State of North Yankton

The State of North Yankton is a state that appears in Grand Theft Auto V, being featured in the missions Prologue and Bury the Hatchet.

Description
The state is located in the.

Chronologically, it is the first location accessible to the player in the HD Universe, with the Prologue being set in 2004, four years before the story of Grand Theft Auto IV. However, only a small section of North Yankton is accessible, specifically the region around the town of Ludendorff, as deviating from the game's pre-determined route will result in mission failure. This is because the rest of the map doesn't physically exist and several areas are not rendered, being replaced by background textures.

The main road in Ludendorff is Cavalry Boulevard, which has a railway line running across it, but if the player deviates from the road, the roads and rails will also begin to lose textures. Trees are also missing textures, except the closest ones, and some are placed over the roads. Missing terrains are at least the same, with fake fences rounding large portions of the map.

With the exception of breakable objects around the Ludendorff Church and Cemetery, most objects in the area, such as stop signs, trashcans and fences are unbreakable compared to their Los Santos counterparts. This is due to the fact that North Yankton doesn't allow the player to explore. In addition, the warning lights on the railroad crossings always flash.

Traffic paths do exist for North Yankton, and unique, snow-covered versions of vehicles found outside the state can be observed driving on Cavalry Boulevard and some of the other streets surrounding Ludendorff.

North Yankton is so far the only location in the Grand Theft Auto series that is completely landlocked.

Known Towns

 * Ludendorff

Cash depot robbery
In 2004, nine years before the main events of GTA V, Michael Townley, Trevor Philips, and Brad Snider robbed a Bobcat Cash Depot in Ludendorff. The North Yankton State Patrol swarmed the scene and chased the three men as they tried to escape to their getaway helicopter. The SUV they were riding in was hit by a train and disabled, so the trio escaped on foot to their destination. A sniper, Dave Norton, hid around a corner and attempted to kill Trevor but missed. However, he managed to kill Brad. He also shot Michael (in reality, Dave shot Michael as it was their backup plan if he missed Trevor). Trevor is forced to fend off the approaching police by himself before fleeing. A funeral for Michael is then shown at a cemetery, while Michael watches on from a distance and flicks away his cigarette.

Sometime between 2004 and 2013, Michael and his family, who had assumed new identities, and Trevor had all moved to San Andreas.

Cemetery shootout
North Yankton is visited again in 2013 during the mission Bury the Hatchet by Trevor, who was determined to find out who was really buried in Michael's grave after the bank robbery, despite Michael's attempts to talk him out of it. Michael followed him in an attempt to stop him. Trevor arrives at the cemetery and exhumes the grave, and his suspicions are confirmed when he opens the coffin and finds Brad Snider's body inside. Following this, the two were attacked by Triads who were hunting for Trevor; Trevor escaped from the cemetery, leaving Michael to fight the Triads alone. Michael fights his way through the Triads, but he is captured when he reaches his Asea, due to it being immobilized by Trevor.

Law Enforcement
The police seen in Ludendorff are State Police, evidenced by text on the cars. As of 2004, the state police drive white Police Roadcruisers with two stripes down the side and "STATE PATROL" next to the front door, similar to that of a North Dakota state police car, with the police emblem engraved on the front doors. They also use Police Ranchers with the same livery. Due to the snowy weather, the cars are fitted with snow chains on the tires to allow for better traction on the road. The cars also have a snow-covered texture. State troopers wear black coats over white shirts with black ties, and light brown pants and can sometimes be seen wearing winter hats.

Snowy Vehicles
Numerous snowy vehicles can be seen driving around North Yankton at the times it is visited. These vehicles are only ever seen during the two missions they appear in (where more variations are seen in the second of the two missions), and are scripted only to appear during the mission. As such, the vehicles will not be seen driving around if the map is reached outside of the missions.

If the player was to gain a wanted level while in North Yankton reached with the use of glitches or mods, police vehicles will spawn on and follow the roads as normal, as the roads feature their own paths for the missions. This is because LSPD spawned in a wanted level are not restricted to Los Santos, and are simply spawned on any roads belonging to Los Santos, which is also why normal cars do not appear in North Yankton off-mission. This means North Yankton's road paths are linked to Los Santos's.

Influence
North Yankton may be based upon the state of. Very little is known about the state, however, the small town of Ludendorff is located in the state, a city based on and. The state's name is derived from the. This is similar to how North Dakota is named after the. The state itself may be named after, which was the capital of the until it was split into the present day North and South Dakota. There is a in, right across the  from Yankton, South Dakota.

Trivia

 * North Yankton is unique to the series in the sense that it is the first ever location featured that is not a new rendition of a place from a previous universe.
 * It also stands with Anywhere City from Grand Theft Auto 2 and Cayo Perico from Grand Theft Auto Online as the only three playable locations in the series without a known counterpart in another universe. It should be noted that London has not returned either, but does exist in the 3D and HD Universes, as it has been mentioned in future titles.
 * A Yankton is a member of the Siouan people of the Great Plains of North and South Dakota.
 * North Yankton's license plates have a red stripe on the top with "YANKTON" written in white text, based on 2001-2006 South Dakota license plates.
 * A postcard for North Yankton can be seen on the official Grand Theft Auto V website in the Los Santos and Blaine County travelogue, as well as inside Michael's mansion.
 * There is an easter egg in North Yankton. Under the train bridge, there is an alien frozen inside the river. This exists in both Prologue and Bury the Hatchet.
 * A penis can be seen drawn on the back of the "Welcome to Ludendorff" sign.
 * On May 22nd, 2015, Ned Luke (Michael De Santa’s voice actor) made a Facebook post that says "Maybe it's time for a visit...Maybe...", and featured North Yankton amongst a number of cities both from the real world and from the GTA Series as a possible place for the protagonists to visit, though most likely for the enhanced version only.
 * The map of North Yankton is placed east of San Andreas in-game when playing Prologue or Bury the Hatchet.
 * There was a glitch to get into North Yankton in GTA Online. This glitch is very similar to the glitch on getting to Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It was patched in update 1.10, removing the ability to explore North Yankton online. When the glitch was still capable of being exploited in GTA Online, a portion of the map was located high above the Port of Los Santos.
 * In GTA V, the portion of the map can be seen briefly during the airplane takeoff scene in "Bury the Hatchet".

Navigation
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