____ _ _____ _ _
/ ___|_ __ __ _ _ __ __| | |_ _| |__ ___ __| |_
| | _| '__|/ _` | '_ \ / _` | | | | '_ \ / _ \ / _| _|
| |_| | | | (_| | | | | (_| | | | | | | | __/| |_| |_
\____|_| \__,_|_| |_|\__,_| |_| |_| |_|\___|| _|\__/
_ _ _ _ |_| _
/ \ _ _| |_ ___ _ | | _ | |__ ___ _ __| |_ _ _
/ _ \| | | | _|/ _ \ (_) | | (_)| _ \ / _ \| '__| _|| | |
/ ___ \ |_| | |_| (_) | _ | |__| || |_) | __/| | | |_ | | |
/_/ \_\__,_|\__|\___/ (_) |____|_||____/ \___||_| \__/ \ |
____ _ ____ _ |__/
/ ___|_ | |_ _ _ / ___|| |_ ___ _ __ _ ___ ___
| | (_)| _|| | | |___ || _|/ _ \ | '__|(_)/ _ \| __| By Rob White
| |___| || |__| | | ___| || |_| (_) || | | | __/|__ | a.k.a HappyWomble
\____|_| \__/ \ | |____/ \__/\___/ |_| |_|\___||___| 18/11/06 V2.00
_ _ _|__/ _ ____ _ _____
| |_| | ___ | |_ ___ ___ ____ | |_ ___ _ __ | __| / \ | _ |
| _ |/ _ \| (_)/ __// _ \| _ \| _| / _ \| '__| | |__ / _ \ | | | |
| | | | __/| | | |__| (_) | |_) | |__| __/| | | __|/ ___ \ | |_/ |
|_| |_|\___||_|_|\___\\___/| __/ \__/ \___||_| |_| /_/ \_\|____ |
|_| \_\
CONTENTS
========
1. The Intro....
-------------
1a. Introduction
1b. TED (The Essential Disclaimer)
1c. Legal Information
1d. Version History And Development Notes
1e. Contact Details
1f. Contributors
2. Acquiring A Helicopter
----------------------
2a. I Can't Find A Helicopter, What Gives?
2b. So What Can I Do To Get One Then?
2c. (PSP Only) EdisonCarter's Cheat Device
2d. How To Claim The "Calm Before The Storm" Maverick
2e. How To Claim The "False Idols" Maverick
2f. Storing Your Helicopter
2g. Okey Dokey, So What Now?
3. Unconfirmed / Unavailable Helicopters
-------------------------------------
3a. The "The Passion Of The Heist" Maverick
3b. The "Caught In The Act" Maverick
3c. The "Sayonara Sindaccos" Maverick
3d. The "Cash In Kazuki's Chips" Maverick
3e. The "The Sicilian Gambit" Maverick
3f. Police Maverick (Numerous)
3g. Other Unobtainable Air Vehicles
4. Frequently Asked Questions
--------------------------
4a. Why aren't the other air vehicles available?
4b. ....and the Dodo?
4c. This CheatDevice, where can I get it from?
4d. I can't be bothered to use your methods, can't I just cheat?
4e. You mentioned a Vice City News Maverick, how come that's there?
4f. Will we ever see hand-held air vehicles?
4g. The PSP controls suck, can I change them?
4h. Any way I can get a RC Goblin?
5. And The Outro....
-----------------
5a. Links
5b. About The Author
5c. Other Documents By Me
5d. Goodbye
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The Intro....
================
1a. Introduction
----------------
Hi again, Rob White back at the keys again with this FAQ that'll show you
how to acquire a helicopter from the PSP and PS2 game Grand Theft Auto:
Liberty City Stories (Hereafter shortened to GTA:LCS).
After a recent update of a few of my gameplay guides and two huge plot
guides I realised that I've never written anything like an informative FAQ
before, unless the Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus and Twisted Metal 2 guides count.
Information for this FAQ has mostly been collected from the forums and the
alt.games.grand-theft-auto newsgroup, so I thank everybody who has
contributed to both of those mediums. Cheers guys and gals.
This guide contains spoilers, don't say I didn't warn you.
My fondness for acronyms still hasn't waned....
GTA:LCS - Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
GTAIII - Grand Theft Auto III
GTA:VC - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
GTA:SA - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
GTA:VCS - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
PSP - Sony Playstation Portable
PS2 - Sony Playstation2
a.g.g-t-a - alt.games.grand-theft-auto Newsgroup
1b. TED (The Essential Disclaimer)
----------------------------------
Also known as the 'Reading This Bit Could Just Save Your Life' section, this
is a reminder that only websites with the author's personal approval are
allowed to host this document.
Currently it is only available from GameFAQs, but if you would like this
guide to appear on your site, please do get in touch.
1c. Legal Information
---------------------
This document is �2006 Robert White. It can ONLY be distributed without any
charge. I don't mind printouts being passed around, but don't even think
about asking for money. A lot of time went in to the production of this
guide, and any plagiarism might persuade me never to write anything again.
1d. Version History And Development Notes
-----------------------------------------
V1.00 - To my knowledge the first and only helicopter guide to appear for
GTA:LCS.
V2.00 - This version. After a few minor updates for V1.00, I've gone through
the guide again and added corrections and a new method to get
Faith's Maverick in "False Idols". I'm happy that this guide is
pretty much complete on it's subject matter.
27/09/06 - Started work, all sections complete. I'm happy for the time being
that all information is accurate.
01/11/07 - More than a year later I've been adding little snippets of
information for numerous updates that were never released.
02/11/07 - A new method added. Unless any more contributors have anything to
subsequently add, V2.00 should be the definitive version of this
FAQ. I've been adding bits and pieces to all my GTA guides as I
write a GTA:VC plot guide. I thought it might be easier to upload
them all at the same time. a GTA:VCS plot guide will also soon be
in the making, and then I can finally get on to GTA:SA.
