Trouble Shooting FAQ.

[CoyoteMystro]

Supported Operating Systems:

Windows 98

Windows 98se

Windows Millennium

Windows 2000 Professional (Workstation)

Windows XP (home and Professional)

 

Operating Systems that are NOT supported:

Windows 95

Windows NT (Any version)

Mac OS

Linux

BEOS

 

Minimum Requirements:

Pentium III 450MHz or AMD Athlon Processor

96mb RAM

4x CD-ROM/DVD-ROM

Soundcard compatible with DirectX 8.1

Videocard with at least 16mb of memory

Keyboard

Mouse

 

Recommended Requirements:

Pentium III 700MHz+ or AMD Athlon Processor

128mb+ RAM

8x CD-ROM/DVD-ROM

Soundcard compatible with DirectX 8.1

Video Card with at least 32mb+ of memory

 

If you're comp meets those requirements, yet you are still having problems, do the following:

 

Update DirectX

If you're using an older version of DirectX, you're game may lag or not even run at all.  You should update to DirectX 8.1.  You can download the latest version of DirectX at www.microsoft.com/directx

 

Don't know if you've updated or not?  Go to START/RUN and type in DXDIAG.  It will tell you of your processor speed, ram, and version of DirectX you have installed.

 

 

Update Video-Card Drivers

STEP 1:

For those that know what video-card they have, skip to STEP 2.  Otherwise, go to START/RUN and type in DXDIAG.  Then go to the DISPLAY tab.  It should tell you what type of video-card you have..

 

Example of DXDIAG information

 

As you can see, I use an ATI Radeon 7200. (Actually a 64mb DDR VIVO) according to ATI.com

 

STEP 2:

Go to your video-card manufacturers website and search their driver downloads archive.  According to ATI, the latest driver for my card is the "Recommended Driver - 4.13.01.9031".  Damn, I need to update mine, lol.  Anyways, download this file.  Please note that driver-updates are usually high in file-size, so if you're on a 56k, expect to wait maybe an hour or two.

 

STEP 3:

Install the driver.  Just double-click the .exe and it'll update the files accordingly, reboot after installation, and you're up to par.

 

Video Card Manufacturer Sites:

 

3Dfx Interactive - http://www.3dfx.com/

3Dlabs - http://www.3dlabs.com/

Asus - http://www.asus.com/

ATI - http://support.atitech.ca/

Aztech Labs - http://www.aztechlabs.com/

Canopus - http://www.canopuscorp.com/

Creative Labs - http://www.creativelabs.com/

Diamond Multimedia - http://www.diamondmm.com/

Elsa Technology - http://www.elsa.de/

Guillemot - http://www.guillemot.com/

Hercules (see Guillemot) - http://www.guillemot.com/

I/O Magic - http://www.iomagic.com/

Jaton - http://www.jaton.com/

Leadtek - http://www.leadtek.com/

Matrox - http://www.matrox.com/

NVIDIA - http://www.nvidia.com/

Orchid (see Diamond MM) - http://www.diamondmm.com/

SIII Incorporated - http://www.sIII.com/

SiS - http://www.sis.com.tw/

VIA Technologies - http://www.viatech.com/

VideoLogic - ]http://www.videologic.com/[/b]

 

RAM usage

If you're going to play GTA3, and you're at the bare-bone ammount of 128mb of RAM such as I, it's a safe bet that background applications will slow the game down.  Before playing GTA3, you may want to shut-off all programs.  Example: ICQ, MSN IM, AOL IM, Browsers, Folders.  You may also want to press CTRL/ALT/DEL ONCE and close all applications except EXPLORER and SYSTRAY and any FIREWALL you may wish to keep running and other necessities.

 

 

How you run the game..

A common problem is users playing the game at too high of a detail level for their comp to run.  For example, I use a PIII 450MHz, 128mb SDRAM, 64mb Video.  If I run at 1280x1024x32 with graphics at max, I'll probably get as high as 10fps.  Not exactly enjoyable.  If I wanted the game to run clean, I would want to play it at 800x600x32 or even 800x600x16 with the other options at max.

 

-----

 

DirectX:

Grand Theft Auto III requires Microsoft DirectX 8.1 to run. As a

consequence we recommend that the video and sound drivers installed are

also DirectX 8.1 compliant. Even better, use a true hardware DirectX

8.0 / DirectX 8.1 card.

 

Windows XP:

We recommend manufacturer distributed drivers for Windows XP (i.e.

drivers that expose the user controls for changing settings on the

particular piece of hardware), instead of the default drivers installed

by Microsoft as part of the machine setup process.

