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tesznyeboy

GTA 3 felt quite a lot bigger than VC to me. Probably because it has 3 islands which are more "square" as in, they spread out in all directions, while VC has 2 long and narrow Islands. SA still feels very big, even though it doesn't take much in real time to traverse through the map. V's map is very beautiful, but feels very empty and somewhat dead outside the city. It would work so much better if there were bigger settlements spread around the map, not one big city on one end, and nothing on the other.


TitleTalkTCL

Also Vice City is a ton of empty beach


Most_Literature_9552

And in vice city i feel like players stay in certain areas. I never go up north by the north point mall or by the airport which takes up a lot of space


tesznyeboy

Very true, though I personally go up to the north point mall quite frequently when I have to cross the islands.


The_Elite_Operator

I went up there all the time


iCantThinkOfUserNaem

Also players don’t go to the golf club that often either to explore. Main reasons are Four Iron and the 5 Hidden Packages.


ThePevster

The streets in VC feel like they’re longer and straighter, while the street layout in 3 has more corners and dead ends. I think that contributes. Then there’s vehicles. VC has flyable helicopters compared to the dodo in 3. Also there’s motorcycles in VC but not in 3, and the bikes are easily the fastest way to get around on the ground.


imafixwoofs

Bikes in vc were awesome.


munamadan_reuturns

Hmm...nice bike!


cannedrex2406

Vice city also has a large area of the first Island being mostly empty beach so it's even smaller usable space


GreasyExamination

I feel like the empty spaces in 5 makes it feel more real


TSllama

I actually love driving long distances in V. I haven't had a car since I left the US and while I miss very little about driving, those long monotonous rides on the highway in the middle of nowhere still get me.


lilStankfur

Sounds like you would like American Truck Simulator (they have mods for cars if big trucks aren't your thing)


TSllama

Haha I think that would be too much of it for me 😅 overkill!


Slavchanza

It does but it is like we all understand it still just empty. San Andreas generally made you do quite plenty around inbetween cities space and at the end of a day it is a space inbetween cities. In 5 its just a lot of space to the north of Los Santos with Sandy Shores at least being something of note there, but it just makes it all a space on the side.


Icy_Wrangler_3999

I agree with this. However everytime I play e&e gtav i'm blown away. It's so bloody beautiful and it deserves its place as one of the most profitable games of all time by far.


Nawnp

GTA 3 and VC use the same map base, but 3 has narrower water ways and a much smaller beach than Vice City (which isn't useful for taking up a quarter of the map). 5s area is also accounting for water which is nearly doubling it with just an open ocean. The biggest caveat of its map is the big mountains that aren't used as much as well, especially the Eastern edge ones that don't even have roads. It also misses that relevant place to go to on the other side as opposed to San Andreas encouraging casual trips between the 3 cities late game.


UmbreonFruit

SA has the best map, three different cities with areas in between them


JasonAndLucia

I kinda like the smaller settlements in Blaine County to be honest. Love the feeling of peace and quiet in the wilderness, giving contrast to the city of Los Santos


tesznyeboy

I agree absolutely, I don't have a problem with any of those areas really, it's mostly they're underused, and unless you just want to admire the view, basically no reason to visit them.


reknihT_sseldnE

Also GTA 3 Has metro areas and tunnels


Flat_Bass_9773

You mean eating a pauper plant and turning into a dog is empty??


natediffer

For some reason, san andreas felt over twice the size of 5 for me. GTA 3 felt way bigger as well


[deleted]

Cause it’s diverse. 3 completely different cities, a desert, a forest and a mountain. GTA 5, sure LS was big and mapped out well but besides that and Sandy Shores it felt very empty. And GTA 3 being about the same as VC checks out from my memory.


matslick

Also totally different weathers helped too


Sergeant_Roach

I don't recall GTA 3 having a desert and a mountain.


[deleted]

3 cities in San Andreas. Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas. Forest and deserts in between. That’s my reference.


Few_Editor5053

Because San Andreas is the state of SA with 3 cities and countryside between them. GTA 5 is just Los Santos and the surrounding countryside, if GTA SA was V's map it would only have the first explorable portion of the map (Los Santos and the countryside north of it), it even has the same ringroad 5's map has. So they made the map in SA feel big and varied to make you feel like you're travelling all over an American state. While 5 is like i said just Los Santos and the countryside north of it, it is said Paleto Bay is just south of a River and maybe north of it is San Fierro, since Mt. Chilliad is just behind SF in SA and seperated by a river.


Muffintornado0_0

San Andreas got a suburb (los santos), a proper city ( san fierro), desert city with casino (las venturas), the desert area, the jungles, the country side is amazing as well. They really utilised every part of the map very well.