18/11/07 - Update is finished a little later than expected, as I'm putting
the finishing touches to my GTA:VC plot guide.
1e. Contact Details
-------------------
My email address is:
[email protected]
If you have anything to contribute please get in touch, and you should
receive a reply in a day or two.
1f. Contributors
----------------
I can't name anyone specifically, but most of the "Calm Before The Storm"
information came off the forums (Can't remember which one). Most of the
other info was contributed by posters to a.g.g-t-a .
Hats off to the chap with the idea to get Faith's Maverick from the Callahan
Bridge. I still don't believe that's possible on a PCJ600 alone but there
you go.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Acquiring A Helicopter
=========================
2a. I Can't Find A Helicopter, What Gives?
------------------------------------------
After GTA:LCS' initial release on the Playstation Portable console in late
October 2005, rumours started to circulate on the internet forums and
message boards that air vehicles were removed from this latest addition to
the GTA family.
These rumours were quickly confirmed between the few days between the North
American and European releases; Not a Dodo, Maverick or (gasp!) Hunter in
sight, so what the hell happened?
Rockstar never did give a reason why they removed them at the last minute,
but a few people have commented that it was due to physics problems, the
"ceiling height" (How high you can go before encountering structures and
objects without collision detection), and the level of detail needed to make
the game look great flying around whilst keeping the frame-rate chugging at
a reasonable speed. Another theory is that the PSP only has two shoulder
buttons compared to the PS2's four and this would have made
controlling them too difficult.
You have to remember that this game was originally going to be a PSP
exclusive, a PS2 port was probably only released after the huge success of
it's hand-held brother.
On the subject of the PS2 port: It could have been on the cards for quite
some time, even after the PSP version's success, so couldn't Rockstar have
tweaked the game and polished it before release? They removed multiplayer
and changed the controls to suit the PS2 pad, so why not give us our air
vehicles? I am well aware that it would have been a lot of extra work to
make everything solid (Rooftops and things) so maybe they decided not to do
that due to time constraints. That, and it definitely would have pissed off
all the PSP players.
However, using EdisonCarter's Cheat Device (More info in a later section)
it's possible to get a fairly large selection of air vehicles, even to the
extent of spawning a Hunter (One of the largest of the GTA helicopters) in
your Staunton Island safehouse's garage. PS2 owners were naturally quite
annoyed that air vehicles didn't appear in their version either. Most who I
talked to felt quite disappointed (One guy actually said "cheated"), even as
far as saying that they had doubts about buying future Rockstar products.
Why Rockstar removed helicopters is probably always going to be a big matter
for debate, and I for one just can't understand it. Plus, like the whole
'Hot Coffee' debacle, why not remove *all* of the code and not just *some*?
Rockstar are still underestimating gamers' ingenuity it seems.
As for the lack of a Dodo, that's just inexcusable. Even GTAIII had one of
those in 2001, albeit a clipped-wing version, and not everything was solid.
Surely they must have realised people *were* going to master how to fly the
Dodo and find that whoever was on tall building duty must have bunked off.
I can just see this being another 'Why did they take out the full-winged
Dodo from GTAIII? That was so *cool*!' debate. We will probably never know
the answer to either matter.
To make matters slightly more awkward, the safehouse garages in GTA:LCS
don't behave like their GTAIII, GTA:VC and GTA:SA counterparts. In previous
games it was possible to put a damaged or destroyed vehicle in to a garage,
let the door close and it would magically repair itself and be usable again.
In GTA:LCS (And later GTA:VCS) the garages do still repair vehicles, but
destroyed vehicles simply disappear.
Using the garages in this way meant that obtaining special proofed vehicles
(Vehicles that are bullet, fire, damage or everything-proof) was relatively
easy; all you had to do was push your desired vehicle to the garage, close
the door and hey presto! It becomes usable again.
It is still very possible to get proofed and normally unobtainable vehicles
in GTA:LCS (Check out the guide on Gamefaqs), but sadly this doesn't extend
to using the garage for obtaining helicopters.
2b. So What Can I Do To Get One Then?
-------------------------------------
It is actually possible to get hold of at least two helicopters legally
during the missions of GTA:LCS, and one of those you even get to keep.
Better still you don't need any cheats, just some simple jumping skills,
patience and a bit of luck. One new method simply requires a code to be
typed in. Yup, it's just that easy.
The missions in question are "Calm Before The Storm" (Portland, for
Salvatore Leone) and "False Idols" (Staunton Island, for the Church
Confessional).
At least three other helicopters can be seen during the game, and to the
best of my knowledge nobody has found a way to nick these legitimately
(Without a cheat program at least).
Air vehicles do not, I repeat do NOT normally appear anywhere in the game
spawned like the other vehicles. If somebody tells you different break their
nose. Serves them right.
Finally, despite the best efforts of numerous GTA fans, the question on
whether you can steal a Police Maverick remains unanswered. It might just be
possible, and I've used all of my repertoire trying to find a way, but to no
avail. Somebody out there know any better?
2c. (PSP Only) EdisonCarter's Cheat Device
------------------------------------------
In the latter half of 2005 a really clever gamer known as EdisonCarter
became even more of a God to the GTA community when he worked out that the
data stored in saved game files for GTA:LCS could be manipulated in to
changing parts of the game.
PSP saved game files save to a memory stick via the USB port which are also
fitted as standard to the majority of personal computers thus it's possible
to view and edit them.
Furthermore, he also discovered that you could change vehicles stored in
garages in to other vehicles. Somebody found that the graphics, collision
detection, controls and sound effects for the air vehicles were still in the
game so I suppose it was only inevitable that somebody would put two and two
together and come up with a resounding four. That person was EdisonCarter.
By the way EC, totally dig your work on GTA:SA man.
See the links section for an URL.
2d. How To Claim The "Calm Before The Storm" Maverick
-----------------------------------------------------
OK, now we're getting to the good stuff, although sadly you don't get to
keep this one for reasons I'll come to.
