Grand Theft Auto Trilogy (2009) PC version modding

HI all,

Although there are plenty of posts about modding the latest GTA: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition, there doesnt seem to be any about the 2009 collection that the mods were originally created for.
Seeing as the newest version has so many issues, I though it would be more cost effective to simply upgrade the old version instead. I want to share my experience on this forum for anyone else to reference in the future.

I have recently obtained a copy of the 2009 PC version & will try to get them as impressive looking as possible on my own set up, which will be trail & error until I can find a balance between performance & ascetics.

My PC set up consists of:
  • Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF desktop computer
  • Windows 10 Pro (64 bit)
  • Intel i5 4570 (quad core 3.2GHz)
  • 8GB RAM (DDR3)
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 LP graphics card (4GB GDDR5)

I have found the following lists of mods to try out for all 3 games:

Not only do they improve the graphics, some introduce new game mechanics / missions / sound tracks / etc ...

Will keep you all posted ;)

Grand%20Theft%20Auto%20The%20Trilogy%20-%20PC2.jpg

1706001894983.png
 
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hooky1992

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Side Note: DO NOT install the games in Program Files as I have below. Files in this part of the C drive need Admin permission to create / edit, and since various mods generate new files or modify existing this will cause crashes due to 'access denied' (I learned this the hard way !). I eventually cut & paste my existing game folders to another hard drive with no issues to solve the problem, but save yourself the effort by not doing it in the first place ;)

So ... I installed the entire trilogy (v1.1) and confirmed they all work. Having only previously played them on console, my first time seeing games on PC left me very impressed by the default graphics quality. Maybe they got a boost from hardware ? I have played Tekken on PSP via Retroarch and it also got a nice boost in visuals ! The vehicles & NPC's seem to pop up out of nowhere in the middle distance, but I think thats a limitation in the code.

With Draw Distance & FX Quality set to the max values in game options, the graphics card CPU / GPU usage stats hover around 30%, with a +/- 6% swing every few seconds:

1660030411583.png


My graphics card GEFORCE desktop program automatically scanned GTA San Andreas & recommended the best graphics settings, including a resolution of 1366x768x32 (which I applied to all the games).

However, GTA SA wouldnt launch after this, and I had to Google the following solution. I went to Documents\GTA San Andreas User Files and renamed gta_sa.set file to something else. After this the game did launch no problem, and I set to the resolution to 1024x768x32 & turned off auto optimize in GEFORCE desktop program.

Regarding controls, GTA 3 & GTA Vice City has the right joy stick control inverted, as in tilting up / down pans the camera left / right, and moving right / left pans the camera up / down. GTA SA had an in game option to 'invert right axis', which solved the problem. I will need to find a mod to have the same controls on the other two games ....

Now that I have confirmed all is working & have a bench mark for the graphics quality, its time to get the mods installed, starting with GTA 3. There are a few steps that involve downloading files & copying into the GTA 3 folder, bit fiddly but nothing complicated:

  • first off we need to need to downgrade the game to v1.0 to allow mods to be applied. We do this by moving to a back up folder / deleting the current 1.1v gta3.exe games launcher & then copying a 1.0v gta3.exe games launcher into the Grand Theft Auto III folder in Program Files(x86) on the hard drive
  • next we must install CLEO (https://github.com/cleolibrary/III.VC.CLEO/releases/tag/2.0.0.6) , where III.CLEOv2.0.0.6.zip is downloaded & unzipped, then its contents (CLEO folder and lll.CLEO.asi file) drag dropped into the same folder
  • then we install Ultimate ASI Loader (https://github.com/ThirteenAG/Ultimate-ASI-Loader/releases) , by unzipping & its contents (dinput8.dll) drag dropped into the same folder
  • finally we install Mod Loader (https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=25377) , also unzipped & drag dropped its contents modloader folder into the same folder, created a new folder 'scrpits', and put modloader.asi into that.

When all are installed, your GTA 3 folder on the hard disk should look like this:

1660953793421.png


Mod Loader is a great tool that I will be using across all three games, as it allows us to simply drag & drop whatever mods we want into it without having to mess around with any GTA internal files. If we dont like a mod we simply delete it & all is then back to normal, much easier to debug when you have multiple mods crashing your game ! It is best to create a few folders within it for house keeping purposes (like vehicles, weapons, textures, etc ...) :



First off, I launched GTA 3 to check the game itself still works after adding the plugins & nothing is broken, before I try any mods. It worked fine !

