Is this game still an awful pc port?

[JBossaNova]

^ Is it fixed yet or still the same as it was?
Is the optimized yet*?

[Pyrophosphate]

It actually never was too bad. You just have to put away the idea that video options are there to be maxed with no questions asked.

[JBossaNova]

ya but when i played on a gtx460 a couple years ago no matter what i couldnt reach a steady 60fps even with resolution down to like 640 x 480...

[-=3D=- Duckumz 31]

still horrible, dont waste your time or money

[papa midnight]

Later patches improved GTA IV significantly from where it was upon it's initial release. However, it was indeed a poorly optimized port - for which the response at the time of release was, and I quote, that "higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available."

The problem was that those with even the highest spec'd of computers at the time could not even crack 30fps - and those with SLI had it even worse. Even to this day, the game runs poorly on even the highest ends of configurations.

As a note, the game has an inherent incompatibility with setups that use power-saving features to not rely on the discrete GPU for general computing. This is mostly observed in notebooks (such as those that use NVIDIA Optimus or AMD Dynamic Switchable Graphics) and some desktop configurations. This can be subverted with several command line switches and forcing the game to run on the NVIDIA GPU, but it does not solve all issues. As far as the game is concerned, at least in the case of Intel, the current GPU is the on-die Intel GPU.

The previously noted performance issues also are compounded upon by several Quality of Life issues such as severe texture pop-in (I'm talking missing textures while driving while using an SSD), audio problems, terrible physics, and that's when it doesn't unexpectedly crash.

GTA IV also suffers from several memory related issues. Included in that are memory leaks; and while memory related crashes are not unheard of either, you may want to compare your crash code (if offered) with this list (http://gta.wikia.com/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV/Technical_Issues). That said, if you have a GPU with 2GB of dedicated memory (VRAM), you're going to have a bad time (see: https://support.rockstargames.com/hc/en-us/articles/200145206-Issues-with-GTA-IV-showing-video-cards-with-over-2GB-as-under-spec).

It should also be noted that GTA IV hasn't had a patch to correct any issues since Title Update 7. That was in 2010. There are some who swear by it that Title Update 7 (1.0.7.0) is a detriment to performance, and that 1.0.4.0 is the better performing version. I have not tested this myself, and note it only because it is commonly mentioned - especially by modders.

The game relies on Rockstar Games Social Club (RGSC) to a point (though it is no longer required to play like it used to be), and that is constantly broken. It also relies on Games for Windows Live. There is no indication that any of Take Two Interactive's subsidiares have any intention of patching out this broken service from the game.

Also, as a bit of icing on the cake, the game relies on SecuROM. Launcher and everything. It even performs a release date check (at the time of this writing, a full 6 years after the game was released). Let's hope that server never goes down, or that it never fails to properly clear licenses!

But don't take my word for it:
http://kotaku.com/5101687/grand-theft-auto-iv-on-pc-is-a-little-broken
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2008/12/04/rockstar-rush-to-fix-gta-iv-pc-issues/1
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87866-Rockstar-Responds-to-GTA-IV-PC-Problems
https://support.rockstargames.com/hc/en-us/sections/200034166-GTA-IV-PC-Troubleshooting
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/grand_theft_auto_iv_pc_release_full_bugs
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/06/rockstar-talks-gta-iv-technical-problems
http://www.1up.com/news/grand-theft-auto-4-suffering

This all gets fairly redundant after a while. To answer your question, it is a bad port - but it is a fun game, and it has had some improvements to fix things.

That said, as bad as the PC release of GTA IV was at the time it went to retail, Saints Row 2 was so much worse...

[JBossaNova]

Thanks for the great reply Dr.Midnight.
Im gonna skip it and wait for gtav pc and hope that they do it right this time!

[undefined]

Автор сообщения: Jonny(J)BossaNova

Thanks for the great reply Dr.Midnight.
Im gonna skip it and wait for gtav pc and hope that they do it right this time!

Good choice. GTA 4 ran like garbage, runs like garbage, and will always run like garbage.

[Grubbs008]

You have to uninstall Social Club and reinstall it from the site. As for GFWL, it helps if you uninstall and reinstall, but For me, I have the (* Razor 1911.exe fix*) and i uninstalled social club and GFWL and GTA, reinstalled just GTA and let it reinstall all of them it'self. Then i simply drag and drop the fix for the exe into the folder and replace the old exe. The game works like a charm.