The Maverick in this mission is conveying Massimo Torini and it's Toni's
task to follow it.
It departs from Salvatore Leone's mansion in Saint Marks and flies west to a
construction area in Hepburn Heights where it lands so Torini can talk to
some Diablo gang members.
After their conversation, it takes off again. It will now fly through the
Red Light District and in to Chinatown where it lands on a roof so Torini
can talk to some Triad gang members. When it's landed here is your chance to
nick it.
---------------------
| (PSP Only) Method 1 |
---------------------
With the Maverick landed you're supposed to go up the stairs and enter the
yellow marker to continue the mission (Walking in to this marker triggers
the cutscene of Massimo talking to the Triads).
Instead jack a motorcycle, preferably a PCJ600, and drive it up the stairs.
I had very little luck doing this on the PS2, hence the "PSP Only" in the
section heading. The cutscene won't start as Toni hasn't legally entered the
yellow marker.
OK, you're up the stairs and successfully through the yellow marker. Now
what? Simply drive carefully round the rooftop to where the Maverick is
parked, jump off your bike and get in. Simple.
Everybody up here on the roof will remain static and not activate as Toni
hasn't continued the mission properly (They will become active if you shoot
them though, this results in 'Mission Failed'). You're now free to take off
and fly around.
The reason that you can't keep this Maverick is because this mission has a
distance limiter. If you get too far away from Massimo Torini the game will
fail the mission and tell you that you lost him. I haven't so far figured
out where this magic distance is, but the safe money would be on if you
leave Chinatown.
If you fly towards Staunton Island, the mission will fail as you start to
cross over the water (After the ways you could exploit GTAIII and get to the
other islands early, Rockstar obviously looked in to this :o( ).
There is also no way to move the helicopter off the rooftop and park it in
the street ready to be claimed later. When the cutscene takes place Torini
will always depart in the same way - in your prize whirlybird.
I've also had no joy trying to jack it from the Triad meeting in Hepburn
Heights. The distance limiter is there if you get too far away in terms of
proximity, so even if you get ahead of the path of the chopper the game will
still tell you that you lost it. Also, when you get near the construction
yard entrance the game will cut straight to the cutscene regardless of where
Torini's chopper is.
One idea I had was to try a mid-air jacking. There's a pedestrian crossing
that leads over the dual-lane road to the subway station. A jacking would be
possible here if you could gain enough height. Sadly the game deletes all
user vehicles when you start the mission, so if you leave a van or something
there to climb on it won't be there when you go back (Plus the distance to
Saint Marks will probably delete it anyway). A PCJ600 can make it up the
stairs here, and I did try standing on it but Toni just can't seem to get
high enough to grab hold of the Maverick's door. Still worth consideration
for further attempts though. Perhaps if you had the time you could jump an
Ambulance on to the El Train tracks to get on to the bridge, I'm going to
continue trying with this.
Another trick I've been practicing is to get on to the rooftop, steal the
Maverick and move it over to near the yellow mission marker. After walking
in to the yellow glow the Maverick is almost close enough to jack before it
takes off. I've been trying to knock the pilot and Massimo off of the
building and then moving it. It hasn't worked yet but I have come VERY
close.
So, you can't keep this Maverick, but it does prove that they can be
utilised by the player and that the physics are still there.
One thing to note - On the PS2 (Method below), the right analogue
stick not only moves the camera's view but also spins the helicopter around.
I don't remember being able to do this on the PSP, it almost seems like
Rockstar have assigned it on purpose!
--------------------------
| (Both Versions) Method 2 |
--------------------------
On the PS2, the PCJ600 will only just go up the stairs. I've only managed
this going backwards on the bike and wiggling the steering about. Even when
the bike makes it the mission continues. Looks like Rockstar fixed this, and
this led to many people trying to find another way.
Somebody suggested an idea on the a.g.g-t-a newsgroup (Sorry, I can't
remember who. Get in touch if you want recognition though). I spent the next
hour or so trying out numerous methods based on this idea and found
something I didn't think would work, but it does.
Get to the stage of the mission where Massimo Torini has landed on the roof
and check that the yellow mission marker is in place at the top of the
stairs (It should be if you get the cutscene saying 'Looks like he's landing
up there'). Don't walk in to it though, instead head down to the street and
nick a PCJ600 (I recommend starting this mission on one anyway, one is
parked outside Salvatore's house should you need it. Since GTA:VC a fast
motorcycle has been my vehicle of choice).
Go north up to the El-Train station and power the bike up the stairs and on
to the station. Head back south along the El Train tracks and follow it
round. Exercise caution as those trains really hurt when they smack in to
you!
You'll notice that to your left you'll pass the rooftop where the Maverick,
Massimo and the Triads are awaiting your presence. Stay on the tracks and
make sure you're south of the rooftop. Hop off the bike and do a running
jump on to the south-east corner of the roof.
Try to aim for the the Chinese-style awning. Before you jump over the little
balcony, walk around it so that you're on the eastern side of the building.
Now hop over the balcony and jump straight in to the Maverick.
The reason you have to walk around the awning is that walking on the part of
the roof between the stairs and the Maverick will trigger the next part of
the mission (Like if you had walked in to the yellow glow).
This is the only method I've found for the PS2 version. It's
possible to outrun the helicopter to the rooftop and get up on the roof
before it lands (Before the yellow mission marker appears). No matter how
fast I always was, the next part of the mission would start, and there's no
way to jump over the gap to where the helicopter will be.
Still, like with the PSP version it's good that there's proof that the air
vehicle physics were not taken out.
--------------------------
| (Both Versions) Method 3 |
--------------------------
<UPDATE 03/10/06>
An idea of mine almost paid off today. I used method 2 to get on to the roof
and successfully stole the Maverick. I parked it as near as I could to the
yellow glow and also as close to Toni's next position as possible without
hitting the huge advertising hoarding.
