Why GTAIV doesn't work

[mrmozo]

You should know that there are people that can run the game well with reasonably good computers (take a look at the Social Club TV). It's just the game's performance is not consistent.

the game's performance my not be consistent on "reasonably good computers" because it's not designed for "reasonably good computers."

 

It's designed for the niche market to enjoy. I know it sounds bad, but n00bs need not apply when it comes to PC gaming.

elitist crap

[scratchyrice]

Oh what a surprise, Yet another fan boy. Here are the min specs exactly as printed on the box:

Window XP/Vista

Memory 1.5GB/s for Vista, 1GB for XP

256MB 7900 Or above gpu

Intel Core Duo 2 1.8Ghz/AMD Althon X2 64 2.4Ghz

 

My specs:

Windows XP SP3

2GB DDR2 6400(800mhz)

640MB Gefore 8800GTS OC'ed to 600Mhz core

AMD Althon X2 64 2.6Ghz OC'ed to 2.89Ghz

 

When i play it with every setting on min, and a resolution of 800x600, with the latest beta nvidia drivers(Which did help)

 

My benchmark results:

32FPS

 

What i should get if those specs on the back weren't bullsh*t:

Way above 60Fps

 

That alone is evidence to suggest its either sloppy programming, or an artificial boundry to force people to buy hardware just to run the game at reasonable rates.

Another peice of evidence, is that when people turn down their settings from high to low, You get about a 3fps increace!

 

You are obviously just a fanboy, Who has no idea what the hell hes talking about. If you have any real evidence of your stupid claims, please, show us. Otherwise, accept your beloved R* has f*cked up, and help!

 

 

 

[scratchyrice]

 

that is a FACT of pc gaming. the best games will NOT run very well(if at all) on mainstream systems.

What... The... f*ck?????? My system has been absolubetly fine for running all games, Except this one. Only mad rich kids spend £2000 on a pc. Oh and BTW, im a games developer, so i do know what im talking about, whereas you clearly do not.

[scratchyrice]

 

the game's performance my not be consistent on "reasonably good computers" because it's not designed for "reasonably good computers."

Well according to the back of the case it is! . I can understand that the game on its highest settings would require a good computer to run at high rates, but it runs like crap, on my 1 year old pc, ON LOWEST SETTINGS!

[Psycold]

 

I agree. Most of the whinning about bad performance is usually specs related. Not the game.

So why don't they whine about this with every game.

Its just that gta iv is poorly optimized and Toronto havent even checked the game properly for bugs.

Its just a shoddy game

every pc game has spec related issues. it just so happens that this is the biggest game of all time. can you imagine if halo had come out on PC? it'd be the same "mess" that everyone(n00bs) says this game is.

Besides the fact that the game doesn't work properly ON THE SPECS THAT ROCKSTAR RELEASED....anyone that has played this game on PC that has some kind of idea of how these things work, realizes that this game could easily have been optimized to run smoothly, because it does run smoothly sometimes, but the times it slows down don't make sense, the graphical settings make barely any difference to the performance, not only that but your suggestion that every game has issues is total B.S. I have never had issues like this with a game and I've been playing PC games since the black and white version of Prince of Persia came out in the 80's right up until Fallout 3 and most recently GTA4.

 

I love how you suggest that if Halo came out for PC it would have been a disaster....obviously you don't know WTF you are talking about because the game WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR PC BUT MICROSOFT BOUGHT OUT BUNGIE SOFTWARE SO THEY COULD HAVE THE GAME EXCLUSIVELY FOR XBOX UPON RELEASE. And what happened when they finally released Halo for PC? It was a sh*tty xbox port that ran horribly because just like GTA, it was poorly optimized. The worst part about reading your ridiculous rant is how you replied to yourself insulting everyone's intelligence because they were kind enough to not respond to your idiocy like I am doing, but I'm shameless am happy that way.

