Changes: Parachute

Revision as of 11:32, 25 March 2015

The ProLaps Parachute is designed for only one purpose in the three GTA games it appears in: to safely return the player to ground level after falling from a significant height. The parachute debuted in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and then later returned in The Ballad of Gay Tony and Grand Theft Auto V.

GTA San Andreas

GTA San Andreas introduced a more realistic range of damage incurred to the player when falling, where the severity of damage is amplified; jumps from moderate heights will deduct substantial amounts of the player's health, while jumps from extreme heights may result in certain death (unless the player's Health is full with the statistic at 100%, where falling from even the highest place will only result in approximately 95% of health loss) . With such modifications, the parachute was introduced as a life-saving option, available after exiting any flying vehicles from great heights, or in various high elevations throughout the State of San Andreas, including building rooftops.

Utilizing the parachute is done by pressing the "fire" key, as with weapons. However, there are a few seconds of delay after leaping from an elevation before deployment is possible. Once the parachute is deployed, the player may control their descent by rotating left and right, and by pushing forward or pulling back on the main control to speed up and slow their rate of descent. Pulling back on the parachute also allows the player to land running, instead of falling prone, as occurs when not pulling back. Parachutes also introduce the concept of "freefalling" as the player is capable of entering a controlled diving position after jumping from a high altitude whenever he is wearing a parachute, rather than flailing whenever they fall from a height without one.

After landing, the parachute is automatically removed from inventory and Carl needs to obtain one again from a spawn point before making another jump. However, once Carl obtains his pilots licence (by completing the Learning to Fly strand) he is automatically equipped with one whenever be bails out of an airplane that he is flying (an exception being the Andromeda in the Stowaway mission).

While introduced in GTA San Andreas, GTA IV prior to The Ballad of Gay Tony had not resumed the adoption of the parachute although GTA San Andreas' fall damage configuration remains roughly the same.

Falling prior to GTA San Andreas

In GTA games prior to GTA San Andreas, death by falling occurs less frequently, resulting in the lack of need for parachutes. While considerable damage may occur as a result of falling in Grand Theft Auto 1 and Grand Theft Auto 2, the top-down environment resulted in restricted height of buildings, lowering the possibility of such fatalities; with a full health, the player may fall roughly four times from a moderately high ramp before dying.

In most 3D Universe games including Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the player is allowed to access rooftops of multistory buildings and skyscrapers, but the player's resilience to damage by falling in both games is increased to a level where it is possible to unrealistically survive jumps off from a substantial height (i.e. a moderately tall skyscraper), although death may still be achieved by jumping off the rooftops of the tallest skyscrapers via extraordinary means (such as a third party teleporter or jetpack). A lack of aircraft and ability to eject from moving vehicles or technical limitations in early GTA games are also factors for the late adoption of the parachute.

The Ballad of Gay Tony

“

Fully steerable. Get the drop on enemies from above, or make a quick stealth escape from buildings to the street below.

”

— Description from the TBoGT website

Parachutes are reintroduced in The Ballad of Gay Tony with a vastly improved design, flapping realistically with the wind when deployed. Parachutes are first used in the mission High Dive and then adopted for a number of missions in the game, and serves as an integral component for the game's interpretation of base jumps, which are available in single player mode as well as the multiplayer "Free Mode" (using the parachute in Team Deathmatch could allow for an entire team to paradrop into a combat zone). Base jumping in the game involves the player jumping off a number of skyscrapers in Liberty City onto moving trucks. After completing all of the jumps in single player, the parachute will appear in the player's safehouse.

The Parachute can also be spawned via cheat code, by dialing the number: 359-555-7272 (The Parachute can be found in the players inventory). The parachute in the game also featured a glitch which could be exploited to allow the player to ascend instead of descend, remaining in the air for an indefinite amount of time. This has been patched.

GTA V

The Parachute reappears in Grand Theft Auto V. It first appeared in a screenshot released on August 22nd 2012, showing a person using a parachute near a mountain.

The player is now able to shoot single handed weapons after the parachute has been deployed. The weapons are the same used in vehicles, being just pistols and the Micro-SMG. This has never been a feature in the GTA series, although the player was able to shoot similarly from the Jetpack in GTA San Andreas.

The player is also able to deploy the parachute while on a bike that is falling in the air. However, the bike cannot be carried with the parachute as the player will eject from the bike and let it fall once the parachute is deployed.

The player can buy different colored chutes as well as smoke trails. To enable the smoke trail, press and hold if on Xbox 360 or Xbox One, and if on PS3 or PS4.

Generally, when landing with the parachute in GTA V, it is necessary to pull back on the movement stick (Or hold R1 & L1 on PS3, RT or LT on XBOX) to land safely with no damage. Landing while pushing forward on the movement stick will cause the character to faceplant, and this may lead to injury or death.

After The San Andreas Flight School Update, new chute bags were added that represent the flags of certain countries. The list of countries on the chute bags are as follows:

Parachutes-GTAV-FlagLiveries — Five of the parachute bags from the San Andreas Flight School Update, seen in the trailer.

