pompeii Beach (Pompano Beach)
• Port Tequesta (Port Everglades)
• Presidents City (Boulevard Gardens, Franklin Park, Roosevelt Park, Washington Park)
• STFU (FIU)
• Tequesta Lakes (Lauderdale Lakes)
• Vinewood (Hollywood)
• Yearling Beach (Deerfield Beach)
• Wilted Gardens (Wilton Manors)

 

A smuggler’s paradise.

The Lucayan Commonwealth makes heavy claims about cracking down on drug traffickers. The reality is they’re in their pocket.
It’s an open secret that Pitkin’s Cove, a heavily-fortified private island, harbours top drug smugglers and serves as a cocaine transshipment point. Mysterious German patrols have been known to warn away prying eyes with machine guns.

There are otherwise few developed areas in this isolated chain of islands. Freeman and Landau are your choices of destination if you want to mix it with the locals. Try your hand at the freighter casinos while you’re there.

President Barrington “Barry” Swindlen is a vocal patriot and has argued fiercely for independence from the British – and won.

 

Lucayan Islands (The Bahamas):

• Freeman (Freeport)
• Landau (Nassau)
• Pitkin's Cove (Norman Cay)

 

The luster fell away from Vice City long before the first of the Freedom Flotillas washed up on its beaches.

It used to have a playful innocence. The sixties and early seventies were the heydays of Vice Beach resort entertainment and family-friendly fun. The elderly migrated south in droves for good times and cheap living. Now they barricade themselves in their Ocean Beach apartments and live in terror of being the next to be struck down by The Cuban Crime Wave.

The problems are longstanding. The City of Vice Beach declares an intention to condemn much of Ocean Drive and the old Art Deco resorts in 1973. The hotels and apartment blocks are left to fall into extreme disrepair. It forces the relocation of residents from their homes. But what is supposed to be the biggest urban renewal project in American history doesn’t get off the ground. Vice Beach needs federal approval. And to gain federal approval, the city must demonstrate that it is a “blighted” district.  

The council decide on a program of self-sabotage. They impose bans on new construction and structural repairs. The old Ocean Point Pier collapses and breaks off into the Atlantic. The parks are closed and overgrow into jungles. The police are deliberately underfunded and underequipped. The elderly are viewed as parasitic and “cancerous” and every effort is made to drive them from their rent-controlled beachfront apartments. The seeds are sewn for Ocean Beach to be swamped by an “underclass” of drug addicts, petty criminals and refugees.

Fear arrived by boatlift, they say. But, truth is, violence has been on the climb for some time. The Gladeland Shooting rocks Vice City in 1979, and at the same time, introduces a new phenomenon: the Cocaine Cowboy. These bloodthirsty killers arrive from Colombia by air and they choose the streets of Vice City to settle old scores. Stories of violence pepper the headlines but nobody cares too much – just thugs killing thugs.

Then crime rates begin to climb.

 

Robberies – up 775%. Auto Theft – up nearly 300%. The murder rate soars. The bodies begin to pile so high, they’re storing them in Mr. Whoopee trucks.

The perpetrators extend to local street gangs and first-gen Little Havana kids. But this is soon forgotten. It becomes fashionable to blame the Marielitos – but Vice has been a powderkeg for some time, needing just a spark to explode.

Those sparks are all around you. Expect to encounter the following:

Danger. It’s the emptiness that puts you wise to the threat – everyone hides behind closed doors fearful of becoming a target. Gun battles rage in the streets and on the beaches. Bombs blow. Cars race around either stolen or transporting victims to hospitals. Muggers and home invaders lurk in the shadows.

Desperation. Paradise is Lost and, for many, never to be found. Boat arrivals are processed in makeshift camps on Vice Beach and shuffled straight to detention centers on the edge of the Grasslands. Those who don’t comply are beaten into the sand. Drive through mainland and see migrants penned into tent cities. Witness the famous Art Deco buildings boarded up and in horrible states of disrepair. Spare a dollar for the drunks beneath the Ocean Beach pier or the Cuban exile trying to beg a boat back to Havana.

 

 

Hatred. It is palpable. We don’t want you. We don’t need you. The locals stateside take it to another level – they hold yacht rock benefit concerts to transport migrants back to Cuba; they sell t-shirts bearing the logo Save Vice, Kill a Cuban. The Klan try to gain a foothold in the city. VCPR blazes with heavily-armed veterans offering to supply the weapons, the ammunition and the manpower – and the body bags to bury you all.

Hostility. Everybody carries a gun – even the kids. The message from police has been simple: go out and arm yourselves because we can no longer protect yourself. Civilian slayings of suspected criminals are through the roof – and you are always in their crosshairs. Add to this moving through the map when you’re black and brown. Vice hasn’t long ceased to operate as a series of sundown towns – and the legacy still lingers. Do not get caught out after 10pm in Vice Beach. VBPD have recently re-introduced a policy of stop-and-frisk. Elsewhere they won’t even extend the courtesy to shout stop before they shoot.

Revolution. The Brigade have never given up their mission of returning to Cuba and liberating its people. They commence training every week in the swamps. Joining them are a cache of other heavily-armed revolutionaries all sharing an anti-Castro hatred.

Sleaze. You’ll need to shower just to scrub off the filth. Red Light Districts are open markets for sex and operate in numerous locations. Washington Beach is a parade of adult entertainment and live strip shows – twin screen hardcore features and peeps. Marquees hang over the street not unlike Liberty City in the seventies. The streetwalkers crowd underneath. Nearby Leland Mall and the Oldman Road blocks are a notorious shooting gallery for dope addicts. Ocean Beach is a haven for the gay exile community. Living openly for the first time, Marielitos remake health-bars and Jewish delis into glory holes and leather bars. Men-of-the-night in heels and hot pants are common trade. Hit Mainland and you’ll find Holywater and Belair Boulevard are the main hooker strolls and sex precinct. Indulge.

 

ACT TWO.

 

ACT THREE.

 

Gratitude for certain location names must go to the creator formerly known as Money Over Bullsh*t
He still owes us a Vice City concept of his own.

 

Back to contents

Edited January 29, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

Meet your program for telling the players.

Vice City: Origins is grounded within an immense volume of history which propels the story across three acts and five protagonists. Stories progress with a sense of urgency. Connections are won and lost – empires are built and destroyed.

They plan to use them to embarrass the United States over and over.

“I have flushed the toilets of Cuba on America!” proclaims Fidel Castro in 1980. He uses the mass exodus to empty Cuban jails and send untold numbers of hardened criminals, homosexuals and the mentally ill aboard the Freedom Flotillas to Vice City. Nobody knows the true number of Escoria – scum – herded onto the rowboats and fishing vessels in the dying days of the Mariel Boatlift. America certainly does not welcome the idea of murderers, thieves and degenerates with Open Arms & Open Hearts.

 

With Alejandro Altamirano, make up your own mind.

They first jail him for stealing a pair of shoes: ten-years-old and facing down a fifteen-year sentence. He comes of age in Havana prison and first sets his feet on soil as an adult when they ship him off to Angola. They teach him guerrilla warfare, how to drive a tank, how to handle a machine gun. He teaches Angolan orphans how to read and write. When the time is right, he uses the local knowledge he learns to flee camp and escape into the forests.

He doesn’t make it far. They catch up with him and beat the sh*t out of him – ship him back to Havana and add a further fifteen to his sentence. Alejandro begins to lose his mind.

Release is unexpected. They bus them from the jails and into central booking. Alejandro is processed and branded with a scum number – he will carry it around his neck at all times. He will eventually join the Tapadidos – the second-generation of Mariel exiles – on a voyage to Vice City. It will not go smoothly.

 

 

THE MARIELITOS

 

Anaelys Ferrales: Artist and playwright. Thrown in with the Boatlift after being arrested in Havana – created protest material in support of those holed up in the Peruvian embassy. Now draws cartoons for El Vice Bugle and writes dispatches from Tent City. Single mother. She hopes to earn enough to bring her child and elderly mother to the United States.

 

Dairio Ruiz: Teenage car thief and camp hustler. Turns tricks in Ocean Beach.

 

Dairon Hierrezuelo: Begs his way onto your Freedom Flotilla in Mariel Harbour – claims to have a brother waiting to sponsor him. Can’t swim. He owes you big time and insists on repaying you.

 

de Las Heras Family: There are five of them – mom, pop and their three kids. Mom gave birth on the boat. Dad walks the streets in search of work. The siblings run around the camp – it’s no place for two kids. Find something better for them.

 

Euclides “Angel” Elizagarate: They blow his leg clean off in Angola – he swears all along that it’s a double-cross. They repatriate him to Brazil for treatment and he receives a leather prosthetic. No sooner than it is fitted he absconds. Learns a thing or two about cocaine from the Brancaccio-Martelli proxies stationed in Rio. He gets caught in possession and they hand him back to Cuba – he serves his sentence in the torture chambers. Hungry and always looking for opportunities.

 

Fernando Martinez: Tent City pimp – hangs around the makeshift camp disco trying to arrange dates with little success.

 

Francisco “Frank” Cascacante: Stud. Pumps up his muscles pounding out press-ups on deck. Fashions a makeshift gym in Tent City. Meets all of the physical requirements to heed the recruitment drive of Glade County Police.

 

Guillermo Bobadilla: Convicted killer. Prepared to take whatever he wants.

 

Laurencio “Larry” Mendoza: Bastard child – the product of a love affair between a cocktail waitress and an anonymous American mobster. Larry never learns the identity of his father – just that he’s the man of the house from an early age. They catch him stealing bread and sentence him – he serves his time in adult prison. Things happen. He grows to trust no one else and looks out for number one always. The kind of bullet Castro can’t wait to throw at America.

Miguelina: Professional woman – one of the educated Tapadidos who elects to board the Boatlift in search of better opportunities. They make her life hell – she loses her ability to work and her neighbours spit on her in the street. She takes up an offer of working the Orange groves in Vice – finds the job is offered by an Undertown pimp who would much prefer it if she works in his topless bar. Skilled bookkeeper – later takes up an office in Ocean Beach.

 

Noel Fuentes: Poet. One of the 12,000 who swarm the Peruvian embassy in April 1980. Castro promise them they can return to their families and wait to be repatriated. Instead they burn his home to the ground. He lives on the street. Eventually resettles in Peru.

 

Raimundo Hechavarria: Childhood friend. Came over earlier in the Boatlift and settled with first-gen Cuban migrants. Gets his hands dirty working fishing boats and compensates with flashy clothes. Finds himself out of work when the Lucayan Commonwealth declare Cubans can’t fish for lobster in open waters any more. Takes the opportunity to put his knowledge of the islands to good use.

