3D Era Liberty City is NOT originally New York!

[Kiro Ivo]

I, as most other gamers, never doubted that 3D Era's Liberty City is based on New York City.

But it is not the case. I will explain.

 

Both GTA I and HD Universe versions of LC are indeed based off NYC.

 

GTA III LC is a mix of New York City, Chicago, and a bit of Los Angeles (the tower at the airport). Also may take inspiration from Boston, as I read that Boston's Red Light District was (is?) located near Chinatown, just like in GTA III.

 

GTA III was originally meant to be prequel to GTA II. In GTA II we have unnamed city only known as Anywhere, USA. This city is not based on any city. 

 

But things point out that the best equivalent of GTA III'S LC is Chicago. These points namely:

 

1) There are only Midwest rap songs on Game FM, one mentioning Great Lakes. It can be assumed that GTA III's LC is not in the ocean but on a lake. But that may not be true;

 

2) The city is cold. You could say that New York City can be quite cold, and yes. But Chicago is located further north and has harsher climate. But this point may not be that convincing so we'll go next;

 

3) Gangs. There are many gangs in New York City. But Chicago has a unique gang culture. Gangsters used to wear jackets with gang symbols on the back, just as seen with the game's Diablos gang. 

 

That's it. The hip hop radio is the most convincing point, but I managed to bring up two more. 

 

[universetwisters]

5 hours ago, Kiro Ivo said:

1) There are only Midwest rap songs on Game FM, one mentioning Great Lakes. It can be assumed that GTA III's LC is not in the ocean but on a lake. But that may not be true;

 

 

I listen to NPR all the time. They’re have shows broadcasted out of Boston, Washington, and Los Angeles. They frequently talk about issues in Washington. I’m able to listen to this on the radio despite the fact I live in Florida. You’re acting like a radio station in X location must only play music from and mentioning X lol

 

5 hours ago, Kiro Ivo said:

2) The city is cold. You could say that New York City can be quite cold, and yes. But Chicago is located further north and has harsher climate.

Im not sure how LC’s climate is supposed to be colder than New York’s. All we know is that it’s cold but not cold enough to snow 

 

5 hours ago, Kiro Ivo said:

3) Gangs. There are many gangs in New York City. But Chicago has a unique gang culture. Gangsters used to wear jackets with gang symbols on the back, just as seen with the game's Diablos gang. 

I take issue with the idea that “the Diablos are based on Chicago gangs because they both have jackets with symbols on the back” not only because they needed a simple and easily identifiable way for the player to tell the gangs apart at a glance  but also I doubt gangsters in real life walk around loudly proclaiming they’re in X gang

 

I mean if you wanna be pedantic, the gangs from The Warriors do that kind of sh*t and they’re based in NYC, therefore Liberty City is NYC

Edited March 3, 2024 by universetwisters

[TaylorSwiftDies2038]

5 hours ago, Kiro Ivo said:

1) There are only Midwest rap songs on Game FM, one mentioning Great Lakes. It can be assumed that GTA III's LC is not in the ocean but on a lake. But that may not be true;

 

Nature is from Queens and was associated with Nas, also famously from Queens New York. JoJo Pellegrino and Black Rob are also from New York. 

6 hours ago, Kiro Ivo said:

2) The city is cold. You could say that New York City can be quite cold, and yes. But Chicago is located further north and has harsher climate. But this point may not be that convincing so we'll go next;

Northeast cities are famously known for their harsh rainstorms aka the nor'easter which is depicted in GTA III. GTA III takes place in October-November 2001 where it wouldn't be snowing in New York just yet.

 

Watch Dogs, which actually took place in Chicago, also doesn't have snow. Technical limitations are a thing ya know.

 

6 hours ago, Kiro Ivo said:

3) Gangs. There are many gangs in New York City. But Chicago has a unique gang culture. Gangsters used to wear jackets with gang symbols on the back, just as seen with the game's Diablos gang. 

 

The Diablos are based on the Latin Kings which started in Chicago but also have sets in New York; the symbols are a reference to the gang rather than the city they're based in.

