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Welcome to the Server Setting, a record of information curated to help you grasp a better understanding of our game's universe, and timeline, expanding on locations, cities, brands, events, and environment.
Universes
The Grand Theft Auto series is known for its extreme and satirical depiction of American society. While efforts to build a coherent world were mostly superficial in the first two Grand Theft Auto games, Grand Theft Auto III is the first major installment to delve into it. Throughout the franchise, three distinct universes have been distinguished.
Rockstar Games Universes
Below is a list of all official universes of the GTA franchise.▌2D Universe
This is the universe where Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2 take place. This universe can be safely ignored, as it has no connection with the other two universes.
▌3D Universe
This is the universe all Grand Theft Auto III era games take place: GTA III, GTA: Vice City, GTA: San Andreas, GTA: Liberty City Stories, GTA: Vice City Stories.It is also argued and believed that other Rockstar titles take place in that universe, namely Manhunt 1 and 2 as well as Bully, for reasons we will mention later.
The 3D Universe is the one in which SOLS is set, as it is the one GTA: San Andreas takes place. The lore remains relatively consistent between all games, and this universe paved the way for Rockstar Games' fictitious America going forward, by establishing many satirical brands and fictional landmarks, many of which were kept in the HD Universe.
▌HD Universe
This is the newer universe of the GTA franchise, including Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City, GTA: Chinatown Wars, and GTA V. This universe differs from the 3D Universe because Rockstar Games wanted to revisit Liberty City in a completely revamped and substantial way.Many elements from the 3D Universe persist in the HD Universe: fictional cities, brands, as well as certain characters, make an appearance. However, many other things have been retconned from the 3D Universe: the names of districts and neighborhoods are different, certain characters are not believed to exist, and some brands and businesses have different histories, and names, or are no longer canon. The protagonists of the 3D Universe do not exist in the HD Universe, or maybe they are urban legends.
SOLSVerse
SOLSVerse takes place in an alternate 3D Universe, and the year is 1990, which is roughly 2 years before the events of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The events of that game, or of any Grand Theft Auto game of that era, are supposed to be considered urban legends but under certain conditions can be reenacted, mentioned, or otherwise. Moreover, the brands, cities, and American society as a whole are meant to be built upon GTA's satirical version of the United States.Because many brands or other elements are missing from the 3D Universe, some liberty can be granted. An approach to the lore is as follows:
- If a brand or other element has a 3D Universe equivalent, then I will automatically pick it for my roleplay;
- If it does not have a 3D Universe equivalent but does have one in the HD Universe, then I may use it in my RP;
- If it does not have any 3D or HD Universe counterpart, then I may use the real-life name, or make up a fictional one when possible.
United States of America
Unless otherwise specified, all cities and states exist within the game world. While in the HD Universe, cities more closely match their real-life counterpart, in the 3D Universe the inspirations are a bit blurrier. For instance, while Liberty City is recognized as GTA's equivalent to New York City, it also draws inspiration from other East Coast cities like Detroit or Philadelphia. This is because Rockstar Games only started making more direct spoofs of American cities with Vice City.However, for the sake of simplicity, there is no reason to believe that those American cities, bar New York City, do not exist in the GTA universe, although Liberty City is a fine choice for an East Coast metropolis. What's more, another, more extreme equivalent exists in the 3D Universe, Carcer City, which we will talk about soon.
Like with most Grand Theft Auto maps, while it would appear at first sight that the cities are geographical islands, this is not supposed to be the case lore-wise. Rockstar Games designed the maps as sets of islands for the simple reason that they did not want there to be inaccessible land areas. Numerous quotes suggest that San Andreas, for example, is in the mainland United States, and while it is not physically possible to drive out of the state, the roads exist, somewhere.
While San Andreas physically only has three cities and five counties, many more may exist but they would not serve many purposes; instead, they can be substituted for its closest existing counterpart.
In the same fashion, while many songs in-game mention real-life places like LA, Compton, or NYC, this does not prove that those cities exist in the game world. Rockstar Games was not going to force artists to write new lyrics just to fix this slight inconsistency; when those places are mentioned, the player should generally just ignore it. Some suspension of disbelief is necessary.