 

Rene Sotomeyer: Habitual criminal. GCPSD would hang a sentence on him if they had space to hold him. Uses his brief spells in detention as an opportunity to shore up connections.

 

Violetta Collado: Political prisoner. Has been a long-standing member of the anti-Castro underground in Havana – used to blow up police stations with hand grenades. Regroups in Vice City.

 

Virgil Baca: They worship the ground he walks on. Virgil stole a bus and aimed it at the Peruvian Embassy – him and five others got inside and traded bullets with Cuban soldiers. Wounded two and killed one. People came in their thousands to take refuge inside. The rest is history.

 

Yosel Carvajales: Lonesome barfly at Tent City Disco. Constantly abandoned by sponsors. Destined to be relocated to Puerto Rico.

 

Supporting Cast:

 

Aurelio de Alquizar: Major Seminole gangster – currently at war with the Colombians. Owns police. Owns politicians. Wants to own it all. Learned how to conduct himself from the Italians he broke legs for as a kid – he still idolises them. Lost his eye in a shootout ten years ago. Credits his survival to his belief in Santeria.

 

Bilal “Bill” Baouz: Likes to be referred to as “Bill The Boss” – a hulking former professional boxer who sleazes his way into the position of Mayor in Vice Beach. Runs a vigilante squad of VBPD officers who impose an informal “Sundown Town” around Ocean Beach. Open for business.

 

Chi-Chi: Cheeeeeit. Candidate for Mayor of Seminole. Already in the pocket of Aurelio de Alquizar.

 

El Lobo: Senior tactician of Los Vaqueros – makes moves to muscle Cuban distributors out of the cocaine trade.

 

Evelio Suarez: Close friend of Aurelio. Previously failed an application to join the police. Aurelio encourages him to try his luck with the IAA instead. Currently operates a private detective agency.

 

Heredero “Herve” Hierrezuelo: Top-end cocaine dealer. Murdered several Cuban police officers and fled to Vice City by boat in the mid-70s. Freebase addict. Serial killer. Your first major contact.

 

Nikitas “Nik” Charalabidis: Greek-American police sergeant based in Seminole. Has the run of the department. Huge. Self-confessed Jesus freak and martial arts expert – represented the U.S. at the Olympics as a judoka. Teaches hand-to-hand combat to Aurelio de Alquizar and joins him in daily prayer. Current mentor officer to recent police recruit Armando de Alquizar.

 

Rafe: Ex-car thief. Learned his trade in New Austin. Now operates as the chief contract killer for Los Vaqueros.

 

Ramon “Pogo” Arozarena: Veteran of the famous IAA-trained Brigade of exiles who returned to liberate Cuba in 1962. Returned to Vice City and began operating as a hitman. Worked for the mob, the Corsicans and the famed Colcacone-Castracani clan. Fell out of favour with a drug habit in the mid-1970s and fostered contacts in GCPSD. Trades information freely and plays both sides.

 

ACT TWO.

 

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

He remembers when they called it Colored Town.

You needed a pass to get out of Undertown in those days – but why leave when there was so much to see? The famous Verse Theatre bustled with the best of black entertainment and those same entertainers, who were not permitted to board in the Vice Beach venues they were booked to perform at, resided among the locals. Sonny always knew the power of controlling your own real estate – and strove always to one day own his own.

 

The sixties and seventies test those dreams. They gut the neighbourhood with the Expressway and the Interstate. What remains of better days goes up in flames with the riots. There is nothing left. Nothing except heroin.

 

Mr. Allen buys the dope from the Eye-talians. The Eye-talians don’t give up product that isn’t already cut down, and Mr. Allen hands it off in ounces and grams to his people after hitting it with quinine. His people pass it down to their people, and those people – the cornerboys – take Sonny on as a kind of mascot. They hand him spare change to go and watch those Kung Fu flicks he favours down at The Verse now that it operates as a grindhouse. They clap when he hoots and high-kicks and waves his dollar-store nunchakus around. Same time, he learns a thing or two about heroin.

 

Most of the neighbourhood goes to ‘Nam. Sonny learns about it making dope runs to North Carolina. The Italian connection has made way for the Corporeal Connection. Heroin is smuggled into the country in coffins under the supervision of black gangsters. They have a ready-made market in returning veterans.

 

The Mercer boys usurp Mr. Allen and Sonny becomes a trusted enforcer to Emerald Gerald. He directs the action from his prison cell in the keys. He grows fond of Sonny and the fat envelopes of money he brings him to secure his release. Gerald has always has been a ruthless son-of-a-bitch – and he isn’t giving up any of that smack money for nobody.

 

 

THE CORNERKIDS

 

Bourgie George: Everybody wants to be Bourgie Georgie. They say he used to walk into The Glamor City Lounge with crisp 50s and 100s to hand off to the DJ every time he spun the Gladys Knight smash hit. Claimed she wrote it after him – that his name had been ringing out on street corners since the 70s. And that much is true. Bourgie George pushes heroin. He keeps aside just enough profit to meet his re-up from Gerald Mercer – and spends the rest on hedonous trips to Las Venturas.

 

“Droptop” Rick: He’s been driving them since he could barely see over the steering wheel. Rick goes way back with Dee Pyle – he got his start as a lookout on truck robberies and had first refusal on any flash merchandise brought back to Undertown by stickup merchants Ira and Irv Brown. Dee likes his style and recognises his ambition. Rick starts moving pot in high school and pays his way to the Olympics – takes bronze for the U.S. as a wrestler: hands like catcher’s mitts. He returns to Vice City with his heart set on a new convertible – and a keen interest in cocaine.

 

Gerome Upchurch: They call them the Val Halla Brahma. They run with a membership of 50 strong – and most of them carry the name Upchurch. Gerome is the latest in a long line of pimps, thieves and street fighters, brought to the area by their patriarch, Raymond – a former sharecropper and boxer. He is by far the flashiest. He operates a far cry from the origins of the Brahma – they originally set out to defend the neighbourhood against the notorious Ten Count and, further back, The Falcons. Now, they’re a ready-made distribution network – and always looking for a better connect.

 

Ira & Irving Brown: The brothers are inseparable. They are throwbacks – Robin Hood gangsters who rob from the rich to give to the neighbourhood. Cable City loves them. Big Irv made his name first – a talented welterweight who now funds the local gym. He supplies the muscle. Younger brother Ira provides the brains and has eyes on gaining political clout – he aspires to become something of an unofficial mayor.  

 

Valentino Sauldsberry: You don’t have to turn too many pages in the Vice City Bugle before you read the exploits of The South-Glade Studs. The Studs are heavily-armed highway bandits – notorious for putting down freeway robberies with M16 assault rifles. At their heart is Valentino Sauldsberry – a charming former crime-wave unto himself who organises The Studs and their female offshoot: The Sidepieces. It’s better to get them on board than go against them.

 

Wanda Winslow: The rumour goes that Fruity Rudi brought her on board. They call it a family operation – Rudi slid in with Ms. Winslow after getting out of County and took Wanda on as his step-daughter: put her to work. But it’s closer to the truth that she organised the thing herself – Rudi just provides the product. Wanda has a roster of neighbourhood women who operate as cutters, baggers and mules. She feels obliged to them and their families – her heart is set on giving them the luxuries she went without as a kid. And she doesn’t mind entertaining the thought of cutting Rudi out to grab a bigger slice.

 

THE PLAYERS

 

“Big Game” Brunson: He is one of the few of The Mercer Organisation to serve any real time. Eight years later and Big Game Brunson hits the street. Gerald is nervous. He made his reputation as a contract killer and stick-up man in Saint Denis. He came to settle in Port Tequesta but moved on after beating a sailor to death over a dice game. He carried the profits with him to Vice City – bought into a parcel of heroin put together by gangsters in Freedom City and killed all three after they moved it. He suspects Gerald dropped a dime on him before Big Game could do the same to him. He wants what he is owed.

 

Daimon Atwell: Credit him with bringing cocaine to the working man. When Daimon Atwell skipped a three-time loser charge in Los Santos, he headed to Freedom City – and turned the neighbourhood onto freebase. He partnered up with Dee Pyle. Dee used to source his cocaine from the Cubans then – as good as you could get. They cornered the market. Dee invested wisely. Daimon did not.

 

Deon “Dee” Pyle: The top figure this side of town. Deon Pyle is organised. Always has been. He started off in the numbers lotteries. He put his numbers money into a building company and hired men from the neighbourhood. He used those men to turn those same numbers spots into fortified stash houses. And he keeps them moving – he buys land, builds, flattens and moves on. Dee is smart, low-key, and bringing up a new generation of players alongside him. He has a direct line to Vida Negro and Los Vaqueros. He looks to expand.

 

“Easybread Fred” Edmonds: There used to be a stretch of Undertown they called Easybread Alley. The Alley, really more of a block, was the heart of the neighbourhood – the main attraction here was the famous Linen Lounge. Black entertainers came from all over the country to perform. Audiences came from all across the south to watch. Fred made his money running in weed here from his native Lucaya. Then they flatten the neighbourhood to build the Causeway – the glamour evaporates and depression takes root. Tastes change to heroin – so Fred changes his market to match. He also follows the lead of Dee Pyle – he begins to buy up parcels of vacant land in Freedom City and Undertown. He establishes the Glamour City Lounge – the preferred social spot for Vice City’s players. He becomes known as a fixer in the black community. He currently resides on the fringes of the game – but inserts himself in disputes as a mediator when necessary.

 

“Fruity” Rudi Roquemore: About as tricky a motherf*cker as you’ll ever meet. Fruity Rudi – openly bisexual – has been partnered with Emerald Gerald since the sixties. Both came up as enforcers for the legendary Mr. Allen. They begin to do their own thing in the early seventies. Gerald serves out some time in Vice Keys and has Rudi begin to transport H there. It is a route they run until Rudi takes a bust of his own. Rudi isn’t built like Gerald. He provides information in return for a shorter sentence. No one suspects a thing, at least not from Rudi – the feds sit on his information for years until they figure out how to mount a RICO case against the full Mercer administration. Rudi knows the feds will want to put him on the stand against his old friend. He begins to build a fat “f*ck it” bag and plans to go on the run. He won’t make it.

