Is anyone able to run this game on Windows 8.1 x64?

[Smyrffio]

I've tried pretty much every combination of:

Compatibilty mode:
OS(All)
Colour depth (8, 16, normal)
checked/unchecked 640x480
checked/unchecked run as admin

with and without launch options that are claimed to change the res (-w 1024 -h 768, -width 1024 -height 768)

verify cache

uninstall/reinstall on the basis it is supposed to trigger an install of dependencies

rename/move movies in the game's movies folder

create an exception for Data Execution Prevention

There is never any .set file created in the userdata directory so I can't delete or move those

I think this is everything - I get either the movies playing in the corner of the screen then black fullscreen>minimize/crash(obviously when the movies are missing it just goes straight to blackscreen>minimize/crash), or I get the error about not finding a 640x480 mode (that is WITH the 640x480 box checked and in compatibilty modes) anyone got anything I haven't tried?

I am leaning towards thinking there is no way I can run this program at this point.

[Smyrffio]

Yay! I'll post this here because this might be helpful to someone in the same situation - I tried literally every available tip for this game, then I happened across people talking about disabling Aero in Vista for another game, because its hardware acceleration could interfere with some 3d apps.

Well my crashes had coincided with Windows 8.1 Start showing (which I never use, I use Classic Start) and these two things together made me go looking for hardware acceleration and Start related settings to disable - wouldn't you know the first one I tried, the game works!

So after hours of troubleshooting it turns out Windows 8.1 Start and gta3.exe (and so I guess probably VC and SA too, although I haven't tried them) can clash. The magic incantation was:

Right click Taskbar>Properties>Navigation>Show Desktop Background in Start

Now, off for a well-deserved game... until the next crash. :)

[Wabbit]

I got it to work too, Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit. I also had to use the compatibility troubleshooter and set gta3.exe compatibility mode to Windows 7.

The menu texts did show up very gradually and transparently until I set display resolution to monitor native resolution and 32-bit color depth.

EDIT: It was not enough to set the Show Desktop Background in Start for me.

[TheToxicDuck]

No dice for me. I'm stuck with the game throwing up the lack of direct x 8.1 error. No menus, no movies, nothing!

[law.of.averages]

For windows 8.1 users

Go into the GTA III folder and find GTA3.exe Right click it and choose "Troubleshoot Compatability" and choose "Try Recommended Settings"

This should get you to the game screen, though it's slow as funk. Set your preferred screen resoution etc and quit.

After that you should be able to launch using the icon.

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for anything bad that happens to you just because you're foolish enough to listen to somebody on the internet.

Cheers