 

Memory:

Grand Theft Auto III requires at least 96 MB of memory to run. For

optimal performance at least 128 MB is recommended (256 MB preferred).

 

Running Applications:

Grand Theft Auto III has been designed to take best advantage of the

available machine it is running upon, therefore we recommend that you

close down all applications before running Grand Theft Auto III.

 

Video Memory:

Grand Theft Auto III requires a video card with 16 MB of video memory

or greater to run. Grand Theft Auto III will refuse to run if it is

launched on a machine with less than 16 MB video memory.

 

AMD K6/2 and K6/III processors:

These AMD processors both play Grand Theft Auto III at too low a speed

to be acceptable.

 

Save Games

Grand Theft Auto III uses the “My Documents” directory of the currently

logged in user to store the “GTA3 USER FILES” directory. This is where

we store save games. This was chosen to allow each user on Windows 2000

or Windows XP to have their own saves.

 

-----

 

From Take-Two Support:

 

Here is a checklist of general fixes for GTA 3 PC to try first.

 

1.) For Windows XP users there is a patch that needs to be installed. It

replaces a few system files that have been found to make the game work

better. (Along with the other fixes below) If you are not sure if you have

the patch installed here is an easy way to find out.

 

Click Start -> Run. Erase whatever is in the box and type in DXDIAG. Then

click on the DirectX Files tab and look for these two files... (These files

are located at the top of the DirectX Files tab so they are easy to find.)

 

D3d8.dll      ver 5.1.2600.29  <- You have the patch

Ddraw.dll     ver 5.1.2600.29  <- You have the patch

 

D3d8.dll      ver 5.1.2600  <- You  do not have the patch

Ddraw.dll     ver 5.1.2600  <- You do not have the patch

 

If you do not have these files or version numbers do not match then you do

not have the patch installed. Go to this website

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q306676

to download the patch and make sure you have DirectX 8.1 video & sound

drivers as well.

 

2.) If you are getting no textures or an incredibly dense fog in the game

with an NVIDIA video card, you need to enable Fog Table Emulation.

 

Right Click on an empty area of the desktop

Left Click on Properties

Click on the Settings Tab

Click on Advanced Properties

Click on the GeForce Tab (it will have the same name as you video card)

Click on the Additional Properties

Click on the Direct3D Setting Tab

Place a Check Mark next to Enable For Table Emulation

Click Apply

Click OK and keep clicking OK until all those windows are closed. Then try

the game again.

For more information go to their website:

http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=IO_20011120_4051

 

3.) Close your background applications, use CTRL+ALT+DEL.  This will bring

up close programs.  END TASK on each item except for EXPLORER and SYSTRAY.

You will need to repeat for each item. Now when you do this give about 8

seconds in-between hitting END TASK and doing CTRL+ALT+DEL.  If you do not

you will reboot your system and will have to start this task all from the

beginning. If a another window pops up just hit END TASK again. After all

but EXPLORER and SYSTRAY are left, Then start your program up.

 

For XP users:

To close your background applications, use CTRL+ALT+DEL.  This will bring up

the Windows Security Box and you need to click on Task Manager. END TASK on

each item except for EXPLORER.EXE as that is Windows itself. You will need

to repeat the above step for each item. Now when you do this give about 8

seconds in-between hitting END TASK and doing CTRL+ALT+DEL.  If you do not

you will reboot your system and will have to start this task all from the

beginning. If another window pops up just hit END TASK again. After all but

EXPLORER.EXE is left, you can then start your program up. Once you reboot

the system, all of the items you just removed will be back.

 

4.) Check your display settings in Windows.

Go to Start, Settings, then Control Panel.

Double-click the Display icon.

Click the Settings Tab.

For the Color Palette setting, select 16-bit High colors. (Do not use 24 or

32 bit true color)

For the Desktop Area, set it to 800x600 or around 1024 x 768 if you wish.

Click Apply, and restart the system if prompted.

 

If you set your resolution to those settings and still get the error

message, this usually means that the monitor itself may not be setup

correctly.  

 

5.) Check your monitor settings by Right-clicking on the Desktop and choose

Properties from the menu. Click the Settings tab, then the Advanced

Properties button.  Click the Monitor tab (this may say "Unknown, Standard

or Default").  Click the Change button, and after Windows builds the driver

information database, select the proper monitor type (Plug And Play is

usually the correct choice; check with your monitor or system manufacturer

if you are unsure).  Click Apply, then Ok or Close, and restart the system

when prompted. Make sure only one monitor is listed and not two. Remove any

other ones listed that are not the true monitor you have connected to your

computer now.

