San Andreas has significantly more stats to worry about than Vice City did. Some people like it, claiming it makes the game more 'realistic'. Others suggest it's merely 'irritating'. For better or worse, there's quite a lot of them to cope with, so here's a guide to how some of them work.
These stats are usually visible in the top-right corner of the screen. They consist of:
This is a white icon representing the currently armed weapon (or other item). There are twelve different potential weapon 'slots', which are cycled using the L2 and R2 buttons on a PS2 controller.
See also: Items
This is some white text indicating current game time. Note that one game minute is approximately equal to one second of real time.
This is a white bar to indicate the amount of protection currently being offered by whatever body armor you happen to be wearing. If you have no armor, this bar will not be visible at all.
This is a blue bar (light grey on PC and Xbox) to indicate how much longer you can hold his breath for, when swimming underwater. If you are not in the water, and the value of this stat is at its maximum, then this bar will not be visible at all. When not swimming it will stay visible until it refills, even if you are on land and doing other things where your breath is not immediately necessary.
This is a red bar indicating amount of energy you have remaining. When this is depleted, you are 'Wasted'.
This is set to its maximum value each time you save the game. Other ways to increase the value are:
Certain events in the game increase the maximum value of your health, such as: exercising outside of the gym and by not being wasted or busted for lengthy periods of time. Maximum health will decrease if you die frequently.
This is some green text indicating amount of cash you have remaining. This count can turn into a red bar if you have negative money.
This is a number of gold stars indicating how much the law would love to arrest you. If you are not wanted at all, this will not be visible. Possible values are:
To increase your wanted level, commit any of the following crimes:
(incomplete)
These crimes will not increase your wanted level:
(incomplete)
To decrease your wanted level, visit a Pay N Spray or save the game. When respraying at a pay n spray, the wanted level will flash for a while. During that time, if you commit a crime, the full wanted level is brought back. If you only have one or two stars, you can lose stars by "hiding out" from the police by staying in an area away from cops and any roads. Swimming is a good way to do this. Flying does not work for hiding out. Saving the game removes the wanted level completely. Getting a haircut also works.
Going to your wardrobe and changing your clothes has the same effect as visiting a Pay N Spray, but is free.
These stats become visible in the bottom-left corner of the screen, as long as you depress the L1 button. These are:
This is a measure of your Total Respect.
See also: Respect
This is a measure of your weapon skill for the currently held weapon. This is not visible in the L1 stats if your currently selected weapon or item does not have a corresponding Weapon Skill Level stat.
This is a measure of CJ's ability to perform sustained amounts of physical activity. As this increases, it allows you to sprint longer, pump the pedals for longer on your bicycle, and swim swiftly for longer periods of time.
To increase stamina, try sprinting, swimming, cycling, or using the exercise bike or treadmill at a gym.
Stamina never decreases.
This is a measure of the amount of muscle you have. Muscle increases sex appeal and makes melee attacks more powerful. Build up by doing vigorous physical activities or by lifting weights in the gym rather then driving. Muscle can decrease with hunger.
This is a measure of the amount of body fat that CJ currently has. Having a large amount of fat can prevent you from doing certain activities, and triggering certain missions. While there are no major penalties for having no fat, maintaining at least a small amount will prevent CJ from losing muscle due to sprinting or sustained physical activity.
To increase fat, eat any meal from a fast-food establishment (Cluckin' Bell, Burger Shot, Well Stacked Pizza), except for the salad meals. You also gain fat by going on a date in a bar or restaurant.
Your fat level will automatically decrease over time. To speed up the process, try sprinting, swimming, cycling, or using the exercise bike or treadmill at a gym.
Contrary to popular belief, you can gain fat from eating from vending machines, but the amounts are hardly noticeable. Spending $50 on a vending machine will add only about 10% of fat. It is not certain whether the same applies for street vendors.
See also: Eating @ The GTA Place
Sex appeal is decided on what type of car you have, which would include fast and flashy cars, the clothes you have, and the amount of muscle. Note, however, that high muscle will prevent some girls from dating you at all.