 

Gerald E. Mercer: They know him on the street as Emerald Gerald. He is one of seven brothers, all in his employ, and heads up what has become known as the Gerald E. Mercer organisation. The organisation took shape in the age of the Corporeal Connection – Gerald built upon knowledge learned from his days running the street trade for Mr. Allen to bring heroin to Vice City in amounts previously unseen. The wheels almost came off early. Gerald fell victim to a buy-bust in 1971 and ate a five-year sentence. But Gerald did something extraordinary – he uses smack money to bribe his way out of prison on Mansfield Key to set himself up at a car dealership within walking distance. He instructs Fruity Rudi to reroute the product to the keys. He builds the operation, and a life of luxury, while apparently serving his five-year stretch. His demand for heroin is so great that he begins bartering cocaine from the Lucayan Commonwealth to fly west to Mexico in straight swaps for smack. He turns to The Council in Liberty City for more product when the Corporeal Connection is finally shut down. They cut and bag on an industrial scale. He is untouchable until he isn’t.

 

Silk Robinson: Popcorn pimp. His game doesn’t run on Vice City women any more – so he turns his attention to luring Mariel refugees into topless work at his strip joint.  

 

Sugar: Local institution and colourful character. Sugar used to run numbers spots for Big Dee Pyle and pass money up to the mob. He still has connections and loves to show those Eye-talian boys around. Somewhat of a neighbourhood historian – he has stories for days. He operates Sugar’s Shack – a well-known drop-off point for Mercer Gang dope money – with his on-off wife Gaynor.

 

ACT TWO.

 

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

They call them boat people.

The U.S. doesn’t recognise their right to asylum. They claim the Haitians are economic refugees. There are no open arms and open hearts like those extended to the first-wave Cubans. Theirs is a harrowing and profoundly different story.

Edouard begins in the Terre-Neuve mountains. He mines copper and joins others on rafts destined for Lucaya. There is nothing left for him in Haiti by the mid-1970s. It used to be he had his family and his farm – the Tonton Macoutes took them both.

He doesn’t make it far. Edouard washes ashore low in the island chain after days floating at sea. He becomes dangerously ill from drinking untreated water. He is almost delirious when the fishermen discover him. They share their supplies and nurse him back to health on coconut water. They offer Edouard a passage to Landau.

Haitians in Landau occupy shacks in the bushland outside of Black Village. Haitians Get Out! is the warning given to anyone who dares wander beyond the shantytown. Edouard learns to move in groups to lessen his chances of being attacked. He works the tomato fields and saves his wage. And then the police arrive to round them up. They detain Edouard in prison and steal his money. He fights for his life not to be sent back to Haiti but they beat him into unconsciousness.

The Tonton Macoutes are waiting for him. They’re under orders from Baby Doc to detain and torture any exiles who are returned to Haiti. It goes on indefinitely – and then they think they’ve killed him. They take his body out to the dumping grounds, where skulls and skeletal matter crunch underfoot, and try to run it over. They miss.

He doesn’t remember how he makes it into the bushlands. He remembers the sounds, the smells – the little things he isn’t supposed to remember but stay with him for life. The travelling labour he falls in with at the cane camp on the Dominican border will know him from waking in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and screaming in terror.

There are one hundred of them who pool wages and set sail for Vice City in 1980. They are soon caught in a storm and are lost in open waters. They float aimlessly for almost three weeks when their shipwreck reaches the Caribbean. Several have perished by then. Many are deathly sick. The U.S. Coast Guard know of their plight but ignore their calls for help – it would mean taking responsibility for them. They pressure the Lucayan government to take them – but they don’t want to take responsibility for them either. The Haitians are already crowding their prisons. There is no longer space for shipwrecked boat people in their hospitals and their morgues.

Edouard is among the leaders who take responsibility for bringing the survivors to Vice City. Together, they hold firm to a commitment:
They will not take us back to Haiti alive.

 

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

 

Burr to his friends.

They know him around Tequesta as a bartender and brawler. He drove an imported Ocelot, charmed blondes on the boulevard and never disclosed his sources of income. Three wives and three divorces later, Burr hangs up all that caper to tend bar on someone else’s liquor license.

Harper I worked in the cane fields. Harper II grew up to be a degenerate gambler who got shot dead trying to play clipped cards in a Vinewood casino. Harper III spent his youth being ordered into Coloured neighbourhoods to collect ‘medicine’ for his neurotic mother and stealing cars with tricks he learned from the brothers. His aptitude for petty crime blossomed to organizing call girls and running protection. And then he fell afoul of Tequesta County Sheriff and ate five-years in the local penitentiary.

They offer him a chance to wipe the slate clean with a tour of Vietnam. Burr takes it up. He gets blown out of a tree, but not before he forges a bond with a mouthy wop from Alderney. They share a love of Hanoi whorehouses and, from time to time, shoot them up with their machine guns. The kid claims to be connected. He promises big things. Things don’t happen as big as they should but Burr makes money regardless.

He takes to murder-for-hire no sweat at all. He puts down contracts for bookies, landowners and even the famous William Weston. He becomes one of the reserve of disposable hitmen held on retainer by The Commission during the Liberty City mob wars of 1978. He doesn’t see any action but gains a valuable connection to the Montreal-based kingmakers stewing quietly in the shadows. The spoils are tucked into small businesses.

 

They aren’t sure of the number. The press will later report around 300, but figure a third of what they claim is closer to the mark and the boys are on par, at least, with the notorious DeMare Crew out of Broker - minus the ritual bloodletting. He's been clever about it - plans for it to continue that way, too.

 

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

 

Call Ariel Gara a lot of things. Lucky ain’t one of them.

They binned him a few days after he was born – parents a formerly bull-chested Lithuanian abattoir labourer with advancing spondylitis and no paycheque & an underage cannery worker with mangled fingers and no English. The nuns in Lenapia gave him his name but could not do much more except shunt him off to group homes and foster care.

It stands to reason he struggles to find a place in the world. He drifts from coast to coast and in his own words is “...blackbooked in Venturas, chased out of Carcer and laid into in Liberty.”  The stories are never expanded upon but are peppered with references to an endless number of brothers on the inside. Indeed, he is associated with a number of serious crimes, the most severe of which result in two separate terms in San Andreas and a one-to-ten for robbery in New Austin. He escapes as far as Saint Denis before they trace him and haul him back to the labour camp.

McNeil brings him to Vice Beach. Have a good time, get some sun, take the goddamned grey off of your skin. They take down two or three sweetheart scores and some casual B&E for kicks in Felicity. They celebrate. Gara lays eyes on a pretty little thing across from across the bar down on Washington Beach – buys a piece of paste jewelry from McNeil right there to impress her with. A week later he has her turning tricks for front money. The rest is history. 

 

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

Jump to next post: Underworld

They call them tent cities.

The City of Vice erects them first because they don’t know what to do with them. The unclaimed Mariel refugees – those without families or sponsors – sleep on the streets at night and take shelter in parked cars or businesses. They number in the thousands. Vice City begins to worry about how unsightly the place looks on the international stage.

Tent cities are where The Exile and The Shepherd reside when they first reach America. They are significant communities. Both protagonists take a central role in their upkeep and the wellbeing of their fellow exiles. Morale is crucial to preventing the disintegration of your camp. Keep morale steady with contributions to the camp bank. Bank can be spent on provisions and upgrades. These have visible effects on the characters around you and also replenish your own inventory. Wander too far from camp and you will be missed. Pray your friends find you before the police do.

You will encounter life in four tent cities:

 

 

Life isn’t too glamourous at the Glamor City Gatorbowl.

This is your first stop – thrown in among hundreds of refugees. Old scores are being settled. Expect things to be tense. It resides in the heart of Little Havana.

 

 

The press make pleas to shut them down.

They print scare stories about gangs of sexual predators and organised thieves. They rage about the soaring crime rates in the local area – all the fault of Castro’s Criminals.

Tent City moves around. The cops no longer know where to release “Tent City Criminals” to after they’ve served out their thirty in Glade County Detention – but who cares when they’ll be back behind bars before the week is out?

Tent City first settles on the edge of The Grasslands. The land is shared between Cubans and Haitians. There are tensions over the huge disparity in conditions. The Mariel refugees live on the higher land of Fort Baxter Army Base – and it’s pure luck that they arrive first. And things are relaxed. Tent City Disco, your tragic introduction to nightlife, takes shape around Cuban covers of contemporary dance hits. Stickball, dominoes, showers. But the water from those showers runs downhill into the Haitian camp – and floods the surplus army tents held up on sticks. There is no running water. There are no toilets. There are no rat traps.

Tent City II is made up of the dregs – almost exclusively criminal and degenerate refugees. The City of Vice wants to transfer these “scumbags” elsewhere, but Arkansas governor Bobby Franklin worries that housing a refugee camp in his state will harm his political aspirations. Camp is set up under the Frances Causeway. Tensions run hot – the new arrivals know they’re destined to be sent to Detention Camps and they threaten to riot.

 

Welcome to condemned Ocean Beach.

The Roughwater Hotel is the last stop for Camp Mariel.

They use it down here as the local shooting gallery – it’s been that way since being cut off in the early seventies. There is a hardcore community of baseheads, dopefiends and PCP freaks within these walls – and they aren’t too happy about new arrivals.

Forget about facilities. The old resort pool at the back is your toilet. There is no electric. It is prone to fires. The whole place is a powderkeg waiting to explode.

 

Unprepared is an understatement.

 

It doesn’t take much for the Mariel Boatlift to completely overwhelm the police. The cops back then are operating as Glade County Public Service Department – the GCPSD for short. They’re used to riding out their sleepy little town in short-sleeves and carry small-caliber service revolvers. They’re aware of drug traffic. They concentrate resources around the major pot smuggling gangs of the time. Heroin is a federal problem. Cocaine barely even registers.

Street crime swells and soon runs away from the GCPSD. It concentrates in the vicinities of refugee camps – the Glamor County Gatorbowl and the Tent Cities – and resources are soon exhausted. What do the GCPSD do? They give up. “Go out and buy yourself a gun,” recommends Commissioner Bobby Holden, “get trained, and give the bastards hell. We can no longer protect you.”

Bobby Holden is a good old southern boy. He thinks respect and manners went out the window with the end of segregation. He is closely tied to the Florida KKK and is the heartbeat of a department currently implicated in multiple fatal shootings of unarmed black suspects. His words provoke an immediate vigilante response. Public killings of anyone who simply looks suspect soar. 

 

VBPD take matters into their own hands. Vice Beach mayor Bill “The Boss” Baouz, a six-foot-six inch ex-pro boxer, galvanises the police. They stalk the streets after dark and ‘pre-emptively’ snatch possible suspects off the Vice Beach streets. They beat them half to death. They strip them of their cash and their clothes. They zip them up in body bags and dump them in Undertown. The tactic might not be terrific for the crime-rate, but it is great for morale.

