The GTA franchise has had seven major titles, with every single one of them tasting success in terms of sales. Of these, the first three titles were developed by DMA Design before Rockstar Games took over.
A revelation by an ex-developer has solved an Easter egg in Grand Theft Auto 3. The Easter egg is related to the moon in the game, which changed its size when players aimed at it using a sniper rifle. Players were left puzzled, wondering if it was intentional now that they knew the answer.
The Moon in GTA 3 Has Three Sizes, Added Intentionally
A former GTA developer who worked on GTA 3, Obbe Vermeij, decided to clarify one of the biggest mysteries of the game. GTA 3 players noticed that aiming at the moon in the middle of the night alters its size. The moon switched between a small size, a medium size, and a large size every time players sniped at it.
Vermeij revealed that after he was done creating and placing the full moon, made to a reasonable size, he was asked by four other artists to change its size, to which Vermeij obliged. Vermeij went on to narrate that the artists were never able to determine the final size of the moon.
Two of them wanted it smaller to be more realistic. The other two wanted it larger to be more cinematic.
Vermeij revealed that he had suggested the option to “make the size of the moon changeable in the game.” Vermeij mentioned that this was supposed to be a temporary fix to allow the artists time to finalize their decision.
Vermeij also stated that he was working on the sniper rifle at the same time and decided to enable the three sizes of the moon through a toggle that was enabled when players sniped at it. Vermeij concluded his post by stating that the four artists in question never got back to him in the end, and the toggle to resize the moon remained in the final version of the game.
Moon Size Toggle Was Also Added to GTA: San Andreas
Interestingly, the same toggle to change the size of the moon through a sniper can be found in GTA: San Andreas as well, as confirmed by Vermeij in his post. Vermeij inadvertently added an easter egg to the game, which ended up being one of the most famous ones in the GTA franchise.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition was released back in 2021 as a compilation of three classic titles: Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
With GTA 6 coming next year, there are a lot of Easter eggs to be expected with connections to Vice City and previous games in the franchise. Easter eggs have been prevalent in all GTA titles, and any similar intentional addition in GTA 6 will be a fun one for players to look out for once the game is out.
What was your reaction when you spotted the Easter egg in GTA 3 for the first time? Let us know in the comments.