Hope this helps

[richardearndt]

Don't waste your time on this steaming pile of 💩 the entire thing needs to be gutted and redone as far as the game engine is concerned now as far as the content goes and the stories if they could be put into a better engine than it would be a playable game.

[Aureliayk]

It's pretty good, I've had very few problems with it.

[S k y]

Автор сообщения: Relyk'Terrah

It's pretty good, I've had very few problems with it.

Why are y'all necroing a post from almost a decade ago?

[JBossaNova]

Автор сообщения: M ~

Автор сообщения: Relyk'Terrah

It's pretty good, I've had very few problems with it.

Why are y'all necroing a post from almost a decade ago?

For real I never asked for this :)

[I AM HIM]

Автор сообщения: ⓅⓂ

Later patches improved GTA IV significantly from where it was upon it's initial release. However, it was indeed a poorly optimized port - for which the response at the time of release was, and I quote, that "higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available."

The problem was that those with even the highest spec'd of computers at the time could not even crack 30fps - and those with SLI had it even worse. Even to this day, the game runs poorly on even the highest ends of configurations.

As a note, the game has an inherent incompatibility with setups that use power-saving features to not rely on the discrete GPU for general computing. This is mostly observed in notebooks (such as those that use NVIDIA Optimus or AMD Dynamic Switchable Graphics) and some desktop configurations. This can be subverted with several command line switches and forcing the game to run on the NVIDIA GPU, but it does not solve all issues. As far as the game is concerned, at least in the case of Intel, the current GPU is the on-die Intel GPU.

The previously noted performance issues also are compounded upon by several Quality of Life issues such as severe texture pop-in (I'm talking missing textures while driving while using an SSD), audio problems, terrible physics, and that's when it doesn't unexpectedly crash.

GTA IV also suffers from several memory related issues. Included in that are memory leaks; and while memory related crashes are not unheard of either, you may want to compare your crash code (if offered) with this list (http://gta.wikia.com/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV/Technical_Issues). That said, if you have a GPU with 2GB of dedicated memory (VRAM), you're going to have a bad time (see: https://support.rockstargames.com/hc/en-us/articles/200145206-Issues-with-GTA-IV-showing-video-cards-with-over-2GB-as-under-spec).

It should also be noted that GTA IV hasn't had a patch to correct any issues since Title Update 7. That was in 2010. There are some who swear by it that Title Update 7 (1.0.7.0) is a detriment to performance, and that 1.0.4.0 is the better performing version. I have not tested this myself, and note it only because it is commonly mentioned - especially by modders.

The game relies on Rockstar Games Social Club (RGSC) to a point (though it is no longer required to play like it used to be), and that is constantly broken. It also relies on Games for Windows Live. There is no indication that any of Take Two Interactive's subsidiares have any intention of patching out this broken service from the game.

Also, as a bit of icing on the cake, the game relies on SecuROM. Launcher and everything. It even performs a release date check (at the time of this writing, a full 6 years after the game was released). Let's hope that server never goes down, or that it never fails to properly clear licenses!

But don't take my word for it:
http://kotaku.com/5101687/grand-theft-auto-iv-on-pc-is-a-little-broken
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2008/12/04/rockstar-rush-to-fix-gta-iv-pc-issues/1
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87866-Rockstar-Responds-to-GTA-IV-PC-Problems
https://support.rockstargames.com/hc/en-us/sections/200034166-GTA-IV-PC-Troubleshooting
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/grand_theft_auto_iv_pc_release_full_bugs
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/06/rockstar-talks-gta-iv-technical-problems
http://www.1up.com/news/grand-theft-auto-4-suffering

This all gets fairly redundant after a while. To answer your question, it is a bad port - but it is a fun game, and it has had some improvements to fix things.

That said, as bad as the PC release of GTA IV was at the time it went to retail, Saints Row 2 was so much worse...

lol if that ever happens i'll just use my gtaiv cd from india that works flawlessly, and has the original radio songs without having to use mods to bring them back in. or pirate it.

[Stinky Whizzlecheeks]

the game is still being worked on lol