Recently did a 100% playthrough on console and found that one of the most frustrating differences was the low rate at which the “rare” Portland Import/Export vehicles spawned even in areas such as Fort Staunton, Rockford, and the surrounding roads by the stadium where Buses, Flatbeds, Trashmasters, and Securicars are usually plaguing the street. During the 20 minutes it took me to finally find a Bus, I started to wonder and question my own superstitions and tricks that I use in 100% runs to get Portland spawns for these vehicles. Basically, I am asking what concrete knowledge do we actually have about how the game dictates which vehicles will spawn.

Location?

I want to say that this is almost proven. This logic exists for gang cars and there isn’t a reason for it to not apply to all vehicles. For instance, a Flatbed is more likely to spawn in Chinatown vs. Saint Marks. Same goes for Shoreside I/E favoring Cedar Grove vs Pike Creek vehicles.

Time of Day?

As far as I know, a lot of people recognize this factor but have differing opinions about how individual vehicles work. There have been specific reports on Wikis such as “Mr. Whoopee entering Rockford tunnel between 1600-1800” which are presented as factual. Do such specific conditions exist which could guarantee other cars?

Does driving X cause Y to spawn?

For instance, does driving a Rumpo raise the probability of a Pony spawning? Also, does driving a gang car in another gang territory lower probability of more gang cars? This is almost specifically directed towards the ongoing difficulty in AM to get a Diablo car while driving the Yakuza Stinger around the Red Light District/Hepburn Heights

Specific Missions?

This is my personal superstition which is based off this highlight: This COULD be coincidence but I have had similar and frequent occurrences during these missions: Don’t Spank Ma Bitch Up Turismo Triads and Tribulations Chaperone This potentially could be due to time of day seeing how my Portland pace is fairly consistent.

Lastly, do ALL of these factors work together? Driving Ambulance + Chinatown + 23:00 = High Probability of Flatbed

I may just be grasping for more superstition but I want to test some of my thoughts. Also, I am kind of hoping that someone can just shut me down with proof that the game does not favor any moment over the other so that I can rest easy and not try to dig for too much. Feedback please.

I tried to write a big post with some explainations, but it was becoming pretty complex and there were too many things that I don't fully understand :) However, I will still reply with basic info on spawning. "Rare" vehicles (actually, class "big": Trashmaster, Flatbed, Coach, Bus, Securicar and Linerunner) spawn in Portland only if player is on Callahan Bridge or here: Does probability of spawn depend on time? Yes, but not really for these vehicles. Just there are 33% more vehicles during the day than in the night. People reading SCM may want to have a look on opcode 0152, which sets probability of vehicle spawn in different areas. Class big is the last one in the list of arguments, and the second one is density of vehicles in the area. Argument one means day (1) or night (0). Does mission affect spawns? Not really. However, if game forces model to be loaded during mission, it is much more likely to spawn on the streets (i.e. Securicars during Van Heist). Does your vehicle affect spawns? Again, I would say no. I didn't find any references to player vehicle's model while loading new model or while choosing vehicle to spawn. However, of course, if you are driving Securicar, spawning one more is more likely (model is in memory).

However, I am pretty sure that starting/ending replay forces to load more models, but I didn't get tons of Securicars when I was trying this to manipulate spawns.

Thanks Nick. Most of this I just assumed to be true without actually knowing.

Because of these basic factors I have determined that it is seemingly worthwhile during missions like Van Heist, to drive the Securicar along the route which you have highlighted in blue.

Of course this costs a little more additional time to get to the docks but I have had success getting other rare cars this way. This may also lead to me altering some driving routes, like the Pick-Up which I usually take the road in front of the hospital but it may be worth the extra seconds to make the left after the subway while heading west towards Chinatown.

Of course, the fastest way will always be to hope for these vehicle spawns without having to search for them, but nothing is more frustrating to me than leaving Portland without these cars already taken care of.