What does this mean for the gameplay experience?

The Exile, The Hustler, The Shepherd – they all stand out. Expect to draw attention when you move around. The police will target you. Civilians will confront you and – when they feel it is justified – will try to kill you. Mayor Baouz and his vigilante officers will be proactive in snatching you from the street after nightfall. But your early criminal enterprises involving cocaine will largely go unnoticed. South Florida is wide open as an entry point. Major league cocaine smuggling is wide open. Get out there and make your money – then you can own the corrupt bastards yourself.

You can't miss them.

 

The police have renewed their ranks. There are visible foot patrols. There are more squad cars in traffic. The old GCPSD has rebranded as the Vice City Police Department. They have nice badges and shiny new guns to show for it.

 

They are young, eager, and inexperienced. The new recruits are also drawn heavily from the 1980 migration. Vice City has now been declared a bilingual city – and it makes use of a bilingual police force to patrol the streets.
 
You will now encounter a more proactive police department. They are aware of the extensive traffic in cocaine and the street-level market for crack. They work closely with the Vice Metropolitan Task Force established by President Braden. They live large on the funding passed down to them. They seize and repurpose your assets – your luxury cars and top-end weapons – and use them against you.

 

They also live large on your drug money.

 

Police corruption is rife. There are entire rosters of officers who make their living from hunting and robbing drug dealers. There are individual ‘lone wolf’ cops who can be paid off to turn their head the other way, plant evidence or carry out a contract killing. Believe the rumours and there are several dedicated teams of police contract killers operating for the best part of half-a-decade.

 

You will also have your own link to the force. Frank Cascacante has been fast tracked to Sergeant under the hand of Lieutenant Nikitas Charalabidis. He now trains the next generation of corrupt officers. Frank will provide you with fast-track information and the full spectrum of services available to you from Vice City’s finest.

There are scandals that leave the department in tatters.

 

The Bayfront Cops. The Key Mansfield Cops. The North Point Cops. The Class of ’83. There are officers dragged through the courts charged with robbery, murder and the organisation of their own distribution networks. The police chief of Key Mansfield is convicted for overseeing the flow of 2,000 keys of coke through his idyllic town. The chief of North Point Village and his tight-knit team are taken down when they’re caught unloading and transporting cocaine for a major league smuggler.

Trust in the police department collapses. Trust in all areas of the drug war, in fact, disintegrates. President Braden has been forced to admit shady connections between the IAA and Central America may have involved cocaine. General Salazar is being interrogated before the international media. It is suspected that Haiti, Lucaya and even Castro himself in Cuba are heavily involved in the transport of cocaine.

The cops don’t back down. They just get smarter. They get you to do the dirty work for them.

There is a noticeable difference in how the cops operate on the street. They were proactive before – now they are outright invasive.

The incentives have been given to them by the government. The War on Drugs, Inc has made budgets available for the pursuit of drug traffickers that previously did not exist in Vice City. The police department now arm themselves heavily – you can expect submachine guns and assault rifles in open combat with cops.

 

When they learn how to fight it, they throw everything they’ve got at you.

 

They’ve taken major scalps in the seventies. They crack down on The Council in Liberty City. They use draconian mandatory minimum laws there to coerce the big players to turn over the other big players. They make life miserable on Uptown streets by condemning anyone caught with two-ounces or more to sentences of fifteen-to-life. The prison population explodes. Mass incarceration becomes good business for those who invest in it.

But it hasn’t hit the same way in Vice – yet. It’s only when they start seizing cocaine in hundred kilo amounts and it barely makes a dent that law enforcement realise they have a problem beyond marijuana. The scale of the cocaine violence also becomes a major concern. South Florida plead to President Braden for desperate funding. They get it and more.

It comes too late for them to stop you the first time around. But get to 1985 and there is a significant change.

You are now up against the dedicated Vice Metropolitan Task Force coordinated by Vice President Shrub. The Task Force combines additional FIB and DOA personnel with Coast Guard and Customs. Inter-agency rivalries are put to one side. They exist for the purpose of bringing you down.

Let’s call them The Competition.

 

The Competition have the latest technology at their disposal. You must evade it and outsmart them to get your product from A to B.

It begins with Big Fat Paulie.

Fat Paulie is a floating radar blimp. They station him in Vice Keys and Fat Paulie transmits beeper signals to an increased number of Coast Guard boats. You’ll need to put him out of action to avoid detection – or try to avoid his radius entirely.

Get past Fat Paulie and you’ll need to deal with Navy Radar Planes. The planes operate the same radar system as Fat Paulie – but they cover much more ground. They alert ground crew stationed at Escobar International Airport. Expect to be assailed by Coast Guard Mavericks. Thwart them with smaller planes and boats.

 

The Competition also focus their attention on Lucaya. You will be familiar with the Lucayan Commonwealth from your first smuggling ventures in 1980. It has previously been a smuggler’s paradise. No longer.

The Competition will convince the Lucayan government to station Valkyrie gunships on the islands. They will go after your plans to use the area as a transshipment point. Dropping cocaine onto the islands by air and running it into Vice City by boat takes on a new difficulty. Fortunately for you, The Competition is easily undermined – Lucayan police are extremely bribeable. They might catch you, but they’re more than willing to sell you back your merchandise.

And when The Competition can’t catch you, they’ll outright try to destroy you. Annihilator and Hunter attack helicopters will learn of your location from as far away as the Caribbean – thanks to the stationing of Fat Paulie’s big bad brothers in Cuba and Puerto Rico. You may think you’ve gotten your product to land safely – until you’re surrounded at all sides by heavily armed agents who have known your location all along.

The helicopters aren’t the only equipment growing faster and meaner. VP Shrub is a personal friend of Sol Alteras. Alteras builds race boats – the best. He supplies 100 of the fastest to the Coast Guard. But the thing about Sol is that he plays both sides. Pay him well enough and he’ll make your boats that little bit faster than those The Competition use.

Get the product to Vice City and stash it somewhere safe. Move your safehouses often. Let your heat levels grow too large and you can expect The Competition to mount a raid. And watch out for them when you’re trying to sell your keys wholesale – VCPD has trained up an army of undercover buy-bust officers.

Your smuggling success now depends on your ingenuity, your investment in technology and the size of your payroll. Don’t forget about The Competition – they won’t forget about you.

 

Back to contents

Edited January 29, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

Jump to next post: Vehicles

 

It's not all cocaine cowboys. There is more to it than that.

 

Highly recommended for present day: Gang Life in Vice City and Light & Shadow [see: The Players].

 

The players back then were as colourful as they are now.

 

It’s the IAA that give a lot of them their start. They round up a cache of anti-government exiles who are willing to return to Cuba and liberate her from Castro. The fighting Cubans are given extensive training. They learn how to pilot fighter planes and gunboats. They learn how to mount an assault from air and sea. They are well-drilled and heavily-armed.

And then the government withdraws support – leaves them to fend for themselves behind enemy lines. Many are killed. The rest are held captive and tortured.

Those who return migrate across the United States. Some settle in Liberty City and Alderney. Many choose to remain in Vice City. They broker their skills to local criminal organisations – almost exclusively Jews and Italians back then. There are rumours that the IAA make the introductions. Closer to the truth is an interconnected league of government agents, established mobsters and an established Cuban career-criminal piece the network together.

The ambitious exiles begin using their knowledge of air-and-sea to smuggle product. Heroin and cocaine is preferred – the Colcalone-Castracani Clan down in Caracas broker the merchandise in the Far East and use the Cubans to establish transportation routes through to Vice City. They smuggle most of it on to The Commission in Liberty City. The rest is retained among the Corsicans and Cubans themselves in Vice for local distribution. They have the networks to sell product in bulk now. They also have a common name: El Brigada.

The seventies run smooth until they don’t. The Cuban-Corsican connection grows rich off supplying black kingpins from Liberty City who are willing to travel south for top-tier merchandise. Everyone looks to cut out connections and bring themselves closer to the source. Two of those kingpins bring the whole thing down. Vinewood Val and Brownfinger Powell, the godfathers of the uptown drug trade, talk far too freely on the phones in the lobby of the Parisienne Hotel. It is pure luck that the cops end up taking so many scalps. But most of the ringleaders simply post bail and flee. They settle in Venezuela. The Cubans and Corsicans turn Caracas into a battleground for control of the new route.

The Colombians enter the market. They deal exclusively in cocaine. The gang from Entrometerse start making real moves in 1974. The group from Boyaca enter the trade around the same time. They begin to accumulate massive fortunes in their native Colombia and force enough of a price drop in Vice City to create a vast market for their cocaine. They are soon backstabbing each other in their native cities over the enormous profits. These conflicts begin to spill over to Vice City.

 

It is not long before the Colombians attempt to drive the Cubans out of business. There are a number of organised distribution networks that enter their crosshairs. Aurelio de Alquizar is ambushed and loses his eye in a shootout. Los Cabrones – a teenage and twenty-something network of ex-schoolfriends and speedboat enthusiasts – have their family members snatched from the street. And El Brigada, the veterans, fight to protect their empire.

The eighties arrive. Many cease to operate at the turn of the decade. The Colombians gain the upper-hand over distribution but cannot control themselves. They begin killing each other. Bodies are found dumped along the Covice Trail. Many are disappeared for good in the Grasslands. But Gladeland is the most famous double-cross: Vida Negro rips off a consignment on credit and they hole up in a liquor store ready to hunt her down. She strikes first – she turns El Lobo and Rafe loose in the war van. They spray with SAW machine guns and mow down everything in their path in a hail of bullets. Her Los Vaqueros gain a reputation not to be f*cked with. Among the Cubans, the double-crosses are also rife. But theirs are more subtle. They turn to their police contacts and sell each other out. It is not turncoating. It is just the price of doing business.

This is the world you enter into. Know your history. Avoid the traps as best you can and remember the street – she is watching all the time.

 

Many of them have a history as rich as the territory they claim.

 

They start out back in the sixties and multiply over the seventies and into the eighties. There is basic neighbourhood protection and every-day juvenile delinquency – and then there are breeding grounds.
The earliest of the “farm teams” are The Falcons. The Falcons grow out of Little Havana in the sixties. They number, at their peak, upwards of 5,000. The Seminole Ladykillers and The Toreros rank around the same – they do battle before they learn to work together moving pot. The leadership of all are destined to become the top-tier of first-generation Cuban organised crime. Then there are The Cable City Cheetahs and the Val-Halla Brahma. They are neighbourhood fixtures – kids of the major players schooled to later take the thrown as major players themselves. They move around town looking to mix it with the notorious Alhambra Ten Count and the Black Grove Ballers. They fight with fists, brass knuckles and bats then. Knives and zip guns come later.