Next, I wanted to try a minor improvement mod first to check all plug ins are installed & configured correctly, so I tried the GTA3HDVEHICLES Tri-Pack III mod to improve graphics on cars & the player HUD. Simply unzip & drag drop the whole folder into the modloader folder, preferably into a new folder you created for vehicle mods. The file path should look like this:

1660031606824.png


I then booted up the game, and first thing I noticed after the intro video was a count of CLEO plugins in bottom left:

1660034057994.png


After I started the game, the Kuruma car had a logo on its trunk & the HUD looked different:

1660031762237.png


also the cop cars have an NYC style blue & white paint job:

1660031787067.png


therefore all steps were completed correctly & the installed mod is working ! The graphics card CPU / GPU isnt under much more strain either, but I am sure that will change when I apply graphics upgrades to the entire city.

Next up, getting GTA SA & GTA VC ready to go, stay tuned ;)
 

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For GTA Vice City, the steps are virtually the same, but with a different version of CLEO:
  • first off we need to need to downgrade the game to v1.0 to allow mods to be applied. We do this by moving to a back up folder / deleting the current 1.1v gta-vc.exe games launcher & then copying a 1.0v gta-vc.exe games launcher into the Grand Theft Auto Vice City folder in Program Files(x86) on the hard drive
  • next we must install CLEO (https://github.com/cleolibrary/III.VC.CLEO/releases/tag/2.0.0.6) , where VC.CLEOv2.0.0.6.zip is downloaded & unzipped, then its contents (CLEO folder and VC.CLEO.asi file) drag dropped into the same folder
  • then we install Ultimate ASI Loader (https://github.com/ThirteenAG/Ultimate-ASI-Loader/releases) , by unzipping & its contents (dinput8.dll) drag dropped into the same folder
  • finally we install Mod Loader (https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=25377) , also unzipped & drag dropped its contents modloader folder and modloader.asi (everything except the READ ME files) into the same folder

When all are installed, your GTA VC folder on the hard disk should look like this:

1660121651766.png


Again, I launched GTA VC to confirm the game itself still works after adding the plugins & nothing is broken, before I try any mods.

Next, I wanted to try a minor improvement mod first to check all plug ins are installed & configured correctly, so I tried the GTA 5 HUD for VC mod to change the player HUD to whats displayed in Grand Theft Auto V . Simply unzip & drag drop the whole folder into the modloader folder, preferably into a new folder you created for HUD mods. The file path should look like this:

1660121803494.png



I then booted up the game, and first thing I noticed after the intro video was a tiny count of CLEO plugins in bottom left:

1660121891351.png


then in the game itself we see the GTA 5 style minimal HUD, with only a mini map in the bottom left corner of the screen:

1660121938640.png


therefore all steps were completed correctly & the installed mod is working !

GTA SA is next on the list, cant wait ;)

As a side note ... I did try to install a mod to fix the controller issues I mentioned earlier with GInput (https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=24272). However it seems my generic USB Xbox 360 style controller would not map. I tried to use an emulator (https://www.x360ce.com/) to map it but no luck. I will do more research & try again, as I wish to use this mod in GTA 3 also. Alternatively, I will see if I can tweak any internal GTA .ini files to map the controller in that way instead.
 

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For GTA San Andreas these are the steps for getting mods installed & working:
  • first off we need to need to downgrade the game to v1.0 to allow mods to be applied. We do this by moving to a back up folder / deleting the current 1.1v gta_sa.exe games launcher & then copying a 1.0v gta_sa.exe games launcher into the Grand Theft Auto San Andreas folder in Program Files(x86) on the hard drive
  • next we must install CLEO (https://github.com/cleolibrary/CLEO4/) , where CLEO4.zip is downloaded & unzipped, then its contents (CLEO folder and bass.dll , CLEO.asi files) drag dropped into the same folder
  • then we install Silent's ASI Loader (https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=21709) , by unzipping & its contents (scripts folder, vorbisFile.dll , vorbisHooked.dll files) drag dropped into the same folder
  • finally we install Mod Loader (https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=25377) , also unzipped & drag dropped its contents modloader folder and modloader.asi (everything except the READ ME files) into the same folder
When all are installed, your GTA SA folder on the hard disk should look like this:

1660206779225.png


Checked I could launch the game, worked fine .... also a new Options menu item is now available, that allows us to turn mods ON / OFF and also set a priority for each if we have more than one installed.

