GTA 6 tracks more about Jason and Lucia’s bodies than any earlier GTA, and Rockstar is open about where it stops. Rob Nelson has described the system in interviews with Famitsu, the TGG channel and LOVE magazine. This is what is confirmed.
What the game tracks
Nelson told Famitsu that the game tracks health, cardio and fitness levels. You can make a character muscular, or let them eat a lot and become overweight, and training raises the base values of stamina and health. Weight and muscle return for the first time since GTA San Andreas; our entry on the gym and the body keeps the short version.
Food
Food and drink give your meters a buff. If your health falls below its normal maximum, the extra the buff gave you is lost and you won’t recover beyond that point. An energy drink, for example, strengthens the stamina meter (fact in the registry). IGN adds that eating can give a big health boost, and overeating adds weight. According to TGG, it takes quite a lot of eating before it shows, and muscle fades once you stop maintaining it.
The gym
Three exercises a day for three days in a row level up health and strength. Stamina drops as you keep moving and you have to finish the set before it runs out; moving too fast strains the body. Most gym equipment is usable, pull-ups included, and a protein shake or bar afterwards rounds the session off (Famitsu). The couple can train together, and both work out in one visit.
Sleep
Nelson told TGG that a health app on the phone tracks sleep and says whether you are well rested, with some effect on how certain attributes regenerate. He added that the game tracks lots of things (fact in the registry). Sleep itself isn’t required, but going without it shows on the characters’ faces.
Fuel
Cars and motorcycles can run out of fuel, and electric ones charge at stations. At a gas station you can repair or refuel, and TGG describes refuelling as a short quick-time event of about 10 seconds with an animation (fact in the registry). Asked about the system, Nelson said “we’ll see what people say” and called the fill-up pretty fast. How driving feels is in our article on stealing cars and driving.
What Rockstar cut
Asked about the packed fridge in the hideout, Nelson told Famitsu that the team tried a system where you buy groceries at a store and restock the fridge at home, then simplified it because it got too complicated (fact in the registry). He said Rockstar always looks for the balance between realism and ease of play, as it did on Red Dead Redemption 2, and wants actions like having a snack to mean something. In LOVE magazine he put the rule more plainly: realism helps immersion, but too much can feel tedious, so Rockstar sometimes drops it for what is convenient for the player (fact in the registry).
What isn’t known
- How much food buffs and sleep actually change, in numbers
- Whether the refuelling event can be skipped or switched off
- Which of the interviews’ details will change before November 19
The interviews are with Rockstar North’s co-studio head, and more of his answers are in our summaries of the Famitsu interview and IGN’s full interview.
