IGN's full interview adds 25-plus GTA 6 details: a car scanner, fast travel with Ryde Me and armed pedestrians

Stealing cars is no longer one button, the game's Uber doubles as fast travel and pedestrians are armed too. Everything new from the Rob Nelson conversation.

In July, IGN saw Grand Theft Auto VI at Rockstar North with Rob Nelson, Head of Development and Co-Studio Head, on the controller. The highlights ran in August. On 7 October, journalist Rachel Weber published the whole conversation, annotated with what was happening on screen. It was not a rehearsed demo, she notes: some chases went wrong. This is what it adds to what was already known.

Stealing a car is no longer one button

• No more automatic hotwiring. "Previously, you could just press triangle to automatically hotwire and steal any vehicle," Nelson recalls. Now each car asks for something different.
• A scanner on your phone. Point it at a vehicle and it tells you whether it is locked, alarmed or tracked. It also shows what it would fetch at a Pay n' Spray or a specialty car fence, and what it would cost to register it for yourself.
• Tools. Some cars need a key cloner; others only need a slim-jim.
• Trackers. A car with an advanced tracker shows a blinking red light: unless you drive fast enough, the police know where it is. "I may need to just get out of it," says Nelson.
• Your personal vehicle. You can call it at any time. The trunk holds changes of outfit and every weapon you have bought.
• Ryde Me. The game's version of Uber. You can ride the whole way chatting with the other passenger and, in Nelson's words, "it's a good way to do fast travel".

Police: hollow stars, heat and Focus

• Hollow white stars. They mean the police are investigating but do not know who you are. "We'll be fine, as long as we leave the area," he explains.
• Heat. Officers remember what you are wearing. Changing your hair helps, but "the police will still know what you are wearing". Taking the outfit off or buying another fixes it.
• Splitting up. Sending Lucia another way takes heat off. If either of them is arrested, it is the usual "Busted" and a respawn.
• With three stars in the city it is hard to escape by car unless it is very fast or a sports bike. The best option is usually to get off the streets and on foot into the alleys.
• Focus. A mode "very similar to Eagle Eye in Red Dead Redemption 2" that highlights nearby cops, for example.
• A yellow X marks an incapacitated enemy who will not get back up. Leaving someone that way raises your heat.

On the star colours, GamesRadar has cross-referenced the Extended Look with preview coverage and proposes four states: black and white when they are investigating without knowing who you are, grey once they have information, white when they have you in sight, and red when you have lost them but they still hold clues. It also identifies six Heat icons: camera, accomplice, clothing, face, weapon and vehicle. That is its reading, not an explanation from Rockstar.

You are no longer the only one armed

• Pedestrians fight back. "In previous GTA games you were a bit all-powerful. You were the only one with an invisible arsenal hidden away. Apart from the police, everyone would run in terror. This world in GTA 6 is not like that," says Nelson.
• They catch you eavesdropping. You can listen to a group's conversation, but stand too close and they notice.
• A new team in Los Angeles. Rockstar built a group of writers, directors and producers just for pedestrian dialogue.
• Different bodies. A system that retargets animations on the fly allows pedestrians of widely varying heights and shapes.
• Odd encounters. Lucia meets a man living in a dumpster. You can give him pills or not; come back and he gives you legal advice. And you can get in the dumpster with him.
• You can rob "pretty much anything". In one robbery Nelson finds the safe combination rather than using an explosive, which would have damaged some of the take.

The couple: texts, home and the gym

• They text and call each other. Spend the day alone and the other one texts: "Hey, I'm going to go to bed to lock up, you OK?" A reply is enough. Ignore it and "it may impact your relationship a bit".
• Romance gives no advantage. "It's not something that we want to foist upon players," says Nelson, who cannot think of a particular gameplay benefit. They always remain partners. More in Jason and Lucia's relationship.
• Safehouses are closer to Red Dead Redemption 2's camps. Both have their own schedules; sometimes the other is home and sometimes not. The one in the demo is not even theirs: they are staying in someone else's house.
• Hair. At home you can only cut it shorter or shave it off. New styles mean a salon, and each one has signature looks.
• Gym and diet. Working out builds muscle; overeating puts on weight. Go together and both train at once.
• Snapmatic. You can browse the in-game social network but not post on it: "You're a couple on the run. You just lurk."
• Animals. Petting a dog brings up a "study" option: it is a collection mechanic, as in Red Dead Redemption 2.
• The shower. When Nelson switched character mid-demo, Jason was naked in the shower. According to IGN, the camera angles showed nothing.

Money, satire and thirteen years of work

• Money matters more. There are stretches where the story will not advance until you earn enough, boosting cars to sell or sticking places up.
• Satire avoids what dates. "Very specific political issues or memes will date fast," he says. They also avoid extremely contemporary slang.
• The team has doubled in size, partly because of the world's density. IGN puts development at thirteen years.
• Adrenaline. Nelson mentions in passing that he has it active during an escape. He does not explain how it works.

His closing line: even with the new systems, "it's still very much Grand Theft Auto".

Frequently asked questions

Does GTA 6 have fast travel?

Yes, at least through Ryde Me, the game's ride-hailing app. Rob Nelson calls it "a good way to do fast travel". Rockstar has not said whether there are other methods.

How do you steal cars in GTA 6?

It depends on the car. A phone scanner shows whether it is locked, alarmed or tracked; some need a key cloner and others a slim-jim.

Can you post on social media in GTA 6?

No. Snapmatic lets you follow accounts and browse posts, but Jason and Lucia do not post because they are a couple on the run, according to Rob Nelson.