Modding help

[[ST] Digs]

So i have had Gta iv for a few weeks and want to get into modding the SP Game just for some fun. But i have no idea how to even begin. yt tutorials are all either outdated or too hard for my dumb ass to follow. so i have come to here in seek of help. i literally jsut want to mod the game for my enjoyment so if anyone can help me accomplish that i will appreciate it greatly

[germanboo hispanic]

1) OpenIV, scripthook ( .NET ???) and ASI Loader
2) have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in (brain)
3) "I literally just want to change a program to work in a completely different way"

[Kundra]

What version of GTA IV do you have? The latest version right now is 1.8, and that version breaks many mods, so if you have version 1.8 then the first step to get into modding would be to downgrade your game to either patch 1.4 or patch 1.7 (1.7 is Recommended.)

If you are not sure which version you have, go into your game files, and then try to find GTAIV.exe. Next, right-click on it and go to properties or details. From there it should show you the version you have.

[[ST] Digs]

Originally posted by Kundra:

What version of GTA IV do you have? The latest version right now is 1.8, and that version breaks many mods, so if you have version 1.8 then the first step to get into modding would be to downgrade your game to either patch 1.4 or patch 1.7 (1.7 is Recommended.)

If you are not sure which version you have, go into your game files, and then try to find GTAIV.exe. Next, right-click on it and go to properties or details. From there it should show you the version you have.

I believe i have 1.8 as i only recently rebought the game.

[Kundra]

IMPORTANT: (Keep in mind that downgrading to patch 1.7 will disable online multiplayer)
^^^ I guess patch 1.7 doesnt disable online multiplayer. Downgrading did however give me issues with multiplayer. Hopefully, its the same for others.

Okay, in that case you will need to downgrade your game to 1.7 with the Rockstar Patch Downgrader. You can download it here:
https://support.rockstargames.com/hc/en-us/articles/200145406--May-28-2010-Grand-Theft-Auto-IV-Patch-7-Title-Update-v-1-0-7-0-English-1-0-6-1-Russian-1-0-5-2-Japanese-
(The links are under "PATCH FILES:")

Now that you have the title_update_7 ZIP file, extract it to your desktop and then open "UpdateTitle.exe"
Once opened, it should soon start updating your GTAIV to patch 1.7
(If something goes wrong, try to open the other file in the ZIP file named "TitleUpdate.msi")
(Also, in the case that it cannot find your GTAIV file locations, you can go into Steam>Library>RightClick on GTAIV>Select Properties>Local Files>Browse Local Files, and put the location there)

After downgrading your game to patch 1.7, you can now mod it with mods like the Zombie mod, Hulk mod, ENB graphics mod, etc.


DOWNLOADING MODS:
To download mods, I would recommend looking for Youtube tutorials on how to download the mod you want. (Youtube tutorials as old as from 2012 will most likely still work in 2018, so just keep that in mind)
You can also go to a modding website, download the mod from there and read the README text file commonly found in mods. A good modding website I would recommend would be Gtaall.com, which can be visited here: (https://www.gtaall.com/gta-4/)


INFO:
Keep in mind that some mods will require other mods/"bases" to work, like an ASI loader, and Scripthook. However, good news is that in youtube tutorials, they will most likely be included along with the mod. If you want, I can also give you links to these. These are optional but some mods will need them to work correctly.


Question: Do you plan on adding car mods?
If so, then you will need OpenIV to access the game car files. (I will explain more with links in the next reply)

Question2: Do you have any mods that you are having trouble with adding to your GTAIV?
If so, I will try my best to help you with it!

[B Dawg]

Originally posted by Kundra:

IMPORTANT: (Keep in mind that downgrading to patch 1.7 will disable online multiplayer)

No, it will not.
You also do not need patch 1070 unless you plan on playing with very specific mods such as LCPDFR or anything reliant on ScripthookDOTNET, as there is a fixed scripthook[github.com] for the new version (IV only, not EFLC).

[[ST] Digs]

Originally posted by Kundra:

Question: Do you plan on adding car mods?
If so, then you will need OpenIV to access the game car files. (I will explain more with links in the next reply)

Question2: Do you have any mods that you are having trouble with adding to your GTAIV?
If so, I will try my best to help you with it!

Yes car mods are something i will definitely be looking tinto as i plan on usign all kinds of mods in my game.

And not currently but im sure i will run into at least 1 problem but if i do ill let you know.


Also thank you for the help :)

[Kundra]

Okay great! The first step to being able to install car mods would be to download a program that can access your vehicles files.

(MAKE SURE TO HAVE A BACKUP OF YOUR GAMEFILES/VEHICLES.IMG FILE)
First, download OpenIV which can be found through their website: http://openiv.com/, Click on "Download Now OpenIV 3.0", then run through the installation.
After downloading OpenIV, you can now go through the game vehicle files.


INSTALLING CAR MODS INTO THE GAME:
Okay, now that you got OpenIV downloaded and a car mod (There should be 2 Car mod files, wtd (texture) and wtf (model))

First, run OpenIV, Click on GTAIV, then, you will see abunch of folders. Go to: pc, models, cdimages, vehicles.img.
From there, you will just drop in your car mod files and bang! You have the car mod installed. It is highly recommended to have a backup of the original car you replaced with the modded car. So if you dont like the modded car/you have a problem with it, you can put back your original car.


FINDING CAR MODS ONLINE:
You can find car mods simply through modded websites or Youtube, I would recommend finding car mods on Gtaall.com since they have alot of car mods. Link: https://www.gtaall.com/gta-4/cars/
If you want to lower the chance of crashing/encountering the taxi bug (when all cars are just taxis), I would recommend finding car mods with low file sizes (3mb max).
Example of a car mod with a low file size: (Recommended to install)
https://www.gtaall.com/gta-4/cars/36536-ford-crown-victoria-1999-nyc-taxi-v11.html
The wtf file (model) is only 0.79mb, wtd file (textures) is only 1.24mb.

Example of a car mod with a HUGE file size: (Not recommended to install)
https://www.gtaall.com/gta-4/cars/19876-scania-k230-mta-new-york-city-bus.html
The wtf file (model) is 7.52mb, wtd file (textures) is only 1.17mb.
The original file it replaces is less than 0.5mb when combined!!
The original wtf file (model) is 0.2mb, original wtd file (textures) is only 0.2mb.


EXTRAS:
Some car mods will have issues when in-game, like for example, they may roll over too easily. If this is the case, then go to the zip file you got for the mod and read the README. It should tell you to copy/paste the line of numbers into a file named "handling.dat" which is located in GTAIV, common, data.

Also, when searching for car mods, avoid car mods that require ELS (Emergancy Light System) since they need ELS (a mod which improves Emergancy Lights) to work. So unless you want ELS in your game and have the ELS Mod, avoid cars with ELS in the name/description.

Other than that, if you have any issues/questions. Feel free to let me know!

[Fb||mkguba]

You need to downgrade the game for it to function with mods. Look up "how to downgrade gta iv" before you install any mods

[Fb||mkguba]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrt8GCrr8dU&t=423s This is the best video I've seen that walks you through everything