A recent Twitter leak reveals that Rockstar will achieve a new degree of realism in its water physics simulation for Grand Theft Auto 6.
From what little has been shown of Rockstar’s newest entry in its longest-running franchise, GTA 6, it is clear that the developer will continue its trend of being at the forefront of the industry in terms of design, gameplay, and storytelling.
Rockstar has been silent on the development of GTA 6 for the past five years, ever since the release of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Leaks have been the primary source of information, much to the dismay of the illustrious video game developer. Fans are trying to piece together clues about what to expect from Grand Theft Auto 6 until its official release, which is widely expected to occur in 2023.
Rockstar Plans a Huge Impact with Grand Theft Auto 6
Recently, Aleix Venturas, a Rockstar insider, lifted the veil on the engineering team’s plans for revamping Rockstar’s proprietary RAGE engine. Inspired by the prohibitively expensive Nvidia Wave Works feature, top-tier water simulation physics are being added to The RAGE engine in order to bring a game as big and grandiose as GTA 6 to completion.
The leak indicates it will be a major improvement over the current standard of water in games, which varies but can already perform amazingly realistic for more aquatic-focused games like Subnautica and Sea of Thieves.
Formerly, the RAGE engine’s liquid simulation was top-notch, with games like Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 exhibiting impressively realistic and responsive water dynamics.
Given Rockstar’s history, the idea of them upping the stakes once again is both exciting and predictable. Rockstar appears to be making water physics a priority in GTA 6, and Nvidia’s Wave Works program demonstrates how prohibitively expensive it may be to achieve perfection in this area.
In the future, when the technology to create realistic water physics in video games has advanced, titles like GTA 6 set in the ocean’s depths could serve as a model for the genre.
Underwater GTA 6?
While there are some notable exceptions, most games’ representations of water are still quite simplistic. Diving underwater can affect a character’s mobility, perception, and even their sense of gravity, yet few games care to simulate these effects.
Even though we can show the water’s surface rippling and the impact of the jump, the water itself rarely moves. Although details about Rockstar’s plans to alter this dynamic have only leaked so far, the improvement in quality between GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2’s water simulation sets the bar for what the developer’s next game will entail.
Rockstar is biding its time until GTA 6 is ready to reveal in earnest, while fans devour any and all information they can get their hands on.
The success of GTA Online continues to be a boon for the development firm, which is surely investing the money it has earned into developing its next game and improving the RAGE engine in the hopes of making a game that would define an entire genre.
Rockstar has always been able to meet the nearly impossible expectations gamers have set for the studio, and GTA 6 shouldn’t be any different. There is presently work being done on Grand Theft Auto 6.
