GS: What kind of graphical or performance differences will we see between Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City?
AG: Generally, the level of detail in the game has at least doubled. We're using twice as many polys and textures on almost every object. The cars have loads more detail, and the peds are skinned, creating a far smoother look. We had a good look at how we built Liberty City and found what was fast and what was slow within the engine. Obbe [Vermeij], one of the technical directors, wrote a real-time occlusion system, which works out whether buildings are blocking the view and whether it needs to draw all the objects behind it. This has given us a lot of breathing space to squeeze in that extra detail. We've also got a lot of new effects: heat haze from the roads, flamethrowers, explosions, lots of aquatic life in the ocean, birds, flies, and a much better day-night cycle with lots of neon casting light everywhere. Generally speaking, as with the rest of the game, it's a case of bigger, better, faster, more.