BETA | STUDIOS // ROCKSTAR NORTH
you have done is tracked and measured, and we’ve had to get the right scale server back end to support that.” When we ask North president Benzies about
next-gen tech, he answers with so much praise for what Fowler, Hooker and their colleagues have done that it feels almost rude to try and look beyond their PS3 and 360 achievements. “I am excited about next-gen, the more
power you get as a developer is brilliant. “But we’re doing this. V is our focus. And to
me GTA Vlooks next-gen. We’ve pushed this as far as it will go – it won’t give you any more. Our game is a ‘next-gen’ title on current gen.”
THE ART
WHERE DO YOU start when it comes to making a game the scale of GTA V? With a map. Not a design document, or a ‘product road map’ but a literal map. And Aaron Garbut, art director at Rockstar
North, is the man who plots the course. Garbut is one of the four who devise the basis
of each GTA, and a long-time colleague of Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies. “Back at DMA Design Aaron was sat on the other side of a bank of filing cabinets – he was fenced off from us. But one day I caught a glimpse of his screen and he was typing in these texture coordinates. It was unusual to see an artist with his style that had a full understanding of the technical side of the game too. So we kind of stole him on to our project, which was Silicon Valley for the N64.”
20 | OCTOBER 2013
Space Station Silicon Valley included some of the hallmarks, like switching between vehicles in a 3D world, that would appear in the team’s next project – GTA III, which they naturally flocked towards, gazumping the 2D GTA team, given their technical and 3D art prowess. Back then, Garbut was one of six artists
working on the PS2 title. Today, he oversees over 150 at Rockstar North doing art for the game – and more around the world.
GRAND DESIGNS When making GTA, it is Garbut’s pre-production that sets the tone. And it starts small. “We do a lot of Googling and StreetView
scoping,” he says. “And some of us – Sam, Dan, Les and I – tend to meet up in the places we
We end up spending four years in this
virtual place. We drive around it more than the places we actually live.
Aaron Garbut, Art Director
are being inspired by and drive around those places and have random chats. “After that we have six to eight people on the
design for around nine months to a year. At that point we have a pretty solid blocked in map. We treat the cities like a sculpture and make sure
that perspectives down streets look right. And we also make sure that it has the areas we need – both in terms of missions and as a city. “After that we build up the team, and will take more people over to places like LA.” Back in the PS2 days, the whole studio
would decamp to the destination, but the sheer scale of projects these days means the pilgrimage is done by more senior staff. But it’s still a big chunk of them. “We also have a research team in New York
now. They were really good with GTA IV, and on V they have liaised with film crews to scout locations,” explains Garbut. “We would take each individual city block and set down a very detailed guide to what it would look like, set StreetView coordinates, and then the location scouts would take photos of the specific places.” He admits the process might seem a bit
back to front to some: “We design a world that we think is fun and just try to include as many interesting locations as possible. So we come up with ideas that we think will work well for the missions that will be created later.” “We go through lots and lots of iteration. We get a map and get to a point where you can drive around. Then the level designers get in there and that adds more voices to the mix in terms of what is working and what isn’t. “We end up spending up to four years in
this virtual place, we drive around it more than the places we actually live so we really know what is right and what isn’t, what’s out of place and is perfect.”
One of the tricks this method has taught the team is the ability to change tone quickly
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