1660206849393.png



I will install a few different mods this time, first off Memory512, which allows San Andreas to run more smoothly on modern hardware. The draw distance is improved & more objects can be loaded at once, also we have all-around nicer visuals.

Most importantly, I need it installed so I get all the nice textures on the next mod, FIRST CAR-PACK WITH AUTOINSTALLATION FOR GTA SAN ANDREAS, which replaces almost all the cars in the game with real life models (e.g.) Sentinel replaced by Nissan Skyline.

This took a bit more effort, as I had to use Crazy IMG Editor (https://www.gtainside.com/en/sanandreas/tools/119440-crazy-img-editor/) to inject the new car models into the GTA disk image file itself. Here is a good video on how to use the tool:



After I installed the mod & updated the image file, after game launch we can already see a Subaru Impreza WRX (replaced Sunrise) and an Audi S5 Quattro (replaced Merit) at the traffic lights, so all is installed correctly & working !

1660207157371.png



Next up I wanted the ability to spawn any vehicle I wished, so I installed the VEHICLE SPAWNER PREMIUM FOR GTA SAN ANDREAS mod. By pressing the number 7 on the key board, a new menu appears onscreen that allows you to browse & select which one you want. It is demo'd in this video, which also has the above Car Pack mod installed too:



Perfect when you want to go hunting gang members in an attack helicopter !

1660207914727.png


So all 3 games are working fine with the facility to install mods, next up I will be trying out various mods to change the entire game's graphics scheme to get them close to the Definitive Editions. It will of course be limited by my hardware, but hopefully I will figure out the best combination of mods to get them looking as good as possible.

Happy gaming ;)
 
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Latiodile

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careful running the old games at 60fps, the engine was made for 30fps so unless you install that one mod (for san andreas only iirc, i forget the name of it), you'll get some pretty severe physics, audio and animation glitches, like cars stopping and decelerating way too quickly, or traffic cars honking their horns way too quickly


edit: the mod is called "Framerate vigilante", it was taken down from a lot of places so it's a bit harder of a mod to find these days
 
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hooky1992

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careful running the old games at 60fps, the engine was made for 30fps so unless you install that one mod (for san andreas only iirc, i forget the name of it), you'll get some pretty severe physics, audio and animation glitches, like cars stopping and decelerating way too quickly, or traffic cars honking their horns way too quickly


edit: the mod is called "Framerate vigilante", it was taken down from a lot of places so it's a bit harder of a mod to find these days

thanks for the tip ! very early days, just getting them up & running for now, will have to do more research on getting everything streamlined
 
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hooky1992

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Good news ! GInput (https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=24272) is now installed & I can use my generic USB Xbox 360 style controller to play GTA 3 & GTA VC. I used the same Xbox controller emulator (https://www.x360ce.com/) as before, but this time I followed the instructions in this video:




The emulator screens looked like this after I had mapped the buttons:

joypad set up.PNG


game setting.PNG


Then when I launched the games all the buttons worked, even the onscreen prompts had changed to Xbox icons !

xbox controls 3.png



xbox controls.png

(BTW, I ditched the GTA 5 style HUD as it was causing display issues with the prompts ....)

I hope to get round to trying out a few major graphics overhauls this week, so stay tuned ;)
 
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So I applied my first graphics mod & it was a disaster from start to finish 🙈 however the second mod worked OK, so it all balances out in the end !

I decided to start off with the GTA3 Xbox Version HD mod (https://www.mixmods.com.br/2021/06/iii-xbox-version-hd-versao-xbox-para-pc-em-hd/), which required a few fixes to be applied first (https://www.mixmods.com.br/2020/12/iii-essentials-pack/) as well as a whole slew of various helper mods. As I had a few already installed, I thought I would just import the ones I was missing instead of copying over the whole lot (as I wanted to be able to roll back by deleting anything new if needed).

