How to start GTAIV without Social Club

[Purple Pete]

I have retail version of GTAIV PC and I only play with an offline account. After initial confirmation, I had my firewall block all access to all GTAIV applications. (Later I downloaded and installed patch rather than using windows live).

 

If I can't bypass all this extra social club crap, is there at least a way to prevent the long delays it creates by asking me EVERY TIME if I really want to play in offline mode? Because social club doesn't load with windows (because I turned it off at start), it's a long process to get the game going. I click the icon, then wait for a long time while looking at the DOS window. Finally, a window comes up and I hit PLAY. Then, I wait another 15 seconds or so, then it tells me I'm offline and I have to hit OK again for it to proceed to the game. After waiting for the Rockstar logo to come and go (can't skip that either) then I finally get to the menu. Even after I click START (from game menu) it used to take anywhere from 1-2 1/2 minutes for the game to start, but I've had quicker start times since adding the /high flag to the GTAIV shortcut Icon.

 

Anyway, is there any flag I can add to at least tell the game beforehand that I want to start and play in offline mode? It's not just the waiting, it's the having to wait as each prompt-to-continue comes and goes.

 

Thanks for any help.

Edited December 18, 2008 by Purple Pete

[Kurgen]

Would it have been so hard to put a "?" at the end of your thread title? <-- see! Dead easy.

 

It looked like you had the solution to the problem rather than asking for one. Incidentally, it (Social Club login) bugs the hell out of me too, hence my frustration to find that you didn't in fact have the solution.

[Purple Pete]

I tried to edit to put the "?" in, but I can't edit the post caption. Thanks though for your tremendous help in correcting my punctuation.

 

When you see a thread in which you can offering nothing of value, would it be so hard to just ignore it?

 

 

[ this space intentionally left blank ] <=== see! DEAD EASY!

 

 

Again, thank you so much.

[Barebones]

If I can't bypass all this extra social club crap, is there at least a way to prevent the log delays it creates by asking me EVERY TIME if I really want to play in offline mode. Because social club doesn't load with windows (because I turned it off at start), it's a long process to get the game going. I click the icon, then wait for a long time while looking at the DOS window. Finally, a window comes up and I hit PLAY. Then I wait another 15 seconds or so, then it tells me I'm offline and I have to hit OK again for it to proceed to the game. After waiting for the Rockstar logo to come and go (can't skip that either) then I finally get to the menu. Even after I click START (from game menu) it used to take anywhere from 1-2 1/2 minutes for the game to start, but I've had quicker start times since adding the /high flag to the GTAIV shortcut Icon.

Ughh.

 

This is what I was afraid of. I'm on the fence as far as picking this game up for this very reason. I did learn that we can play in offline mode but the scenario you mention above is not something I want to have to go through every time I want to sit down for a little SINGLEPLAYER fun.

 

I'll never understand why software companies think that something like forced Social Club logins or reminders are a good feature. I think I will keep my money for now in hopes that this gets addressed.

 

I bet users of pirated versions aren't subjected to this BS. And no, I am not going to pirate it, I just think its stupid that those stealing the game get a better experience than those that pay for it.

 

So get your act together R*. Not everyone wants to go through this hassle just to have the 'privilege' of using your product.

[johnlee]

If I can't bypass all this extra social club crap, is there at least a way to prevent the log delays it creates by asking me EVERY TIME if I really want to play in offline mode.  Because social club doesn't load with windows (because I turned it off at start), it's a long process to get the game going.  I click the icon, then wait for a long time while looking at the DOS window.  Finally, a window comes up and I hit PLAY.  Then I wait another 15 seconds or so, then it tells me I'm offline and I have to hit OK again for it to proceed to the game.  After waiting for the Rockstar logo to come and go (can't skip that either) then I finally get to the menu.  Even after I click START (from game menu) it used to take anywhere from 1-2 1/2 minutes for the game to start, but I've had quicker start times since adding the /high flag to the GTAIV shortcut Icon.

Ughh.

 

This is what I was afraid of. I'm on the fence as far as picking this game up for this very reason. I did learn that we can play in offline mode but the scenario you mention above is not something I want to have to go through every time I want to sit down for a little SINGLEPLAYER fun.

 

I'll never understand why software companies think that something like forced Social Club logins or reminders are a good feature. I think I will keep my money for now in hopes that this gets addressed.

 

I bet users of pirated versions aren't subjected to this BS. And no, I am not going to pirate it, I just think its stupid that those stealing the game get a better experience than those that pay for it.

 

So get your act together R*. Not everyone wants to go through this hassle just to have the 'privilege' of using your product.

What is worse is the rocstar social club icon is ALWAYS in the system tray no matter what. I turn it off in msconfig and next boot up it appears again! (the ONLY other software that does not annoying crap is AIM instant messanger, but even for that there is a setting to turn it off...) but you can turn it off, if you EVER play a single game it turns its permanently on again and you have to go back to msconfig to turn it off, but next time you play a game it reverts back to forever on again... if that makes sense...

[Barebones]

Please fix this in the next patch R*.

 

I have money in hand and I want to give it to you. Not going to pay to have to put up with crap like this though.

[Kurgen]

I tried to edit to put the "?" in, but I can't edit the post caption. Thanks though for your tremendous help in correcting my punctuation.

 

When you see a thread in which you can offering nothing of value, would it be so hard to just ignore it?

 

 

[ this space intentionally left blank ] <=== see! DEAD EASY!

 

 

Again, thank you so much.

lol... Sorry, I really didn't mean to go off on one... I just thought someone had solved the issue, but was soon disappointed when I opened the thread.

 

I also agree about the systray applet. What the fck were they playing at, thinking we would neither notice nor care about this omnipresent program? Where was the "Do you wish to have this program running after exiting the game Yes/No ?" option? Nope, it wasn't there. They, i.e. someone who really should have known better, should have flagged this as a dead-cert to piss-off their customer-base. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I can't help but get the feeling that the bean-counters got the final say in how this game was foisted upon us, not the devs. Any game developer worth their salt, i.e. those who do or have at some point played PC games, would have realised that a TSR systray prog would have raised some hackles.

 

 

[Paddy the Wak]

What is worse is the rocstar social club icon is ALWAYS in the system tray no matter what. I turn it off in msconfig and next boot up it appears again! (the ONLY other software that does not annoying crap is AIM instant messanger, but even for that there is a setting to turn it off...) but you can turn it off, if you EVER play a single game it turns its permanently on again and you have to go back to msconfig to turn it off, but next time you play a game it reverts back to forever on again... if that makes sense...

Right click the icon in the system tray and un-tick "Run when windows starts".

[Purple Pete]

Kurgen... thanks for taking my sarcasm in stride. I actually do value the help from these forums. Hopefully this WILL be the thread people will come to for a solution to this problem. So far, no luck.

 

Piling on to your other points... SecuROM is also installed when you install GTAIV for PC. This is copy protection software and has known to have a few problems of its own. Beyond that, it's particularly difficult to fully remove from your system.