[abottig]

abottig you give pc gamers a bad rap nothing wrong with either setups its ALL PREFERENCE. I know what im doing with pcs and this game is a total sh*t port.

dude, with those specs i really don't understand how you can say this game is sh*t. have you upgraded drivers? are you running retail or cracked version? that's odd.

 

my friends who know very little about computers have played gtaiv on my pc and agree it blows away the console. one ps3 fanboy friend of mine even admitted that it looked better than his ps3(this same guy sh*ts all over the 360 version).

 

nicotin3:

 

this game does warm up my gpu.

 

you're right; i could have 60fps.... if i upgrade my hardware! that's the f*cking point i just made!

 

and; i buy hw just to post in my sig??? dude my hardware is old! e6600? 8800gt? that's not cutting edge bro. i also buy futureproof components, as evidenced in the fact that i'm off to play gta right now!

 

peace!

[nicotin3]

 

i'm simply pointing out the way that the PC gaming industry works.

 

You are? Well, you sure fooled everyone here. It looked a lot more like you were rubbing salt in the wounds of those who can barely if at all play this mess of a game, and doing so in the most smug, arrogant fashion possible.

i do apologize if i came off that way. however, what i have posted is the truth. the average console gamer is simply not welcome in the world of pc gaming. as you can see by looking around this board, it is filled with people who lack computer knowledge and/or the right hardware.

 

that is a FACT of pc gaming. the best games will NOT run very well(if at all) on mainstream systems.

 

how is it "smug," or "arrogant," if a lot of people could do the same by purchasing moderately priced hardware?

 

i'm not rubbing salt in the wound. i'm saying: go play console, or upgrade your pc. that's the reality of pc gaming.

Still at it?

 

The game has minimum and recomended requirements on the box.. would you recomend a 8600 256 card to anyone you care about? A 7950 GX2 eats that crap alive.

There is new hardware out there and its possible that this port might have compatbility problems with specific parts, combinations or drivers, you dont know because you dont have this hardware. Your specs are nothing to brag about, i have a similar setup and im happy with it but its 2 years old now... i dont want to but the i7 is calling for me) .

Edited December 11, 2008 by nicotin3

[abottig]

that is a FACT of pc gaming. the best games will NOT run very well(if at all) on mainstream systems.

What... The... f*ck?????? My system has been absolubetly fine for running all games, Except this one. Only mad rich kids spend £2000 on a pc. Oh and BTW, im a games developer, so i do know what im talking about, whereas you clearly do not.

bullsh*t! i'm calling bullsh*t on this "games developer."

 

you don't need to be a "mad rich kid," or spend $2000 to have a good pc.

 

e6600: about $160

8800gt: about $160

 

 

if you were a "games developer" i think you'd understand this.

 

you horrible liar.

[Kurgen]

 

that is a FACT of pc gaming. the best games will NOT run very well(if at all) on mainstream systems.

 

how is it "smug,"  or "arrogant," if a lot of people could do the same by purchasing moderately priced hardware?

 

i'm not rubbing salt in the wound. i'm saying: go play console, or upgrade your pc. that's the reality of pc gaming.

"Mainstream" systems? Then how would you explain this :

 

My PC spec :

 

C2D E7300 (2.66GHz)

4GB DDRII (3.25 usable in XP 32bit)

512MB HD2900XT

X-Fi extreme gamer

320GB SataII HD

 

I get between 22 to 32 fps, and that's going from absolutely lowest settings @ 1680 x 1050, to the highest the game will allow, at the same res. I don't use the -norestrictions switch, as there seemed to be little point when the game ran so badly even at the lowest settings. Also, I have no firewall, no anti-virus, nothing. It's about he barest config you could possibly imagine, and has 3.02GB of RAM free at the desktop.

 

Please tell me how this qualifies as "mainstream", or if I were to paraphrase your assertion; "not high-spec enough for the game"?

[ShXIII]

 

dude, with those specs i really don't understand how you can say this game is sh*t. have you upgraded drivers? are you running retail or cracked version? that's odd.