First off, when I booted the game there was a new menu UI:

new menu.png


Once the game got going I could see nicer graphics for the trees & improved textures on buildings, however I soon noticed some issues regarding lighting effects (square area of full brightness on the road):

wierd lights.png


Plus the CPU usage stats was now hovering around 80% ! Then the car started spewing a weird long smoke trail after a few bumps:

wierd smoke.png


Next thing the screen froze, the music kept playing, I heard a Windows alert & when I kicked out to the desktop I seen this error (means the game is trying to access forbidden area of memory according to Google):

error.PNG


So, I drag dropped all the files over instead & tried again. Although the lighting issue seems to have been fixed & the CPU usage was reduced, this time all the cars were invisible & the game crashed even sooner !

invisable cars.png


I removed all the mod files & tried to get the game back to normal, but it kept crashing in random places. So I deleted the whole game & made a fresh install, again adding CLEO, Mod Loader, etc... to get back to a stable game configuration.

Examining the files, I saw the mod was build on SkyGfx (https://gtaforums.com/topic/750681-skygfx-ps2-xbox-and-mobile-graphics-for-pc/), so I decided to Install this to see if I had any better luck with that. It also works for GTA VC, which is a bonus ! Good installation & configuration video here:



Please note I added FramerateVigilante to my modloader folder first to keep FPS under 60...

So on game boot up we have some new UI screens:

load screen.png


Then in the game itself the graphics seemed to run alot smoother. Buildings didnt have any jagged edges in the distance while I was driving & NPC vehicles pop'd up much further away in the distance than normal. The textures & colors looked kinda similar though:

redlight.png

club.png
hideout 2.png

autos.png



Here is what it looks like normally on my PC, without any extra graphics mod:

redlight.png


club.png

hideout.png

autos.png


To be fair, I need to tweak the settings in the .ini file to get the best visuals (https://gtamods.com/wiki/SkyGfx) so will research that, trial & error the best combinations, then report back ;)
 

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hooky1992

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quick note ... regarding the SkyGfx mod, the following settings are active by default in the .ini file:
  • replaceDefaultPipeline=1 ; Replace the default pipeline by one that is very close to the default Xbox pipeline.
  • ps2Loadscreen=1 ; Use PS2 loadscreens
  • ps2light=1 ; Use PS2 lighting for MatFX, the difference is subtle but visible
  • dualPass=1 ; Draw almost all transparent geometry in two passes to reduce alpha bugs.
  • ps2carCam=1 ; Use the PS2 Get-in-car camera
  • neoWaterDrops=1 ; Draw Xbox screen water drops
  • envMapSize=128 ; Size of the reflection map used for real time reflections (rounded up to next power of 2).
  • seamFix=1 ; Try to get rid of seams between objects
 

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i tried to use the xbox mod for gta 3 a while back, i didn't get the light square bug, however i did get the dark cars bug which bothered me immensely and could never find a fix, and i noticed you had the same bug before you decided to give up on the mod

was hoping you'd look into finding a fix when you mentioned you'd look into it, since the cars DEFINITELY do not look like that in the xbox version

and as for that hd kuruma mod you show in the last few screenshots, would definitely be better if the mod creator had used the xbox version of the car as a base with the extra silver trim, would've looked far better



there's a second graphics mod for gta sa that i know of alongside skyGFX, but incompatible with skygfx, it's called renderhook and it's kind of like enb but actually runs at a framerate above single digits, it's kind of hard to find presets for it though and most people seem to combine it with enb for some reason
 

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i tried to use the xbox mod for gta 3 a while back, i didn't get the light square bug, however i did get the dark cars bug which bothered me immensely and could never find a fix, and i noticed you had the same bug before you decided to give up on the mod

was hoping you'd look into finding a fix when you mentioned you'd look into it, since the cars DEFINITELY do not look like that in the xbox version

and as for that hd kuruma mod you show in the last few screenshots, would definitely be better if the mod creator had used the xbox version of the car as a base with the extra silver trim, would've looked far better



there's a second graphics mod for gta sa that i know of alongside skyGFX, but incompatible with skygfx, it's called renderhook and it's kind of like enb but actually runs at a framerate above single digits, it's kind of hard to find presets for it though and most people seem to combine it with enb for some reason
I might circle back to Xbox Mod - Modloader Version in the future when I have a better understanding of its internal workings, but for now I will most probably add a few minor improvements at a time so as to fault find when the game crashes.

