Dossier
Cardio is physical activity as character maintenance. The fitness system returns to Leonida with the Vice City environment providing the specific backdrop: the promenade run at sunrise, the cycling route along the coastal road, and the gym cardio equipment as an indoor alternative.
The Leonida climate is the context that makes cardio culture make sense. Vice City in warm weather generates the beachfront fitness scene naturally. Runners, cyclists, and the specific category of Vice City resident who is in athletic wear at six in the morning on the promenade. The protagonist participates in this culture or does not, and the character system reflects the difference.
The cardio mechanic tracks the protagonist's fitness level across activities. Running distance, cycling speed, and the physical output metrics that determine the character's stamina in extended situations. A protagonist who maintains cardio activity performs better in sustained physical scenarios.
The Vice City promenade is the primary cardio environment. Long, flat, with ocean on one side and the hotel facades on the other. The cycling network extends onto the Vice County road margins and the Keys causeway. Both provide open-road cardio outside the urban core.