After walking in to the glow I quickly sprinted to the chopper and attempted
to jack it before the rotor blades had got up to speed. Guess what? It
wouldn't allow me to do it. You know the animation when Toni tries to open a
locked car door? Same thing, except it would allow me to open the door but
not physically eject the pilot.
A little disappointed and very pissed off, I decided to take out some
aggression on the Triads who were by this point firing on me. I noticed
another strange thing: The Maverick took off, but instead of magically
flying off and disappearing like it does usually, it just hovered there,
high above where I'd initially parked it.
I don't know what's going on here, but I'm going to try it again using the
other door. It also appeared to be bulletproof. I fired at least thirty
shots using a sniper rifle accurately at it and it didn't explode or even
start to smoke.
If anyone has any success using this technique, please do get in touch. Just
as I was about to lose faith, the game goes and does something like this.
<UPDATE 04/10/06>
Found something quite interesting today. I thought that after the Maverick
takes off again from the Chinaton rooftop it would fly away too quickly for
you to follow. I was wrong.
When the Triads are trying to shoot you, jump off the rooftop and look
towards the north-west of Staunton Island. You'll just be able to see the
Maverick flying off over the water. The game, it seems, keeps it memory as
it flies away, so....
Nick a car and input the following codes:
Cars Drive On Water: Circle, X, Down, Circle, X, Up, L1, L1.
Better Handling: L1, Up, Left, R1, Triangle, Circle, Down, X.
Do a jump in to the water and set off for Staunton Island. Follow the
shoreline and find a spot that's low enough for you to jump out again.
Somewhere in Fort Staunton is good. On dry land again? Drive to the ferry
port and stop on the road that leads in to.
Jump out your car and look towards the stadium. See anything odd? OK, try
using a sniper rifle. Use the following code to get one.
Weapon Set 1: Up, Square, Square, Down, Left, Square, Square, Right.
How about now? Yup, you guessed it, Massimo's Maverick is now hovering above
the stadium!
I don't know why the game keeps him in memory, as after you kill all the
Triads you'll complete the mission. You can kind of see why the helicopter
is hovering and not on the ground though. Somebody at Rockstar must have
though that clever and inspired fans would try this.
It was my hope that it would fly somewhere and land. Obviously you can't get
to Staunton Island yet, and I thought the programmer's might have let their
guard down. Oh well. This might also explain why in method 3 the Maverick
just hovered above the Chinatown rooftop. I interfered with the mission and
it might not have known to fly off first.
I'd like to see if any other helicopters in the game do this. I doubt they
do, but it could be worth seeing anyway.
2e. How To Claim The "False Idols" Maverick
-------------------------------------------
This is a good one, and you get to keep it. Method one involves cheating
(Which I don't like), the second and third are simple, require no cheats but
relies on a lot of luck. The fourth method is another cheating way, but is
definitely the easiest.
In this mission Toni is required to kill three celebrities who are
travelling to the LCFR radio station on Staunton Island. Black Lightman is
travelling in a Stretch limousine, DB-P in a bulletproof Patriot and the
last, Faith, is flying in from Shoreside Vale in a Maverick.
This mission really captured helicopter-starved GTA players' imagination,
you'll see why in a minute. I initially thought that the timing was too
tight, I think in the future I'll try things first and work out the kinks
before I dismiss them totally.
These methods work on both the PSP and PS2 versions.
----------
| Method 1 |
----------
This requires a little bit of preparation. First go out on to the streets
and find a tall but reasonably fast vehicle. I can personally recommend a
Mule, Yankee or an Ambulance. Save whatever vehicle you got at your Staunton
Island safehouse. Also make sure you have a rocket launcher with a few
rounds, typically eight or more in case you miss.
You'll also need the following code:
Better Handling: L1, Up, Left, R1, Triangle, Circle, Down, X.
It might be an idea to practice first, as the two jumps you're about to do
in the mission require good control and timing. Input the code and make the
drive down to the LCFR building. Practice jumping on the way, note that the
rear-end of the vehicle tends to land slightly before the front. Also try to
take notice of just how high the vehicle hops (Far higher than previous GTA
games).
At the LCFR building, go round to the western side of the building and look
for a low flat roof between two high ones. There's also a curved shape next
to it if that helps. Directly infront of where you are should be trees, so
you'll have to go in at an angle.
Get a fairly good run up drive towards it, aiming for the corner of the
roof. When you think the timing is right, whack the L3 button (Or PSP
equivalent). With a bit of luck your tall vehicle just hopped and has landed
on the lower flat roof. If not, try and try again until you can work out the
exact spot (It's really hard to explain exactly where it is, but you'll get
it if you persevere).
Now back your vehicle to the corner of where you landed, being careful not
to fall off. What you're trying to do now is pick up enough speed, turn in
and hit L3 so that your vehicle will hop on to the taller rooftop. Again
there isn't really a perfect spot, but after a few failed attempts you'll be
able to see.
You're now on the rooftop you want to be on. Exit the van and walk very
slowly to the eastern end of the rooftop. At a certain point, you'll fall
through and end up back on the street, but at least you'll know where the
roof is solid and where it isn't.
When you're confident that you can execute these moves near-perfectly, we
can continue. For the record I'd just like to say that despite doing this
100+ times in practice and during the event I still have trouble making it!
Now that you're able to get on the roof without too much trouble, let's do a
dry run with the actual mission to see exactly where we want to position the
vehicle. In case you haven't already guessed, we're using a tall vehicle as
Toni has to be on the roof to successfully jack the Maverick in mid-air. The
reason I recommend using the above vehicles is that they're easy to get on
top of, simply do a running jump or two.
Right ho, head north up to the church and start the "False Idols" mission.
This is practice session number two. The two people coming in by road always
make it to the building before Faith and her helicopter, so now is the best
time to practice destroying them first (Obviously if they make it to their
destination the mission will fail and you won't be able to get your hands on
the Maverick).
