Ghost Town Logic in Video Games

[Chrisjh0223]

 Sometimes in video games, map designers of a game world may put in out-of-the-way locations not meant to be accessed during normal gameplay. I'm not sure if this kind of trope already exists, but if not, let's call it Ghost Town Logic or anything you deem proper. If you played Grand Theft Auto 3, you saw the introductory cut scene when you began the new game file. This introduction takes place in an alley behind a bank, and you can not get to this location during gameplay unless you're skilled with the silly Dodo plane (it's near impossible to fly), put in the flying cars cheat, or use a trainer or mod to access the introductory cut scene zone. Rockstar Studios had to have the location within the game world so it could be used for the introduction, as all cut scenes in the game rely on in-world locations. The name of the area, Ghost Town, was coined by fans due to the inaccessibility and non-solid property of the area, plus it's absolutely devoid of pedestrian life and vehicle traffic altogether.

 In real life, ghost towns are essentially abandoned towns that once teemed with human activity but then deserted due to any kind of issue such as economic downfall & bankruptcy or natural disasters. This is sort of what applies to the video game trope (especially that of GTA3) as the location is a town, but not really a town; a ghost of such.

 In Renegade X's Paradise Map made by Dr. Anubis, there are 2 variations of the Ghost Town logic. It appears that Dr. Anubis had to rely on in-game locations that already exist so he could make custom backdrops for team purchase terminal menu screens. The GDI ghost town is located shortly away from the GDI base (fly out of the map with a sandbox spawned aircraft), like in the area behind the jungle's GDI silo. Be careful if you explore on foot here, GDI ghost town has flooring that is non-solid in some spots. The Nod ghost town (more like airport :D) is located in a corner of the map, somewhat distant from the derelict Hand of Nod you see from your real Airstrip. The Nod airport used for Nod's menu screen does have a Recon Bike you can drive from the back of a cargo plane, so he clearly kept in mind explorers would find this location. All of the airport has solid ground. It's also possible to warp to this bonus airport by means of a secret warp button found in the Dr. Anubis secret lair (one way ticket, you can't warp back). In a recent map update he sealed off the entry point by ground means, so you really need a flight permission or aircraft to access the secret lair now; this was likely done so during a real game, players can't go AFK/goof around in the secret bonus locations while the teams are battling it out, and teams would therefore lose participating players.

 It's worth noting that Dr. Anubis' ghost town areas essentially have live feed cameras, but of course they're only meant to function as a simple wallpaper for the menu screens (some devices and characters are animated in a subtle manner). In a real match, it is definitely just that. HOWEVER, if you're in a sandbox or testing server you can do something funny with the ghost towns.  Anyway, someone the other day had a theory, and landed a helicopter at the GDI ghost town and suicided. Then he looked at the menu screen and indeed, the helicopter he landed showed up on the screen. Therefore, if you view your purchase menu screen you could see players running around the ghost towns if they were over there, lol.

 Got anything else to say (or comment) about the already mentioned ghost towns? Do you know if such ghost town logic applies to other games? If yes, please post away.

[Madkill40]

Thommy's TrainingYard map had its 'ghost town' PT cameras at an accessible location on an older version, meaning players could see other players via the PT screen. Was pretty amusing.

[Henk]

8 hours ago, Madkill40 said:

Thommy's TrainingYard map had its 'ghost town' PT cameras at an accessible location on an older version, meaning players could see other players via the PT screen. Was pretty amusing.

There was also a version where it was in a bunker under water, it was meant to be inaccesible but I knew how to get there and you could see me swimming in the PT screen.

[Madkill40]

On 6/28/2017 at 1:12 PM, Henk said:

There was also a version where it was in a bunker under water, it was meant to be inaccesible but I knew how to get there and you could see me swimming in the PT screen.

Ahah yes, we refer to the same version. Good times.