Channel Update - April 2024 - Asked some questions to former developer

Hello there! I hope you are doing well.

GTA SA - Why planes crash in this game (WIP name)

More than two weeks ago I made a post asking you if I should include this fact in a separate video or not. As I can see, you would rather watch a separate video, where I explain this topic better and deeper. The good thing is, the script is almost finished, but there is a problem with that. I don't like it.

Turns out, the planes crash in this game, because every single aspect of this feature is broken. I will explain it very simply:

• The game chooses a random spot in the sky and then shoots a straight line from it.

  

• If this line sees an obstacle, the game chooses another random spot in the sky.

• If there is no obstacle, the game creates a plane, which is operated by the plane A.I.

• The plane A.I. occasionally shoots straight medium range lines from the center of a plane to analyze what's ahead to adjust the plane's flying path.

But why the planes crash then? Well, it would work if a plane was flat. The lines I was talking about has no width. Every single time you see these planes crashing is because they hit something with a wing. Period.

As you can see, the explanation is very basic, but there is a lot and I mean A LOT OF stuff to explain in between. For instance, what a collision model is... that the calculations are very limited and sometimes the plane A.I. misses direct hit... that there are also 3D checks, but they are broken... that there are different zones where the planes don't spawn... that there are "NoBigPlaneZone"... that there are also huge planes, which do not crash and etc. After re-reading the script over and over again I realized that the video is, well, boring and it makes me sad.

What you see on my screenshots is the script made by FH to analyze and show how this feature and the plane A.I. work. Lines with no width, spawn points, spawn point checks, collision models... it is all there. So instead of using your imagination, you can see it on your screen.

We wasted a lot of time (Fire_Head especially) investigating this stuff and I don't know how to make this topic interesting to watch for an average viewer. The explanation and telling you what's wrong with the feature became too complex. Maybe I just need a break from this video. Right now the video is put on hold, sadly.

GTA SA - Interesting Facts [Part 2]

Somewhere around Easter, I noticed that Obbe (former technical director at Rockstar North) is doing a lot of Q&As lately so I decided why not to give it a shot too. I contacted him directly and asked if he was okay to answer some of my questions too. He simply said yes, so I decided to ask 6 questions related to this upcoming video, prepared in Google doc featuring pictures. One hour later I already had his answers in my inbox. Neat.

Some parts in the script were rewritten, and I included his answers too. I really like this new addition in the video. I will try to ask Spoofer to voice me his answers. Would be a perfect reunion. But the truth is, haven't heard from him in years...

But anyways, don't expect anything extraordinary in Obbe's answers. He worked on this game 20 years ago and I asked code related questions only. One of them was about crashing planes. Turns out he already prepared a tweet talking about this feature and was very kind to show me a preview.

Right now this is set to be the next video on my channel. The script was sent to Badger less than two weeks ago and I expect him to voice it very soon. But now I want to take a small break.

~~

Thank you for watching and supporting me. I hope to see you soon!