 

my friends who know very little about computers have played gtaiv on my pc and agree it blows away the console. one ps3 fanboy friend of mine even admitted that it looked better than his ps3(this same guy sh*ts all over the 360 version).

 

 

you dont have to understand, i spent hours optimizing with no success, im not the only one with this problem because the game is sh*t. do some research before you try to back this game, if you had success with it congrats you are one of the VERY FEW.

 

purchased from gamestop on release day..... returned to gamestop due to manufactures defect

[abottig]

i'm simply pointing out the way that the PC gaming industry works.

 

You are? Well, you sure fooled everyone here. It looked a lot more like you were rubbing salt in the wounds of those who can barely if at all play this mess of a game, and doing so in the most smug, arrogant fashion possible.

i do apologize if i came off that way. however, what i have posted is the truth. the average console gamer is simply not welcome in the world of pc gaming. as you can see by looking around this board, it is filled with people who lack computer knowledge and/or the right hardware.

 

that is a FACT of pc gaming. the best games will NOT run very well(if at all) on mainstream systems.

 

how is it "smug," or "arrogant," if a lot of people could do the same by purchasing moderately priced hardware?

 

i'm not rubbing salt in the wound. i'm saying: go play console, or upgrade your pc. that's the reality of pc gaming.

Still at it?

 

The game has minimum and recomended requirements on the box.. would you recomend a 8600 256 card to anyone you care about? A 7950 GX2 eats that crap alive.

There is new hardware out there and its possible that this port might have compatbility problems with specific parts, combinations or drivers, you dont know because you dont have this hardware. Your specs are nothing to brag about, i have a similar setup and im happy with it but its 2 years old now... i dont want to but the i7 is calling for me) .

dude, im not bragging about my specs at all. i think you've missed the point.

[abottig]

dude, with those specs i really don't understand how you can say this game is sh*t. have you upgraded drivers? are you running retail or cracked version? that's odd.

 

my friends who know very little about computers have played gtaiv on my pc and agree it blows away the console. one ps3 fanboy friend of mine even admitted that it looked better than his ps3(this same guy sh*ts all over the 360 version).

 

 

you dont have to understand, i spent hours optimizing with no success, im not the only one with this problem because the game is sh*t. do some research before you try to back this game, if you had success with it congrats you are one of the VERY FEW.

 

purchased from gamestop on release day..... returned to gamestop due to manufactures defect

i've done my research, that's why i can run the game.

[Psycold]

dude, with those specs i really don't understand how you can say this game is sh*t. have you upgraded drivers? are you running retail or cracked version? that's odd.

 

my friends who know very little about computers have played gtaiv on my pc and agree it blows away the console. one ps3 fanboy friend of mine even admitted that it looked better than his ps3(this same guy sh*ts all over the 360 version).

 

 

you dont have to understand, i spent hours optimizing with no success, im not the only one with this problem because the game is sh*t. do some research before you try to back this game, if you had success with it congrats you are one of the VERY FEW.

 

purchased from gamestop on release day..... returned to gamestop due to manufactures defect

i've done my research, that's why i can run the game.

this guy seriously thinks he's better than most PC gamers because he's part of the small minority of people that has the game working with apparently zero issues. If I were him and I got incredibly lucky and the game ran perfectly for me, I sure as hell wouldn't be insulting the majority of people who are having issues, telling them they didn't do enough research to be able to run the game, I would be trying to help them.

 

But that's an asshole for you.

[abottig]

this guy seriously thinks he's better than most PC gamers because he's part of the small minority of people that has the game working with apparently zero issues. If I were him and I got incredibly lucky and the game ran perfectly for me, I sure as hell wouldn't be insulting the majority of people who are having issues, telling them they didn't do enough research to be able to run the game, I would be trying to help them.

 

But that's an asshole for you.

did i say that i was better at anything? no i didn't.