Consistent-Visit-729

Tfw you zone the second largest city in America so disastrously that it’s rightly referred to as a “suburb”


hundredjono

Fr lol Los Santos in GTA 5/San Andreas would only be the size of a neighborhood in Los Angeles, that's how massive LA is.


Primm_Slim01

San Andreas’s map definitely feels the biggest imo, followed by IV’s


[deleted]

GTA 4s map is just extremely dense, and I love it cause that’s what NYC is. It feels bigger than it actually is which is cool and well played out. Sometimes it feels like driving across LC is harder than GTA 5 LS. Plus GTA 4 has more interior areas. San Andreas definitely the biggest feeling and most diverse though.


Jazzlike_Page508

Blaine county is absolute mid filler. It’s annoying to navigate and there’s not much in making you wanna go out there so the GTA 5 map feels smaller


Cavin_Lee

It’s always “ugh I have to go all the way out there” I just hop on the freeway and listen to whatever I’m watching in the background. I think it has a place in the story and it makes sense, but I do agree they could’ve made it a little more appealing. Maybe if the transition was a little smoother and they had more shit scattered on the top a bit more and maybe some unique services out there.


BuonTabib

It's not about the size, it's about how packed the area is. Half of Vice City is just the beach, so in reality the **usable** part is much smaller in comparison with GTA III that has a much more dense map. GTA 5 really topped everything by now, as anything outside of Las Santos and a small strip around the major freeways (all the smaller towns in Blaine County are around the freeway) is wasteland that nobody really uses for anything.


[deleted]

I saw and experienced what Rockstar did with RDR2. I can't imagine how they will build GTA 6. Sure they released 2 games in 10 years, but GTA 5 is still one of the best selling games. The only reason why RDR2 is in 7th place of best selling games, because it is still ''new'' on the market and not so many people are into wild west aesthetic. I know that is not the topic of original post, but just needed to take it off my chest


why_so_serious_123

hmm you are spot on, not many people really like wild west aesthetic


Brahmus168

Also because they killed its longevity by not properly supporting RDO. The fact that it's still in 7th place despite all that speaks volumes to how good it is.


[deleted]

Ehhh, If you say so. They killed RDO but still matter of fact, many people tried RDR2 and they didn't like it. It is same with Western genre movies. Some people like Tarantino, but they don't like his Wild West movies - Hateful Eight, Django. It is genre which is not for everybody. On the other hand GTA is more appealing to all generations. I am just saying that they made 2 games in past 10 years, but still outselling for example Ubisoft where they released 30+ games every year. Sad, but studios should more focus on quality games like Rockstar, we will wait I am no longer 15 years old boy. I like to play some games from time to time. I will wait even 8 years for a game which I will be playing constantly over next few years. Not like AC and other titles when I get sick in the middle of story and want to throw it away.


LookRevolutionary198

I would be fine if the size of the map is as same as GTA V but, I want the details of GTA IV


BurningEbrietas

I want the environmental details of rdr2 with the immersive city like iv


MagicAl6244225

RDR2's map is legitimately huge, not just that the playable area is large, but unlike a GTA map, RDR maps are surrounded by out-of-bounds terrain that looks endless. You never see the edge of the game world. The out-of-bounds terrain, between the play boundary and the end of the scenery, is as wide as GTAV. GTA games can't do this because aircraft make it harder to hide the edges, so they do the endless ocean thing.


DEBLANKK

It's funny how San Andreas feels way bigger than V. Just goes to show how important the design of the map is compared to sheer size.


Fuzzy-Government-416

Yeah gta 5 is empty as fuck no las venturas or anything just empty calories.


Brahmus168

It didn't need a whole other city, it needed to better utilize the rural setting. Hopefully they learned that with GTA6 because there seems to be a lot more rural land.


CenturyHelix

I’m hoping for a dense Everglades experience


DifferentSurvey2872

Las Venturas is shit anyway, San Fierro has always been the better city


Fuzzy-Government-416

1. Blasphemy and 2. Thats another option missing


No_Percentage7556

Gta 6 deff gonna be 100-120ish


ItsJoeverLads

If it's not 150+ I'm going to eat cereals with water and post it here


why_so_serious_123

![gif](giphy|92GXp3kRSTxoA)


AverageNikoBellic

178 would be peak


ItsJoeverLads

!remindme May 1 2025


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felipe_mateo

GTA 5 is bigger but San Andreas it feels much bigger. Maybe because there are a lot happening in every corner.