 

6.) Make sure your video card has certified DirectX 8.1 drivers from the

manufacturer of the video or sound card. Note that DirectX 8.1 does not load

during the install if you do not have it already installed. If you look at

the Install CD, you'll see a folder labeled Direct X Runtime. Inside that

folder are Direct X installation programs. Choose the appropriate one for

your operating system and run it to install Direct X 8.1.

 

7.) This game requires Direct X 8.1 to run. 3DFX, the company that made

Voodoo cards, is no longer in business, so no more official drivers that

support newer versions of Direct X will be available. There are third party

drivers available (a good place to look at these is the www.voodoofiles.com

website) but as these are not official drivers, you may find that this game

will not run on one of these video cards.

 

8.) If you are experiencing short, periodic slowdowns while driving, Grand

Theft Auto III may be having trouble retrieving data at a fast enough rate

from your hard disk. It is recommended that you run your systems

Defragmentation utility regularly to allow optimum speed in the game's

performance. To begin the process: Click on Start -> Programs -> Accessories

-> System Tools -> Scandisk or Disk Cleanup then Defrag.

 

9.) For more flowing gameplay it is recommended that in game you set the

game to 800 x 600 16bit & turn off Frame Synch, Frame Limiter & Wide Screen.

Regardless of your system specs this is the most optimized for flowing game

play.

 

10.) If you are experiencing odd player controls, such as sluggish reaction

from the character, or random and uncontrollable spinning, you may want to

check a few things.  

If you have a force feedback mouse, such as the iFeel mouse, or an infrared

optical mouse, you may need to disable all background applications that

maybe running including anti-virus software.  There may be an icon in your

taskbar that you can disable.  If this remedy does not work, you may need to

simply use a standard non force feedback or non infrared mouse. If you have

a joystick that you aren't using during game play, you may want to either

unplug the joystick or disable it in the Gaming Options of your Control

Panel.  Simply click on the device and then click Remove.

 

11.) If you have a Nvidia video card make sure you have the 28.32 detonator

drivers. Should you have the new Nforce motherboard (with the intergrated

video & sound card built on the motherboard) then make sure you install the

Nforce drivers and not the Detonator drivers. Www.nvidia.com

 

12.) If you are receiving an error stating that you need to have a 12meg

video card, and you have a 16meg video card or higher. First make sure your

hardware acceleration is set all the way to 'full'. Also we have found that

some video cards that have what is called an Intergrated ramdac are seeing

some choppy or delayed framerate during  gameplay. (Which shows what kind of

ramdac you have in your Dxdiag.)

 

To check what ramdac you have, Click Start -> Run. Erase whatever is in the

box and type in 'DXDIAG'. Click on the Display tab and on the upper left

hand side it should show you either Internal Ramdac or Intergrated Ramdac.

If nothing is showing for your Dac Type then the gameplay will be choppy.

Reinstalling your drivers or contacting your videocard manufacturer should

fix this problem.

 

13.) It will also help us if you can send to us any and all screenshots of

the error message along with the both DXDIAG & MSINFO text files. These

files are not on your system. You will have to make them and the

instructions are shown below.

 

DXDIAG -> Click Start -> Run. Erase whatever is in the box and type in

'DXDIAG'. Click on 'Save All Information' and save the file to a place that

you can find it later (the desktop is a good place). Attach it to an email,

and send it back to us with MSINFO32 shown below.

 

MSINFO32 -> Now put the game or program cd into the cd-rom drive then do the

following below...

Click Start, and then click Run.

In the Open box, type 'MSINFO32' Without the quotes and then click OK.

This will bring up the Microsoft System Information window.

Click on File then EXPORT. (WARNING: DO NOT USE SAVE)

 

Now where it says 'File name' type in MSINFO32, and on the top where it says

Save in make sure it says 'desktop'. Now click on save and then replay back

to me with the DXDIAG.txt and MSINFO32.txt file as attachments and the

complete problem you are having with the program.

 

NOTE: Windows 2000 users remember when you first open MSINFO32, you must

click first on System Information, then the 'Action' button on the top left

menu bar, then click on 'Save as test file'.

 

Just send us both files and we will tell you of what we find that may be a

recorded or unrecorded issue with the program. Thank you for contacting Take

2 Technical Support.

[marauder123]

i've done exactly what you said there but my chip type in my DxDiag file says:

 

S3 P4M266

 

and there arent any websites among your list which show that company except SIII.com, but every tim,e i go to click on that one it doesnt work.  please help me with this A.S.A.P., it's getting really annoying having to deal with this game being here and if it's not going to work i'd just like to know so i can at least return it already.

