Silent Patch + Downgraders (SA)

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

For the respective GTA III and GTA VC discussions, please use the following 2 links:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/12100/discussions/0/34096318964714852/ - GTA III
http://steamcommunity.com/app/12110/discussions/0/34096318964657113/ - GTA VC


What is Silent Patch?

Silent Patch is an unofficial patch that fixes all the remaining issues with this game whilst bringing back features that were only found in the console releases as well. In my opinion: it's now a necessity for any player and ultimately gives you the best San Andreas experience possible. It works best with any PC version except for the "NewSteam" version. A changelog for it can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/12120/discussions/0/34096318964479523/#c34096318964543204


How do I install Silent Patch?

To install it: simply go to link 1, expand the box below the "Silent Patch" heading and click the "Download" button, and then expand the box below the "Silent’s ASI Loader " heading and click the "Download" button there as well. After that, unzip Silent Patch and then drag and drop the "SilentPatchSA.asi" and "SilentPatchSA.ini" files into your game's main folder. Lastly, unzip Silent's ASI Loader this time and then drag and drop the "vorbisHooked.dll" and "vorbisFile.dll" files into your game's main folder. Once all that's done you can optionally apply the Fixed Vehicles pack from link 3, which is nice to have and works great alongside Silent Patch. Instructions for it can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/12120/discussions/0/34096318964479523/#c34096318964543204

1. https://cookieplmonster.github.io/mods/gta-sa/#silentpatch
2. http://gtaforums.com/topic/725635-wipsagta-san-andreas-fixed-vanilla-vehicles/ (not 100% complete at this time)


Should I downgrade?

That’s entirely up to you. San Andreas had previously only received one official patch (patch 1.01) and it limited modding severely. This was due to the "Hot Coffee mod" which controversially restored partially-cut content that wasn't supposed to be available to players. On November 7 2014, the Steam release was exclusively updated with another official patch (labelled by modders as NewSteam r1). On December 9 2014, the Steam release was updated with yet another official patch (NewSteam r2).

Rather than tell you what version is the best, I’ll simply list the pros and cons of each version with the following table:

	Version 1.0 (original release)	Version 1.01 (patched original release)	Version 2.0 (DVD re-release with 1.01 patch)	Version 3.0 (Steam release)	NewSteam r1	NewSteam r2
Controller support	no (unless you grab Silent or Deji's GInput mod)	no	no	no	yes (x360/x1 controller support)	yes (x360/x1 controller support)
Full soundtrack	yes	yes	yes	yes	no (18 songs were removed)	no (18 songs were removed)
Fully moddable	yes	no	no	no	no (partially moddable)	no (partially moddable)
Most resolutions supported	no (16:9 is not supported but Silent Patch and widescreen mods will correct this)	yes	yes	no (16:9 is not supported but Silent Patch and widescreen mods will correct this)	no (5:4 and 16:9 is not supported but Silent Patch and widescreen mods will correct this)	no (5:4 is not supported but Silent Patch and widescreen mods will correct this)

Downgrader 3.0 or 1.0?

Not all of Silent Patch's functions will work unless you downgrade to either version 3.0 or 1.0. 3.0 will revert your game to how it was before the NewSteam patches (this means the game will be less moddable and not all of Silent Patch's features will work) while 1.0 allows for the user to auto-install essential mods from within the downgrader program itself and will downgrade your game completely (there's even a button that will allow for you to install these mods without downgrading). Only use one downgrader!!
NOTE: after downgrading you will have TWO .exe files in your game's main folder. gta-sa.exe is named like the normal Steam shortcut (so you can launch the game from the Steam library and the game will launch from here with no issues) whilst gta_sa.exe is the name of the shortcut the non-Steam version of GTA SA always had (and is there in case you need it or for mods that require a gta_sa.exe file be present). It honestly shouldn't really matter which .exe you launch the game from but if you want the Steam overlay, launch the game from the Steam library.

3.0 downgrader links (choose and use only one):
http://dl1.rockstarnexus.com/gta/sa/SA_12-9-14_Steam_3.0_DG.exe (675 MB)
https://gzwn.net/gta/sa/SA_12-9-14_Steam_DG.exe (675 MB)
{LINK REMOVED}http://www.mediafire.com/download/i60lc800xqsad6b/SA_12-9-14_Steam_DG.exe (675 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!y1lWnaAA!wz2IdYvQD7ex3qBxPJ0cd63DB4MMoB_I7kFG04Rqviw (675 MB)

1.0 downgrader links - also works for v2 copies of this game (choose and use only one):
https://services.rockstarnexus.com/sadowngrade/SADowngrade_1-3-1_Full.exe (522 MB)
https://services.rockstarnexus.com/sadowngrade/latest.exe (2.1 MB - downloads downgrader files for you)


Controller support?

Both methods of controller support require you using the 1.0 downgrader first (directly above). Once your game is downgraded, you'll need to grab "Silent's ASI Loader" from link 1 (if you haven't already) and put its contents into your game's main folder and then make a choice between links 1a and 1b. I personally recommend link 1a as it's more recent and seems to do a better job.

1. https://cookieplmonster.github.io/mods/gta-sa/#asiloader (expand the box below the "Silent's ASI Loader" heading and click the "Download button")
1a. https://cookieplmonster.github.io/mods/gta-sa/#ginput - Silent's GInput (expand the box below the "Ginput" heading and click the "Download" button)
1b. http://gtag.gtagaming.com/mods/107-ginput/ - Deji's GInput


Some extra information on savegames and frame limiter bugs!