 

i have been active in other threads giving advice to those who are seeking it. i don't help crybabies or those who refuse to buy another r* just because their computer sucks.

 

btw, the small(LOUD) minority are those who have problems with the game. most of us are doing just fine.

[ZaCkOX]

 

It's called a niche...

 

It's been designed with the PC gamer in mind. The PC gamer and the console gamer are two different animals.

 

The PC gamer is an enthusiast who takes pride in his rig. They buy graphics cards, and high performance memory. They overclock, and use watercooling. They run benchmarks and stress tests. They drool over things like aftermarket cooling, L2 cache, and tight RAM timings. They are the people you call to fix your PC when you f*cked it up.

 

When a game like GTAIV comes out, the PC gamer dreams of pushing it to it's limit with newer or overclocked hardware. Generally, the PC gamer has more disposable income to spend on their rig. Rockstar gets this, and so do a lot of PC game makers. They purposely make it so that you need a sick system to run their games. Then, they go a few steps further and make sure that you need a REALLY sick computer to run at MAX settings. It's a niche market.

 

The console gamer just wants to pop it in and play. He says, "I payed $300 for this thing and I should be able to play any game that they release for it!" And he is right. He should--and can--play games that are released for it. He should stick to his console.

 

Unfortunately, the console gamer also applies this philosophy to his PC. In some cases the console gamer's PC cost more than his xbox or ps3. The ways PC's are marketed, it's very easy to think you are getting a great gaming rig, when in fact you aren't. These things are best left to the PC enthusiasts.

 

So that's Rockstar's evil secret. They made a kick-ass game for all the 360 and ps3 owners. Then, they made a great game for the PC enthusiasts who have the time, money, and know-how to use the game now and eventually push it to it's limits and MAX out all settings.

 

If you fit into the category of PC enthusiast/gamer, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, then please uninstall GTAIV and fire up your console version.

 

...Me? I own an Xbox360 and the rig you see in my sig. I sold my 360 copy of GTAIV, picked up the PC version, and would never look back. For those who have the means, the PC version is the ONLY way to play GTAIV. Otherwise, stick to the console. Nothing wrong with that though. The console version still kicks ass!

 

BTW, to the people who have Anti-Rockstar signatures:

Are you seriously telling me that when the next GTA comes out for console that you won't buy it? Bullsh*t. I'll see you all at the next midnight launch!

Rockstar had not planned on making their game the way it came out. They just wanted the easy way out. Also PC gamers have not always been like that. They have become more enthusiast over the last 5 years. I been around it for over 18 years, what you are stating is something newer and no Rockstar shouldn't look at it like that. They should make it smooth, playable, and of course work with crossfireX and Sli, so again you have it wrong.

 

A lot of real PC players will agree with me, we want a working smooth game!

[ShXIII]

 

i have been active in other threads giving advice to those who are seeking it. i don't help crybabies or those who refuse to buy another r* just because their computer sucks.

 

btw, the small(LOUD) minority are those who have problems with the game. most of us are doing just fine.

Are you trying to tell me my PC isn't suitable to run this game? if you are then your pretty f*cking stupid just like rockstar

[Psycold]

 

this guy seriously thinks he's better than most PC gamers because he's part of the small minority of people that has the game working with apparently zero issues. If I were him and I got incredibly lucky and the game ran perfectly for me, I sure as hell wouldn't be insulting the majority of people who are having issues, telling them they didn't do enough research to be able to run the game, I would be trying to help them.

 

But that's an asshole for you.

did i say that i was better at anything? no i didn't.

 

i have been active in other threads giving advice to those who are seeking it. i don't help crybabies or those who refuse to buy another r* just because their computer sucks.

 

btw, the small(LOUD) minority are those who have problems with the game. most of us are doing just fine.

go find some statistics to prove your point, I'll find some that prove mine:

 

GTA4.net poll:

 

How smoothly does GTA IV PC run on your machine?

 

Very smoothly, no problems at all.