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
China PR
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Liechtenstein
Malta
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Palestine
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Russia
Scotland
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States of America
Wales

Customization (GTA V)

Chutes

Blue Chute - equipped by default
Red Chute - $500
Seaside Striped Chute - $1000
Hornet Chute - $1250
Patriot Chute - $1500
Windowmaker Chute - $1750
Rainbow Chute - $2000
Black Chute - $2500

Smoke Trails

No Smoke Trail - by default
Red Smoke Trail - $200
Orange Smoke Trail - $400
Yellow Smoke Trail - $600
Blue Smoke Trail - $800
Black Smoke Trail - $1000

Glitches

In GTA San Andreas, since the parachute is controlled by script, there could be times when the parachute won't do what it is supposed to do. These glitches are rare but can happen, such as when the game is processing too many animations, or if the player is using many cheats.
- When deploying the parachute, CJ can become stuck in freefall mode. So once he hits the ground, he gets wasted instead of landing safely.
- Hitting the water without deploying your parachute can rarely make CJ stuck in skydiving animation in the water. However this can be fixed by spawning a hovercraft and entering it.
- When CJ lands to the ground, the animation depicting CJ falling at great height will occur, and the parachute will 'sink' into the ground where he is standing.
In the original PS2 version of the game, while doing the Chiliad Challenge, CJ can jump off the mountain and deploy his parachute. After a few seconds, the game will put CJ back on his bike, but the parachute will still be deployed and on CJ's back, and sticking upright, resulting in a rather humorous appearance. This glitch was fixed on the PC and mobile ports of the game.
The parachute model in the PC version is unable to display correct animations while the player is controlling it. In the PS2 and XBOX versions, CJ holds on to the parachute's hanging control handles as he is descending, and any directional input made by the player will make CJ pull or push these handles in order to control the parachute's canopy. However, in the PC version, the parachute's directional handles never move, and stay hanging completely still, even if CJ's hands appear to be grasping and moving them.
In GTA San Andreas, if CJ is still in the parachute opening animation and hits the ground, he will die. This will happen regardless of any health cheats that are used.
In GTA San Andreas, it is possible to become stuck in the skydiving animation by flying into the water after hitting a fence with a motorbike. The player can spawn a hovercraft and press the 'enter' button to resume normal gameplay.
Another glitch is that whenever you are free falling and you open your parachute, CJ will look like he deployed it, but will still fall at great speed and die upon hitting the ground. After he respawns at a medical center, CJ will die again.
In the original PS2 version, if you press and hold the R3 button to look back while CJ lands on the ground with the parachute deployed, his head may appear bent backwards at an impossible angle. This can be fixed by entering a vehicle.
In GTA San Andreas collision-proof vehicles are immune to melee attacks. However, you can destroy collision-proof vehicle with fists when CJ has parachute on his back.
In GTA V, sometimes when purchasing a parachute at Ammu-Nation, the in-game camera will appear under the ceiling, and the owner of the store will walk away and not come back, making the Protagonist not playable (even though you cannot see him). You can fix this glitch by reloading the game or replaying a mission.
Since the 1.16 update for GTA Online, which allowed the player to change the livery of the parachute bag, when the parachute is ditched, after it has been deployed, the bag livery will change to that of the United States flag.

Locations

GTA San Andreas

Los Santos

Atop the tallest building in Downtown

San Fierro

Atop the Big Pointy Building in the Financial district
Atop the western tower on theSan Fierro side of Garver Bridge

Las Venturas

Atop The Emerald Isle Casino

Whetstone

On top of Mount Chiliad, near the vista point, on the slope between the Camper and Journey near a stone hill.

Tierra Robada

Atop the Tierra Robada-side tower of the Gant Bridge

Bone County

Atop Arco del Oeste, inside one of the wooden structures
Atop the radio tower/control tower near The Big Ear

The Ballad of Gay Tony

At the top of the spire on Rotterdam Tower, right before the second ladder leading to the top of the aerial.
On top of the Statue of Happiness's coffee cup.
On the docks next to the helipad in Westminster which spawns a Buzzard after the storyline completion. A Base Jump is here also there too.
On top of the building with the glass overhangs on the roof located on Rand Avenue and Mahesh Avenue. The parachute is on the northeast corner of the roof.
On top of the building located at Emerald Street and Borlock Road in Fishmarket South. This building has a helipad on top.
In Luis Fernando Lopez's apartment after the completion of 15 Base Jumps.
Atop Liberty State Pavillion Towers in Meadows Park.
On the south end of the eastern legs of the Broker Bridge.
Underneath the helipad above the Booth Tunnel on the Alderney City side.
Can be brought from Armando Torres for $100.

GTA V

Mount Chiliad Cable Car - Upper boarding platform; parachute is resting against the rail between the the two docking slips. Also the location of a Leonora Johnson clue.
Pillbox Hill - Top of crane, eastern tip.
Sold at Ammunation for $100
Automatically equipped when entering aircraft
Can be spawned with the cheat code button combination
- , , LB, , RB, , , , , , LB (Xbox 360)
- , , , , , , , , , , (PlayStation 3)