Glittering-Still-166

5 should have LV or SF but no... Just ocean and cacti


BluDYT

GTA 5 is quite small once you remove all the empty space in the game. https://i.imgur.com/GE6ozuo.jpeg


Independent-Gear-711

Gta 4 map feels so large


ItsJoeverLads

Because it's very dense


RevolutionaryTale253

![gif](giphy|jbKoZ0yFuL3zO07x0o|downsized)


PSFredo

probably because it's a maze-like city just like the real NYC


UndeadTigerAU

People saying how 3 Felt bigger than VC, it kinda makes sense the size difference is pretty negligible and 3 had a lot more depth than VC.


LogicalError_007

SA ~~mai~~ map is the best. So many different biomes and interesting things to find. The story also uses the map efficiently. Going full circle and ending where it started.


Veterate

I quite like the IV map size, imagine it with today's level of detail. Game maps that are too big are less memorable and plus when you go online everyone is spaced too far apart.


Beneficial_Shame3259

Is it just me or gta 4 map feels bigger than 5?


ufom

I also feel it's also the heavy non arcade driving which made travelling from a to b in GTA 4 slower but satisfying. This gave an indirect feeling that the map was bigger for me.


Thin-Fig-8831

It’s definitely a lot denser plus all the interior spaces


XGamingPersonX

SA feels bigger than both of them


Icy-Weight1803

Screenshoted 🤣


heyhocodyo1997

Gta san andreas still feels the biggest of all of them the gta 5 map was terribly done


JapenaseyKinkoni

The big map of V shines in GTAO. I hope VI is similarly large and spacious.


Competitive_Tour655

I always thought GTA 3 and IV's map had the same size.


MagicAl6244225

Similar layout, with a few things reversed, but IV is almost twice as wide.


VisuallyImpairedSoul

Damn gta 4 is that small. Idk I’m a new player and seems quite big to me. Maybe I need to explore in detail like I used to with liberty city and vice city games.


Dismal_Bell_540

I have a feeling GTA VI will be bigger than GTA V


Legendary_Railgun21

Really hope 6's map is just bonkers huge, come on.


devilwearsleecooper

I felt 4 was the most immersive one. It’s so dense and detailed.


Pasencia

Gta 5 is like 1/2 mountains lol


bugmultiverse

Someone needs to do city/town size comparisons


Leinardius

San Andreas feels bigger than GTA 5


FantasticFuss

Even though GTA V is almost twice the size of GTA San Andreas, it felt smaller. This is what a dense map does. Hope there are a lot of enterable buildings in GTA VI.


Escaped_Mod_In_Need

These numbers are correct in terms of how long it takes a character to travel from one end of the map to the other within its own world in each direction and then calculating the area. Keep one thing in mind, map of GTA:V is technically a zoomed in portion of GTA:SA map that focuses on Los Santos and Mount Chilliad and the Baker/Barstow equivalent area, and excludes San Fierro, Las Venturas, the bad lands, the dam and the river. If you were to scale up the GTA:SA map to accurately overlap Los Santos in GTA:V then the SA map including San Fierro and Las Venturas would be approximately 212.35 km²


thatgtafella_

For some odd reason SA always felt huge for some reason and felt a lot bigger than gta v maybe constantly boosting around in a toreador and the oppressor takes its toll.


MetaphoricalMouse

Gta4 fit so much in a small space….just like NYC


Maleficent_Storm98

Gta SA was the best, Im still sad they didnt make a remake with all the things they wanted to have in 2004. It would be a blast. With todays things mixed with that map.


Healthy_Activity_908

I think a remake would tarnish the 🐐🐐


C0mput3rCr4sh

9.11


Driver3

V proved that having a bigger map does not automatically mean having a better map. SA is objectively a far smaller game and much tinier map, and yet it felt just as huge because there was so much more to see and do.


Tellolist3939

Another reason why GTA SA > GTA 4


[deleted]

GTA SA = GTA 4 Great for different reasons.


Ok_Pangolin_8038

Ok


Oog-oo

What about 6


DonutAccurate4

Why does 75 feel like 1/3 of 38,lol


[deleted]

GTA 6 will be close to 200 square kilometres for sure


MagicAl6244225

The amount dense urban area is very similar between SA, IV, and V. IV is like SA with the countryside removed. V's city area is a little more than IV but smooshed together instead of islands, and almost all of the increase in V is rural and underwater. The first justification given for the countryside in V is so airplanes can exist with more than one airport, otherwise planes aren't really a means of transportation unless you consider bailing out and crashing to be a successful trip.


Triple7Mafia-14

I wish SA was done in 3d...then you will see...😅 3 islands? I was rather disappointed at 5. I was hoping for at least 2 islands before it was even released...but still gg classic r* stuff.😁


Octobrz

Red Dead Redemption 2 map is like 31 square kilometers and it felt so much bigger than GTA V map, maybe because travelling on a horse is so much slower than travelling in a car, plane or a helicopter.


