Statistics
Statistics are used in GTA III Era games to indicate progression in certain areas, or to enumerate certain activities -- for example, a "Longest wheelie" statistic will measure how long a player has sustained a wheelie on a motorcycle; "Packages collected" counts how many Hidden Packages a player has acquired; "Hospital visits" counts how many times a player has been Wasted on their current playthrough, etc.
Many of these statistics are also present in older GTA games, but they are not detailed here.
HUD Stats
Rather than recording progress or activities, these statistics are displayed onscreen during gameplay in the Heads Up Display (HUD), to give the player a greater awareness of the protagonist's condition and situation.
- Health - Health indicates your character's condition. When your health becomes depleted, you are Wasted and fail any mission you are on, sending you to the hospital. Health can be regained by eating food, saving, or picking up a health "power-up." Health is lost from many things, ranging from being shot to falling from heights.
- Armor - Armor counts as an extra layer of health, obtainable only from a pickup or an Ammu-Nation store. Unless your armor is depleted, your health is immune from most attacks, and your armor is reduced instead. The only case where this is not true is during impact from falls, being hit by cars, etc (basically anything that armor cannot absorb) . These will deplete health instead of armor in GTA San Andreas. In GTA III and GTA Vice City, armor is subtracted even when players falls off or gets run over. In Vice City, only shotgun attack can reduce health before depleting armor.
- Wanted Level - Your Wanted Level indicates the level of police interest in you. If you have committed serious crimes (and the police find out), it indicates the extent of your crimes, and how hard the Police are going to be looking for you. If the police catch you, you will be Busted.
GTA SA Statistics
GTA San Andreas has a number of additional statistics displayed either when holding the 'status' button or viewing them in the Main Menu. These reflect CJ's physique, physical abilities and expertise; unlike in other GTA games, these change according to the player's actions.
- Fat - This statistic measures CJ's body fat. Fat is increased by eating food. Fat is decreased by exercising, either at a gym or in the world at large. Being overweight naturally changes CJ's appearance, and eventually lessens most physical capabilities (including health), but CJ is required to have at least a small amount of fat -- without it, exercising will reduce CJ's health instead of his fat.
- Food is available at Well Stacked Pizza Co., Cluckin' Bell, and Burger Shot, and their meals will add either 0, 1, 2, or 3% to your fat stat.
- For every 150 seconds of running, or every 100 seconds of biking or swimming, you will shed 1.5% fat. At a gym, this is much faster - on the treadmill or stationary bike, you will shed 2.5% fat every 14 seconds. When lifting weights, you will shed 2.5% fat for each repetition. Also, if you wait 48 ingame hours without eating, you will shed fat at a rate of 2.5% per hour.
- Muscle - This indicates CJ's muscular development. Muscle influences the Respect and Sex Appeal stats. Muscle is increased by working out at a gym, or otherwise exercising (running, riding bikes, swimming). A 100% muscle statistic is detrimental to Sex appeal and will prevent CJ from initiating contact with some girlfriends
- Using the treadmill or stationary bike at a gym for 14 seconds will gain 1% muscle. Lifting weights will gain 1% muscle for each repetition. 150 seconds of running in-game, or 100 seconds of swimming or biking, will cause you to gain 1% muscle.
- Respect - Respect indicates your level of influence over your gang. Having high enough Respect allows you to recruit gang members. Many missions increase Respect when completed, as do successful Gang Wars. Respect is lost by not wearing gang colors in gang territory. CJ will also lose respect if he kills members of the Grove Street Families or loses territory to other gangs.
- Sex Appeal - This statistic indicates how girls will react to you. It is influenced by your Vehicle, Hairstyle, Clothing, Fat, and Muscle. Collecting all 50 Oysters can prevent some of the pitfalls of low Sex Appeal (girlfriends being dissatisfied with CJ's appearance, or potential girlfriends not wanting to talk to CJ)
- Stamina - The Stamina statistic indicates endurance with regards to running, swimming, and cycling. Low stamina means CJ will grow fatigued easily and stop sprinting after short distances. Stamina has to be built up over the course of the entire game by exercising. In GTA: Vice City Stories, a stamina bar also exists whenever the player is in the water. If it runs out, the player will drown.
- For every 150 seconds of swimming, or every 300 seconds for running or biking, you will gain 5% Stamina. At the Gyms, the treadmill and stationary bike bike will grant you 4% Stamina for every 14 seconds.