 

It's true that Liberty City isn't based on one city but most of the inspiration is New York; there are influences from Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and Chicago (the Portland train system being the most obvious influence), but the geography closely matches New York. Some parts of the city are obviously based on New York such as Bedford Point (Times Square) and lower Staunton Island (Downtown Manhattan).

 

Another piece of evidence that Liberty City is in the Northeast: Shoreside Vale. north of Shoreside Vale are mountains that are supposed to represent the Catskills/Adirondacks/Taconics that the Housers have always been obsessed with. Chicago is on flat land. 

[The Journey]

Liberty City is New York. Its not as good as GTA 4 at showing it but it’s still obv New York.

Edited March 3, 2024 by The Journey

[Kiro Ivo]

I've read all your arguments. They make sense.

But I forgot to add one more clue towards LC being Chicago.

It is that the city was founded in 1798, close to when Chicago was settled circa 1780.

[The Journey]

35 minutes ago, Kiro Ivo said:

I've read all your arguments. They make sense.

But I forgot to add one more clue towards LC being Chicago.

It is that the city was founded in 1798, close to when Chicago was settled circa 1780.

CJ spends five years on the east coast, in Liberty City… maybe it’s based on Chicago a little too but it’s definitely still mainly New York.

 

LCS made it even more clear with old town Fort Staunton, directly based on Italian Harlem.

Edited March 8, 2024 by The Journey

[Kiro Ivo]

13 minutes ago, The Journey said:

CJ spends five years on the east coast, in Liberty City… maybe it’s based on Chicago a little too but it’s definitely still mainly New York.

 

LCS made it even more clear with old town Fort Staunton, directly based on Italian Harlem.

 

Yes. But.

Fort Staunton was originally envisioned by developers to be a ruin of an actual military fort.

The idea for it to be Italian Harlem arose later, during developing LCS.

It is supported by the fact that Fort Staunton in GTA Advance is a military fort. 

And it has at least one military truck.

LCS ruined the canon.

[universetwisters]

30 minutes ago, Kiro Ivo said:

Fort Staunton was originally envisioned by developers to be a ruin of an actual military fort.

Source?

[The Journey]

57 minutes ago, Kiro Ivo said:

 

Yes. But.

Fort Staunton was originally envisioned by developers to be a ruin of an actual military fort.

The idea for it to be Italian Harlem arose later, during developing LCS.

It is supported by the fact that Fort Staunton in GTA Advance is a military fort. 

And it has at least one military truck.

LCS ruined the canon.

LCS made the canon cooler by having an entire neighborhood of LC blown up by the mafia.

 

also Advance, u can’t really take that seriously. LCS is a lot cooler and I like to think it retconned and replaced Advance in the timeline.

Edited March 8, 2024 by The Journey

[Kiro Ivo]

1 hour ago, universetwisters said:

Source?

 

It is likely. Because I highly doubt they had Little Italy in mind when designing Fort Staunton. 

GTA Advance was originally a port of GTA III, then it was made into prequel. I do not know how intense was Rockstar's counseling to the studio which made Advance but they made Fort Staunton a military base. Which you would imagine a place being called a fort to be. 

 

[universetwisters]

1 hour ago, Kiro Ivo said:

It is likely. Because I highly doubt they had Little Italy in mind when designing Fort Staunton. 

I think they just had a construction site in mind and slapped a name to it at the last minute lol. Look at one of the beta III maps for staunton island; there’s an airport but not a military base

 

1 hour ago, Kiro Ivo said:

GTA Advance was originally a port of GTA III, then it was made into prequel. I do not know how intense was Rockstar's counseling to the studio which made Advance but they made Fort Staunton a military base. 

I’ve heard that Advance isn’t canon (especially since it wasn’t made by rockstar) because it retcons quite a few stuff between III and LCS

[TaylorSwiftDies2038]

12 hours ago, The Journey said:

CJ spends five years on the east coast, in Liberty City… maybe it’s based on Chicago a little too but it’s definitely still mainly New York.

 

LCS made it even more clear with old town Fort Staunton, directly based on Italian Harlem.

 

Yeah, Chicago isn't close to anywhere on the East Coast; if Liberty City were directly based on Chicago, CJ would have said "after 5 years in the Midwest".