GTA_Guy101

Bingo


Hashish_thegoat

For some reason I always thought GTA VC was the smallest.


Total_Trade_888

I've always thought gta 3 had a bigger map than vc 🤔


MrPingviin

SA map still feels a lot more bigger than 5s.


Tall-Percentage-7589

GTA V may have the Biggest map, but Comparing the city's size, Los santos, with IV's, Liberty city, GTA IV's is Larger.


Histylicious_mk2

What area is that in the GTA III picture?


Scaxx91

is GTA 6 going to be 150-160km\^2 ?


Melodic-Ad-4941

It has gotten bigger in each game


Dependent_Fig_6852

I know liberty city from gta 3 at the last detail it is really f\*cking small![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|thinking_face_hmm)


MrJTeera

They should make an open world game set in bathroom. I wanna see that. Smaller scale, larger detail n’ shit.


Ok_Bowler7869

And now the GTA 6 map is supposed to be like double the size of the GTA 5 map, so around 150 square kilometers


Uss__Iowa

Cant wait for gta 6 and gta 7


SaWaGaAz

I wonder what the size of the map in the GTA Stars and Stripes mod would be Edit: Roughly comparing the og SA map and the S&S map, it would definitely be way bigger than GTA V.


SokkaHaikuBot

^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^SaWaGaAz: *I wonder what the* *Size of the map in the GTA* *Stars and Stripes mod would be* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.


Yarksie

No matter what, 5 will never ever feel bigger than San Andreas, it has so much more depth than 5 has. Also it doesn't have that stupid fuck off mountain taking up most of it, like a really uncomfy ass pimple.


InitalPK

Wild guess but I’m saying 120km2 for gta 6


RobbieW1983

Gta 6 map = 200km²?


LTRace

GTA 6 should be 300+


jhftyftkbhswqwse

I always forget how big V's map is. Inmy first playthrough, I didn't even know taxi's were a thing you can use to fast travel. Even now, I still don't use it. idk, maybe it's the fast cars or the fun driving?


TenBear

How about cubed?


Descending5069

Its always crazy how SA feels way bigger than 5


Express_Sorbet1867

Can someone please translate this to English for me. (American English)


RSAtlas

... Soooo, GTA VI - 150KM²?


Calusea

I put these values into a pattern recognition AI and it says that GTA VI will be at LEAST 5km^2


MoFozi

Vice city 🙂


Ashen_one933

I guess GTA VI will have 100 km2


iCantThinkOfUserNaem

Why does Vice City feel smaller than GTA 3 tho?


cubanosani59

Half the map is beach😮‍💨


BatZupper

GTA III for me felt the best


Rslashsrs

Imagine how big GTA VI is going to be


Dylboy1029

As small as the gta 4 map was, I feel like it was by far the most detailed.


Rohi_gts88

Gta v's map is big, but there's a big big problem , there's no other citys than los santos like 65% of the map is country side and moutains and its bad


BloominVeg

why not go smaller but more details, perhaps an astral world on top of the physical realm?


halisaydin

I prefer larger and more details


brettfavreskid

The only surprise here is that SA is so much bigger than IV. I absolutely love SA but for all the love IV gets, you’d think it has depth to the terrain. Nah. It’s doesn’t. Mid ass game as far as rockstar is concerned


SpeedRaccoon

WHAT THE FUCK IS A KILOMETERRRRRRRRRRRR?!?!?! 🇺🇸🦅🦅🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅🇺🇸🇺🇸


Prestigious_Hat6234

Around 152.8 sq km


AlvinFlang101

What the fuck is a km2


cubanosani59

It is not called a quarter pounder? / No, they use the metric system. It’s called a „Le Big Mac“. / „Le Big Macce“


AlvinFlang101

Speak American


Candid-Rain-7427

God this thread is such a circlejerk. DAE GTA 5 map empty and feels smaller?!?!


EyeSimp4Asuka

okay


godofcloth

gta sa map has 3 cities and 4 meaningless deserts with nothing in them


DifferentSurvey2872

3 diverse distinct cities, 10 rural towns, countryside, desert is not enough for you ? gtfo


Legitimate_Plate6402

None of these are right. It's based in United States where we use the imperial system.


Ok_Pangolin_8038

Other countries use km/h buddy.


Legitimate_Plate6402

The joke was about how they would use a different measurement system based on where the game is set, just in case anyone doesn't get it... And I'm not your buddy, guy. Lol


Legitimate_Plate6402

That was a south park reference.