GTA 1: score, navigation and your first jobs
Plan payphone jobs, vehicle changes and usable routes through the original Liberty City.
Plan the run
GTA 1 rewards preparation across a whole city run. Check the chapter score target when you begin. Successful jobs increase your bonus multiplier, so manageable missions are a useful starting point. Spend the opening minutes learning the car and recognising the main roads around South Park. Approach a junction slowly, brake before turning and accelerate once the vehicle is straight again. A car you can place accurately is more useful for early jobs than repeatedly changing vehicles in search of maximum speed.
Read directions and district names together
The mission arrow gives a bearing, rather than a drivable route around buildings, water or railway lines. Combine it with the district name and the map. While exploring, remember bridges, service shops and entrances that actually connect to the street. On PC, F10 repeats the last telephone instruction and F7 repeats the last pager message. Consult your edition’s manual if you use different bindings or play on PlayStation. Read each new instruction before committing to the next destination; the arrow alone cannot explain a vehicle handover.
Before answering another phone
Try to clear a police pursuit before accepting the next job. Collect armour and a suitable weapon from crates when needed, rather than beginning a fight unprepared. Pay particular attention to police-bribe pickups and places where you can repair a car. Park facing your likely exit so that reversing does not consume the start of a timed leg. If a job requires a specific vehicle, keep it until its delivery is acknowledged. The two South Park walkthroughs below demonstrate those changes. A failed job is also an opportunity to practise the troublesome route before attempting another chapter run.
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