Ex-Rockstar dev sheds light on trash in GTA Vice City and its absence in GTA San Andreas

Obbe Vermeij (X/@ObbeVermeij), an ex-developer at Rockstar Games who worked in GTA San Andreas, GTA Vice City, and GTA 3, recently shared his experiences while developing the games. He particularly talked about the trash that was available in both 2001 and 2002 titles but was absent in the 2004 game.

Vermeij shared some interesting details on how he lost the argument to bring back litter in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the third time.

---

Ex-Rockstar developer shares some interesting details about trash in GTA San Andreas and GTA Vice City

Impressive realism is one of the main reasons why GTA San Andreas is still popular. However, on August 14, 2024, Obbe Vermeij took to X to explain why he had to remove the trash from the title, despite having them in GTA Vice City and Grand Theft Auto 3.

Vermeij stated that he added litter to the 2001 title because the streets looked "too clean." The same principle was also applied to GTA Vice City, and you can see various newspaper sheets lying on the ground. However, during the development of GTA San Andreas, the ex-developer couldn't influence his teammates enough and ultimately had to remove the litter.

“Not everyone on the team liked the litter. I removed it for San Andreas because I eventually lost the argument.”

It's worth noting that having trash is one of the things Vice City did before GTA 5. Vermeij even explained one minor detail from the 2002 title many players might've not noticed before.

“In Vice City, there is a mission (Dildo Dodo) where the player drops flyers for Candy Suxx’s show. From that point onwards, 1 of the 4 litter textures is replaced with the flyer.”

Rockstar Games is known for its insane attention to detail, and skilled developers like Obbe Vermeij make the games artful. Readers should also note that the trash in GTA San Andreas and GTA Vice City have some minor in-game physics. Whenever a vehicle passes by them or the wind blows, you can see the litter moving on the ground.

While the trash was removed from the 2004 title, one user commented that it could be added with the help of PC mods.

---