Saved Game Files

[NitroBullet]

I don't get why GTA IV doesn't let me use other save games. I mean, I just downloaded a save game earlier today, and it didn't work.

 

So what if I reformat my hard drive, and I want to use the same save game? Because I plan to be upgrading to Vista soon.

[Girish]

Please use the search function next time. There have been many topics for the same and searching would have told you that you cannot load other savegames unless you use Xliveless. This mod allows you to load different savegames but disables GFWL and multiplayer. It also changes the location of the savegames folder. So, you'll have to copy your dowloaded save to the new location. Everything else is mentioned in the topic of the mod.

[NitroBullet]

I don't want to use xliveless. I want be able to get achievements and maintain game progress.

[Girish]

Then you can't use other downloaded saves. There is no fix available as of yet that will allow you to use those saves with your LIVE account.

[NitroBullet]

So you're saying live detects my game save as being mine? So if I do reformat, then I can still be able to use it right?

[Girish]

Note that if you format, you'll have to backup your Xlive folder or else your own saves won't work too. And as such, if you use any other save, you'll still need to use Xliveless to bypass the xlive check. More info on backing up saves and your xlive folder can be found in the pinned FAQ.

[NitroBullet]

Ok Thanks.

Edited August 19, 2009 by NitroBullet

[crackdawg]

To summarize it technically: The saves have a hash stored in them that are based on account characteristics. xlive.dll has a single function in it that checks this hash and returns true or false. Xliveless patches that function to unconditionally return true. The latest xliveless has been re-patched to give legitimate users back the ability to play online and such, search for it on Google; it's protected and still ridiculously limited from the original author so don't look for it there.