Y'know the road with the multi-storey carpark near your safehouse? At it's
southern end is the where the bulletproof Patriot will emerge, so drive down
to the intersection and jump out your van. The limousine will be using the
same road, but will be coming from the north so this is an ideal ambush
point.
When both vehicles come along destroy them, jump back in your van and drive
to the LCFR building. Do the jumping to get on to the tall roof and now sit
and wait. After a little while Faith will come using a route that takes here
next to the Shoreside lift bridge, past Belleville Park and then on to the
multi-lane road leading to the LCFR building.
You'll probably hear it before you see it, so listen carefully. Eventually
it will come in to view and will take a route of right angles. First it will
become parallel with the LCFR roof on the western side and then it will
travel east towards where it's going to land. The important reason for
knowing where the roof isn't solid (Remember the test earlier?) is that you
want to position the van directly under the helicopter's path as it will be
getting lower and lower until it lands.
You should know the exact route the helicopter now takes across the roof, go
ahead and mark it on the map if you need to. Notice how the Maverick always
flies above the general centre of the roof? Try to memorise that and also
remember the solid roof.
With all the practice over it's time to give it a go. This will probably
take you many, many tries. The hardest part for me wasn't actually jacking
the helicopter in mid-air, it was those blasted tricky jumps to get up there
in the first place. You can also see now why Rockstar made that part of the
roof hollow. How easy would it have been to just jack the helicopter whilst
it's stationary and only moving downwards to land?
When you finally complete this tricky method, congratulations. See the next
section about storing it. I strongly advise you to save it in your garage
first before using it to explore Liberty City from the air. After all that
trouble you don't want to lose it. Bear in mind that all vehicles can be
repaired using the 'Full Health' code whilst Toni is inside them. This does
not fix them cosmetically but does restore their damage to zero.
But first, a slightly easier method. The above was just to prove it could be
gotten and saved, but it involved using a cheat. Whenever you go to save
your game in the future after getting this thing it'll warn you that one or
more cheats have been activated. Personally I can't stand that, so on with
the next (Non-cheating) method.
----------
| Method 2 |
----------
This method is so simple but relies on a lot of luck. Drive up the curved road
leading to the Shoreside lift bridge and before you start across stop and
look to your left. See that angled metal bridge support with the red alarm
beacon thing on it? That's where we're aiming to get to.
Normally you can't reach it as the cream coloured stone support is too high
to jump on, and using a vehicle to hop across on to it doesn't work as it's
still too high. The trick here is to park a vehicle on the stone ramp so
that the rear-end of the vehicle is parked on the stone sides of the bridge
and the front is on the road. In effect, the vehicle will just about gain
that extra bit of height you need to jump across successfully.
Here's a crude diagram to explain:
2
/ \
_/ \ 1
(_) |
## \ | View is facing down the bridge
## \ \ towards Shoreside Vale.
## \ /
## \_ /
## (_)
###########
In this case # is the stone part of the bridge and the 2 is where you'll be
jumping from. 1 is where you can do a running jump on to the vehicle using
the bridge. I've used a Landstalker and an Ambulance to do this trick, both
vehicles can be easily gotten from the road below that runs next to the
Belleville Park.
OK, stand right on the edge of the bridge ramp (#) and hop on to point 1.
Slowly walk up to the back of the vehicle and position yourself for the jump
on to the cream coloured bridge support. Now try a running jump. Toni should
just about make it, phase one complete.
Do a little hop on to the angled metal girder that has the red beacon thing
on it and walk up. The signpost here is solid but you can easily walk round
it. The red beacon is NOT solid so Toni will pass straight through it. This
whole girder is in fact solid all the way to the top, more than adequate for
our needs.
After walking through the red beacon, stop and look to your left and down
slightly. You'll see that a roof doesn't appear to be there and you can see
inside the building. Do a running jump across, don't worry, it is actually
solid despite it's appearance. OK, this is the rooftop we need to snatch
Faith's Maverick mid-air, and we got here without using any cheats!
Hop back across on to the bridge and make sure your vehicle is parked in
exactly the right spot you want it. Make Toni get out of the vehicle and run
away from it so the driver's side door stays open. This is an old GTA trick
to make sure a vehicle stays in the game's memory and it's quite effective
as long as you don't get in to too many other vehicles.
The problem is this: GTA:LCS was originally on a system with limited memory,
so having more than two active vehicles (Ones you've left somewhere with a
door open) will make them disappear.
Anyway, you've got your vehicle positioned and arranged it so that it'll
stay in the game's memory. Now what? Hop off the bridge down to the street
and steal a fast vehicle. Again, a PCJ600 it perfect. Head to the church and
start the "False Idols" mission.
This time ignore the two celebrities coming in by road and head straight to
the Shoreside lift bridge. If you take the road that's next to Belleville
Park you'll he able to see if your vehicle is still parked where you left
it. If not, try, try again.
Head up the ramp to the bridge and do some jumping to get on the cream
coloured stone bridge support. Head up the girder and do a running jump
across to the invisible-floored roof and await the helicopter.
When you see it approaching, get in to position so that as it passes you can
tap Triangle and steal it mid-air. It doesn't matter which side you do it,
both the driver's side door and the passenger side are open. The other
passengers of the Maverick will also hop out.
That's all there is to it, you now have your very own whirlybird and, better
still, you got it legitimately without cheating. Nice one.
----------
| Method 3 |
----------
This method is pretty much the same as Method 2. If you're getting pissed
off that your carefully parked vehicle is never there after you start the
mission and get back, try this.
Grab a Landstalker or Ambulance (Or any other tall-ish vehicle with a good
speed) and start the mission. Head to the Shoreside lift bridge and park it
in the right spot and now simply repeat the jumping.
I've only ever done this once, but there is just enough time. The reason I
prefer Method 2, despite it's annoying habit of deleting the vehicle you're
using as a handy ramp, is that this might be the first time you're
attempting this and doing it when not on the mission and without any time
pressure is much easier.