1816

 

Quite smoothly.

3194

 

It runs, but it runs horribly.

6023

 

It doesn't run at all. I get errors.

2022

 

I don't have GTA IV PC yet.

2483

 

I'm not getting GTA IV PC.

1792

 

Votes: 17330

 

Thats 17330 total, minus the people who arent getting it and don't have it, brings us to 13055

 

So under 14% of people have it running perfectly.

Under 24% have it running quite smoothly

61% of people either can't run it at all or are having major issues

 

I would say your math sucks or you didn't bother to look.

 

 

 

----------------------------

 

 

 

Metacritic:

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/grandtheftauto4

 

a reader rating of 4.2 out of 10 with 352 votes

 

 

----------------------------------

 

IGN.com

http://pc.ign.com/objects/142/14269673.html

 

 

Reader Average: 5.0

37 reader reviews

 

-----------------------------------

 

 

Gamespot.com

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/grandthe...to4/review.html

 

User Score 7.1 with 2,104 votes

 

 

------------------------------------

 

 

So hows that foot taste?

Edited December 11, 2008 by Psycold

[Bladerunner_UK]

 

this guy seriously thinks he's better than most PC gamers because he's part of the small minority of people that has the game working with apparently zero issues. If I were him and I got incredibly lucky and the game ran perfectly for me, I sure as hell wouldn't be insulting the majority of people who are having issues, telling them they didn't do enough research to be able to run the game, I would be trying to help them.

 

But that's an asshole for you.

did i say that i was better at anything? no i didn't.

 

i have been active in other threads giving advice to those who are seeking it. i don't help crybabies or those who refuse to buy another r* just because their computer sucks.

 

btw, the small(LOUD) minority are those who have problems with the game. most of us are doing just fine.

I have been following this forum ever since I bought GTA IV on release day last week, in the hope of finally getting the patch and fixing most of the problems.

This guy "Abottig", however, has prompted me to register and post here.

Unfortunately, I fall directly into the category that he describes in his original post. I am a PC enthusiast in my spare time. In my "REAL LIFE" I am a self-employed computer tech.

I have only just finished laughing after seeing his specs...On a personal note to Abottig: If I were you, I would seriously consider upgrading that mediocre POS that you call a gaming machine!

I am currently running a Q6600 o/[email protected], water cooled, 2*9800 GTX's (also clocked ) with 8Gb DDR2 on a 64 bit Vista Ultimate with SP1.

My Hard drives may be a bottleneck..I only have 2*500Gb drives @ 10,000rpm in a RAID 0 config...

Spend $2000 on a rig? No chance I would never stoop so low!

 

So when somebody like myself tells you that GTA IV is a poorly coded, un-optimized, total waste of space, then maybe you should listen.

With all settings maxed out running on a 1900*1200 monitor, I barely scrape an average of 60fps (FRAPS, NOT Benchmark!) If I turn it down to medium or low, I still cant get over 70 fps.

 

Yes, it DOES look good on my box, I can clearly see how poor the shadows are! A rig that can take Crysis and run it at full settings should be able to run GTA at incredible rates.. the fact that I cannot proves that it is a POS.

People that have 'normal' (NOT "inferior!") computers should be expected to be able to at least run the game.

 

If you ever need help sorting your rig out Abottig, I will gladly oblige..but make sure you have the money up front!

Edited December 11, 2008 by Bladerunner_UK

[Anchormenrugby]

Please tell me, for those that are much more knowledgable than I, if my "rig" is sufficient to run this game? I want to make certain that my expectation of when I looked at the Minimum requirements and Recommended requirements, that I wasn't some sort of idiot when I complained to Rockstar about my troubles. I am not meaning this sarcastcially, let me know that with my specs, I should expect to not see the gps map in its entirety, the menu during the game when I press Esc, the sky, water, glass, or have parts of buildings showing throught road, because that is what I see and experience.

