Luis' Apartment

Exterior of the Northwood apartment in the Ballad of Gay Tony.

In The Ballad of Gay Tony, the player is supplied with only one safehouse in the form of an apartment in North Holland, which serves as Luis Fernando Lopez's home. The safehouse is available upon completion of the first mission of the game, "I Luv LC".

Description

Design

Located in a historic building at Galveston Avenue towards Wardite Street in North Holland, Algonquin, the apartment is only a block away from Playboy X's penthouse and L.C. Cage Fighters. The apartment is also located one block north from the Holland Hospital Center, two blocks north from the Northwood Burger Shot restaurant, one block west of Algonquin's only TW@ Internet cafe, and two blocks south from Luis' mother's residence. Facing Galveston Avenue, the safehouse is also located along the same street as Maisonette 9 and Hercules, which are situated down the road in The Meat Quarter and Westminster, respectively.

Based on the ground floor, the interior of Luis' apartment encompasses only two compact rooms. The main room serves as a living area, dining area and kitchen, while the second room, separated only by curtains, houses the apartment's bedroom. A second door next to the bedroom, presumably leading to the bathroom, is inaccessible. While modest in size, the apartment is considerably tidy and well furnished with tasteful decors.

The apartment provides the player with the usual amenities, including a bed in the bedroom to save games, a flatscreen television, and access to Luis' preset wardrobe; Internet access is not available in the safehouse. A "Residents Parking Only" parking space that can support up to two vehicles is also provided outside, however, it is placed in a spot where cars will constantly drive into the cars it holds.

After the completion of all 15 Base Jumps a Parachute is also found in the apartment.

Detailing

Apart the usual facilities, the apartment contains multiple detailing that paint a picture of Luis' personality:

• Three military portraits of Luis' father are hung up around the apartment: One in the living area, another over the dining table, and the third picture in the bedroom.
• Similarly, a photograph of Luis and his mother is hung over the dining table, next to one of his father's portraits.
• A Higgins Helitours "Chopper Operator Certificate" with Luis' name is hung next to the entranceway into the bedroom.
• A dumbbell set can be found at the corner of the bedroom, indicating Luis may have worked out.
• A black gaming console is placed next to the apartment's entertainment center, bearing a "TOSHI" brand, implying Luis is interested in video games to some degree. The design of the console implies it to be a parody fusion of both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
• A miniature Brown Streak figure is placed on the entertainment center.
• The apartment has substantial collections of magazines, movies and music CDs.

Trivia

• The default music playing in Luis' apartment is always set to San Juan Sounds.
• The stereo in the apartment cannot be turned off by shooting it.
• On the bookcase in the living area, a magazine features Millie Perkins' character model.
• The console next to the TV is not plugged in, even though the light on the front is on.
• A calender in the kitchen marks the dates supposed to be the release date of the game for the PlayStation 3 and PC before it was delayed.
• It is possible that Gay Tony bought the apartment for Luis before going into debt.
• TBoGT is the only game in the Grand Theft Auto series to include only one safehouse. The player may, however, still use all preexisting vehicle save points at safehouses in GTA IV and (optionally) The Lost and Damned, although none of these locales are marked in the map.
• The apartment is one of a handful of locales in a GTA IV episodic game to receive very minimal changes in the exterior. Aside the addition of a parking space and the modification of the entrance into the apartment, the apartment is otherwise similar to that featured in GTA IV.
• Due to an oversight error on the behalf of a level designer, there is a fire hydrant on the curb next to the parking bay, clearly breaking basic parking laws.

Gallery

Living area of the apartment. Bedroom of the apartment. Kitchen and dining area of the apartment.