Welcome to the jungle. Guns N’ Roses’ 1987 hit may have been written following a chance exchange with a territorial New York City native some 40 years ago, but its hedonistic tone, themes and lyrics fit well within the Grand Theft Auto universe. The song itself even featured in GTA: San Andreas’ in-game radio station, Radio X, and provided the soundtrack for one of SA’s real-world promotional trailers on its road to release in the early 2000s.
Fast forward two decades and PauloJz has applied welcome to the jungle very literally to GTA 6. Because as we approach the console release of Rockstar’s next criminal empire simulator—and continue to wistfully await concrete PC details—PauloJz and a dedicated crew of hobbyist digital nature observers have meticulously dissected every trailer, screenshot and piece of official artwork in their bid to catalogue all confirmed animal species in the game.
Posted on GTAForums, the GTA VI – Animals / Fauna Analysis thread is a veritable hivemind of research, educated guesses and speculation about the wildlife set for the upcoming iteration of Vice City and beyond.
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“When I created the topic, based on the first trailer released, I had already identified some prominent animals, such as the sea turtles seen in the first frame of the ‘Rockstar Presents’ scene,” explains PauloJz. “The main point of speculation was which group that species and genus belonged to, although I had already done some preliminary research.”
As seen on screen
All of the above manifests in a delightfully intriguing, visually-led chronicle of all the bugs, bears and beasts set for the sunkissed shores of Leonida state. From the opening seconds of that first GTA 6 trailer, PauloJz and the wealth of thread contributors have highlighted each animal or creature’s presence in any given scene, and have then posted their real-world likeness, time stamp where necessary and reasoning for inclusion.
You should obviously check out the thread in its entirety itself, but here’s how some of that looks in practice:
Herring Gull (Larus Argentatus)
“Seen at the opening of the trailer, this species is quite prominent in the northern hemisphere. As it is a very common bird, we can find it on coasts, ports, islands, seas and landfills, looking for food, such as fish, garbage and carrion.”
Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta)
“In the extreme bottom corner at 0:11, we can see her heading towards the beach. Very common in Palm Beach, it is the largest turtle in the region, reaching an incredible 2.13m in length. Their diet is limited to invertebrates, such as jellyfish, for example.”
Miniature Pincher (cross between Schnauzer, Molossoids, Mountain Dogs and Swiss Cattle Dogs)
“Seen on the beach running with its owner, at 0:22, the miniature pincher comes from Germany. There’s not much to say, it’s just common in North and South America.”
One thing I love about this precise level of comparing and contrasting is that each of PauloJz and the contributors’ musings involves research and reasoning, despite the fact the thing they’re analysing can appear on-screen for seconds, sometimes milliseconds, at a time. Naturally, these margins can create scope for error, but the openness of the community means that consensus is never far from their grasp.
PauloJz adds: “In my case, it’s simpler to identify an animal in the scene. Unlike other topics, such as ‘Mapping Vice City’, where the community uses coordinate systems to identify and trace buildings, I only use visual information from the scene and, of course, a little research.
“But we don’t always get it right the first time. There was a time when it was believed that there was a bear in the upper right corner of the Mount Kalaga screenshot, generating some minor debate about the image. Looking at the image today, it’s noticeable that it’s just a rock, and this becomes evident upon closer inspection.
“So far there haven’t been any discoveries that have surprised the community, although I believe many interesting things may still emerge, it’s just a matter of time.”
After a string of high-profile delays, GTA 6’s console variation is on course to arrive on November 19 of this year. At the time of writing that gives Rockstar just under eight months to drop some more footage and/or screens that may satisfy PauloJz’s “many interesting things” prediction. Through the grapevine, he’s heard that Rockstar developers have visited his GTAForums thread and is of the view those in charge of piecing the trailers together do so with one eye on delivering a state-of-the-art showcase, and another on sprinkling breadcrumbs with speculating communities like his in mind.
In any event, whether PauloJz and his crew of intrepid nature watchers get another pre-release trailer or not, once GTA 6 officially lands, their database is bound to blow up with every beauty and beast wandering the Leonida landscape photographed, filmed and filed.
“That’s why I created the topic about wildlife and so many others, precisely so that, in the future, they can be revisited and visited by new people,” says PauloJz. “Maybe by then I won’t be here anymore to follow and update my topics, but I’m sure they will continue to exist, as part of this long journey.
“Perhaps by then I won’t be here anymore to follow and update my topics, but I’m sure they will continue to exist as part of this long journey.”
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