Thank you

[En4cer 2k]

 

http://www.s3graphics.com/ try that one

[Azeroth]

Can't load a saved game

[biXen]

Can't load a saved game

Try buying the game...

[Kid Showtime]

Can't load a saved game

Try buying the game...

lol.. this is funny cuz it's true.

 

the illegal copies have problems saving and loading games cuz Deviance(Warez Group) screwed up when coding the crack.. that they had to repack it.

 

Those of you doing this the warez way.. there is a fix somewhere on the net for this. just gotta look  

[Gmeister]

I refuse to play a game in 16bit color. Beside, the game runs at 30fps on most parts of the game. Needs a patch, but I haven't had too mnay problems. But 16bit color should be illegal now since it looks horrible in these generation of games.

[Gmeister]

Use the crack from gamecopyworld.com. Anyway, my bro is that using the crack from that website and he can save, load, yada yada with no problems. Sheesh, either we're real luck or you guys have some scrooged up systems.

[wolfe2x7]

So far, it seems luck has something to do with getting GTA3 to run ok...what's wrong with 16 bit color? There's almost no difference in picture quality, and it helps performance to use 16-bit.

[Gmeister]

16bit color is not an option for me because the game was not made for 16bit color. GTA3 is intended as a game to be played in 32bit color. There are big differences from 16 to 32bit. Look around at nightime. The lights do not look the same in 16bit. Everything looks slightly to noticeably more bland in 16bit color. Maybe I've been spoiled in 32bit color games, because I haven't attempted to play through a whole new game in 16bit color in about 2 years. I've tried in GTA3 and it doesn't even run much better and it looks noticeably poorer in color quality vs. 32bit color.

[Marlboro]

16bit color is not an option for me because the game was not made for 16bit color. GTA3 is intended as a game to be played in 32bit color. There are big differences from 16 to 32bit. Look around at nightime. The lights do not look the same in 16bit. Everything looks slightly to noticeably more bland in 16bit color. Maybe I've been spoiled in 32bit color games, because I haven't attempted to play through a whole new game in 16bit color in about 2 years. I've tried in GTA3 and it doesn't even run much better and it looks noticeably poorer in color quality vs. 32bit color.

Honestly, i don't see too much difference between 16 and 32 bits... I have a Geforce2 MX, and i always use 16 bits because my card is very poor to play at 1024x768 in 32 bits, but to me the difference is not so big, i preffer playing at 1024x768 in 16 bits than 800x600 in 32...

Anyway, i think the game needs a patch NOW, i have a little lag sometimes, i thought that my vid card isn't fast enough, but people with GF3s and powerful video cards are suffering the same speed problems...

 

By the way, a friend of mine have a Voodoo3 3500, and he can play nice (with a good speed) for a couple of seconds, and after that, the game locks up. there are anything that he can do or he is simply screwed up?

 

Cya

 

 

[Itzi]

Poor Voodoo users

 

 

[Tzen]

I found a fix for people who have EAX compatible sound cards yet can't select EAX in GTA3. From the Control Panel go to Sounds and Multimedia, Audio tab, Advanced button under Sound Playback, Performance tab, set Hardware acceleration to full.

 

This is confirmed to have worked for atleast 3 people.

[Billy^B]

Can Someone please elaborate on the DAC Type, when I check my DAC type it is blank, but I am not sure how to fix the problem.  Can someone please help me out here.

[Basstrip]

Well... i tried a lot of things,my only problem with the game is that my sreen gets completely fogged and i can't see anything.I use a SiS650.I need help like thousands of others any info?

[djspl]

2.) If you are getting no textures or an incredibly dense fog in the game

with an NVIDIA video card, you need to enable Fog Table Emulation.

 

Right Click on an empty area of the desktop

Left Click on Properties

Click on the Settings Tab

Click on Advanced Properties

Click on the GeForce Tab (it will have the same name as you video card)

Click on the Additional Properties

Click on the Direct3D Setting Tab

Place a Check Mark next to Enable For Table Emulation

Click Apply

Click OK and keep clicking OK until all those windows are closed. Then try

the game again.

[djspl]

of course I ASSumed you had a Nvidia card, sorry

[djspl]

Also with Nvidia cards, Anti aliasing settings

 

Right Click on an empty area of the desktop

Left Click on Properties

Click on the Settings Tab

Click on Advanced Properties

Click on the GeForce Tab (it will have the same name as you video card)

Click on the Additional Properties

Click on 3d Anti aliasing

Change setting (anything but off made my G3Ti200 choppy)

Click Apply

TEST

[lipto]

DOES ANYBODY KNOWS WHERE I COULD FIND A PATCH TO SAVE AND LOAD ?

