Do NOT buy this game!!!!

[Robber N0T from here]

If you figured out a downgrader that makes GTA IV even work on PC without crashing, that's not even the beginning of your problems.

Driving controls are as broken as they were on initial release, but even more so. Character movements in cutscenes lag like crazy. Some cutscenes have a terrible camera ratio leading you to seeing nothing whenever characters are on opposite sides of the scene. Bowling and Pool minigames are nonfunctional because they expect mouse movement to work, when the game never registers properly wether you moved the mouse slowly, or too fast. And worst of all, the final mission is bugged and actually can't be finished. When you get to the part where you climb up the helicopter, you can practically mash every 0.00001 second, and the game won't register it fast enough. You're practically scripted to always fail that section.

GTA IV is creully the one with the best story, arguably better than V's story. So naturally, it is the most non-functional, buggiest, and downright broken game in the entire series.

Save your money for something better.

[Masque]

djfamycom

Thank you. I'll try yours next. I've uninstalled my latest attempt.

Mine was working just perfectly when I posted the OP, and the next day, with no changes at all to anything on my PC or in the settings -- it was running horribly. I don't understand why it could be running absolutely perfectly one day, and the next day 10 FPS. It just doesn't make any sense.

Re-downloading now to try it your way.

[djfamycom]

Masque eredeti hozzászólása:

djfamycom

Thank you. I'll try yours next. I've uninstalled my latest attempt.

Mine was working just perfectly when I posted the OP, and the next day, with no changes at all to anything on my PC or in the settings -- it was running horribly. I don't understand why it could be running absolutely perfectly one day, and the next day 10 FPS. It just doesn't make any sense.

Re-downloading now to try it your way.

MAKE SURE you delete ALL your local gta 4 files first (steamlibary/steamapps/common/grand theft auto iv folder)... im OCD and deleted (documents/rockstar games/gta iv folder) as well BUT THIS IS NOT NECESSARY AND WILL DELETE YOUR SAVE GAMES... basically i uninstalled and reinstalled the game completely from scratch to make sure that it is easy/quick to do and works on the majority of gaming pcs out there. hope you enjoy :)

[Masque]

Yep, I did, and I'll run the CCleaner registry cleaner too, just to be sure.

EDIT: I wonder if it was the 60 FPS that was the problem.

Although, shouldn't be a problem running this game with a 3060 TI, given how dang old it is, and given the original system requirements.

This pile of poo and Fallout New Vegas, I have never, ever had luck with, not since they were brand new releases. They both worked fine then. Back in the olden days, on much weaker hardware and Windows XP. But, progress!

[djfamycom]

Masque eredeti hozzászólása:

Yep, I did, and I'll run the CCleaner registry cleaner too, just to be sure.

EDIT: I wonder if it was the 60 FPS that was the problem.

Although, shouldn't be a problem running this game with a 3060 TI, given how dang old it is, and given the original system requirements.

This pile of poo and Fallout New Vegas, I have never, ever had luck with, not since they were brand new releases. They both worked fine then. Back in the olden days, on much weaker hardware and Windows XP. But, progress!

bro i got a gtx1060 with a i7 8750h lol everything is MAXED out, it can hit 60fps but dips into the mid 40s so i just cut it off at 30, not a single frame drop... and im sorry to say this but this game is meant to be played at 30fps, seems like some of the zoom in shots are broken at 60 and the end is basically unbeatable... also not every game needs to be 60fps lol

[Masque]

djfamycom

Okay, got it done, everything in the text file, to the letter. The stutter is gone and the game runs smooth -- except here's what's different from my previous attempt:

1. Locked at 1920 x 1080 (24 HZ)

2. None of the slider-based settings can be changed:
--Video Mode
--View Distance
--Detail Distance
--Vehicle Density

--All the volume controls

--Brightness
--Saturation
--Contrast

3. I never got asked or warned to restart the game when changing the Texture Detail.

4. Biggest hurdle -- a one-second lag between any controller input and the result on the screen, including character movement, steering, and camera view rotation.

One whole second lag.

None of this makes any sense at all. Now it not only won't let me adjust any of the sliders but it also won't let me save any of the graphics settings that I can change.

I'm done with this garbage game.

[djfamycom]

Masque, wow im sorry, i have no idea lol i have a very middle of the road set up, maybe its because your set up is so much newer? also im using windows 10 and like i said, i reinstalled everything from scratch just to double check it all works, in the exact order that i wrote it down in the text file...

