Vehicular Mayhem!

The first thing you need to know is how to get around. When you are trying to make a name for yourself, it’s important to make sure you are seen.

So whether you are traveling by car, jet, or on foot, make sure you are getting people’s attention. Keep people guessing by occasionally running them over in your car, landing a jet on them, or just dispensing the occasional beatdown by hand.

If you are ever unsure how cool your ride is, it is already time for a new set of wheels. There are a lot of top-shelf vehicles around here, so make sure you are rolling in style.

Find a ride you like and get in. If the owner is still in the car when you need it, that’s not your problem. Throw him to the curb and take the wheel. Anyone who pays for a car is a chump. Now, we all know any thug can hijack a regular car. If you want to be somebody and travel first class, make sure you find a ride with one of the unique license plates from the Volition Vehicle Team.

Plates that start with something other than “SR3” (Saints Row: The Third) are a lucky find. I’ll give you a few to look for, but you’ll have to keep your eyes open to find the rest of them as you travel the city. It’s one of the little things that will help to impress your growing fan base. See if you can find some of these on your own:

• JZ—Jeremiah Zanin (vehicle physics programming)

• DB—David Bianchi (vehicle controls)

• SS—Shayne Smith (vehicle art)

• VC—Victor Cepeda (vehicle physics programming)

• JT—James Taylor (vehicle art team)

Did You Know?

Most of these car brands are actually named after the people who help put this city together. Some of these brands have even been on the set of other productions. The TM car brand has been in existence since Volition’s 2005 comic-based game.

Have you noticed yet that the busses around here are not as long as usual? Don’t worry you are not the only one slow to notice. Everyone in Steelport rides the short bus. Not to draw any conclusions here, but the short bus is lovingly referred to by many as “Donovan,” which happens to be the name of our project producer, Greg Donovan.

Fly The Unfriendly Skies!

You know, the vehicle team didn’t just hide in-jokes in their cars. Many of the airplanes and boats also have hidden tidbits of information for the careful observer.

As you move up in the world your eye is bound to turn toward private jets. One of the first planes you’ll see is from Steelport Airlines. They make some huge planes. You could fit an entire army of blowup dolls in one of those things. Keep your eye open for one plane in particular, with two distinctive marks. Near the cockpit you will see “Gawalek A36,” a notorious reference to gameplay programmer, Matt Gawalek, and on the tail, the call numbers “D1110W,” which spell the name of lead mission designer, Bryan Dillow.

Stay away from that plane at all costs. If, for some reason, you decide to totally ignore me and get on the plane, at least bring back some of the blow-up dolls those guys stole from me.

If you live long enough to see it, the Daedalus is the real master of the skies. It was originally intended to be part of Saints Row 2 downloadable content and was at that time named Icarus. But like that mythological figure, it was too lofty a goal at the time and instead made it into the scope of Saints Row: The Third.

Super Ethical Behaviour!

After traveling in the lap of luxury for a while, you might start to get an itch. Nothing you’ll need a doctor-recommended salve for—more like an itch to get off the beaten path, do a little off-roading, maybe even a little off-planeting?

If you ever make it off this rock I hear there is a great dune buggy course on Mars. I have a friend in vehicle design, James Taylor, who keeps his personal Mars Buggy parked up there.

You will know it’s his if you see a little “TNSLB” tramp stamp on the back. Poor guy must have spent all his money on Mars because he lives on a barge in the East River now. It has to be him because it has “Tinsel Bee” painted all over it. He leaves those letters everywhere he goes.

Keep an eye out for some of these other vehicles with inside jokes and nods to the development team:

• The Thermopylae, which carries a plaque at the front stating it was constructed under Volition in Champaign Shipyards. Champaign is the city where Volition is located (and in no way is near water).

• The company running the cargo ship is “Ship it!,” which is a name that dates back to the original Saints Row.

• The name of the cargo ship is Nossirah, which is Harrison backwards. The registered port of the Nossirah is Stevenson, which was one of the original names for the first city in the Saints Row franchise, Stilwater. The cargo ship has a dead penguin nailed to the bulkhead behind the bridge. Close by is a list of missing ships to be on the lookout for—a mix of real “Ghost” ships and fictional ones. According to a sign on the deck, doors on the cargo ship must be kept closed during bowel evacuation. Also prohibited is “Whizzing into the wind from deck.”