GTA 6 features an advanced take on Red Dead Redemption 2's beloved NPC interaction system, though we might not have got it at all if one of Rockstar's leads hadn't changed their mind on sharing it with everyone else.

That comes from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who has posted a YouTube video after visiting Rockstar to see GTA 6. During that visit, Schreier mentions a conversation with Rockstar North boss Rob Nelson, in which he says that vice president of animation Mark Tennant came up with a prototype of Red Dead 2 Redemption 2's advanced NPC tech way back in 2014 or 2015.

The way it worked was simple – instead of pressing a button to point a gun at an NPC and have them react, you could press the same button to choose to greet or antagonize them.

While the idea is simple to explain, the execution is complex. As such, when Tennant showed the prototype to another technical lead at Rockstar, Phil Hooker, he didn't want the system shown to Nelson initially. As Schreier explains, Nelson is known as the guy who "wants to do the world" – even if it leads to a lot of extra work for the team.

Despite the concern, Nelson was eventually shown the prototype and was blown away. "This is incredible," Nelson reportedly said in reaction. "This will revolutionize the way our games and our worlds work."

Amusingly, it sounds like Hooker was proven right. Implementing the system did prove to be a lot of work for Rockstar, though you'd argue it was absolutely worth it.

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