Former Rockstar Games Dev Reveals Why GTA 4 Broke a Series Tradition

Grand Theft Auto 4 dev Obbe Vermeij has revealed that the 2008 game changed the way cheat codes were entered to maximize the use of the in-game phone. In the process, GTA 4 also broke a seven-year-old series tradition that was established in 2001’s GTA 3.

Throughout the franchise’s 3D Universe, the period beginning from GTA 3 and ending with GTA Vice City Stories, cheats were activated by using certain letter sequences on PC and via certain controller button combinations on console. In GTA 4, developer Rockstar Games did away with this tradition that was consistently present across multiple mainline games, such as Vice City and San Andreas. The devs did so by using one of GTA 4‘s many novelties, namely the in-game cellphone, which played a bigger role in this game than in any of its predecessors. Instead of inputting letters or button combos, players needed to dial certain phone numbers using protagonist Niko Bellic’s cellphone to use the cheat codes.

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On Twitter, former Rockstar North employee and GTA 4 technical director Obbe Vermeij shared that the different approach to entering cheats came about because the in-game phone was “one of the new things.” Shedding light on the studio’s commitment to make the most of Niko’s cellphone, he said that the devs tried doing “as much as possible with it.” Moreover, the industry veteran stated that, owing to the break in tradition introduced by GTA 4, the cheat codes for the highly celebrated GTA title were “done by the level designers” instead of himself.

GTA 4 Broke a Series Tradition But Avoided an Issue From GTA San Andreas

This revelation about why GTA 4 ended a long-running series tradition, which lasted across six different entries, stemmed from one of Vermeij’s frequent GTA-related trivia posts. In the main post, the GTA veteran revisited how a GTA San Andreas-specific “coding glitch” resulted in cheats being “unintentionally triggered” through multiple different letter sequences. For instance, the now-popular “HESOYAM” cheat code worked in addition to the original code created by the devs, “INEEDSOMEHELP,” because of this technical issue. As explained by Vermeij, this was down to the implementation of “hash codes” for storing San Andreas cheats, which was done to better hide the cheat codes in the game’s files compared to previous GTA games. By removing the need to thump in letters to trigger cheats, GTA 4 devs effectively avoided having to deal with this kind of glitch.

Even 16 years after its release, GTA 4 is still rated very highly by fans of the open-world action-adventure franchise. Although there were whispers of a GTA 4 remaster being in the works some time ago, they have unfortunately died down at the time of writing. However, fans may expect Rockstar Games to show an interest in pursuing such a project once it has finished work on its next game, the hotly anticipated GTA 6, coming in 2025.

What does the American Dream mean today? For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity.

As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves, and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.

Released

April 29, 2008

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

Engine

rockstar advanced game engine

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

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