----------
| Method 4 |
----------
By far the easiest method, all that's required is two cheat codes to be
inputted. These are the ones you'll need:
Cars Drive On Water - O, X, DOWN, O, X, UP, L1, L1.
Peds Follow Toni - X, SQUARE, DOWN, X, SQUARE, UP, R1, R1.
The drive on water code is easy enough to understand, as you'll be crossing
the water near the Shoreside Vale lift bridge to get to Faith's starting
position (Francis International Airport).
The peds code is odd, as it seems to freeze anybody mission related. You can
interfere with them as much as you like and they won't retaliate.
Okay, input the codes and start the mission at the church. You'll need a
car, and the game handily spawns a Manana nearby which can be used. Jump in
and find somewhere you can easily enter the water. You could try just flying
in to the water kamikaze style but more often I ended upside down. The jetty
located at the far north of Staunton is ideal.
Head over to Francis International Airport, and go towards the red arrow.
Now look at your map. See that horizontal runway that runs west to east?
Just south of there is a runway that runs north-west to south-east. At the
south-eastern end is a ramp that you can drive up. Do this now, and then
carry on going to the red arrow.
You'll find Faith sitting in her Maverick with the pilot on foot nearby.
Simply jack the helicopter, and it's yours.
Since you're still on a mission, you're going to have to either kill your
other targets or die after you've stored your Maverick to carry on with the
game. The peds code can't be turned off, at least I don't think it can (A
'cheat deactivated' message doesn't appear if you input the code a second
time).
2f. Storing Your Helicopter
---------------------------
So you've got it but are probably thinking 'Shit, where can I store such a
large vehicle?'.
It will easily fit in your Staunton Island garage, and most probably in your
Shoreside Vale one too. To be honest I never tried the latter, as Staunton
Island is central in Liberty City plus you encounter problems with height
when trying to get up to your Shoreside Vale safehouse.
GTA veterans will already know that parking a vehicle half-in and half-out
of your garage makes the door stay open, so I suggest getting a PCJ600
motorbike and storing it in there beforehand. Most of the time you can find
a bike out on the streets close to your safehouse, so that's not really a
concern.
OK, door blocked open? Park your helicopter as near as possible. If you see
sparks coming off of the rotor blades, that's bad, jump out of the
helicopter as gently as possible. Rotor scraping damages the helicopter and
more than often results in smoke and even fire.
So, with the Maverick in front of the garage, use Toni to push it in. When
it's in just enough to make the door stay open, use your motorcycle to give
it a nudge.
There are certain points of the chopper's chassis which "stick" and these
are near the front on the nose and near the back near where the tail joins
the cockpit compartment.
It won't fit in longways or widthways, so it'll have to be diagonally, like
this:
_________________
| ### |
| ###### | # Denotes the helicopter
| ###### |
| ###### | * Denotes your motorcycle
| ##### |
| ## |
| ## |
| ## **** |
| ## |
<Garage Entrance>
When you think it's in as shown above, with nothing sticking out and holding
the door open, run away a distance and make sure the door closes. If it
does, return to open it again. If your Maverick and motorcycle are still
there than you're now free to save your game and get on with exploring
Liberty City by air.
To get your new toy out is a little tricky. You basically have to use the
same technique you used to get it in. With practice you'll work out the
quickest and/or easiest way. Remember: If you get in the helicopter and the
rotor blades bang against something and won't start spinning properly, it's
obstructed and you'll have to move it again until it's clear.
2g. Okey Dokey, So What Now?
----------------------------
Now you've got your very own helicopter, you might want to use it to explore
Liberty City by air. There are many points of interest exploring in this
way, most of them will allow you to see why air vehicles were removed
<Almost everything I've read in research about why they were removed have
stated that it was '...at the last minute'.>
I spent a lot of time doing a comparison of GTAIII and GTA:LCS. It's
possible to see a few normally unreachable places. In GTAIII you can see
places like Donald Love's oriental garden, the rooftop of Kenji Kasen's
casino, the higher floors of the Panlantic Contruction site in Fort
Staunton and of course the 'Ghost Town'.
There isn't really much to see in GTA:LCS - all the cutscene locations are
loaded specially for the game. For example, you won't be able to see the
locations of Donald Love's early missions on Staunton Island as the game
only loads the scenery when it's needed.
The part of the city I explored first was Staunton Island. There are
numerous tall buildings here that can be landed on even though they have no
visible rooftops. Most buildings do in fact have collision detection,
although why it would be implemented without visible rooftops is anyone's
guess.
The stadium is pretty interesting too. In GTAIII you can see right inside
and spot the word "COCKS" spelt out on the seating. It's also possible to
get inside using a Dodo in GTAIII. In GTA:LCS, as the stadium is apparently
still being constructed, you can't normally see inside. Now with a Maverick,
you can. The ground is solid but has no textures, just a dull grey colour.
If you look to the north whilst on the stadium's floor you can see the
underground Porter road tunnel and the subway. Later in the game you see
it's also still being constructed (In the mission "Bringing Down The House"
you'll travel the length of this).
If you do find a building without a solid roof, you can carefully fly down
and cruise around underneath the city. In previous games this has been
referred to as 'The Underworld' or 'Blue Hell'. There really isn't much to
see underneath the city, but it does give you some scope of the mechanics
used to make the game. If you drop too low whilst flying around you'll
simply pop back out on to the normal street level. I wouldn't advise doing
this whilst underneath any expanse of water though.
If you pop over to Shoreside Vale, try to fly up to Cedar Grove. You'll
notice that as you get closer to your safehouse you won't be able to climb
any higher. I was a little annoyed about this, as I really wanted to have a
closer look at the Cedar Ridge Observatory. There is something cool you can
try though. Try flying the same route used in GTAIII to get to the Ghost
Town. You can slip all the way round behind the Cochrane Dam, past the
mountains and come out near the north end of Portland.