I will be trying the following graphics upgrades for GTA 3 soon:
  • GTA 3 HD Ultimate Graphics
  • GTA 3 Real ENB Graphics
  • GTAIII Remastered Edition
 
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Applied the following graphics upgrades for GTA 3 and surprise surprise they didnt work:
  • GTA 3 HD Ultimate Graphics
  • GTA 3 Real ENB Graphics
Although textures were improved, the smoke effects were a bit weird looking & the game crashed after 5 minutes with the same error message as before. I am guessing there is a separate plugin needed to run these graphics mods ?

Good new is the GTAIII Remastered Edition (https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=24845) worked fine, however it was a bit disappointing so I removed it.

Apart from darkening the game so much I had to set the brightness to max level in the game settings (over active shadows maybe?) the only improvement I could see was the coronas on NPC vehicles were bigger. Here is a side by side comparison (mod version on the right):

no fx.png


A few more of the modded game:

REDLIGHT.png




club.png

hideout.png


autos.png


Another weird graphics quirk I noticed was Claude after he changed out of his prison clothes !

bug claude.png


Seems the GTA3HDVEHICLES Tri-Pack III effects how the skin is rendered, so I applied the HD Claude instead (https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=12878). this took a bot more effort, as I had to use IMG Tool (https://www.thegtaplace.com/downloads/f552-img-tool-20) to replace player.dff and player.txd in gta3.img file, the delete the player.BMP file in the models/generic folder, and finally deleted txd.img and txd.dir in the model folder.

Now he looks like this:

HD claude.png



HD claude 2.png


Another improvement I installed was Largeaddress (https://www.mixmods.com.br/2016/09/iii-vc-sa-largeaddress-reconhecer-3-4-gb-de-ram/), which works across all of the games ( San Andreas, Vice City, GTA 3)

Grand Theft Auto on PC is set to only recognize 2GB of RAM, no matter how much you have installed. If the game uses lots of RAM heavy mods the program will limit the amount of on screen items (buildings, NPCs, vehicles, etc ...) to make more space for new things, then finally crash.

The Largeaddress tool will patch the .exe by applying /LARGEADDRESSAWARE to make the game recognize more RAM than usual. For my Windows 64-bit, GTA will now recognize 4 GB of RAM.

Isn't necessary to open it, just click and drag your gta_sa.exe / gta-vc.exe / gta3.exe icon (the application (.exe) and not the shortcut (.lnk)!!!) over the largeaddress.exe icon. You will then see the following pop up:

1661345935992.png


Press Y and Enter on the keyboard. It will close abruptly with no confirmation message, so to check it worked drag drop the .exe onto it again & check message appears "ERROR: This file has a /LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag already!"

So thats it for GTA , I have it looking a bit better than before & picked up a few skills on the way, next up is Vice City !
 

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Quick note .... In light of the GTA 6 leak, and Rockstar Game's legal response to it, I thought it would be a good idea to share my thoughts on intellectual property & modding ....

As we all know, last summer Rockstar Games started using DMCA takedown requests (https://kotaku.com/take-two-is-removing-old-gta-mods-using-dmca-notices-1847315391) to remove old Grand Theft Auto mods from various websites. A good guess as to why (after many years of being freely available) would be to pre-empt the launch of the remastered series late last year.

A few years ago, Rockstar Games themselves issued a statement on modding the PC versions of GTA (https://support.rockstargames.com/articles/115009494848/PC-Single-Player-Mods), with the most important part stating:

".... will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar’s PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties.

This does not apply to
(i) multiplayer or online services;
(ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or
(iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project; or
(iv) making new games, stories, missions, or maps
"

Before starting this thread, I had read the above & I endeavored to only publish content that would not violate any of the items listed. As the majority of the mods deal with improving the graphics, I feel that the only objectional content might be adding new car models if they infringe on the IP of Rockstar or anyone else.