[Masque]

It just wasn't meant to be. As you said, I did the text file to the letter.

After that failed (except for the nice, smooth frame rate) I tried to do a few other things from the other guides, like adding a dxvk.conf text file with a few options, changed/added/removed a few lines and values from commandline.txt in accordance with other "authoritative guides"......

...no luck.

It's funny how I can run RDR2 on max/ultra settings, Skyrim on Ultra with 700+ mods (literally -- did cfs111's mod-list guide to the letter), Death Stranding on max/ultra, GTA V on max/ultra with several graphics mods + reshade, No Man's Sky at max/ultra with oodles of mods, all at 60fps.

Yet every time I try to get this old jank running I fail miserably.

Why, this one time, within the same week, did all my slider settings decide to stop working?

You try to move the sliders and you hear the "bump bump" UI sound effect but they just don't move. Internet search looks like I'm the only person in the world to have this happen. There's no lines in any of the editable text files that say "Make all the options changable except the ones with sliders = 1" WTAF.

That's okay I'm already sick of Niko's voice and accent, anyway.

[Masque]

I'd have better luck with an XBox 360 emu.

But screw that. I've been over emu for a decade.

[djfamycom]

Masque eredeti hozzászólása:

I'd have better luck with an XBox 360 emu.

But screw that. I've been over emu for a decade.

yeah the 360 version is hideous looking, it sucks because they actually put a lot of love in the pc port (believe it or not), there is tons of little changes and touch ups all over the place but they clearly had 0 time to optimize it/go back and make it work on modern machines.

i wouldn't even stress it, id take a new set up and being able to play new games at crazy settings over gta 4 any day lol for now, that is what my series s is for XD

[Masque]

I remember i did have it on the 360. And the "LC Stories" games, too.

Never made it very far in the Lost & The Damned -- because I could never get good enough at the fist fighting mechanic necessary to advance the story. Yeah, even on PC the game is janky as hell, even when it ran well. Not just the fighting mechanic, but the movement in general. I don't miss yelling at Niko "Just grab the damn ladder! No. NO! GRAB THE LADDER." Adam Sandler-style. "WHAT? IS THE LADDER TOO GOOD FOR YOU? WHY WON'T YOU GRAB THE LADDER?? Oh, you're just going to fall to your death instead. Okay."

Too bad the people who made Assassin's Creed Odyssey couldn't have been hired by Rockstar, just to make a character that can move right, and not like an inbred cow.

What's funny is after all these years I still own the original GFWL CD for GTA IV, with the manual, case, code and everything.

One of perhaps five physical copies I own. Also own the original Hellgate London CD and packaging.

[itzDerrio]

Masque eredeti hozzászólása:

I remember i did have it on the 360. And the "LC Stories" games, too.

Never made it very far in the Lost & The Damned -- because I could never get good enough at the fist fighting mechanic necessary to advance the story. Yeah, even on PC the game is janky as hell, even when it ran well. Not just the fighting mechanic, but the movement in general. I don't miss yelling at Niko "Just grab the damn ladder! No. NO! GRAB THE LADDER." Adam Sandler-style. "WHAT? IS THE LADDER TOO GOOD FOR YOU? WHY WON'T YOU GRAB THE LADDER?? Oh, you're just going to fall to your death instead. Okay."

Too bad the people who made Assassin's Creed Odyssey couldn't have been hired by Rockstar, just to make a character that can move right, and not like an inbred cow.

What's funny is after all these years I still own the original GFWL CD for GTA IV, with the manual, case, code and everything.

One of perhaps five physical copies I own. Also own the original Hellgate London CD and packaging.

sounds like a skill issue if you struggle that hard to play on PC

[djfamycom]

yeah its probably one of my favorite games of all time, definitely my favorite R* game of all time but i know its not everyone cup of tea. like RDR2 makes GTA 4 look like saints row XD i love it but that game is way to heavy and moody and idk... i guess that's how people feel about GTA 4 lol

and yeah thats awesome, id definitely would hold on to those

[Masque]

itzDerrio eredeti hozzászólása:

sounds like a skill issue if you struggle that hard to play on PC

Probably. Although I've never claimed to be a great gamer. Compared to most 3rd person games, the character movement in IV does leave a lot to be desired.

Unless you mean my skill at getting the game to work -- in which case, it's not a skill issue there. Not at all. Either luck or my particular setup, perhaps, but I know what I'm doing with regard to modding and things related to this discussion, such as following guides, line by line, to the letter.