• Usually savegames only work on the version of the game that they were made on. If you made a save on v 2.0/3.0, don't expect it to work on a v 1.0 installation of San Andreas. It's best to start a new game if you can (especially if you weren't that far into the game) but if you really want to continue your save game, you can upload your save on here and this website does all the work for you (do note it only converts v2 saves to v1 and v1 saves to v2):
http://hmvartak.freeiz.com/SCMConverter/conv.htm

• GTA III, GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas should all have the in-game frame limiter (Options --> Display Setup --> Advanced) enabled, otherwise you'll run into odd bugs. In addition to physics-related bugs and cars aceelerating/braking incredibly fast that you'll experience in GTA III and GTA: Vice City, you'll also notice CJ can't swim underwater and exercise minigames are far too difficult in San Andreas with the frame limiter disabled. So do yourself a favour and enable the frame limiter. Normally the frame limiter locks GTA III and GTA Vice City to 30 FPS whilst San Andreas is locked to 25 FPS, but with Silent Patch applied San Andreas properly locks at 30 FPS.


Who do I thank?

Silent - for his Silent Patch and GInput. He can be found on Steam and gtaforums.
Aztecas_5, StrafeBolt, Wesser and nyolc8 - for the gtaforums-hosted Fixed Vehicles pack.
Jack Thompson/gamerzworld - for his 3.0 and 1.0 downgrader. He can be found on Steam and gtaforums.
Deji - for his GInput. He can be found on gtaforums.
The rest of the modding community - for keeping San Andreas alive all this time.



Thank you.

[arbayer2]

Thanks for the corrections, Jack, I guess I was mistaken on some things. Corrected. I seem to remember Steam having an option per-game under Properties > Updates titled "Do not update automatically" or something along those lines a couple months ago, however. Maybe I'm misremembering things.

[nulldata]

Originally posted by arbayer2 <BCI/TBfB>:

Thanks for the corrections, Jack, I guess I was mistaken on some things. Corrected. I seem to remember Steam having an option per-game under Properties > Updates titled "Do not update automatically" or something along those lines a couple months ago, however. Maybe I'm misremembering things.

That option was removed with an update earlier this year. The reasoning was it only stopped Steam from automatically downloading updates without you launching the game. Even with the option, it still updated the game as soon as you went to launch it.

[arbayer2]

Ah, okay. Now, I'm not an expert on the SteamPipe system itself... hopefully a regression like that will allow Valve to bring the functionality back in the future, regardless of game launching. (Yeah, wishful thinking)

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Originally posted by Jack Thompson:

Originally posted by arbayer2 <BCI/TBfB>:

Thanks for the corrections, Jack, I guess I was mistaken on some things. Corrected. I seem to remember Steam having an option per-game under Properties > Updates titled "Do not update automatically" or something along those lines a couple months ago, however. Maybe I'm misremembering things.

That option was removed with an update earlier this year. The reasoning was it only stopped Steam from automatically downloading updates without you launching the game. Even with the option, it still updated the game as soon as you went to launch it.

I'm going to amend it Jack and make it much more "user-friendly".

Much thanks for pointing out the DRM in the retail version to the other user.

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Originally posted by Jack Thompson:

Originally posted by arbayer2 <BCI/TBfB>:

Thanks for the corrections, Jack, I guess I was mistaken on some things. Corrected. I seem to remember Steam having an option per-game under Properties > Updates titled "Do not update automatically" or something along those lines a couple months ago, however. Maybe I'm misremembering things.

That option was removed with an update earlier this year. The reasoning was it only stopped Steam from automatically downloading updates without you launching the game. Even with the option, it still updated the game as soon as you went to launch it.

You are absolutely correct there.

"Do not automatically update this game" was a poorly worded option that still updated a game upon launch and was later reworded to match its exact function. This has caused great confusion recently but the only surefire way to prevent automatic updates is to have Steam in offline mode.

Older games will not update when modded/changed externally, so until an official patch is released, no one needs to worry about any updating options for Steam or messing around with them.

Thanks all, and I'll have the OP adjusted in a second.

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Thoughts on the amended OP?

Hopefully it's not too wordy for some....

[arbayer2]

Excellent job, Lucky, I think it'll help a lot, thank you.

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Originally posted by arbayer2 <BCI/TBfB>:

Excellent job, Lucky, I think it'll help a lot, thank you.

It'll be worth the effort if it helps people.

My main concern is the amount of words scaring some players :)

[Jassiel]

If i bought the game today, can i install the patch ?

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Originally posted by Jassiel:

If i bought the game today, can i install the patch ?

If you bought it right now: you could use the patch right away but I'd prefer you use the 3.0 downgrader first, then apply the patch (to avoid any possible issues later down the track).

The FAQ contains all you need to know but if you have any further questions, just post again here.

Best of luck and enjoy.

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Any more feedback on the OP?

Thanks.

[Umbrella Man]

Can I apply SilentPatch on 1.0 version? To have both mods and fixes.

[Silent]

Originally posted by Umbrella Man:

Can I apply SilentPatch on 1.0 version? To have both mods and fixes.

Yes! The patch has been initially created for this version, 3.0/1.01 and partial newsteam support came later ;)

[Umbrella Man]

Originally posted by Silent:

Yes! The patch has been initially created for this version, 3.0/1.01 and partial newsteam support came later ;)

Great, thank you.

[ᴾᴬᵀ]

Hi there.

I'm in the process of downloading GTA: SA, do I just need to do what you've put in the 1st two steps? Also will an XBox 360 USB controller work with this?