To this end I have not provided actual URL links to any of these sorts of mods, and I am not sure if they even constitute the 'use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP)' as defined in Rockstar Games statement if they were built from scratch.

However, if the moderator of this forum whishes me to remove anything that could cause headaches further down the line, please D.M. me & I will edit the posts as soon as possible to your satisfaction. My whole aim with this thread is to educate others as to the method of how to do something, therefore I can speak in general terms rather than namecheck actual mods / websites if so desired.

Above all, please dont delete the thread without warning, as it would be a shame to bin all this effort without an attempt to comply with any legal guidance !
 

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To modify GTA Vice City, I first of all applied the Largeaddress patch (https://www.mixmods.com.br/2016/09/iii-vc-sa-largeaddress-reconhecer-3-4-gb-de-ram/) to allow up to 4GB of RAM to be used by the game, then installed
SkyGfx mod (https://gtaforums.com/topic/750681-skygfx-ps2-xbox-and-mobile-graphics-for-pc/) to improve the baseline graphics. I did not install Framerate Vigilante this time, as I have found an improved method to control the FPS (thats needed for another mod anyway).

The Open Limit Adjuster (https://github.com/ThirteenAG/III.VC.SA.LimitAdjuster/releases) comes with a whole host of options that can be tweaked. Simply extract the downloaded file, open 'III.VC.SA.LimitAdjuster.ini' in Notepad. Looking down the list until you find [VCLIMITS] , edit the following settings to theses values & click Save:
  • FrameLimit = 105
  • MemoryAvailable = 50%
Then move both files to the Vice City root folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\Grand Theft Auto - The Trilogy\Grand Theft Auto Vice City) on the hard disk. You will now have FPS locked to 60 & a RAM allocation of fifty percent of your machines total (4GB in my case).

Running the game to check basic functionality displayed the following graphics:

1.png


2.png


Next up I wanted to improve the overall graphics, and I was fortunate to find a graphics mod thats super simple to install & actually worked very well without crashing. Vice City Retexture Project (https://www.moddb.com/mods/vrtp-project/downloads/vrtp-155) is downloaded, unzipped, and the folder drag dropped in the Modloader folder in the root, thats it ! Here is a video previewing how it affects various graphics in the game:



And after starting my own copy of the game we can see the following:

retex 1.png


retex 2.png


As we can see everything is sharper & more vibrant colored, the cars now have some excellent reflections on the body work too. My only gripe is the pavement looks a little fuzzy when the camera is moving, but I am sure the will become less noticeable the longer I play it.

There is also a Easy Car Spawner v1.2 mod (https://www.gtainside.com/en/vicecity/mods/86092-easy-car-spawner-v1-2/ F4/ARROWS/ENTER) thats super simple to install, just download, extract & drop files into mod loader. Then in the game press F4 on the keyboard, use the directional arrows to select the model name, and press Enter to spawn.

For Vice City, with its massive +100 vehicle library, I wanted to swap out some models with real life replicas instead. I could not find any mods that would do all at once like in San Andreas previously, so I would be forced to swap out one at a time. Although this will be time consuming it will give me far greater control over what gets modified.

After some searching online, I found a site that offered Cars for GTA Vice City with automatic installation, which has an enormous selection of models for download. For example, the Admiral alone has 140 models to swap out with !

car selection.PNG


From browsing the options, I soon realized the same real life model is often available across many GTA vehicles. Thinking it would be easier to start with vehicles with the least amount of models available & work my way up, looking for what was unique to that vehicle alone to whittle down the options for the rest, I decided to swap out the Trashmaster dump truck for something a bit more exotic .....

ferri.PNG


Although the site offered an auto installer to add the model into the game, this is a massive RED FLAG for me, as who knows what else it could be installing in the background ? Also, if I install manually myself I would understand the steps to reverse the action if it caused the game to break. Therefore, I opted for the download zip file without installer:

download.PNG


The downloaded file contained a .dff file and a .txd file, both had to be renamed to:
  • trash.dff
  • trash.txd
car files.PNG


I then had to use IMGTool 1.3 (http://www.gtaall.com/gta-vice-city/programs/4-imgtool-v13.html) to update the gta3 image file with the downloaded files. After you download IMGTool, go to the Tools menu, select the Options tab and untick the check box next to GTA3 IMG Archives.

