Fan uses AI to reimagine GTA San Andreas characters with RealisticVision mod

Modified Feb 25, 2023 06:39 GMT

AI-generated CJ brings back nostalgia to GTA San Andreas fans (Image via Sportskeeda)

GTA San Andreas is one of the most popular entries in the Grand Theft Auto saga and fans adore it for the immersive experience it provided at the time. Despite using standard 2D graphics in a 3D setting, it was hailed as one of the most realistic games during the early 2000s.

Although Los Santos was brought to near-realism in GTA 5, the characters from the former game were never fully retouched by Rockstar Games. Nonetheless, a passionate fan on Reddit has used Artificial Intelligence to bring the characters to life.

Redditor brings CJ, Big Smoke, and other characters from GTA San Andreas to real life using AI-generated art

On February 23, 2023, a Reddit user named AaronGNP (u/AaronGNP) shared a post on the r/StableDiffusion subreddit. They demonstrated 10 characters from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas that had been recreated using AI.

According to the user, the images were recreated using ControlNet, Img2Img, and RealisticVision AI.

The post included realistic portraits of the protagonist Carl “CJ” Johnson, police officer Frank Tenpenny, Melvin Harris - also known as Big Smoke, Sean "Sweet" Johnson, Lance Wilson - also known as Ryder, Cesar Vialpando, Catalina, The Truth, Mike Toreno, Wu Zi Mu, also known as Woozie.

The following are the GTA San Andreas characters and their AI-generated portraits:

Carl “CJ” Johnson

AI-generated portrait of CJ (Image via Reddit u/AaronGNP)

Frank Tenpenny

Big Smoke

Sean "Sweet" Johnson

Ryder

Cesar Vialpando

Catalina

The Truth

Mike Toreno

Woozie

Rockstar Games is renowned for using inspiration and actors from real life to make in-game characters, and GTA San Andreas is no exception. While these are AI-generated portraits, the actual voice actors in the game are as follows:

Christopher Bellard, also known as Young Malay as CJ
Samuel Leroy Jackson as Frank Tenpenny
Clifton Powell as Big Smoke
Faizon Love as Sweet Johnson
Aaron Tyler, also known as MC Eiht as Ryder
Clifton Collins, Jr. as Cesar Vialpando
Cynthia Farrell as Catalina
Peter Henry Fonda as The Truth
James Howard Woods as Mike Toreno
James Yaegashi as Woozie

Despite being nearly two decades old, fans still adore GTA San Andreas and its characters for the recollections and nostalgia they evoke.

Edited by Abu Amjad Khan