One of the creators of the original Grand Theft Auto who led on its development in Dundee is to break a 25-year silence and reveal all about the game's creation in a series of tell-all interviews.
Stewart Waterson was the original artist on the game that created a media sensation when it launched in 1996.
The famous and often controversial series was first produced by DMA Design - now known as Rockstar North - from a small office on the Nethergate in the city.
And Waterson is set to speak about the work culture in that tiny corner of the City of Discovery when the interviews launch this Friday on gaming website GamerHub.
GTA gained notoriety from the get-go for its zero-morals gameplay set in in fictionalised versions of American cities.
However, the game was a bestseller and has since spawned numerous sequels, now produced from Rockstar's offices in Edinburgh and elsewhere in the world.
It even inspired a series starring Daniel Radcliffe called The Gamechangers, broadcast on the BBC in 2015, that examined the game's tortured relationship with the media.
GTA is now famed for its slick production values - the most recent entry of the series is thought to have had a budget of over £170 million.
But Waterson has told of how the original Grand Theft Auto was produced in a very loose, DIY way just off Dundee's high street.
He said: "“There was no formal training at all apart from the software tutorials that were packaged with each new piece of software you had to learn.
"You could ask for help, but the development teams...do I say this diplomatically?
"It was everybody grabbing what they could for notoriety, respect, and excellence. It was a very very fast river, and it was sink or swim."
He also revealed how developers would listen to hip-hop and gangsta rap as they shaped the game's then-groundbreaking city environments, and even squabbled as they fought over features to include in the game.
Waterson added: "Whilst we had to conform to some accepted norms in game design, that core kernel of absolute mayhem - wanton destruction - was forced on by the team who controlled those key parts.
"We would fight to try and get a chance to make it happen, and if it got turned down, we’d just f*****g do it anyway.”
The first article in the series will go live on GamerHub.co.uk on Friday.
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