Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas/Burglar

Prerequisites

• Vehicle: black Boxville moving truck (no other color will work)
• Time: 20:00 - 06:00

Overview

San Andreas adds the ability to rob houses. Contrary to what is often mentioned in reviews, it is not necessary to wear a balaclava or ski mask or any other form of disguise, although players may opt to wear one anyway to "play the part".

In order to complete this mission CJ must steal $10,000 worth of goods, but this does not have to be in the same session. CJ can steal any number of items over several nights and eventually add up to the total. Only then will the player get the rewards. Despite what the PS2 strategy guide says (this may have been rectified in the Xbox and PC guide) this mission is not required to get 100% Completion.

Black Boxville Locations:

• near Sweet's house inbetween some blue apartments (map)
• Los Santos: in Idlewood, across the street from the gym
• other truck-heavy regions (there is at least one in each city)
• San Fierro: behind the fire station

(this list is incomplete)

Also see a map of the Boxville locations (requires Java).

Lockup Locations

• Los Santos: Playa Del Seville

(this list is incomplete)

This mission is only available at night, between 20:00-6:00 (8 PM to 6 AM) game time, around 15 minutes real time. Therefore it is advisable to get to the truck as close to 20:00 as possible or even a bit before it. CJ can get into the truck early, but the indicator stating a mission can be activated will only appear when the clock hits 20:00.

Press the Special button (R3 on PS2, Tab on PC) to activate a Burglary mission.

The player should drive around until they see a marker on a house's front door. This indicates that particular house can be burgled. The neighborhoods south of the Boxville found near Sweet's house have many robbable homes.

It is expected that the player has already played through the Home Invasion mission, but here's a rundown.

Pick up an item (Triangle on the PS2) and head out the door and back to the Boxville. Face the rear door of the Boxville and press the button again, and the item should be deposited within along with a confirmation message. If CJ drops it on the ground just pick it up again, readjust his position in relation to the back of the truck, and try again. With practise it is also possible to drop items through the sides of the rear of the truck to make parking easier and the trips back and forth shorter.

Tips

Stealth

• Like many stealth action games, there is a noise bar, showing how much disturbance has been caused. Stealthy actions will keep the bar low, while running around will fill it up. Stopping all movement for a short while will cause the bar to decrease.
  • Once it is sufficiently high enough (about half full) the owner (or owners) will wake up and come out to find out what's causing all the racket.
  • Sometimes the house is empty (of occupants), but the noise bar is still there; it is up to the player to discover this themselves.
  • On some occasions, an occupant will be up and about or sitting in the living room, in which case they spot CJ the moment he enters.
  • Regardless of how the owner saw them, after being spotted the owners ill react in a variety of ways: cower in fear, attack, scream for help (from the police) or phone the police. If they phone the police the player then has ten seconds to leave the house before the owners call the cops. Being in the house when the countdown ends will result in a three-star wanted level.
    • However it is possible to leave and go straight back in to set the bar and countdown back to zero.
    • It is also possible to kill the owners (with a silenced weapon if possible) while they are still sleeping undisturbed in their beds, or when the first spot CJ (but ideally before the cop-counter reaches its peak). Either way, killing the owners removes the noise bar, allowing CJ to make as much noise as he wishes.

Lootable items

• gaming consoles (a PlayStation 2-like device)
• televisions
• stereos
• VCRs
• microwaves
• loose cash (lying on the floor); this is automatically collected rather than being taken to the safehouse before it can be paid out

Basically, if it looks like it can be resold for profit, it can.

CJ can't crouch while carrying but can still use the sneak button, so it may be advisable to walk as slowly as possible to avoid filling up the noise bar.

An alternate option is to rush for the door heedless of the noise level, as exiting will make the noise bar empty and the owners (if roused) go back to bed. CJ can then re-enter and continue as before.

Loot quantities

• most houses have ten items, but the poorer ones sometimes have as few as four
  • Special note: the house in front of the Vinewood sign has eleven items
• There should be at least two items in the first room CJ come into
• Check every room, some rooms may have better items than others
• Go for expensive electronic items such as televisions, stereos, and (oddly enough) PS2s. For best results, park the van near an apartment complex to raid many houses in one go. Use the L3 button to crouch and reduce the sound made when entering the houses.
• While luxurious mansions may seem to be the best way to make money, the distances between them negates any gain.
• Some houses have multiple TVs, making for especially rewarding break-ins
• The PS2 version does not remember what items were removed from a house after new interiors have load ed and displace this data from memory; therefore it is possible to go back and forth between the same two houses for the duration of the mission time, each time resetting (and somewhat randomizing) the contents of the other house. Due to having significantly more memory available, it is to be assumed that the Xbox and PC versions will not support this exploit, but this is not yet known.

• Warning: you must return to the lockup in the Boxville before 6:05am. You have five minutes after 6:00am to get the truck back to the lockup, so you can steal right up to six. Even if you have "item" in your hands, you can still drop it off. Otherwise after the five minutes any goods still inside the truck will be lost forever.

Longer Nights

Gamers who wish the nights would last longer have a few options open to them.

All three versions of the game feature the "Orange Sky, Clock Fixed at 21:00" and "Always Midnight" cheat codes. Either of these will allow absolutely unlimited burglary time.

PC version owners wishing to have a longer (but still limited) amount of time in which to burgle each night can download the TimeSych Tool, which synchronises the ingame clock with the Windows clock, allowing for burglary missions to stretch several real-world hours instead of a few minutes. The Tool can be disabled at any time to allow the clock to return to its normal speed of advancement.

Rewards

Each item is worth a minimum of $20 with a bonus multiplier based on its value--a big-screen TV is worth more than a tiny one. There are also bonuses for both quantity and variety of items stolen.

Cash: $3000 cash as a general completion reward, plus $10,000 for the goods themselves.

The comment about the cash is wrong. A big tv isn't worth more than a small one. The formula for the cash is $m=20n*n$, with m as money and n as number of items stolen. It doesn't matter if that item is a tv, a stereo or whatever. Only the number of items are counted, not the type of items.

And the time to drop off is also wrong. You don't have till 6:05 am, but 11:00 am. (You have 5 minutes real time, or 5 hours game-time, after daylight to drop off.)

External Links

• Quincunx's Burglary Guide exploits the mechanics of the Home Invasion engine
• PS2fantasy.com guide covers a more traditional approach
• GTAGaming.com guide to robbery
• Black Boxville location map
• Boxville location map (original BMP version) with many thanks to hanke from GameFAQs