Save Points
Save Points are locations where the player goes to save their progress in a GTA game.
The implementation of save points varies between the different games. In GTA III, the player walks into a building to save. In GTA Vice City, the player walks into a floating pink cassette icon (indoors or outdoors) to save. In GTA San Andreas, the player walks into a floating floppy disk icon, some of which are inside safehouses.
Safehouses are buildings where the user can save their game, and are a specialized subset of save points. Whereas save points typically consist of no more simply a floating save icon, a safehouse is an actual building which contains a save icon that must be physically entered by the protagonist. Save icons vary in appearance depending between games, and are reminiscent of the media used in time period in which the game is set. For example, in GTA Vice City Stories, the save icon appears as a 5.25" floppy disk, which was common during the 1980s. In GTA San Andreas and GTA IV, safehouses also offer a wardrobe in which to change the protagonist's clothing. In GTA IV, the savepoint appears as a bed, and saving passes 6 hours in game time. GTA IV also employs an auto-save feature after the player has passed certain missions or performed certain activities.