GTA3 for the PC
 

Great game thus far. I can see where I can play this for hours and hours then still not be any closer to finishing the game than I was at the beginning. sounds great to me...can't wait to do some more missions.

What speed PC and what video card? Thanks!

Just got this tonight and am totally having issues with it. I'm using a GeForce2 Mx and running windows xp and all the text in the game is just a huge block. Reading the readme file directs me to do this one update patch saying that it has some issues in winxp and nvidia cards but that didn't even correct my problem. *sigh* i'm very very bummed this evening :(

What prices are you guys paying for this?

I want it but not at console ($50) prices.

Doug

Best Buy will probably have it on sale in the coming weeks if you don't wanna pay full price. But I've been waiting for this for awhile so I felt the game was worth it.

So far I'm loving this game. And it's really addictive to boot.

Chris

Is there any thing at all better about it on the PC than the PS2 version?

Higher resolution.

Being able to blow off limbs based on where you shoot.

Better textures (not just higher resolution)

Personally I am running the following:

AMD XP 1600+ (1.4 Ghz)
GeForce3 Ti 200 64 MB
512 MB PC2100
(2) 40 gig 7200 RPM HD's

The game runs smooth for me at 1024 with 32 bit color. I woudl like to turn FSAA on, but at 2x it makes the game slow down too much. I am debating on buying a 4600, but haven't done so yet.

I paid $49.99 for it at EB and thought the game was worth it considering that I can play this game for hours upon hours.

So have you guys built a list of mp3s to have it play on the mp3 radio station yet? If so - what do you listen to when causing mayhem in Liberty City?

After listening to everything on the chatterbox station i have now put MC Frontalot in the directory to play on the mp3 station. I also threw in a few random mp3s like some G Love and the Special Sauce, Jefferson Airplane, and some Trey Anastasio.

What are you guys listening to? :)

I bought the "VisionTek GeForce4 Ti 4600" last week. It was expensive but my games all fly now, even on super high settings.......

Actually you can do this on the PS2 version with a code.

Weird. That patch fixed the problem for me ASAP. Did you check the version on the file to make sure it got patched properly?

Picked up the game this weekend (2200 MHZ/ Ti4600 / 512 RAM / XP PRO), running real sweet at 1280x1024x32. Gonna try some FSAA to smooth things out, see what that does to performance, maybe kick it up to 1600x1200.

The best improvement over the PS2 version is the ability to play it on a PC. Which, for those of us without a PS2, is the best feature of all!

Seriously though, gameplay-wise, it's a direct port. Obviously the support of higher resolutions and textures makes a big difference graphically.

Does the game use a control pad or is it a keyboard/mouse combo?

I'll probably just buy GTA3 for the PC and skip buying the PS2 altogether.

Either. Standard is keyboard/mouse, but you can use joypad/sticks. Controls are standard WASD with mouse.

I find it doesn't feel "natural" to drive around with the WSAD config, joypad works better for me.

Yeah, I picked up an eVGA 4600 this week for $310, shoudl come in at the end of the week. Can't wait.

Yeah, it's a little weird, but I got used to it. I haven't tried it out with my game pad yet.

GTA3 for PC $34.95 at BB. Looks like I will have to break down.

It's not going to get any better than that till the next one (Vice City) comes out.

What brand controller/joypad are you all using for GTA3 on the PC? Just curious.

yeah i was just referring to a previous post where i was saying how i dont buy PC games. i normally dont buy games for PC, cause i prefere playing on consoles. but at that price and since its not coming out on XBOX...might as well!

:)

When? It's currently $49.95 at my Best Buy....

Someone posted it in the dvd bargain forum for 6/4/02. I am guessing it will be on sale as of this weekend.

hope that helps.

Why does this game not have multiplayer??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!???!?!!!!!!!???????????!!!!!

Probably because it's a port of the PS2 version, which did not have multiplayer.

Besides, how would multiplayer work? Would it just be free for all? Or, would there be actual missions? Would it be co-operative or deathmatch? Would there be new multi-player only missions? I could go on, but you get the point.

This game wasn't designed with multiplayer in mind, and I can't figure out any way to impliment multiplayer without a serious re-working of the code. I imagine that's the real reason behind no multiplayer.

You could do free for all or teams. Did you ever play GTA1 with someone else? I thought it was better than doing the missions.

Multiplayer was supposed to be the #1 new feature for the PC version. 16-player multiplayer, in fact. This support was yanked shortly before the release of a more-or-less straight port.

Another control question:

Using the WASD setup to drive, do you steer with the mouse or the keys?