There are an explosion of street gangs in the early eighties. Vice City is in recession – the economy bottoms out and the kids see no future. They go against each other for fun: neighbourhood versus neighbourhood – The Hourglass Gang turn on The Heartstoppers – The Sun City Majors scrap with the 48th Street Odyssey. The Zion Royals travel the city limits to settle blood feuds with The Liberty City Connection. Blades enter the mix. The Midtown Funk and The Goodbread Boys famously do battle to control Glamour City dancefloors. And in the mix of all this, the established street players recruit new muscle into offshoot gangs – The Baby Grove and Scanandoa Juniors rise to notoriety. Wanton violence is how they stand themselves apart.

Heroin and cocaine change things. There are corners to fight for. Out For Blood stalk the streets as jackboys before laying claim to territory later in the decade as The Toe-Tag Gang. They trade lead with The Travis Family and Cable City Contras in feuds that are based as much in petty disputes as they are drug money. The Vice Boys, under your hand, take violence state wide. The Belmont Boys are not about to cede their territory to you.

 

And on the fringes, those operating in their own little niche – The South-Glade Studs, dressed to the nines and using The Sidepieces as bait, wield M16 assault rifles and bring terror to the highways. The Glade County Groove and The Smooth Criminals, with a rank-and-file made up of disgruntled ex-disco dancers, take shots at each other at block parties and barbeques.

Keep an eye on the gang roster. Treat people right while they’re young. Give respect and deference where it is merited. You don’t know who will end up on top one day.

 

• The Alhambra Ten Count
• The Baby Grove
• The Belmont Boys
• The Black Grove Ballers
• The Breezy Boys
• The Cable City Cheetahs
• The Cable City Contras
• The Chosen Few
• The Daley Boys
• The Division
• The Dixie Tricks
• The Falcons
• The Glade County Groove
• The Goodbread Boys
• The Heartstoppers
• The Hotsteppers
• The Hourglass Gang
• The Latin Prophets
• The Liberty City Connection
• The Midtown Funk
• Out For Blood
• Raised On Gator
• T.T.D [Throw That Dick]
• The Rotten Few
• The Scanandoa Juniors
• The Seminole Ladykillers
• The Sidepieces
• The Smooth Criminals
• The South Beach Sharks
• The South-Glade Studs
• The Spanish Lords
• The Sun City Majors
• The Toe Tag Gang
• The Toreros
• The Travis Family
• The Val Halla Brahma
• Wanda’s Gang
• Zion Royals
• 2 Dangerous
• 2 Nasty
• 48th Street Odyssey

 

They left the lay of the land open for business.

 

No one organisation has an exclusive claim on the Vice Metropolitan Area. They’ve paid polite deference to the Branccacio Crime Family. They make pilgrimages to see Moe Behr when Moe retires to Ocean Beach. But the whole thing has always been wide open – which historically has bred a whole lot of co-operation.

The mid-eighties is when ideas begin to change. Big things are going down in Liberty City. The Combination begin to muscle The Commission for the sun-soaked action in Jaega and Tequesta. The remains of the Cutrone-Dutoit Gang, well-settled into the Little Montreal section of Vinewood boardwalk, think why not f*ck 'em all? They have long memories, and once they’ve put aside their own grudges, they want payback for that one-time their two namesakes walked into a basement in Dukes and never walked back out again. They shore up mysterious Corscian and Dixie Gang muscle and take up arms.

 

• Angels of Death
• The Aurelio de Alquizar Organisation
• Brancaccio Crime Family
• The Cable City Cartel
• The Cable City Co-Op
• Colcalone-Castracani Clan
• The Combination
• The Commission
• The Cutrone-Dutoit Gang
• The Deon Pyle Organisation
• Dixie
• D.R.R. (1988)
• El Brigada
• The Gerald E. Mercer Organisation
• The Grandma Mafia
• Hare Krishna
• Heathens MC
• La Compania
• La Kosher Nostra
• Los Cabrones
• Los Vaqueros
• The Lost MC
• Maestro Posse
• Nicaraguan Organised Crime
• Satan’s Spirits MC
• Soviet Organised Crime
• Spray & Pray Posse
• Vice Boys

 

When they learn the ropes they rule the world.

 

They sit down and decide to stop killing each other in 1981. The coming together in Entrometerse is, first and foremost, to decide how to handle the kidnappers making targets of cartel figureheads in Colombia. It is decided to assemble a death squad to eradicate these enemies. But while they're there, they table a few other concerns - chemicals are getting harder to acquire; there is not enough fuel to replenish the planes along the route to Lucaya; there is getting to be so much cocaine backlogged in the Colombian jungles that the bandits are hitting the stash and smuggling it out of the country themselves. The four figureheads at the table come together to resolve these concerns. They eye the massive expansion of their product. They emerge that day as what becomes known worldwide as the Entrometerse Cartel.

 

The Cartel change the game. They make so much cocaine available to the United States that it crashes the price from $42,000 in Vice City circa 1980 to just $15,000 by 1985.

 

• Boyaca Cartel
• Calle Cartel (1988)
• Entrometerse Cartel (1985/1988)

 

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

Jump to next post: Weapons

 

 

Albany Esperanto Albany Primo AMA Altruist AMA Polaris AMA Velite Argyle Greenwood Argyle Oceanic Argyle Prospect Benefactor Glendale Bickle Anarchist Bravado Marseille Classique Frigate Declasse Merit Declasse Premier Declasse Tulip Dinka Perennial Dundreary Admiral Dundreary Envoy Imponte Angelus Karin Asterope Marcel Charan Obey Tailgater Rhodium Vanguard Schyster Legate Schyster Statesman Ubermacht Oracle Ubermacht Oracle XS Vapid Esquire Vapid Stanier Willard Convoy Willard Eudora Willard Marbelle     Albany Esperanto Albany Primo AMA Affiliate Argyle Fuselage Argyle Greenwood Argyle Prospect Classique Inferno Dundreary Admiral Imponte Angelus Karin Intruder Obey Tailgater Schyster Broadside Vapid Stanier Vulcar Previon Willard Convoy Willard Elegant Willard Marbelle       Albany Esperanto Albany Primo Annis Pinnacle Bollokan Tundra Classique Frigate Declasse Dignitary Declasse Mateba Dundreary Admiral Dundreary Envoy Karin Intruder Lampadati Komoda Maibatsu Vincent Obey Tailgater Rhodium Vanguard Schyster Libertonian Vapid Torero Willard Willard	AMA Ghoul Annis Axiom Argyle Victor BF Club BF Weevil Declasse Asea Declasse Rhapsody Dinka Blista Dundreary Wildcat Grotti Stronzo Marcel Chamon Vapid Ribera   Declasse Marathon Declasse Rhapsody Dinka Blista Compact   Annis Savestra Bravado Feroci Imponte Astro   Annis Elegy Annis Euros Annis ZR-250 Burnell GT-1 Dinka Jester Lampadati Casco Maibatsu Thunder Marcel Rocket Ocelot Ardent Ocelot GB7 Ocelot Windsor Overflod Tyrant Pegassi Vacca Pfister Centaur Renda A1 Ubermacht Sentinel Ubermacht Zion   Annis Elegy Annis Euros Annis Remus Annis ZR-250 DeLarge Deluxo Dinka Jester Dinka Kanjo Maibatsu Thunder Obey Quarantra Vapid Galera   Annis Elegy Annis Euros Annis Prinia Annis Remus Annis ZR-250 Bollokan Praire Bravado Buffalo Dewbauchee Massacro Dinka Jester Dinka Kanjo Imponte Angelus Karin Calico Karin Futo Karin Futo GTX Karin Sultan Vulcar Flash Zirconium Stratum Zirconium Stratus
Albany Emperor Albany Manana Albany Washington Benefactor Feltzer Benefactor Schafter Dundreary Envoy Enus Stafford Lampadati Montenero Lampadati Pigalle XL Ocelot Jackal   Albany Emperor Albany Manana Albany Washington Dewbauchee Exemplar Dundreary Envoy Dundreary Metropolitan Enus Super Drop Diamond Lampadati Felon Lampadati Felon GT Schyster Ambassador Schyster Majestic   Albany Manana Albany Presidente Enus Trafford Pegassi Toreador	Classique Broadway Classique Destrier Declasse Impaler Declasse Tornado Declasse Tulip M-100 Declasse Voodoo Dinka Postlude Dundreary Virgo Schyster Cadrona Vapid Blade Vapid Chino Vapid Fortune Vapid Peyote Vulcar Nebula Willard Idaho   Classique Stallion Dundreary Bravura Marcel Fargo   Albany Alpha BF Electro Classique Destrier Dundreary Craton Dinka Postlude Vapid Fortune Willard Brutta Willard Idaho
Argyle Police Patrol - GCSPD Livery Argyle Police Response Argyle Taxi Bickle Cabbie - Kaufman Cabs Livery Bravado Roadcruiser - SHP Livery Declasse Police Patrol - GCSPD Livery Declasse Police Response  Declasse Police Response - FTPD Livery Declasse Taxi Declasse Taxi - Kaufman Cabs Livery Declasse Taxi - VB Cabs Livery Imponte Interceptor Schyster Police Patrol - VBPD Livery Schyster Roadcruiser - SHP Livery Vapid Police Response - FTPD Livery Vapid Roadcruiser   Argyle Police Response - FTPD Livery Argyle Police Response - VCPD Livery Argyle Police Response - WJPD Livery Argyle Taxi FIB Interceptor Pfister Equalizer Vapid Interceptor - SHP Livery Vapid Roadcruiser - SHP Livery   Vapid Interceptor - SHP Livery Vapid Roadcruiser - VCPD Livery	Albany Buccaneer Argyle Coyote Bravado Gauntlet Classique Stallion Declasse Coquette Declasse Mamba Declasse Sabre GT Declasse Tahoma Declasse Vamos Declasse Vigero Imponte Arbiter Imponte Phoenix Schyster Deviant Vapid Blade Vapid Dominator Vapid Dominator GTT Willard Faction   Bravado Gauntlet Declasse Coquette Declasse Vigero Imponte Ruiner Vapid Dominator Vapid Uranus Willard Faction   Bravado Champion Bravado HPLS Declasse Sabre Declasse Vigero Imponte Insurrection Vapid Blade Vapid Dominator
Classique Frigate Dinka Perrenial Dundreary Regina Imponte Gamekeeper Vapid Radius Willard Solair     Imponte Gamekeeper Karin Everon Schyster Home & Harvest Schyster Moonbeam Vapid Radius   Annis Pinnacle EX Classique Frigate Dinka Perennial Dundreary Regina Ubermacht Rhinehart Vapid Starstream Willard Solair	Bravado Verlierer Dewbauchee Rapid GT Grotti Bestia GTS Grotti Stinger Grotti Stinger GT Pegassi Infernus Pfister Comet Ubermacht SC1 Vapid Dominator MCL   Benefactor Schwartzer Grotti Cheetah Pegassi Vacca   Bravado Banshee Bravado Verlierer Grotti Turismo Pegassi Infernus Pfister Kuiper
Annis Hellion Benefactor Streiter BF Bandito BF Injection Canis Bodhi Canis Mesa Canis Seminole Declasse Rancher Declasse Rancher XL Declasse Yosemite Dinka Moonrunner Enus Huntley Karin Rebel Lampadati Tropos Mammoth Patriot Vapid Sandking     Canis Seminole Nagasaki Blazer Obey Omnis sh*tzu Saburau     Bravado Marauder Enus Huntley Karin Rebel Pegassi Mercenary	Dinka Akuma Dinka Enduro Maibatsu Sanchez Pegassi Esskey Pegassi FCR-450 Principe Faggio Ubermacht Schmutz Ubermacht Streetfighter Western Daemon Western Freeway Western Hellfury Western Nightblade Western Reclaimer Western Wintergreen Western Wolfsbane     Dinka Journey Dinka Wayfarer Principe Faggio Sh*tzu PCJ-600     Dinka Vindicator Maibatsu Phaser Maibatsu Vagrant Nagasaki Raptor Pegassi Furore Principe Ventoso Ubermacht Terminator

