New GTA 6 details reveal how Jason and Lucia can spend time together outside story missions. From holding hands in a park to robbing stores, Rockstar Games wants their relationship to be part of exploring Grand Theft Auto VI’s open world.
Jason and Lucia Can Hang Out Together in GTA 6
In a new Bloomberg Businessweek interview, Rockstar Games revealed more details about how Jason and Lucia interact during regular gameplay. Rather than having their relationship exist only in cutscenes, the studio wanted players to experience it while also exploring Vice City and the Leonida map.
According to Bloomberg, players controlling Jason can text Lucia to ask her to meet up. A few minutes later, the couple can be walking through a park holding hands and talking about their personal lives. One example includes them reminiscing about a time Lucia’s mother got angry with Jason.
Their outings can also include a trip to the gym. Bloomberg describes Lucia using a treadmill while Jason does squats. Of course, this is still Grand Theft Auto, so the couple can then go rob a store and get chased by police while flirting and bantering. Basically, a casual date night together can turn into a crime spree. Which if I’m being honest, sounds pretty awesome!
Rockstar head of development Rob Nelson explained that getting these interactions to work required complicated AI systems. However, the team felt that allowing Jason and Lucia to spend time together in the open world was essential to the game.
“This is a game about a couple. They have to be a couple,” Nelson recalled members of the team arguing. The result sounds like a more involved companion system, where spending time with the other protagonist can become part of your usual routine between missions.
GTA 6’s NPCs Can Turn a Simple Drive Into a Two-Hour Detour
Rockstar Games also offered us a closer look at how encounters with NPCs can lead players into unexpected situations. Rockstar head of development Phil Hooker described trying to reach a story mission when he accidentally bumped into another car. Its driver responded by ramming him back and shouting, before both characters pulled over to settle the confrontation.
Already low on health, Hooker headed toward a convenience store to grab restorative items. On the way, another NPC started insulting him, triggering another violent encounter. When he finally reached the store, nobody was at the register, so he robbed it.
Things only got more chaotic from there. After escaping the police and abandoning his vehicle, Hooker found a valuable car that he intended to sell. However, another driver nearly crashed into him, prompting him to follow that vehicle instead.
That detour led him to a compound containing more goods to steal. He then took the stolen items to a fence, where he received a tip about another activity. By the time all of this had happened, two hours had passed. Hooker still hadn’t reached the story mission he originally intended to test.
Rockstar Built a New Studio to Create GTA 6’s NPCs
Creating the people who populate Grand Theft Auto VI also required Rockstar to expand its production capacity. According to Bloomberg, the studio realized it couldn’t write and animate its planned number of NPCs with the resources it had available. Nelson described the production estimates as “horrifying.”
Rockstar responded by building out a Los Angeles studio with writers, producers, and directors dedicated to creating NPCs. The interview also explains how much work goes into individual locations. For a nightclub, that includes animating and scripting patrons, creating drinks, adding music, and coordinating the lighting to make the space feel authentic.
Between those details and Jason and Lucia’s shared activities, Rockstar appears to be putting a lot of effort into what happens between the big story missions. And based on Hooker’s two-hour detour, simply getting to your next objective could be an adventure of its own.
The post Rockstar Reveals New GTA 6 Features for Jason and Lucia’s Relationship appeared first on VICE.
