Grand Theft Auto 5 has kept fans coming back to San Andreas for over 7 years now. GTA 5 has sold over 140 million units in that time, with nearly 20 million in sales in 2020, showing that the game has incredible staying power. While GTA Online continues to provide new content and keep the player base involved, GTA 5 has also been a huge success thanks to the mod community. From silly additions that make the game fun to a recent mod that refreshes the graphics completely.

It is rare for a video game to see such strong support so many years after its initial release. Grand Theft Auto games are often huge pop culture events, but even still, for GTA 5 to have reached such heights, and continuing to see so much fan-added content is impressive. Fans recently took it upon themselves to finish the Mile High Club building in Los Santos, a building that is under construction in the original game. After 7 years, fans got tired of waiting to see if DLC would be released finishing the building off, so created a mod for it instead.

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This kind of genuine love for the game is why the Grand Theft Auto 5 mod community is still going strong. Seeing things they would like to add, and putting in the time and effort to put together a mod. One of the latest comes from 3D graphic designer, NB.design, who takes GTA 5's San Andreas and improves a number of elements with a fresh graphical update.

From improved lighting and textures to changes to the environment itself, the mod adds in landscaping touches, natural tree growth, new art installations, and a level of polish that brings the game nicely into 2021.

The refresh by NB.design does more than just put a fresh coat of paint on the game, it also includes assets that needed to account for how players would interact with them. So while it looks good, there's also a lot going on behind the scenes that makes the mod that much more impressive. Mods to a game can make a big difference in how it plays and feels, and in some cases, the mod is better than the original game it came from.

With GTA 5 coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S with improved graphics and performance, one has to wonder if the developers look to the mod community to see what kind of work is already being put in, and how fans are changing the game. NB.design's overhaul of GTA 5 could inspire Rockstar to change some elements of the game for the upcoming next-gen release of the game.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. PS5 and Xbox Series enhanced versions are expected in the second half of 2021.

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