IMG tool.PNG


Then click File / Open, and drill down to C:\Program Files (x86)\Grand Theft Auto - The Trilogy\Grand Theft Auto Vice City\models and select gta3 image file:

find Image file.PNG


This will load up all the .dff and a .txd files in the img file, we will then need to Search for and Delete trash.dff / trash.txd, then Add in the new files we downloaded to [GAME FOLDER]\models\gta3.img & Rebuild the archive.

If all worked, when you open the game & spawn a Trashmaster, you will see this ...

trash ferari.png


Fantastic ! However, the camera remains zoomed out, it beeps when the car reverses & drives forward very very slowly, just like a garbage truck does. In other words, the visual style changed but the underlying game mechanics did not.
This made me rethink my whole plan for updating all the vehicle models, as I could foresee a situation where I would be running from the cops & jump into a supercar only for it to crawl away like a snail, resulting in me being busted.

Another consideration was trying to keep the exotic cars exotic, as in if I swapped out a common car for a super car they would appear all over the place & would thus lose their appeal. As I have a spawner mod I can create anythig in a few clicks anyway.

Also I wanted to keep a few standard models (like BF Injection) as is for nostalgia reasons, besides they would have improved graphics now anyway. Therefore, I have decided the following guidelines for picking a model:
  • dont bother changing buses, trucks, etc ... as I would never drive one anyway
  • common cars will have a nice looking model but not a super car
  • fast cars will have the top range super cars models

Thus I have whittled the number of vehicles to mod down to 34 and have decided on the following swaps:
    • Admiral => Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG TT Black Revel
    • Banshee => Ferrari Enzo
    • Blista Compact => BMW M3 (convertible)
    • Cabbie => Ford Crown Victoria LTD 1985 Taxi
    • Cheetah => Ferrari Testarossa 1984
    • Comet => Ferrari F50 Spider 1995
    • Deluxo => BTTF DeLorean DMC 12
    • FBI Washington => Audi A8 2010 W12 Rim3
    • Greenwood => BMW M5 F10 2012
    • Hotring Racer => Nissan Skyline GTR R34
    • Hotring Racer A => Lamborghini Gallardo
    • Hotring Racer B => Ford GT
    • Hunter => Mi-35 HIND
    • Idaho => Mercedes-Benz E 320 (C124)
    • Infernus => Honda NSX-R
    • Kaufman Taxi => Chevrolet Camaro Cab 1969
    • Landstalker => Porsche Cayenne 2012
    • Manana => BMW 1M Coupe RHD
    • Oceanic => Ferrari F40
    • Phoenix => Lamborghini Murcielago V12 6,2L
    • Police Car => 1978 Dodge Monaco MDPD
    • Rancher => BMW X6M 2010
    • Rhino => BTR-80
    • Sabre => Ford Mustang 2005 GT
    • Sabre Turbo => Audi R8 V10 TT Black Revel
    • Sentinel => Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
    • Sentinel XS => Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2006 Type 1
    • Stallion => Porsche Carrera GT
    • Stinger => Ferrari F430 Spider 2005
    • Trashmaster => Ferrari 458 Italia
    • Virgo => 1988 Audi Quattro
    • Voodoo => Mercedes-Benz W126 Wild Stile Edition
    • Washington => Bentley Arnage T 2005
    • Zebra Cab => Peugeot 406 Taxi 2

Although its a bit hard to see in the above Trashmaster screenshot, all models I have installed so far look absolutely gorgeous with very high level of detail, even the interiors look great when a door is left open !

OK so thats all for GTA Vice City, next up will be San Andreas, stay tuned ;)
 

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antastic ! However, the camera remains zoomed out, it beeps when the car reverses & drives forward very very slowly, just like a garbage truck does. In other words, the visual style changed but the underlying game mechanics did not.
This made me rethink my whole plan for updating all the vehicle models, as I could foresee a situation where I would be running from the cops & jump into a supercar only for it to crawl away like a snail, resulting in me being busted.
the readme file likely has some info you need to add/replace in the handling.cfg
 

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