Get ready to revisit the iconic world of GTA: San Andreas like never before!
Get ready for a serious nostalgia bomb with this one. A good long time ago we looked at a mod which converted the full map of GTA Vice City to the engine of V, including the better lighting effects, though with the same low-res textures and no traffic or pedestrians. Now, an effort to do the same with the map of fan favorite installment San Andreas is on going.
GTA: San Andreas is considered by many to be the best installment in the series even today, due to the relatable story and iconic map encompassing several cities instead of the standard one city setting. San Andreas included three main cities, including Los Santos, Las Venturas and San Fierro, each on their own islands, with a fourth, more rural island also present.
Though the 12 year old game (damn, that's old) has been re-released on mobile platforms and both generations of new consoles since its initial release, it never really got a proper remaster, even though giving old classics a graphical re-touch is a pretty common practice these days. I'm sure a "GTA San Andreas HD Edition" would make insane amounts of cash, though it would require quite a bit of effort on Rockstar's part, since chances are they no longer have the original assets.
That said, just leave it to the GTA community to come up with their own ways of reviving the old favorite. Modder ArthurLopes has jumped into a pretty massive project wherein he is trying to convert the full GTA San Andreas map to the engine of V with perfect authenticity.
The mod is a work in progress, with both San Fierro and Los Santos already fully converted, though a few bugs have caused some buildings in the latter to be invisible. Las Venturas and the Countryside are still being worked on, though their islands are already accessible, just bare.
Unfortunately this mod also suffers from the same issue as the Vice City convert, namely that the textures are of the same quality as they were back in 2004. It would be a massive undertaking for just one guy or even a small team of modders to update everything in the game. However, it would be absolutely viable for a full team of experience game developers. Hm....
Would you buy a HD remaster of GTA San Andreas, or are you fine with replaying it on mobile devices whenever the urge comes?