If you head over to Francis International Airport, be careful not to run
into any of the airline jets taking off and landing. Just like ground
vehicles, helicopters have a habit of detonating on first touch. At least in
a chopper you can follow them now. Some of the take offs hardly look
realistic though.
Now you have unofficial access to Shoreside Vale, why not put your
helicopter to a good productive use. At this stage of the game, with way
less than half the missions done you can now collect the rest of the hidden
packages (Bar one, on Staunton Island), rampages, unique jumps and a few
other miscellaneous tasks.
Portland looks pretty good from the air, and is the easiest to travel
around. Most of the buildings are complete and can be landed on, which makes
for some good sniping spots. My particular favourite is the practice tower
at the fire station. Also accessible is the lighthouse island, although
there isn't much to see.
It's a shame that the Maverick from "Calm Before The Storm" can't be saved.
Just like in the previous 3D GTA games you could've exploited the game to
get to the other islands early and completed approximately half the game
before doing the storyline <It is possible to do this without a helicopter,
but it's irrelevant in this guide>.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Unconfirmed / Unavailable Helicopters
========================================
In this section we're going to look at the helicopters that:
(a) Nobody has found a way to successfully save
or....
(b) Can't be obtained because of the game's mechanics.
If you spot a helicopter in a mission that I missed, please get in touch.
3a. The "The Passion Of The Heist" Maverick
-------------------------------------------
All my attempts at this have failed. No matter which direction you come from
to reach the area where the helicopter is parked (The ferry port carpark on
Staunton Island) the game will always cut in.
When it's airborne it does fly quite low to the ground at times, but still
too high to reach with, say, and Mule or a Yankee.
3b. The "Caught In The Act" Maverick
------------------------------------
Not even one method exists for this. In the mission, Salvatore will take
control of the boat whilst Toni is stuck on the back with a machine-gun
shooting enemies.
As this part of the mission is a rail-shooter (It always follows a set path
no matter what you do) there's no way to mid-air jack this Maverick.
3c. The "Sayonara Sindaccos" Maverick
-------------------------------------
This Maverick takes up the chase whilst Leon McAffrey is driving you back
after a killing spree against those pesky Sindacco Mafia lads.
As it hovers overhead whilst Toni is taking part in another rail-shooter
there's no way to get this one with any method either.
3d. The "Cash In Kazuki's Chips" Maverick
-----------------------------------------
You can ALMOST get this....but only by using another Maverick. After the
part of the mission that takes place at GTAIII's safehouse you'll see Kazuki
Kasen fleeing the scene in a Maverick. If you take your own Maverick and
follow him you can get to the Big Shot casino rooftop before him.
However, if you interfere with his helicopter in any way the game will
always cut to the next part.
Somebody did have some success. After going over to Portland and returning,
said individual found the Maverick parked on the road, locked. After ramming
it with a vehicle it took off (I think he was trying to push it to a
safehouse). I also read somewhere that it might be possible to push another
car into it and shove it to a safehouse but this would take a VERY long
time. Still, it might work. I'm tempted to give it a try.
3e. The "The Sicilian Gambit" Maverick
--------------------------------------
This is the final Maverick in the game, and that Massimo Torini is in it. In
the mission you have to target it and shoot it down.
As it's hovering over water there's no way to get this with any standard
trick.
3f. Police Maverick (Numerous)
------------------------------
This is unconfirmed, but somebody on the GameFAQs message board swears blind
that Police Mavericks CAN be highjacked. After numerous postings on my part
he or she hasn't replied so I'm pretty sure it's a cock and bull story.
Even piloting my own Maverick with a three star wanted level, the Police
choppers can go much higher than the tallest possible structure you can land
on. I even tried luring it to places you can't normally get in/on to (Like
Staunton Island's stadium) to see if it would fly lower but it never does.
I've noticed that whatever height you go to, the Police pilots will always
compensate. Sit on the middle part of the Shoreside Vale lift bridge and
wait for it to activate. As it climbs up, watch the chopper. See it going
gradually higher with you? Point proven I think.
One idea I had was to try and trap it somewhere, but I haven't found any
good spots yet though. The Callahan Bridge and the lift bridge would be
perfect if the higher beams and girders were solid....
3g. Other Unobtainable Air Vehicles
-----------------------------------
As mentioned many times above, the Dodo, Hunter, Maverick, Police Maverick,
Vice City News Maverick and RC Goblin were all prevented from being
user-controlled vehicles in the finished game.
They all have their own graphics, dimensions and engine noises but there's
simply no way to get them.
They are still on the game disk though. There are even pictures at:
http://www.gtaportable.com/vehicles
of all of the above.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Frequently Asked Questions
=============================
4a. Why aren't the other air vehicles available?
------------------------------------------------
They were all removed. On the PSP they can still be obtained by using
EdisonCarter's CheatDevice, but only the Mavericks listed above can be
obtained in any "normal game".
4b. ....and the Dodo?
---------------------
Again the same. You'll need to use an extra cheat to make it fly like a
normal aeroplane though. Admittedly I never tried flying it when I had a
PSP, but I remember reading that it couldn't even get off the ground without
cheating (The CheatDevice can give it proper physics though).
4c. This CheatDevice, where can I get it from?
----------------------------------------------
Head to http://www.maxbot.com . This is EdisonCarter's own website so I make
no assurances that the information is correct. I bet it is though given the
extent of his knowledge on GTA's mechanics.
4d. I can't be bothered to use your methods, can't I just cheat?
----------------------------------------------------------------
In a perfect world maybe. Nobody has found any cheat codes for air vehicles.
You're either going to have to use the CheatDevice (PSP) or a
GameShark or Action Replay-style device (PS2).
4e. You mentioned a Vice City News Maverick, how come that's there?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GTA:LCS is the first game in the series since GTAIII that doesn't use the
RenderWare engine. Rockstar Leeds decided to drop it and use their own
in-house engine that takes much better advantage of the PSP's capabilities.
Even comparing the PS2 versions of GTAIII and GTA:LCS you can see the
graphics are much clearer and the sound is slightly better too.
