With all that water around Leonida, I really hope Rockstar makes the ocean feel alive

Been thinking about this a lot lately, especially after seeing the buzz around the Black Flag remake. GTA 6's map is absolutely surrounded by water. Vice City alone has the ocean, rivers, canals, swamps, the Keys. It's not just a big lake in the middle of the map like some past games, it's everywhere. Rockstar basically built the perfect excuse to finally make water gameplay a core part of the experience, not just a thing you do for one mission and then forget about.

I'm not saying we need pirate ships or anything, but imagine if they took that same philosophy from Black Flag where the ocean feels like a real, playable space. Different boat classes that actually handle differently. Speedboats that cut through waves, heavy cargo ships that feel sluggish, jet skis for weaving through canals. Proper fishing spots with different species depending on where you go. Scuba gear that lets you explore wrecks and underwater caves, not just a scripted sequence but something you can do whenever you feel like it.

And the random encounters. Picture yourself stealing a boat in Vice City, heading out into the open water, stumbling on a small island that's not just decoration. Maybe there's a hidden stash, or a weird NPC living out there. On the way back you get spotted by the coast guard and suddenly you're in a boat chase through the mangroves. That's the kind of emergent chaos Rockstar does best, and water gives them a whole new playground for it.

I'd love to see dynamic waves and storms that actually matter. Not just visual effects, but something that makes you think twice about taking a small boat out into rough seas. Smuggling routes across the ocean, drug-running missions that aren't just point A to point B. Marinas and ports that feel lived in, with people actually using boats. And please, let us customize boats like we do cars. Engines, paint, performance upgrades, maybe even storage for gear.

The map has swamps, the Keys, Mount Kalaga, all these waterways connecting everything. It'd be a waste if the ocean is just a pretty backdrop. I want to feel like I can hop in a boat and find something new every time, not just hit an invisible wall or get bored after five minutes.

What's the one water-related feature you'd be most disappointed if it's missing?

Source: r/GTA6 · Curated content.

Vice City's ocean in '02 was basically just there to kill you. If Leonida's water isn't alive this time I'll be real disappointed.

ok so the way they've shown the grassrivers and those mangrove channels in the trailers, it already looks way past the old "blue floor that eats motorcycles" thing!

Vice City's ocean in '02 was basically just there to kill you

exactly, and you can catch actual wake physics in the may 2025 trailer when boats cut through swamp water and that's a huge tell. i'm hoping the leonida keys aren't just pretty background islands but have proper docking and maybe some smuggling hideouts tucked away. if they bothered to build mount kalaga and all that coastline they have to know players are gonna explore every inch by boat. maybe the extended look on the 27th gives us a glimpse of how deep it goes, fingers crossed it isn't just pretty from the shore!

blue floor that eats motorcycles

Now give me Wave 103 blasting from a speedboat in the Keys! That's the needle drop I'm chasing.