 

 

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid
Added vehicles

[The Coconut Kid]

All credit must go to Akavari for the fantastic weapons list and icons.

 

Squeezer .32  $  Top-break poker table classic. Holds 5.   Micro .380  $  Off-duty pocket carry. Holds 6.   Ladysnub .38  $  Plainclothes detective issue. Holds 5.   Vintage .380  $$ Prohibition gangster sidepiece. Holds 10.    Vesper .32  $$ Silencer for undercover work. Holds 8.   Slabside .45  $$ Old classics die hard. Holds 7.   Deputy .357  $$ Heavy-framed patrolman issue. Holds 6.   Bureau 9MM  $$ FIB issue compact. Holds 13.    Deuce 9MM  $$ Army issue semi-automatic. Holds 15.   Longslide .45  $$$ Laser-sighted custom for terminating foes. Holds 8.   Equalizer .357  $$$ Magnum safe queen built for long range. Holds 6.   Talon .357  $$$ Supervillain hand cannon. Holds 9.

Zipper 9MM  $ Garage-built. Dumps mag in one trigger pull. Holds 32.   High Cap 9MM  $ Cheap urban pistol converted to full auto. Holds 32.   Stinger .32  $ Mild power for light security work. Holds 20.   Mini Gaza 9MM  $$ Fast-talking and easy to handle. Holds 25.   Doberman .45  $$$ Rare gunsmith special in full auto. Holds 18.     Guerilla 9MM  $$ Cheaply produced to arm insurgents. Holds 32.   Sapper .45  $$ Outdated yet reliable workhorse. Holds 30.   Carbine 9MM  $$$ Paramilitary issue with high accuracy. Holds 32.   Tactical 9MM  $$$ Special forces issue with integrated silencer. Holds 30.   Sicario 9MM  $$$$ Laser-sighted rarity with extended mag. Holds 40.

Lupara 12GA  $ Surprise them with both barrels. Holds 2.   Trapper 12GA  $ Plenty of reach to blow a hole in anything. Holds 2.   Barkeeper 12GA  $$ Slow lever action with large spread. Holds 5.   Whippet 12GA  $$ Chopped-down semi-auto. Holds 4.   Riot 12GA  $$$ Extended pump action. Holds 8.   Pitbull 12GA  $$$ Custom pump action with devastating power. Holds 6.   Autoloader 12GA  $$$ Combat-grade semi-automatic. Holds 8.   Sweeper 12GA  $$$ Drum-fed with short range. Holds 13.     Tear Gas Launcher  $$ Issued to riot police to put an end to the party.   RPG  $$$$ Rocket launcher with an unpredictable flight path.

Huntsman 7.62MM  $$ Bolt-action rifle with adjustable long range scope. Holds 5.   Marksman 5.56MM  $$$ Semi-automatic carbine with mid range scope. Holds 30.   Kreuger 5.56MM  $$$ Police issue carbine in full auto. Holds 30.    Platoon 5.56MM  $$$ Standard army issue with high accuracy. Holds 20.   Warsaw 7.62MM  $$$ Soviet terror weapon with powerful recoil. Holds 30.   Gaza 5.56MM  $$$ Black market assault rifle from the Middle-East. Holds 50.   Bullpup 5.56MM  $$$$ Rare import with an integrated scope. Holds 30.   Munich 7.62MM  $$$$ Match-grade combat sniper. Holds 20.   Warthog 7.62MM  $$$$ Belt-fed MG built for door-gunning villagers. Holds 100.

Back to contents

Edited February 22, 2023 by The Coconut Kid
Added weapons

[The Coconut Kid]

...and we're open for business. Post away!

[Guest]

What a good ride; been reading through all for thirty minutes, and I belive I haven't covered all information yet.

 

Huge improvement from the original, especially the atmosphere. Feels more alive now, realistically darker from the usual imagery of 80s Miami. I have read and watch lot about Miami in the eighties, but I never know the situations would actually be far worse than I thought. Starting up in tent cities that work like Dutch's camp in RDR 2, with everyone outside hating you, that's something else. And a clever excuse for limited early map exploration instead of terrorist attack or hurricane. The difficult beginning will make the later achievements much worthy. I mean, I can picture The Exile's Oscar Isaac when he had made it to the top, taking a cigar and smiling while reminiscing his hard-fought journey.

 

It's cool to see Aurelio de Alquizar having a more prominent role here. He's a nice parallel for Valerio Reyes in Light & Shadow. Both are Cuban gangsters, both have so much power on their pockets. You know, The Exile's story inspires me to write more backstory to Don Valerio. A gloomy past of being treated inhumanely upon the boats arrival can be the thing that's responsible for his ruthless personality by 2017.

[Phil McCrevis]

I'm not the best at reading so this took me a couple of days going back and forth to read everything. I really like your two 'main' protagonists but I think you probably know the others aren't hitting enough to carry three time periods on their own.

 

I was actually kind of disappointed when you said you considered a couple of females and decided to go with five males. I really liked Lorna Steele from the original. Would be really cool if you included her throughout the story as maybe a teenager in Silk's club and then an early 20s in 85 as a companion and then as a sidekick in '88 like before. Maybe in some playable scenarios throughout and then all these old dogs face the inevitable and we actually play the end game as Lorna as a Queen of The South (Florida) for an undefined time period. One can dream right?

[The Coconut Kid]

On 1/30/2023 at 12:53 AM, wise_man said:

What a good ride; been reading through all for thirty minutes, and I believe I haven't covered all information yet.

 

Huge improvement from the original, especially the atmosphere. Feels more alive now, realistically darker from the usual imagery of 80s Miami. I have read and watch lot about Miami in the eighties, but I never know the situations would actually be far worse than I thought.

High praise from the bright spark who brings us the magnificent Light & Shadow – thank you!

 

I hope to assemble an Influences section later on. I chose to focus on Cuban-Haitian migration to Miami throughout some of my university degree. I would love to share some of the materials and articles and references that became the foundation of this concept, if I can get away with it...

 

On 1/30/2023 at 12:53 AM, wise_man said:

Starting up in tent cities that work like Dutch's camp in RDR 2, with everyone outside hating you, that's something else. And a clever excuse for limited early map exploration instead of terrorist attack or hurricane.

I completely neglected to mention this. You are absolutely correct!

 

It's also been on my radar to reference the wanted system in RDR2. I would like to conceive areas of the map that are "hot" during certain sections of the story - like so.

 

The Exile and The Shepherd would be very limited in their early movements - imagine that they are at risk of being detained and deported when they stray from their tent cities and detention centres. Huge swathes of the map would be blazing red. The Hustler is mixed up in street-level gang activity. Much of Vice City (and smaller pockets of Jaega and Tequesta) would be various shades of red. The environment, and those in it, respond accordingly. Thoughts?

 

On 1/30/2023 at 12:53 AM, wise_man said:

It's cool to see Aurelio de Alquizar having a more prominent role here. He's a nice parallel for Valerio Reyes in Light & Shadow. Both are Cuban gangsters, both have so much power on their pockets. You know, The Exile's story inspires me to write more backstory to Don Valerio. A gloomy past of being treated inhumanely upon the boats arrival can be the thing that's responsible for his ruthless personality by 2017.

Aurelio de Alquizar has been one of my favourite characters – connected to everything. Keep a [glass] eye out for him in the future.

Edited January 31, 2023 by The Coconut Kid

[The Coconut Kid]

10 hours ago, Phil McCrevis said:

I'm not the best at reading so this took me a couple of days going back and forth to read everything.

You’re a visual person IIRC. I’m gonna recommend Cocaine Cowboys and Scarface to get you reacquainted. When you are watching them, constantly ask yourself – what is missing? These are the gaps I hope to bridge and the missing stories I aspire to build from scratch. We have actually spoken about Cocaine Cowboys as an influence before. Your memory appears to be as long as mine and I am sure you are familiar with what is going to be done here.

 

10 hours ago, Phil McCrevis said:

I really like your two 'main' protagonists but I think you probably know the others aren't hitting enough to carry three time periods on their own.

What I know is this – they aren’t hitting because I don’t have them swinging yet. I knocked this out in spare time over two weeks. Come back in a couple more. We’ll see where we’re at.

 

It’s taken you a few days to go through the current content. I know you’ll understand why it’s been a conscious decision to hold back on a protagonist or three and the 1985 + 1988 sections entirely for the time being. They will be progressively updated. It’s easier on you and it’s easier on me.

 

10 hours ago, Phil McCrevis said:

I was actually kind of disappointed when you said you considered a couple of females and decided to go with five males.

I’m kind of disappointed you’re rocking Phil Mitchell as your new alias rather than Peggy or Sam. This is a situation you need to rectify before we can discuss equality, Mr. McCrevis.