 

cuz I jut can travel  into the city but when I save and I can't loadIsaw that many people were having the same problem )

 

So if anyone can help

 

THX

 

Lipto

[churrasco]

i have problems with WINXP, i can't find any information to solve this problem. Plz, i have problems to load the saved games in GTA3. I have Windows XP and i have installed the MS patch, but GTA3 crashes when i load GTA3 saved games. Plz help me!!!!

[Wormstrangler]

anyone got info on that DAC thing, i got a kyro 2 and nothing shows up there, and no matter what drivers i use, nothing comes up.

[sillyb]

If you are receiving an error stating that you need to have a 12meg

video card, and you have a 16meg video card or higher. First make sure your

hardware acceleration is set all the way to 'full'. Also we have found that

some video cards that have what is called an Intergrated ramdac are seeing

some choppy or delayed framerate during  gameplay. (Which shows what kind of

ramdac you have in your Dxdiag.)

 

To check what ramdac you have, Click Start -> Run. Erase whatever is in the

box and type in 'DXDIAG'. Click on the Display tab and on the upper left

hand side it should show you either Internal Ramdac or Intergrated Ramdac.

If nothing is showing for your Dac Type then the gameplay will be choppy.

Reinstalling your drivers or contacting your videocard manufacturer should

fix this problem.

 

 

i have a 32 meg geforce 2 mx

the game fails to recognize that i have "more then 12 mb"

hardware excelleration is full

 

still am not sure how to solve this, is this trying to say that integrated ramdac causes it?

 

i have reinstalled the drivers a couple times now, how do i reinstall directx? i seen an uninstaller somehwere but it said it does not work fully nor do i trust it

so i just installed direct x again overtop of my current installation... no success

 

is the problem it doesnt see more then 12 mb in the video ram? or is it that what i do have is full somehow?

is there any utilities to clear the video ram?

 

some have said that switching to 16bit desktop color depth helps but this does not work since im always in 16bit depth... i tried switching to 32 bit and running gta3.. no sucess, tried switching back to 16bit, same thing

 

very confused on this one

could it be the newest detonator drivers causing some problems? where can older drivers be found to test?

[n00bPDW]

so they really dont have any good answer to the "unhadled exception" error.

[zipdoa]

so they really dont have any good answer to the "unhadled exception" error.

yeah, pretty much... they say install directx 8.1 ..... to bad thats what comes with Windows XP Professional PLUS! ahhh!

 

FIX THIS PROBLEM!

 

[GTA3Rockstar]

how do itell what my pc is

[Bart_aalderink]

I try to run gta 3 on a Pentium 3 450MHz, 256 Mb Ram, 128 mb Apollo SiS 315 3d Thrill video card, with the newest drivers and Windows 98. When I start to walk in Liberty city, everthing seems normal, but when I look around with the mouse, the screen turns blue or white, with only the car lights, shadows, and traffic lights reamaining. I can also see some blurry shades, but is not the way it is supposed to work is it?

Does anyone know a solution for this?

 

Thanks,

 

Bart

[shoobaka]

Can't load a saved game

Hello! I'm french and I have the same error :

 

When I try to load a game an unhandled exception crash the game !

 

To find what is the problem, this is my config:

 

athlon 1500 XP+ under WinXP pro 256 Mo DDR Geforce2 64 Mo DDR.

 

If you know what should help me I'll be very happy !!!

 

[email protected]

 

Sorry for my english !

[I-I4x0®]

Stupid save game guys yust buy the game!!!!!!!

you can even instal a no cd crack and you can load!!!!!  

 

Well was getting anoyed by these save game people

 

Well good luck buying the game    

[luigi and 8-ball]

HI

 

 

Does anyone know where i can find a patch(fix) for GTA3 that's compatiable with Win 98.

[gtamonkey]

i've got a S3 Savage4 16mb card and apart from the game running slow (you can guess that) it doesn't render things properly.

 

eg. I can't see fire: flamethrower, molotov, CAR fire

    I can't see smoke: from the car

    I can't see any car lights or skid marks

    I can't see the blue target arrows or rings

    The glow from street lights appears but on the very edge of the level background

    I can't see car shadows

    I can't see bullet trails

    There are screwed up bits on cars with big black triangles on the panels which means you can see through the car there

 

However the game does appear to be 'FIXING' itself. I know, it hell weird but the more i play it the more those things get rendered.

 

Does anyone know how to fix this????? Bloody Savages!!!!