How long until you know the GTA 6 map as well as Los Santos?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I know the GTA V map better than the town I actually live in. Street names, shortcuts, which alley to duck into when you've got a 5-star wanted level, all of it. That knowledge came from thousands of hours of play and probably hundreds more watching RP series like Bay Area Buggs. It's basically burned into my brain at this point.

With GTA 6, I don't think I'll ever reach that same level. I'm older now, I've got less free time, and I'm not sure I'll be grinding the same way I did back then. The map is also supposed to be way bigger and more varied, with all those different regions in Leonida. Learning every backroad in Grassrivers or every canal in Vice City feels like a massive undertaking.

I'll probably get to know the main city and the areas around the first safehouses pretty well within a few months. But the kind of deep, instinctive knowledge where you don't even need the minimap? That might take years, if it ever happens. And honestly, I'm kind of okay with that. Part of the magic of a new GTA is that feeling of being lost, of stumbling onto something you didn't expect. Once you know every corner, some of that mystery fades.

I'm curious how long others think it'll take them, especially people who put thousands of hours into V. For me, I'm not in a rush. I want to enjoy being a stranger in Leonida for as long as I can.

Source: r/GTA6 · Curated content.

I'm looking at it from the pursuit side. Knowing Los Santos meant I could predict intercept routes and box-in patterns. Leonida's bigger footprint and varied terrain will change chase dynamics completely. Swampland in Grassrivers and dense urban grid in Vice City will need different tactics. I'll probably memorize the major corridors fast for tactical reasons. The backroads can stay mysterious. I don't need to know every canal. Just the ones that make good chokepoints.

I think the sheer sprawl (and all that water between zones) is going to throw people off. Los Santos was basically one dense grid with a mountain in the northeast corner. Leonida's got that same urban core down in Vice City proper, but then you've got Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Mount Kalaga, and the Keys all pulling the map in different directions. That's a completely different spatial puzzle.

I'll probably memorize the major corridors fast

Same. But the real test won't be the highways. It'll be whether I can navigate the Leonida Keys blind, or cut through Ambrosia without hitting water. I still get turned around in Mirror Park after a decade (embarrassing, I know). There's no way I'm learning swampland chokepoints by Christmas.

Maybe that's the point though. A map that stays half-unknown feels more like a real place.

I feel same way. Here in Brazil we have this kind of map in real life, you know? Dense city then suddenly swamp or mountain. Leonida reminds me of going from Rio down coast, everything changes fast. I'll learn Vice City center quick, like my own neighborhood. But Grassrivers? Mount Kalaga? That's too much for my old brain now.

There's no way I'm learning swampland chokepoints by Christmas

Same. In Los Santos I could drive blind to airport. In Leonida I'll probably end up in swamp. I like it though. Keeps the mystery alive. After two years maybe I know half map good. That's enough. I don't need to be GPS. Just want to enjoy the ride.