Tropic
The Tropic is a large drivable boat in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, and Grand Theft Auto IV.
Design
GTA Vice City — GTA Vice City Stories
"Deep sea boat. Excellent seafaring craft. Believed to be used to aid disposal."
- Official Vice City Bureau of Investigation file description, GTA Vice City.[1]
Earlier iterations of the Tropic prior to GTA IV are essentially flybridge motor yachts or cabin cruisers, evidently featuring living space on the lower compartment of the boat and a partially covered bridge on top; in GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, a small kitchen is visible from the door in the back, while in GTA San Andreas, the front windows are semi-transparent, allowing the player to see a small living area with red curtains, tables and two sofas. The Tropic in GTA Vice City Stories, however, is sharply reduced in height, with its top chopped and featuring an open flybridge.
It is also one of the boats wanted by the Civil Asset Forfeiture Impound for export in GTA Vice City Stories.
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The entrance to the interior of the Tropic.
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The interior of the Tropic in GTA San Andreas.
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GTA IV
In GTA IV, the Tropic is still a cabin cruiser but has a low-profile cabin housed in its bulky hull, similar to a Bayliner Cruiser. As the boat is reduced to a size smaller than even the Jetmax or Squalo, the title of largest boat now belongs to the Tug Boat, which is easily twice the size of the pre-GTA IV Tropic.
The boat, however, is distinguishable from other speedboats by its diverse designs. Tropics appear in five different variations, each featuring a different spoiler, roof and deck configuration. They include:
- A bare bone variant with no accessories;
- A variant with a metal bar mounted over the occupant's compartment;
- A sporty variant with a bare back-swept spoiler;
- A sheltered variant with a forward-swept spoiler, with canvas canopies attached in the front and back; and
- A sheltered variant with a forward-swept spoiler, with a glass fairing and a canvas canopy attached in the back.
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A basic "bare bone" Tropic in GTA IV.
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Four other variants of the GTA IV Tropic, with increasingly more fittings.
Performance
Being large, the Tropic between GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories is generally one of the slowest of all boats (in a similar level as the Marquis and Rio) due to its size and weight.
The GTA IV rendition features improved performance, but remains a low-end speedboat as the third-fastest having a similar speed as the game's Dinghy. For this reason, it is the least used boat in the multiplayer races of GTA IV.
Trivia
- In GTA San Andreas, there is a visual effect glitch that has Carl go into an "invisible chair" sitting position for one second as he changes the radio station. This happens because the Tropic uses the same animations for changing the radio station as normal cars and boats with seats. This also happens on the Dinghy.
- In GTA San Andreas, there is a glitch that if the player moves the character up into the cabin (where you sit and drive the boat), you can see completely underwater without any visual deterrents.
- In GTA San Andreas, the vehicle automatically plays K-Jah West upon entry.
Locations
- GTA Vice City
- Docked on eastern side of the Leaf Links-Vice Point canal, west of the Links View Apartment.
- GTA San Andreas
- Spawns underneath the Garver Bridge, next to a Squalo.
- Spawns at Bone County, usually seen floating north of Verdant Meadows
- GTA Vice City Stories
- Docked at the Ocean Bay Marina in Ocean Beach, at the middle dock.
Reference
- ↑ Vice City Crime Tree. Rockstar Games. official GTA Vice City website