Featuring a map that is several times larger than Grand Theft Auto 5, a solo game developer created a title called COO: Covert Ornithological Operations that players can try out for free via supported web browsers. Drawing inspiration from games like GTA 5, COO features several named places and streets based on real-world data of the city of Toronto.
As the best-selling title in Rockstar Games’ repertoire to-date, the world map GTA 5 covers the fictional city of Los Santos and the surrounding area. The map itself is over 75.84 sq/km, making it twice the size of the map from GTA: San Andreas. With GTA 6 around the corner, some GTA 5 players have asked other fans to join in one last ride through the streets of Los Santos before taking the inevitable trip to Vice City and the state of Leonida. The last drive through Los Santos is currently planned to take place just before GTA 6 arrives on November 19.
GTA-Inspired Pigeon Game COO Now Available for Free
However, gamers looking for a massive open-world adventure to sink time into now have a new offering from a solo developer. Created by Windscribe co-founder Yegor Sak, COO allows players to fly around Toronto as a government pigeon drone, with the choice to complete covert missions, mess with the lives of pedestrians by blending in and acting like a bird, or explore the bustling streets and buildings of Canada’s largest city. COO is a cel-shaded open-world game that players can now try out for free on a supported web browser.
Sak said that the game is intended to be a “bird GTA simulator” with a 3D map that is claimed to be nine times larger than the map of GTA 5. Given that the map of GTA 6 is claimed to be twice as large as its predecessor, COO would, by proxy, have a map around four times as large as Rockstar Games’ anticipated title. Sak said that the game features 438,819 real buildings with heights taken from readily-available data provided by the City of Toronto. Vehicles, bird flocks, and a 24-hour time cycle are also among the game’s listed features.
Sak said that, although it was made with 165,000 of JavaScript coding, COO was not built using an engine. Instead, Sak used 10 parallel AI work streams and the Claude AI limited-learning model (LLM) to create the game within a week. Although Claude AI has been used to port games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies into a web browser, Sak’s project instead relies on real-world data. Shortly after launching COO, Sak said in a follow-up post that he added the ability for players to hijack a car, in true GTA fashion. Players can also run into critters such as squirrels and raccoons during gameplay.
The use of generative AI in game development remains a contentious subject throughout the industry. Although some companies have stated that AI can be used as a tool rather than as a replacement for human employees, others have either doubled down on using the technology or have eschewed using it altogether. It remains to be seen how much traction COO will get over time.
- Released
-
September 17, 2013
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
-
Rockstar North
