GTA Vice City Windows 7 Problems SOLVED

[OWLovethBL]

Hi to all,

 

I felt the need to post this here since, I've been having heart attacks over it since I installed VC. I even did a total clean install of my OS to make sure it wasn't being caused by software clashes. So:

 

I've got an Alienware M17x with an i7 processor, 4Gb RAM, Radeon HD 5870 Graphics card and a 1920x1200 screen. As you could guess, I usually max the settings on a game when I play it.

 

I was getting a black screen whenever I tried to load a saved game, or whenever I tried to start a mission. Seriously. If I did coax the game into loading (usually by CTrl+Alt+Del ing to the desktop and then re-entering the game) , I would walk into the marker in the hotel for the first mission, watch the cutscene and then stare at the black screen for as long as a pleased while the game didn't load.

 

I tried everything to fix it. I tried disabling the windows event log. I tried running in 98/ME compatibility mode and I tried deleting the .set file every time I saved the game. I even tired deleting the .set file on startup and re-configuring the settings to my liking every time I started up. I did a clean install of the game - as I mentioned, I even restored the factory image of my PC. Nothing worked. The only way I could play a saved game was to delete the set file and play in 640x580 resolution.

 

And you know what was causing the black screen?? The f*cking frame limiter. I turned it off because the game looks so silky smooth without it. I got so frustrated when I tried all of the long-winded restart-your-computer-delete-.set-file fixes and none of them worked.

 

I looked at this thread http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=459166 about the cars not reversing properly with the frame limiter off, and I thought about how in San Andreas CJ doesn't swim properly with it off, so I deleted the .set file, loaded the game, went into options and maxed the resolution and draw distance but left the frame limiter ON.

 

I don't want anyone to go through all the hell I did, so simply this - If you've tried all the other fixes and you still get the black screen when loading and starting a mission - turn the frame limiter ON!! You can always turn it off for gameplay once you've started the mission, just make sure it is ON for loading and cutscenes.

 

This may seem simple but trust me I'm sooooo happy after figuring it out! The GTA games aren't really meant to run with no frame limit, turning the limiter off always seems to cause problems!

[Spuds725]

If you read through the buglist-- there are several "graphic" related problems associated to the framelimiter...

 

Do you believe this is a specific problem to Windows 7?

 

Do you know if it occurs during mid mission cutscenes or just the beginning mission ones??

 

If you think it will be beneficial I will add it to the pinned buglist (with solutions).

 

//edit//

 

I went ahead and added it... does it need any corrections?? #30

 

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?act=ST&...=0#entry2769533

Edited February 17, 2011 by Spuds725

[pleshy]

Hi. I believe this should be updated. I just spent a sleepless night trying to fix the aforementioned issues with Vice City without success until I stumbled upon an ingenious solution. Turning on the frame limiter not only lowers fps but also causes other issues - cars are not able to reverse properly and motorbikes rock (much like a boat) when not in motion. The following fix removes the need to turn the frame limiter on - from your video card's control panel force V-Sync on. That's it. Bear in mind it might not work with older video cards and/or driver versions. That's the only fix for Windows 7 I could find and it works like a charm.

 

P.S. Credit goes to KyZiX.

[spaceeinstein]

The game is meant to be played at 30 fps, so any higher and the game screws up. This applies to every GTA game since III. If you want a higher frame limit, there's a tool at GTAGarage, but I don't recommend anyone playing higher than 30.

Edited September 11, 2011 by spaceeinstein

[mateczko]

This applies to every GTA game since III.

San Andreas is set to 25 fps, so it's not the same as VC and III.

 

[fluffyheretic]

 

If you read through the buglist-- there are several "graphic" related problems associated to the framelimiter...

 

Do you believe this is a specific problem to Windows 7?

 

Do you know if it occurs during mid mission cutscenes or just the beginning mission ones??

 

If you think it will be beneficial I will add it to the pinned buglist (with solutions).

 

//edit//

 

I went ahead and added it... does it need any corrections?? #30

With regard to bug #30, I can confirm it exists on Windows XP. If I wait long enough the game actually will load, but it takes ages. One time I clocked it an over an hour (don't ask me why I waited that long).

 

Very rarely I notice it happen in mission cutscenes, but it doesn't freeze as long in those cases. It was a particular annoyance in the Malibu mission where you race Hilary since I had to retry that mission many times, but it was fine as long as I remembered to skip the cutscene.

 

edit: Tried pleshy's suggestion of forcing on vsync via a combination of Nvidia control panel and Nvidia Inspector (for some reason control panel alone doesn't do jack with Vice City). It DOES work!

 

Highly suggest #30 in the OP should be updated with this information.

Edited April 20, 2013 by fluffyheretic

[Spuds725]

Ok-- will add this....

 

My bad for not following up with that when posted (in 2011)....

 

//edit//

 

Added alternate solution about vsync to #30

Edited April 20, 2013 by Spuds725

[lipplog]

I don't recommend anyone playing higher than 30.

 

As someone who rediscovered GTA SA on the oculus rift, I refused to accept this.

Thank you, Owlovethbl!

 

I've been looking for this solution for over a year! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Edited December 3, 2014 by lipplog

[Patrik2000_CZ]

I had the same problem. After reinstalling VC it works fine.