 

But it is a fair point and it definitely isn’t lost on me. I’ll be running through the stories of the five protagonists as a sort of first draft to begin with. They’ll later be open to revision but for now they stay as they are. There is always scope to swap characters and protagonists around for a new spin on things down the track.

 

I’m more committed to writing a series of strong women throughout. The decision was made not to go all-in on one or two protagonists who I’m not sure I can accurately represent at this time. But you are not wrong, so expect me to revisit this with you later.

 

10 hours ago, Phil McCrevis said:

I really liked Lorna Steele from the original. Would be really cool if you included her throughout the story as maybe a teenager in Silk's club and then an early 20s in 85 as a companion and then as a sidekick in '88 like before.

This is more like it - exactly what I hoped you might pick up on. This might actually turn out to be the case. Wait and see.

Also – you’re spot on that characters will travel with you throughout the decade. They won’t always be connected to the same protagonist. Make of that what you will.

And if you’re a fan of Lorna, ask me about behind the scenes content...

Edited January 31, 2023 by The Coconut Kid
My spelling. It's apalling.

[Guest]

On 1/31/2023 at 3:44 PM, The Coconut Kid said:

Much of Vice City (and smaller pockets of Jaega and Tequesta) would be various shades of red. The environment, and those in it, respond accordingly. Thoughts?

Perhaps you can check this Miami map in Crimegrade for inspiration. They use different colors to indicate how risky the area is (A+ green for safest, F bright red for most dangerous). You can do the same, like dark red for the most unwelcoming to immigrants, where you'll be shot at sight. Then red-orange-yellow for lesser violent areas. As the time progresses to 1985 and 88, the red colors slowly fade away.

 

With Bill “The Boss” Baouz, I can imagine the whole Vice Beach's map to be red (and turn dark red at night) at early story stage.

 

I don't know, but are you planning to feature something like Liberty 78's mental attributes to this Vice City Origins? Maybe the protagonists can see the different colors of the map only if their awarness and intelligence stats are high enough. It won't be as fun when player already know the different area's safe levels from the beginning.

 

On 1/31/2023 at 4:03 PM, The Coconut Kid said:

And if you’re a fan of Lorna, ask me about behind the scenes content...

She's one of my favorites in the original Vice too, love the final mission in the airport, yes, we need more of her.

 

I don't have any issue with the current protagonists, but I'm sold with @Phil McCrevis's idea: Lorna as the second protagonist of 1988 part alongside Gara, both as co-builders of an empire. I'd say, time to revisit One Blood by @VISALI (another Vice City concept that deserves more attention, especially now!), I mean the concept has one main protagonist (Rico Alvarez) with one of two side protagonists is his wife: Vanessa Amori; and they run a drug empire together. Can be an interesting start.

 

I'm most definitely biased here. My concept has a female protagonist, and I want to tell my perspective about it. I'll continue in the Lounge because that's the perfect place for this kind of discussion.

Edited February 1, 2023 by wise_man

[The Coconut Kid]

 

All I'm sayin'.
 

There will be a detour to Liberty City, circa 1985. One was promised in the original topic and I will deliver.

 

@wise_man I will come back to your post later. Your ideas are too good to cover in a brief reply! However:

 

The LC78 features are all @Akaviri - my man is on another level with regards to features. I haven't planned to go that in-depth here, but I will see what I can do.

 

I'd prefer you strike up the conversation about female protagonists in Light & Shadow... given that you set the benchmark for how it should be done, in my opinion.

 

Be biased - you've done a great job.

[Phil McCrevis]

4 hours ago, The Coconut Kid said:

You’re a visual person IIRC. I’m gonna recommend Cocaine Cowboys and Scarface to get you reacquainted. When you are watching them, constantly ask yourself – what is missing? These are the gaps I hope to bridge and the missing stories I aspire to build from scratch. We have actually spoken about Cocaine Cowboys as an influence before. Your memory appears to be as long as mine and I am sure you are familiar with what is going to be done here.

 

What I know is this – they aren’t hitting because I don’t have them swinging yet. I knocked this out in spare time over two weeks. Come back in a couple more. We’ll see where we’re at.

 

It’s taken you a few days to go through the current content. I know you’ll understand why it’s been a conscious decision to hold back on a protagonist or three and the 1985 + 1988 sections entirely for the time being. They will be progressively updated. It’s easier on you and it’s easier on me.

 

I’m kind of disappointed you’re rocking Phil Mitchell as your new alias rather than Peggy or Sam. This is a situation you need to rectify before we can discuss equality, Mr. McCrevis.

 

But it is a fair point and it definitely isn’t lost on me. I’ll be running through the stories of the five protagonists as a sort of first draft to begin with. They’ll later be open to revision but for now they stay as they are. There is always scope to swap characters and protagonists around for a new spin on things down the track.

 

I’m more committed to writing a series of strong women throughout. The decision was made not to go all-in on one or two protagonists who I’m not sure I can accurately represent at this time. But you are not wrong, so expect me to revisit this with you later.

 

This is more like it - exactly what I hoped you might pick up on. This might actually turn out to be the case. Wait and see.

Also – you’re spot on that characters will travel with you throughout the decade. They won’t always be connected to the same protagonist. Make of that what you will.

And if you’re a fan of Lorna, ask me about behind the scenes content...

I do like to read, I just can't take a ton of information all at one. I'm familiar with Scarface and Cocaine Cowboys yeah. Before your approach was more to use 1988 as kind of a retrospect of the decade I think wasnt it. But that makes a lot more sense in terms of originality and such.  And sorry mate I thought this was all you had for them. Sonny and Alejandro as the two big ones and one extra protagonist for each year. They really just struck me as supporting characters when I read it to be honest ya know.

 

I do like Ariel but hes tied up in jail for much of the years before if I remember correct. On the face Edouard seems very similar to Altimorano but I can understand why you would want to give two differnt perspectives on immigration etc. I read your post in the lounge and just was thinking its like you showed us the the cookie (or coconut) and then take it away. I'm not so drawn to Sonny over Cajuste either. He just seem like a joker when The Haitians more serious. Dont get me wrong pal I'm no femenist but reading about Burr also got me thinking about Lorna and how she could work as kind of an Alabama to his character in True Romance although I know you wanted to go for Gandolfini from Get Shorty instead. This whole thing actually reminds me a bit of a Quantic Dream story but I'm sure that wasnt intentional and my perceptions are usually very off. Would you consider something like this?

 

Is the 1985 section going to cross over with Third Rail now too?

Edited January 31, 2023 by Phil McCrevis

[The Coconut Kid]

9 hours ago, Phil McCrevis said:

Dont get me wrong pal I'm no femenist but reading about Burr also got me thinking about Lorna and how she could work as kind of an Alabama to his character in True Romance although I know you wanted to go for Gandolfini from Get Shorty instead.

Great movies. There'll be a number of hustling women around the place. You will be spoiled for choice.

 

9 hours ago, Phil McCrevis said:

Is the 1985 section going to cross over with Third Rail now too?

No, but I might see how Akavari thinks the lay of the land might look like post-LC78.

[Phil McCrevis]

11 hours ago, The Coconut Kid said:

No, but I might see how Akavari thinks the lay of the land might look like post-LC78.

I just thought it would because you linked it at the start. It might be putting the cart before the horse a bit if you reveal it too early but it just got me curious ya knaw.

[The Coconut Kid]

On 1/31/2023 at 10:46 PM, wise_man said:

Perhaps you can check this Miami map in Crimegrade for inspiration. They use different colors to indicate how risky the area is (A+ green for safest, F bright red for most dangerous).

Wow. Look at The Everglades. It's just... red. Guess you go into those swamps, you ain't coming back.

 

It’s taken me nearly 24 hours to reply to your post. CrimeGrade estimates 60 crimes per hour. Are we really looking at 600 crimes since we last spoke?

 

On 1/31/2023 at 10:46 PM, wise_man said:

You can do the same, like dark red for the most unwelcoming to immigrants, where you'll be shot at sight. Then red-orange-yellow for lesser violent areas. As the time progresses to 1985 and 88, the red colors slowly fade away.

 

With Bill “The Boss” Baouz, I can imagine the whole Vice Beach's map to be red (and turn dark red at night) at early story stage.

This is a very astute idea. I’d like to thank you for sharing it and consider it in depth.
 
We actually looked at something very similar to this for LC78 a very long time ago. The basis was True Crime: New York. They have the Compstat which turns from red to green as you progressively clean up NYC. The roster of pedestrians alters from thugs and prostitutes. Neighbourhoods become safe and sanitised.

 

The effect here is essentially reversed – the neighbourhoods of VMA [Vice Metro Area] are the threat to you. The threat is unpredictable and comes from anyone at anytime: Karen suspects that you’re a criminal so she pulls her concealed carry and becomes hostile. This is one of the more disturbing facts I’ve stumbled upon in the research of this project: over thirty suspected criminals had been shot dead by members of the public up to the midway point in 1980. This is so relevant today. But back then? They just... accepted it.

 

There were also overt threats made to murder and enact violence upon Cuban exiles:

 

Quote

"I tell you this much. I'll buy the weapons, I'll buy the ammunition, and I'll cut a hole in the top of my car with a machine-gun that runs off a track. I won't need a [gunner] because I can operate it with my feet. I know where those Cubans are. They'll have to bury them with a bulldozer when I'm done."

Miami Herald, July 1980.

“...T-shirts depict a crowd of Cubans at Tent City as seen through a gun sight.”

Miami Herald, August 1980.

I’ve stopped short of a mission where a grizzled war-veteran drives up into Tent City and starts machine-gunning exiles. But this feeling of threat should always be at the forefront of the player’s mind when they’re walking around – whether they are The Exile, The Hustler or The Shepherd.

 

How could we work with this? The time progression of danger is good. Cubans and Haitians [and other migrants] fan out across the map throughout 1985 and 1988 – there are more “safe” areas. Harper Hal and Ariel Gara might experience this differently. The old neighbourhood is no longer there. The crack block takes over.

 

On 1/31/2023 at 10:46 PM, wise_man said:

I don't know, but are you planning to feature something like Liberty 78's mental attributes to this Vice City Origins? Maybe the protagonists can see the different colors of the map only if their awareness and intelligence stats are high enough. It won't be as fun when player already know the different area's safe levels from the beginning.

It’s possible to expand upon the Compendium from RDR2 – extending to Arthur’s journal and Lincoln Clay’s logbook in the seriously underrated MAFIA III. I have considered this feature for another project I have on the go – but it would work here too to chart how our protagonists learn and 'adjust' to their new surroundings. Red Line actually has something very similar.

