Top 5 developmental secrets shared by ex-GTA 3 dev

The release of GTA 3 in 2001 was a turning point for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, which is today a juggernaut in the gaming industry. Rockstar Games' former Technical Director, Obbe Vermeij, has shared many secrets from the title's development phase on social media over time. This has shown how the studio was able to put together something so special despite the technological limitations at the time.

In this article, we look at the top five developmental secrets shared by this ex-Grand Theft Auto 3 dev.

Note: The entries have been ranked based on the magnitude of the information shared.

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Here are the top 5 developmental secrets shared by ex-GTA 3 dev Obbe Vermeij

5) Implementation of the weather cycle

Obbe Vermeij's tweet about Grand Theft Auto 3's weather cycle development (Image via X/@ObbeVermeij)

Having a variable weather cycle is important for any open-world game. In June 2024, Obbe Vermeij revealed how this mechanism was developed in Grand Theft Auto 3. He stated that the initial system worked on a random chance, but that resulted in things like the weather going unchanged for days.

The ex-Rockstar dev then resorted to having each weather type, which for GTA 3 is sunny, overcast, rainy, and foggy, repeat after 64 hours (in-game) following each occurrence.

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4) Birth of the iconic cinematic camera

While weather cycles are important, the cinematic camera is another iconic feature in Grand Theft Auto games. How it came to be was revealed not long ago by Obbe Vermeij.

Rockstar's former Technical Director explained it was initially planned for players to be able to ride trains normally in GTA 3. However, he found the concept boring, and as skipping to the next station would cause streaming issues, he came up with the cinematic camera. Someone then made a suggestion that prompted Vermeij to add the same for cars. And so, the iconic cinematic camera was born.

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3) Players almost had a 1-star wanted level for jumping red lights

Obbe Vermeij's tweet about traffic lights in Grand Theft Auto 3 (Image via X/@ObbeVermeij)

Another interesting revelation by the ex-Rockstar dev is that the initial design was made for players to get a 1-star wanted level in GTA 3 if they ran a red light.

This was revealed in a tweet by Obbe Vermeij who discussed the game's traffic light cycle orientation. That said, this mechanic was not popular with the rest of the team and was removed from the game during development.

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2) Grand Theft Auto 3 was also being developed for Dreamcast initially

GTA 3 was released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2, and a little later, on PC and Xbox. There was another well-known console during that era — the Sega Dreamcast — but it never got to welcome Rockstar's hit release.

However, Obbe Vermeij did reveal in a tweet that the game was being developed for it at one point, albeit briefly. Rockstar then switched to the PS2 for commercial reasons, according to the ex-dev.

It is worth noting that a group of fans recently came up with a GTA 3 Dreamcast port.

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1) Grand Theft Auto 3's multiplayer mode was canceled

Obbe Vermeij's tweets about GTA 3's canceled multiplayer mode (Images via X/@ObbeVermeij)

The online mode in Grand Theft Auto 4 was the series' first proper venture into the modern multiplayer realm. Grand Theft Auto Online later implemented this on a much larger scale. This has been one of Rockstar's most successful concepts ever.

Interestingly, Obbe Vermeij revealed that he had worked on a multiplayer mode for GTA 3 as well, but it was eventually canceled. In another tweet from December 2024, he revealed a few more details about this, such as a deathmatch, and Barking Dog Studios (now Rockstar Vancouver) being asked to explore its design.

Also check: 5 things that made Grand Theft Auto 3 so popular