Have you ever thought about the traffic lights in GTA 3? Me neither, but former Rockstar developer Obbe Vermeij shares some interesting tidbits about developing them.
We've all had our fun trying to drive properly in GTA instead of mowing down pedestrians, but did you ever notice that the NPCs will wait at intersections even if the light poles have been knocked over?
"In GTA 3, traffic lights cycle through 3 states: North/South, East/West, Pedestrians," Vermeij writes. "The traffic light's model orientation determines its cycle, and at startup, my code stored the cycle in the road nodes. This is why, even if the light was knocked over, cars still obeyed the light. Map artists just placed the lights, ran the game, and it all worked—no extra setup needed. Simple, but it still worked this way in [GTA] 4."
In gta3, traffic lights cycle through 3 states:North/SouthEast/WestPedestriansThe traffic light’s model orientation determines its cycle, and at startup, my code stored the cycle in the road nodes.This is why, even if the light was knocked over, cars still obeyed the light.… pic.twitter.com/RMJMA7spnEFebruary 14, 2025
It really is wild how video games are made. They're all smoke and mirrors, illusions that give the impression of reality. It's equal parts impressive and funny. There's a lot of detail in GTA games, even their power lines are mapped out fairly realistically.
Going back to driving properly, that's something Vermeij wanted the game to actually enforce. "During GTA 3, I gave players a 1-star wanted level for running red lights," he writes. "This was not popular with the team. I quickly removed it."
While that does sound fun for immersion, I can imagine it becoming incredibly frustrating just having a constant 1-star wanted level. Those police chases escalate quickly, too, so you'd basically always have police shooting at you just for trying to get across the map.
While you're here, check out the best GTA games you can play right now. See what you notice about the traffic lights.
