The ‘GTA Scotland’ developer looking to benefit a community.

By Jack Cranmer

Image: A digital recreation of a Chinese takeaway in Paisley (Bovine)

A TikTok video of a game project with a couple minutes of gameplay went viral recently posted by Scottish musician Linzi Clark. She was showcasing her partners recent project, who goes under his online pseudonym of Bovine.

The video, which has amassed over 355k views on the video sharing platform, quickly gained traction from both commenters and news sites with comparisons to the massive Rockstar studios game Grand Theft Auto due to its visual similarities.

Bovine, was quick to assert that the similarities stopped at the visuals, he said: “the Poundland GTA comparison was obvious just from a visual perspective and the original comments were GTA focused so a mix of those probably resulted in some articles leading with ‘GTA Scotland’ or something similar”.

However, Bovine was happy with the exposure the comparison brought upon his project despite the differences in gameplay.

Bovine went on to expand on the differences in the games, with GTA’s focus being on massive missions and violence, he wanted to emphasize this would not be the gameplay in his project.

The currently unnamed project which Bovine hopes to encompass most of the major landmarks of the Paisley area, which can be travelled between using phone boxes as a sort of quick travel mechanism, will focus more on puzzles, mysteries and simple exploration with the developer explaining his final idea: “a linear mystery/puzzle game with focus on character interaction and real-life locations that I enjoy”.

The hope for this project is that it will, down the line, be beneficial for locals and ex-pats of the area who are suffering from dementia, with Bovine saying that while dementia is not an issue that he has dealt with personally within his immediate family, his father expressed the idea that it could be beneficial for those suffering with the illness and this prompted his decision to go down this route.

Bovine was quick to explain that while this may only be able to help a small percentage of sufferers in a local area and he didn’t want to “just say nice things to just appear like a good person” that he did feel there was potential to do good for the elderly in Paisley. He explained that he thinks: “it could be beneficial in a more localised sense to people from Paisley.

“It could be beneficial for someone who has very little of their life around them anymore and getting to experience their hometown in this way might make them feel good for part of their day or even feel connected to things again”.

It was also acknowledged that a lot of dementia sufferers may struggle with controls with a video game and that virtual reality may be a potential route to go down for gameplay he said: “VR would definitely be an immersive benefit and selling point, you get to walk around a digital version of a familiar location without any external distraction

“However, you also can't beat playing alongside a group of friends experiencing it on the same screen in real time”.

With the game still in the early stages of development and still without a publisher at present, Bovine is still self-funding the project with his own income from his work as a freelance creator of audio and visual material for brands, events, and individuals. As well as his work as a published musician.

Bovine is still adjusting to the blowing up of his project, he has been working creatively online since 2006 and this is the first time one of his projects have received such traction. He is however, interested in speaking with local charities and those who help care with those in the community saying that before completion and release that he would “want to talk with people and collect ideas for how this could be used in a beneficial way at some point”.

So, instead of the headlines of violence and bad influence that have plagued GTA throughout the years, this Scottish comparison will aim to help those in need and show the good work at video games can do for those most isolated and in need, even if just in a small way.