The sex appeal boost gained from having a flashy car will drop off once you have walked more than a certain distance away from the car. Also, if your car is damaged, that will affect its "sexiness".
These are accessible by pressing the Start button, then selecting the Stats page. These are:
This is displayed above the other stats at all time. Possible values are:
Ways to increase or decrease your ranking are:
See: Fat
See: Stamina
See: Respect
Allows you to stay longer underwater. This is built up by diving underwater and swimming as much as you can before coming up for air. Finding oysters also seems to increase this stat, as well as Sex Appeal.
See: Sex Appeal
See: Muscle
This increases as you drive any sort of land vehicle except for bicycles and motorcycles, and allows for better handling.
This skill allows for better handling in all aircraft. Later in the game, you will earn your Pilot's License at Flight School upon achieving 20% proficiency in this skill. The License allows for access into any and all airports.
This skill governs motorcycles; as it increases there is less of a chance that CJ will fall off his motorcycle. It is increased by riding any motorcycle. This skill should not be confused with the cycling skill, which regards bicycles.
This skill reflects your ability on a bicycle. The higher this skill, the higher you may bunnyhop (hold in L1 and release while on bike), quickly pump the pedals on a bike (rapidly tap the X button), and the better you can reverse at faster speeds without falling off. This skill is upgraded by riding any bicycle.
See: Armor
Possible values in increasing rank (incomplete):
How many times you died by diving, and running out of breath.
This stat is for how many times you have been wasted.
This stat is for how many hookers you have picked up and used.
This stat is for how many meals you have bought from a fast-food shop/
Luck is obtained through collecting the horseshoes in Las Venturas.
This shows how much money you have spent on weapons and ammo at Ammu-Nation.
This shows how much money you have spent on clothes.
This shows how much money you have spent on assets and safehouses.
This shows how much money you have spent at a Pay n Spray.
This shows how much you have spent on tattoos.
This shows how much you have spent on a haircut.
This shows how much you have spent on picking up prostitutes.
This shows how much money you have spent at a strip club.
This shows how much money you have spent on modding your cars.
This shows how much you have spent on fast food meals.
This shows how much you have spent shopping. (clothes and guns i think)
This shows how much money you have spent on any gambling.
This shows how much money you have won gambling.
This shows how much money you have lost gambling.
This shows the biggest gambling win.
This shows the biggest loss gambling.
This shows the numerical value of your weapon skill for, and the name of, the currently held weapon (if applicable). The maximum value is 1000 (100%).
To increase this value, you must successfully hit a valid target with the currently held weapon. Valid targets are:
Tip: To quickly max out this stat, aim the weapon at the tire of a vehicle, and continuously shoot it. You cannot destroy a vehicle merely by shooting its tires. Note: This tip did not work for me on PC version, anyone else test it?
This gives a rough indication of your skill with certain weapons, and can be one of the following values:
When you reach Gangster and Hitman levels, you will be rewarded with the abilities listed under each weapon.
This is the weapon skill level for the regular pistol.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by 1 point (0.1%).
This is the weapon skill level for the silenced pistol.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by 5 points (0.5%).
This is the weapon skill level for the Desert Eagle.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by 3 points (0.3%).
This is the weapon skill level for the shotgun.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by half of a point (0.05%).
This is the weapon skill level for the sawn-off shotgun.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by two fifths of a point (0.04%).
This is the weapon skill level for the combat shotgun.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by half of a point (0.05%).
This is the weapon skill level for both the Tec-9 and Micro-SMG (Ingram MAC-10 lookalike).
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by two fifths of a point (0.04%).
This is the weapon skill level for the MP5.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by one and a half points (0.15%).
This is the weapon skill level for the AK47.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by 3 points (0.3%).
This is the weapon skill level for the M4.
Each time you successfully hit a target, this will increase by two points (0.2%).
This is the total number of bullets you have fired throughout the whole game.
The amount of eplosive weapons used in the game eg:rockets grenades
This is the total number of bullets fired that successfully hit their target throughout the whole game.