 

thank you

[Bladerunner_UK]

 

Please tell me, for those that are much more knowledgable than I, if my "rig" is sufficient to run this game?  I want to make certain that my expectation of when I looked at the Minimum requirements and Recommended requirements, that I wasn't some sort of idiot when I complained to Rockstar about my troubles.  I am not meaning this sarcastcially, let me know that with my specs, I should expect to not see the gps map in its entirety, the menu during the game when I press Esc, the sky, water, glass, or have parts of buildings showing throught road, because that is what I see and experience.

 

thank you

Depends a lot on how much vRAM you have on that card...The CPU and RAM are OK, but you REALLY need a MINIMUM of 512Mb vRAM on the card. With 256 you will run with extremely low settings, and it will be slow as hell.

I would recommend getting a better GFX card as soon as you can, you should be able to pick up a good one (not a great one! ) for about £100 (€120, $ 200)

If you DO have 512 vRAM, then I would try clearing out your gfx drivers and trying different recent releases until you find one that works, and make sure that you havent got anything running in the background that isnt necessary. You could also try the latest DX9 drivers if you havent updated those in a while.

Edited December 11, 2008 by Bladerunner_UK

[Anchormenrugby]

Sorry, not a thorough post. The card is 512mb. GeForce 7950 GT 512mb. I sincerely feel I should run this without a problem at least medium setting.

[Psycold]

Well, he either realized he was completely wrong and is afraid to return to his own thread or he is still searching long and hard for proof that the majority of people who bought the game are not having problems, some people's kid's....I tell ya.....

[Bladerunner_UK]

 

Sorry, not a thorough post.  The card is 512mb.  GeForce 7950 GT 512mb.  I sincerely feel I should run this without a problem at least medium setting.

You are right, You SHOULD be able to expect medium settings, but because this game is so badly ported, you cant. Sorry, but that is R*'s fault, not yours!

[Anchormenrugby]

You are right, You SHOULD be able to expect medium settings, but because this game is so badly ported, you cant. Sorry, but that is R*'s fault, not yours!

thank you. While I do plan on building a newer computer, this one is only 2 years old. A couple lifetimes in the tech world I'm sure, but still...I can only spend $2000 on a computer so often....as often as the wife lets me....or knows about.

[scratchyrice]

@abottig: Well its all very well saying "I can run the game". I can run the game, But not at acceptable frame rates concidering my specs. What are you getting? Anything above 40FPS on your specs is just a lie.

[ikt]

gtfo my /b/

 

GTA IV just isn't optimized. I've seen better games with better graphics running at better framerates.

[snak3ua]

Every god damn game that comes out of montreal or toronto is dirt look at Vegas 1 and farcry 2 f*ckin Dirt man

 

i am canadian btw

[mva5580]

I agree with the original basic premise that there are "PC enthusiasts" and then there are the people who just don't know crap about PC's and bitch when they don't work. Those 2 groups certainly exist, and it's no surprise that 2nd group is flipping out right now. We've all heard it a million times.

 

But the game *does* have issues. It should be optimized better, more stability, and for a game to be made for "future PC's," it's a complete JOKE that it doesn't have DX10 or anti-aliasing capabilities. That in itself is embarrassing.

[abottig]

 

i have been active in other threads giving advice to those who are seeking it. i don't help crybabies or those who refuse to buy another r* just because their computer sucks.

 

btw, the small(LOUD) minority are those who have problems with the game. most of us are doing just fine.

Are you trying to tell me my PC isn't suitable to run this game? if you are then your pretty f*cking stupid just like rockstar

no. i'm saying you're not suitable.

[abottig]

You are right, You SHOULD be able to expect medium settings, but because this game is so badly ported, you cant. Sorry, but that is R*'s fault, not yours!

thank you. While I do plan on building a newer computer, this one is only 2 years old. A couple lifetimes in the tech world I'm sure, but still...I can only spend $2000 on a computer so often....as often as the wife lets me....or knows about.

dude, just drop $200 on a new card.