'GTA Paisley': Developer turning hometown into mystery-solving game

A graphic designer plans to expand a project that has turned his hometown of Paisley into a Grand Theft Auto-like video game.

Richard Gellatly’s work “exploded” on social media when a video posted by his partner on TikTok gathered almost 400,000 views.

Now he wants to turn it into a fully-fledged mystery game in which players explore the streets of the Renfrewshire town solving puzzles and interacting with characters.

“The amount of people showing interest in making this happen made the choice obvious,” explained the 34-year-old.

The latest trailer shows the streets of Paisley shrouded in darkness on a wet night, with the game’s description teasing a touch of the supernatural. Bovine

“With this idea being quite a varied and dense one, it would take many years to make without funding, and with funding it would take many less.”

The project has been dubbed The Crystal Garden – taking its name from a Chinese takeaway in Paisley.

The latest trailer shows the streets of Paisley shrouded in darkness on a wet night, with the game’s description teasing a touch of the supernatural.

Bovine, Richard’s professional pseudonym, is looking to crowdfund £12,000 that would enable him to spend more time working on the game and properly delve into things like developing the it’s code, characters and story.

While the Crystal Garden represents Bovine’s maiden video game project, he hopes to rely on his rich experience in graphic design, with work for large music festivals such as TRNSMT and Terminal V on his resume.

Richard wants to make sure his project is as authentic and as detailed as possible. Bovine

Although he admits that “the internet liking your idea poses dangers of inflating one’s ego beyond reality”, he is trying to stay humble and realistic about his latest project.

He added: “I’m confident I can make something engaging that’ll look good and resonate with people who know the area.”

“The player should feel relaxed and not like they are experiencing a modernity overdose – it’ll be quite cosy and allow you to go at whatever pace you like.”

Bovine hopes the campaign’s success will allow him to make a game enjoyed by many, one that could turn into a “series of Paisley games”.

But he says a potential lack of funding won’t stop him either.

“I’ll keep working on it, but just at a slower rate, and it will not be the same end product,” he said.

“But I enjoy working on it far too much to just stop, regardless of it being funded or not.”