The engine used (I've yet to come across an official name for it) was based
heavily on the GTA:VC engine, which features things like poppable tires and
better lighting effects.
There doesn't seem to be any plausible reason why that VCN Maverick is
there. On YouTube there's a video that notes the differences between the
development version of GTA:LCS and the finished product and one of the
things included is a TV screen image of Liberty News.
If you play through the game, at key points after certain plot-driven
missions you get radio broadcasts detailing the events that have just
happened. At some stage in development, and I'm really guessing here, there
was probably going to be a video of the events filmed from a news chopper.
The VCN chopper was probably added using the same textures and colours as
it's GTA:VC cunterpart but as they weren't used in the final version, they
remain unchanged, with no Liberty City News markings.
This is as good a reason as any, but I doubt it's true!
4f. Will we ever see hand-held air vehicles?
--------------------------------------------
Helicopters are readily available in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories,
and have working physics, on par with GTA:SA.
4g. The PSP controls suck, can I change them?
---------------------------------------------
No idea. I don't remember seeing a program that could do this, someone wanna
prove me wrong?
4h. Any way I can get a RC Goblin?
----------------------------------
Not sure why you'd want to, but no, you can't. Like all the other air
vehicles, these radio controlled toys were removed. In an educated guess,
they were probably used for the RC Toys missions, like the one in GTA:VC.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. And The Outro....
====================
5a. Links
---------
EdisonCarter's CheatDevice/GTA Page: http://www.maxbot.com
GTA Portable Vehicle Pictures: http://www.gtaportable.com/vehicles
5b. About The Author
--------------------
I'm 24 and live in Wimbledon, south-west London, England. Aside from the two
weeks of tourists this town is forced to endure for the tennis championships
it's actually quite a nice place to live. An early edition of the tourist
guide says 'Live here and die'. Presumably living here long enough makes you
lose the will to live. I've yet to find out.
I've been gaming since I was about four or five. My father introduced me to
the wonders of a BBC Master computer and I fell in love with games like the
Repton series, Citadel, Bonecruncher, Ravenskull, Galaforce, Elite, Spycat,
Hostages, Perplexity, and Exile. The ageing BBC was upgraded to an Acorn
Archimedes and through the years I've amassed quite a collection of the
different models plus an A5000, Pocket Book, A7000 and two RISC PCs, all of
which were used for native and emulated gaming.
In 1988 my brother bought a Sega Master System and a whole new vista of
games opened up to me. As well as playing the classics, over the years I
added a Sega Mega Drive, Game Gear, Mega CD, Super Nintendo, Atari Jaguar,
Gameboy (Different versions), Sony Playstation 1 and 2, GameCube and a PSP
to my collection. And people accuse me of having no life. Ha!
Favourite game include the Grand Theft Auto series, Manhunt, Repton 3, the
Resident Evil series, TOCA Touring Cars series, Mario Kart, Chocks Away,
Cataclysm, Star Fighter 3000, the Sonic The Hedgehog series, Oddworld: Abe's
Odyssee and Abe's Exoddus, Stunt Racer 2000, Super Mario Sunshine, and just
about anything by Rockstar Games and Gordon Key.
Musically I'm in to just about anything, but detest electronic stuff like
techno and hardcore. I mainly like rock and punk, like: The Who, The Kinks,
Small Faces, Rolling Stones, Ocean Colour Scene, Cream, Supergrass, Velvet
Underground, Bluetones, led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Paul Weller and The Jam,
The Buzzcocks, Ramones, The Clash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beatles (Who
doesn't?), KT Tunstall and Creedence Clearwater Revival. My all time
favourite song is The Kinks' 'Waterloo Sunset'.
I'm also into films and have too many to name. Particular favourites are The
Italian Job, The Usual Suspects, Seven, Brazil, The Big Lebowski, Harvey and
The Life Of Brian.
I read heavily, mostly sci-fi and fantasy, crime, fiction, non-fiction and
biography. Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin are my joint favourite authors,
but I also like Elmore Leonard, Jake Arnott, Roald Dahl, John King, Irvine
Welsh and Danny King.
5c. Other Documents By Me
-------------------------
All this lot can be found on Gamefaqs for your literary pleasure.
Colin McRae Rally - Cheats Guide - Playstation 1
Grand Theft Auto - Mission Guide - Playstation 1
PC
Grand Theft Auto: - Mission Guide - Playstation 1
London 1969 PC
Grand Theft Auto III - Plot Guide - Playstation2
PC
XBox
Grand Theft Auto: - Plot Guide - Playstation2
Liberty City Stories PSP
Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus - Preview Guide - Playstation 1
Twisted Metal 2: - Game Guide - Playstation1
World Tour PC
The Warriors - Flashback Levels Guide - Playstation 2
- XBox
I think I missed a few, but the missing ones are quite old anyway.
Coming soon are my Vice City, Vice City Stories and San Andreas plot
guides. My VC plot guide is roughly 90% complete, so expect to see it soon.
5d. Goodbye
-----------
Phew! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it.
Seriously, replaying all these missions again just to try and get a
helicopter made me realise just how much life some games have. I've
completed all the GTA games 100% and have quite a good knowledge of their
workings but never dreamed I'd set out to write a guide like this for
something which, despite being desirable, isn't really that important to the
game.
Look out for updates for most or all of my guides soon. If you have anything
useful please get in touch to submit it for full recognition.
The gaming communities' support and suggestions over the years have been
much appreciated. Thanks guys and gals.
A big shout out to the alt.games.grand-theft-auto newsgroup too.
Cheers,
Rob White
a.k.a HappyWomble
© Web Media Network Limited, 1999 - 2024 This site is not affiliated in any way with Microsoft, Sony, Sega, Nintendo or any video game publishers.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.
Super Cheats is an unofficial resource with submissions provided by members of the public. These are not usually tested by us (because there are so many), so please use them at your own risk.