 

The language barrier would also be interesting to confront – journal writing would have to be subtitled. Miami/Vice City is bilingual, so why converse or write in anything other than their native language? Learning English should be an option – just as learning Spanish was an option in LC78.

 

There is a lot of value in having an awareness stat. I expect it would be wildly different between protagonists - highest for The Hustler and The Fixer [both VMA natives], lower for Gara, and lowest for the migrants. Physically traveling the map [and uncovering it as in RDR2 & GTAV], and ideally, having interactions with NPCs in different neighbourhoods, should be the means of boosting awareness. Awareness is like a muscle. You've gotta train it.

 

Much to consider.

[slimeball supreme]

ive had a sort of hard time coalescing all my thoughts into one post, and i dont think i even can. so consider this half my best shot

 

it's been about a year (i was gonna say a few months!) since i messaged you about this post you made miami's atmosphere in the 1980's: how revisionist the modern understanding of it has been post-miami vice and vice city, how vibrantly evocative your ability to describe the time was, the empathy you were able to channel almost effortlessly about the pain of these experiences. what was most illuminating to me was how much i'd been fooled - i had bought into parts of those misconceptions, i didn't quite realize or take in the weight of the struggle and decay that america's murder capital was subject to. i thought it was art imitating life, when in truth life found the art so captivating it revitalized this ugly swamp to suit it

 

i think that's probably most people's understanding of the broad pop culture new wave "no earth tones" aesthetic of that period. the idea that miami was like that before he shot there and not a romantic perspective of what could be, that america became so infatuated with the city molded to fit inside. michael mann would shoot in run down neighborhoods and repaint buildings to match his stylistic vision, power wash filth off walls and rinse the road with firehoses so the stars would reflect off the street. there could be no reds, no browns, no taupes

 

Quote

''The whole city was grim; it was beige,'' Mann says, recalling the time he went to South Beach to scout locations. ''It was full of derelict hotels, and I realized the streamlined Deco look was still there, buried under the tan paint. I wanted to show heat, and I came up with the idea of vibrating pastels.''

 

it is a genius, meticulously sexy vision of vibrating pastels; this almost painterly perspective of an emerging idea of what the 1980's would look like. but it is sanitized. it isn't real

 

i deeply admire this project and your vision here because it is real

 

what i love:

• prosaically, despite the long hiatus you've been on at least here, you have only honed your craft. you have always been fantastic at setting a scene, in saying so much in so few words, but i cannot begin to tell you how deeply emotive this is. you are utterly, powerfully imagistic. every part of this approximation of south florida is unique. so many of these character entries make me think whatever the foundation is worth an entirely standalone story: angel elizagarate?! droptop rick?! fruity rudy?! f*ck!!!
   
• the passage of time isn't just a gimmick of presentation and an aspect of storytelling. the entire city fits on a thought out continuum of moving parts. even in this iteration where the dramatis personae of three protagonists is yet to be revealed, you can chart out an amazing course of reoccurring names and developing storylines. the evolution of the police department, the integration of the cuban community, etc. the revitalization of some parts as other chunks crumble
   
• speaking of the cuban community: i am in awe at the depth. i remember one of my favorite parts vis a vis your LC78 revisions being the sense of community that grew just from pointing out cast members, how utterly entrenched folks like apache cuevas and darius wallace were into their neighborhoods. the big fish and local pushers, the tough guys and local goofballs, the resultant life that you breathe into these ecosystems as a result. the cuban aspect of this especially is that multiplied by a million. HERE you see every shade and color of the tent cities. you see the disco kids, the tough guys, the invalids and vulnerable people. the criminal network that snakes through and the colorful characters who evade it. you refused to whitewash this setting. the importance of the gay community in particular is such a brave choice and one i deeply admire. it makes some of my overtures to populating neighborhoods in my work seem almost pathetic in comparison!
   
• the same goes for your protagonists. oddly the one i connected to the most was sonny st. john - i love when a protagonist isn't a garden variety tough guy put upon by the world, when they have a million quirks of their own. the snarky straight man protagonist is played out, right? sonny st. john is one of those colorful neighborhood characters - he's a goofball and martial artist, a comedian on the block, someone who loves campy movies. the casting of steve james is phenomenal! the same applies to our other faces: i was initially opposed to oscar isaac (too well known, too contemporary) but as an actor he is a local miami cuban kid who desperately tried to evade typecasting. is there not a double-narrative in that? same goes for edouard, the closest thing to a benevolent main character of the bunch and one i desperately want to see more of. the iceman-cum-max-cady in harper hal and, of course, the three time loser.
  
  i think, if anything, maybe six protagonists is a great idea. a playable lorna steele? a play on gta 6's whole "bonnie and clyde" narrative motif? there are literally no downsides
   
• this project is a testament to the value of research and history and the responsibility of accurately portraying a point in history. there is a familiarity with the place that probably exceeds many local historians, and your university-level interrogation of the time is utterly, utterly valuable. the racial tensions. the utter inhumanity of the way these immigrant groups were treated. some of these analogues i certainly am not familiar with and want to read more about both in terms of real life and your creative interpretations of them. its what ive striven to do in my own work, the utter originality of telling these stories that wouldnt be told otherwise with the reverence and attention to detail they deserve
   
• 600 songs is insane. you are a sick talent at putting together playlists and, in all honesty, should be institutionalized because you are probably off your f*cking rocker. the independence idea is a great touch for the types who really like that sort of thing and another benefit to contributing to the thread!
   
• the era-appropriate pictures you have are all amazing. they are framed spectacularly, you have an eye for this thing

 

this is barely even scratching the surface. i am floored! i could talk all day about this stuff but i feel my post is getting too long and i feel like i dont want to overdo it. even though i probably have

 

On 2/2/2023 at 1:05 AM, The Coconut Kid said:

It’s possible to expand upon the Compendium from RDR2 – extending to Arthur’s journal and Lincoln Clay’s logbook in the seriously underrated MAFIA III. I have considered this feature for another project I have on the go – but it would work here too to chart how our protagonists learn and 'adjust' to their new surroundings. Red Line actually has something very similar.

 

The language barrier would also be interesting to confront – journal writing would have to be subtitled. Miami/Vice City is bilingual, so why converse or write in anything other than their native language? Learning English should be an option – just as learning Spanish was an option in LC78.

as an aside - nothing to lose with a compendium/journal here! it's an underutilized part of Red Line's story i think, where it would hypothetically serve the same function as a 'phone'. it has a contacts list of phone numbers and contains little notes, hobbies. we wanted felix to collect rare international stamps and adrian to write poems and practice little speeches hed make alongside vinewood loglines. code words would be put inside including beeper number combinations that the russians use to send each other messages. i hope whenever we get back in the saddle we use some of the lessons we've learned from third rail (and me from red triangle) to make some stuff that sings on a character level

 

but i do concur on the language front. if anyway i would keep this segregated to each protagonist similar to literal segregation - ariel, burr and maybe lorna might have access to more of the city without being perturbed, but they wont understand half of this city's breadth of culture. subtitles that go translated for alejandro and edouard, allowing you valuable context, remain untranslated for our gringo half of the cast. compensates just a little for the significant advantage of being a white man in america

Edited February 3, 2023 by slimeball supreme

[universetwisters]

I just noticed, why is the independence fm logo holding a CD? Shouldn’t it be a cassette tape!?!?!?

 

Otherwise, very well done!!!!

[Ivan1997GTA]

2 minutes ago, universetwisters said:

I just noticed, why is the independence fm logo holding a CD? Shouldn’t it be a cassette tape!?!?!?

 

Otherwise, very well done!!!!

Well, the CD debuted in the 1980s, and became a popular format for music in the later half of the decade.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Ivan1997GTA

[universetwisters]

3 minutes ago, Ivan1997GTA said:

Well, the CD debuted in the 1980s, and became a popular format for music in the later half of the decade.

Yea, in Japan!!!!!! And a CD player back then cost like a grand!!!!!!!

[LowTierDude]

12 hours ago, universetwisters said:

Yea, in Japan!!!!!! And a CD player back then cost like a grand!!!!!!!

Idk we're talking miami in the 80s as a drug dealer a grand is probably peanuts anyway

 

that being said, i agree. real missed opportunity to include a cassette tape of some sort. it was the golden age of the walkman after all.

Edited February 5, 2023 by kobeni

[The Coconut Kid]

...it felt out of place with the rest of the logos.

 

I'll hold my hands up - the Independence FM graphic is straight from GTA IV. I don't have the ability to create a logo with a cassette tape in it - else I probably would!

 

Someone wants to knock one up for me? Be my guest. I'll have Fernando Martinez dedicate a song to you for the gesture.

 

58 minutes ago, kobeni said:

that being said, i agree. real missed opportunity to include a cassette tape of some sort. it was the golden age of the walkman after all.

 

Third line down from soundtrack - Vinyl Countdown for all of your cassette and compact disc needs. It's been there since the start.

[Nefarious Money Man]

Safe to say I've not been around for a while, but I sure am glad I checked back. I wasn't quite sure even where to start after reading this, but f*ck me... that soundtrack!! Absolutely love it mate. Sets the scene perfectly for this much more visceral and aggressive take on a time and setting we know and love.

I remember when you first mentioned this and I actually didn't think I'd ever see it realised. Not due to any scepticism of your abilities, I just know the struggles of trying to juggle multiple complex ideas and then actually getting them down in print.

Slimeball already said a lot of what I was thinking (and so beautifully too). Although Oscar Isaac is actually Guatemalan jk.

I think you have a really good spread of characters here and Edouard is definitely the most intriguing to me since his a perspective we haven't really seen before. Although I'll refrain from asking questions about him, for fear of perhaps hitting on some plot points that you already have in mind, judging by the years in question, I can see his story being a bit more political than we've seen from you, which is right up my street!

Probably no surprise, but I'm a big fan of the camp mechanic. And what you're carrying over here with Independence is also something I've already touched on with Mob Rules' Liberty FM.

One of the things that's been putting me off updating that topic, is that it's a road too well travelled and the same I think goes for the Vice City concept, especially considering how eerily similar this is to what I had planned. In saying that, reading this topic has actually prompted me to revisit MR with more of a focus on what sets it apart.

I see Akaviri has also remastered Liberty City 1978. And after I'm done catching up with the nine or so months worth of content, PMs and mentions since the dark days of VanHelsing69 and people's incoherent text walls, I really should check it out in full.

Edited February 5, 2023 by The Notorious MOB
Spelling goes poxy haywire when I'm excited.