Thanks

I am not interested in PC gaming (unless there is a Caesar IV!) at all, and have never used my current computer for playing games. I have never used a PC controller or purchased a graphics accelerator of any sort, because I never cared to. I basically know nothing about computers or performace. Now however, GTA 3 has been released for the PC with a sweet BB deal coming up next week, and I would like to purchase it since I only have a Gamecube, and won't shell out $200 just to get a PS2 to play this game. My question is, will it work good and look at all decent with what I have? My computer has 1.0 gig, 128 RAM, a pretty fast CD ROM (not sure how much), and claims to have some sort of Intel AGP Graphics Processor, which I'm sure is good enough to maybe put a Pac-Man game on the screen in all its pixelly glory. Can I actually enjoy GTA3 with this? I'm absolutely unwilling to pay for any enhancements...

Also, what's the cheapest controller I can buy that is adequate in playing this game (keep in mind I am a consoloe gamer, so no huge joysticks or mouse and keyboard suggestions please). I don't care if it's $10. If it can get me through the game without problem, I will buy it.

As far as your system goes, the processor is fine...it's your AGP card that sucks.
I seriously doubt it'll be able to handle GTA3. You'd prob spend less money getting a PS2+GTA3 instead of getting a new graphics board for your PC too.

Controller? Microsoft Sidewinder
I've had it for years, and it's still great. Very cheap too.

When you're on foot, you turn with the mouse. On wheels, you use the keys to turn, and use the mouse to shoot/brake.

If that's the case, then there's pretty much no way you'll be able to enjoy GTA3 on your PC.

However, for $140-$30 MIR you can get a GeForce3 Ti200 which would run pretty well.

But it could have been dropped for any of the reasons I mentioned above. I'm a programmer by trade, and I've had too many experiences where someone in marketing promised something to the press or important clients that sounds very easy to impliment, but in reality requires a complete reworking of the code.

Marketing doesn't want to admit that something they promised won't get delivered, so they continue to mention it until the last minute, hoping that the programmers will somehow pull a miracle out of their ass and deliever. I've told marketing people for six straight months that some important feature would not be implimented and they needed to prepare the client for the fact that were weren't adding that fuctionality in this release, or very likely any future releases. Still, at the end of six months, they said "but you've had six months to work on this! What are we going to tell our clients?"

This site has a pretty good look at multi-player enhancement for GTA3 from a programmer's point of view. Could it be done? Sure. However, some fundamental points of how the game works and renders it's environments and how the game is actually played would have to be drastically changed. Depending on how this code was originally written, this could be fairly easy or nearly impossible.

My guess is that the program was written as a single-player environment, and adding multi-player required large portions of the game engine and game logic to be re-written. The developers probably wanted to deliver it, and marketing probably promised it because they weren't told "no" because it was something everyone wanted. In the end, there simply wasn't enough time to port the game, re-write the engine and game logic, and deliever the other PC enhancements. Something had to give, and given the massive undertaking of multiplayer, that was what got dropped.

I seriously doubt they were weeks away from multiplayer and decided to roll the software out anyway. When something that requires that much work gets dropped, either it was never going to be implimented in the first place or the implimentation was so flawed that fixing it would cause production problems more commonly associated with Diakatana.

What's the obsession with multiplayer? It just doesn't do much for me...

Something else I just read. In this interview, one of the developers talks about multiplayer.
In another interview the same guy says:
Despite what you may have heard, it appears that multiplayer was never going to be developed for the PC port. Notice he says that creating a multiplayer experience true to GTA3 will take a long time. Multiplayer isn't something you can just easily tack onto the existing framework.

If you are looking for a good gamepad for the PC check out the Logitech Wingman RumblePad Linky . Its not to pricy for what you get...

Also i'm an avid FPS player, so i'm using the keyboard and mouse to play GTA3...

Anyone have any hints, tricks and tips? I read the latest PC Gamer and it has tons.
Like how to pick up hookers to up your health. Jumping cars on ramps for bonus money. How to find the airplane, tank etc etc...

EDIT: I'm running the game on a P3 933, 512MB Ram, with a GF2 GTS 32MB DDR. It runs ok at 1024x768 at 16 bit color depth. It gets pretty choppy when it rains :( Time to upgrade soon!

Do any of you guys buy that explanation? I get what he's saying, but do you really think they jettisoned multiplayer - a feature that everyone wants and which is practically expected on every PC game - just because it didn't fit into some esoteric concept of unified style?

Perhaps he's just being diplomatic and obmitting other less noble-sounding reasons.