The HD Universe does a better job of providing an alternate history of its fictional settings, so the state and city lore will be taken straight from them when necessary.
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State of San AndreasThe State of San Andreas is, quite obviously, the in-game equivalent of the real-life state of California. This is because Los Santos (Los Angeles) and San Fierro (San Francisco) are Californian cities.
However, San Andreas is also based in southern Nevada, due to the presence of Las Venturas (Las Vegas), the Sherman Dam (Hoover Dam, Nevada), and Area 69 (Area 51, Nevada). Tierra Robada is based on the mountain range known as the Sierra Nevada, most of which is in California but also extends to a small extent into Nevada.
To a much smaller extent, San Andreas takes inspiration from Utahan rock formations.
A person living in San Andreas is called a San Andrean. It is estimated that roughly 33 million people reside in the Golden State.
It is assumed that California and San Andreas share roughly the same history but with a few minor differences. The State Animal is the beaver. The state was founded in 1850 and its name, San Andreas, presumably comes from Saint Andrew and is also the name of the continental fault which causes regional earthquakes.
San Fierro, Los Santos, and Las Venturas directly replace their real-life counterparts. While Red County parodies Orange County, California, it can be presumed to be any other neighboring rural Californian county. This is the case with many smaller towns and places that have more than one influence.
In the GTA universe, San Andreas expands into a part of southern Nevada, unlike California. To accommodate for several southern Nevadan landmarks existing in GTA's fictional California counterpart, Nevada loses its southern portion but the rest of the state stays the same. Doing so also allows Nevada to exist, meaning that the amount of US states remains the same.
Greater Los Santos
The Los Santos metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area in San Andreas, and the second largest in the United States, the first being Liberty City. The metropolitan area is comprised of Los Santos and Red County.
▌Los Santos
Founded in 1781, Los Santos, from Spanish meaning The Saints, is the most populous city in San Andreas and the main setting of SOLS. By the late 1990s, its population was about 3.6 million.Los Santos is known for its giant entertainment industry with Vinewood (Hollywood), but also its gang crime epidemic.
A person living in Los Santos is called a Santeño.
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While the riots ended, gang activity persisted throughout the 1990s. Over the years, several efforts have been made to gentrify the eastern part of Los Santos, for example with the opening of Rockford Plaza in Commerce, a district neighboring Idlewood.
▌Red County
Red County is based on Orange County, California (due to the name), and other neighboring counties. It has four towns: Palomino Creek, Montgomery, Blueberry, and Dillimore.San Fierro Bay Area
The San Fierro Bay Area is comprised of Whetstone, Flint County in the south of San Fierro, and Bayside in the north.
▌San Fierro
Based on San Francisco, San Fierro fulfills the same role as its real-life counterpart, and most districts are correctly mirrored. Not much is known about the city other than it is assumed to share most of the same details as its real-world equivalent.▌Whetstone
Whetstone is a county in the south of San Fierro. Its county seat is Angel Pine.Due to its proximity to San Fierro, Mount Chiliad is likely based on Mount Diablo, but it shares features with Mount Whitney as well.
▌Bayside
Bayside is a town in the Tierra Robada region but within the San Fierro Bay Area. It shares similarities with real-life Fort Baker and Sausalito.Surrounding Bayside is a mountain range named The Cordillera, based on Mount Tamalpais. It is believed that San Andreas continues to expand beyond it.
Eastern San Andreas
The eastern part of San Andreas includes the general area surrounding Las Venturas.
▌Las Venturas
Based on Las Vegas Valley (such as Whitney, Henderson, Summerlin, or Sunrise Manor) and the city itself, Las Venturas is the gambling capital of the United States.▌Bone County
Based largely on Clark County, Nevada, Bone County is comprised of its county seat Fort Carson, Las Payasadas, various ghost towns, the Sherman Dam, Area 69, and an abandoned airfield.▌Tierra Robada
Based on the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Tierra Robada is a region that could be considered part of Bone County as well.It is comprised of El Quebrados (possibly based in Bridgeport, California), Las Barrancas (possibly based in Overton, Nevada), and Valle Ocultado.