Upstate
Upstate Liberty is the name given to the northern end of Shoreside Vale which normally is inaccessible during gameplay. The area could be considered the technical limitations of Grand Theft Auto III. It is the northernmost part of Liberty City in GTA III, and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. Upstate is mentioned in GTA III however the location is never revealed. The northern part can only be assumed as the location. The name, and location is suggested in GTA Liberty City Stories.
Description
Overview
Lying behind the Shoreside Vale land mass are water patches and a gaping entrance into Blue Hell. There is also a small city block situated behind the massif in GTA III.
The hills which are above Cedar Grove are only there to cover up the area behind it. Most of the hills are not solid. The way to distinguish this is if the grass is blurred, it's usually not solid. Most of the ground below the observatory is solid and the ground at or above the observatory isn't. A chain of telephones poles that appear in the city begin from Upstate. The very first one (or last one) is located directly next to the observatory.
GTA III
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GTA LCS
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Geography
Upstate is the hilliest part of Shoreside Vale. The hills are located above Cedar Grove as mentioned before. There are two layers of hills. The first layer is under the observatory. And the second layer is at the same level as the observatory although some of it stretches out above it. There is a steep rocky wall connecting the two. The wall also stretches around the western part of the hills near Cochrane Dam, and the western part of the hills. The first layer is solid, and the player can roam on. The second layer isn't solid. Located above the wall is an invisible field that blocks the player. It is worth noting that some of the hills on the first land mass can be used as ramps to jump onto, and through the second hill mass.
Cochrane Dam
Around the upper-area of Cochrane Dam the north-western section of the hills can be seen sheltering the water contained in the dam. Parts of this section are solid but are normally not accessible. From certain viewpoints optical illusions can be seen which are results of incomplete draw graphics such as water jutting through the wall of the dam. Under the water a large entrance of Blue Hell exists. Unlike all of the other Blue Hell entrances, if the player falls in they will fall for a longer period of time as opposed to the normal amount of time.
| File:CochraneDam-GTA3-UpstatesideNE.jpg | File:CochraneDam-GTA3-UpstatesideNW.jpg | |
Viewed from the North-East
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View from the North-West.
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Road tunnels
Two road tunnels are located to the north of Cedar Grove and to the east of Cochrane Dam. The tunnels may be a clue to the actual entrance to Upstate. In GTA III the tunnels seem to appear to connect with each other. In GTA Liberty City Stories, the tunnels do connect to each other at an underground T-junction. Another tunnel branching off at the intersection leads to Upstate.
GTA III
The tunnels first appear in GTA III and are blocked off without much reasoning. The tunnels do not have any significance to the storyline. Signs, blockades, and an invisible wall at the front of both tunnels are seen blocking the entrance. If the players causes an explosion on the items, it will still be blocked. And the construction signs aren't solid, which is why explosives don't affect them. The only solid part is the small path in front of the pile of rubble.
In-game, it would appear as if these are under construction, as mounds of dirt, and construction signs are visible. The tunnels extends at least twenty feet into the hills before they come to a stop. Past this wall there is nothing. It would also appear that the tunnels connect to each other (as seen in the interior, however they don't). Also as seen through the radar they appear to lead up towards the city limits (edge of the gameworld) but they don't.
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GTA Liberty City Stories
The two tunnels return in GTA Liberty City Stories but this time it is accessible and include traffic. They are in the same location; one in Cedar Grove, and one at the end of the Cochrane Dam. The two tunnels connect in the center where the Upstate name can be seen on all tunnel entrances. There is also another blockade planted here. The other side of the road appears to go uphill. This too is not solid. The edge of the gameworld is not present here but the blue hell entrances are. Unlike in GTA III the tunnel is located deep inside the hills instead of jutting out. Going under this road will result in the player falling in the water.
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Boundaries of the gameworld
Surrounding all of Liberty City is an area dubbed the borders of the "gameworld." This can be spotted usually as a light blue area behind the water (colors can change with time and weather). This is nothing more than the biggest "hole" in the game. It works just as blue hell does. It can be seen as such as when the player gets close to it they can angle the camera to a certain extent to which it emulates a "trail" effect. This area has no water and is void of any physical objects. The atmosphere is still present in this area and low-textured birds can still be seen.
Venturing too far into this region can result in the game crashing only if the player enters it from the north.[1] If the player attempts to enter it from any other direction the game will "bounce" them back. Entering the names Aaronsville, and Garystown will crash the game as they are too far north. In the PS2 and Xbox versions, the game will freeze but the radio still plays if the player is in a vehicle. In the PC version the game will immediately crash, giving the user an unhandled exception error message. The distance in which it crashes differs between the three consoles. In the PC version if the player enters said names it will crash, but with the console games the player can nearly cross over before it crashes.
Also, if the player approaches Upstate from the Portland side, and flies into the north-eastern hill mass their vehicle will disappear and reappear after a few seconds. The reason for the hills not being complete was the thought that no players can normally venture there. However in GTA Liberty City Stories, most of the hills actually have backsides (but are unsolid) instead of having large holes in the landscape.
Radar text
Close to the edge of Liberty City in GTA III there are several names that can be seen on the radar: Chris's Town, Gary's Town, Adamton, Obbeburgh, Woodcunty, Les County, and Aaronsville, all of which were named after some of the programmers. To see these names the player would have to learn how to fly the Dodo and fly it behind the Shoreside Vale hills.
These names may have been placed here just as Easter eggs (which could be the purpose of the Dodo). It is not possible for it to be another part of the city as it too close to the edge of the gameworld, and could crash unexpectedly. The names are evidenced to be named after developers of GTA III:
| Name | Programmer name | Position |
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| Aaronsville | Aaron Garbut | Art Director |
| Adamton | Adam Fowler, Adam Cochrane | Technical Direction, 3D Artist |
| Chris'sTown | Chris Rothwell | Design By |
| Garystown | Gary Mcadam | 3D Artist |
| Les County | Leslie Benzies | Producer |
| Obbeburgh | Obbe Vermeij | Technical Direction |
| Woodcunty | Alisdair Wood |
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Access
The main mean of reaching Upstate in GTA III is by plane. Another way to reach it is the use of cheats in combination with the Rhino tank. The player cannot reach it by boat as there are invisible currents that cut off Upstate from the water around Francis International and Portland. However, in GTA Liberty City Stories, the inclusion of a floating car cheat allows the player to drive through the boundaries which would normally prevent boats from entering. Also if the player has obtained a helicopter they can use that to go past the boundaries, but not the height limit.
Residents
- Lazlow Jones - Lazlow is said to reside in Upstate.
- Fernando Martinez - Fernando also says he is from Upstate; he is also accused of being "a cheap pimp from Upstate".
Miscellaneous images
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Notes
- The small fold-out maps that come with all copies of GTA III do not include the Upstate area of Liberty City.
References
- ↑ ; "Outer" water areas (just at the borders of gameworld) - don't touch!: - Obtained from the Water.DAT file of GTA III
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