A Series of interactive modifications made for Grand Theft Auto's 3D Universe. The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise has developed a theme and lore which spans an array of titles: GTA: 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas; The settings of GTA games are fictional parodies of American cities, through the lens of a thematic snapshot in time. This series of works utilizes an experimental software that opens the GTA game files which are loaded into a computer's memory; this allows anyone to use GTA 3D models, assets and textures to create their own landscape using the game as their empty canvas. The modifications were produced on a software named: MEd v0.32 which allows you to change environmental elements within the video game. Liberty City is a rendition of New York, Vice City is a rendition of Miami, and San Andreas is intended to span a whole state comprised of three major cities and regions: Los Angeles, San Fransisco, and Las Vegas. These landscapes are characterized by American stereotypes surrounding the local culture, monuments, distribution of wealth, proliferation of crime, corruption, false idols, excess, waste, and lawlessness. Through modding GTA, our blank canvas reveals methods of manipulation through simulating a narrative through an unreal setting.

What is a Video Game Modification(Mod)? A Mod is an alteration by players or fans of a video game that changes one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves. Mods may range from small changes and tweaks to complete overhauls, and can extend the replay value and interest of the game.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise is notable for their excessive use of violence and allowing players to retain freedom over their actions. This creates an interesting quagmire that parallels real issues that plague American society. We project our subjective interpretations of freedom and ideals, at the expense of others - in many ways.

Applying alterations to a digital landscape allows me to replicate excess and shape a small documentation of history.

~Yeltsin Penado 2021