GTA 3 and Vice City on Windows 8

[mitchnorton]

Hey guys

 

I need help trying to figure out how to get GTA 3 and Vice City to work on my Windows 8 PC. I'm running Windows 8 Pro with MC, legit. Both game versions are from Steam. Both games worked perfectly fine on Windows 7. I'm running an Intel Core i5 750 and GTX 470, 4GB RAM. My problem: Since both games are internally similar in architecture, the same problems occur for both games so I'm assuming the same fixes should work for both games. The games start up perfectly fine, until it comes to starting a game. Whether I start a new game or load one of my 100% save files, the game loads the save file but once the loading bar has passed, the screen just stays black and doesn't render any visible gameplay. The game isn't frozen as I can easily multitask out of it. I know Windows 8 is a new system and many people wouldn't have used it yet, but it is very similar to Windows 7 in terms of compatibility, why do these games not work. I've tried Windows 98/ME mode, in GTA 3 it doesn't work and on VC it asks to insert a game disk on start-up. I am not going to downgrade to Windows 7 because I'm perfectly happy with Windows 8. SA, IV and EFLC work perfectly fine, even PCSX2 emulator for LCS and VCS works fine. I'd really like to fix this problem.

Edited November 4, 2012 by mitchnorton

[ramarar]

Try running gta 3 and gta vc in windows xp sp 2 mode.I also had a problem while running gta vc on Windows 8.It ran very slow and got stuck while loading.When I tried running it in xp sp2 compatibility and it worked

 

[Spuds725]

One frequent problem with many newer systems is they don't support VC's NATIVE resolution which is 640 x 480.

 

Go into your graphic settings on your PC (outside the game) and see if it is even possible to switch to this resolution.... if not then that may be your problem.

 

What occurs is the game tries to start and checks for the gta_vc.set file and will use the resolution in that if it is there.... if it isn't there then it will start a game in its native resolution--- 640 x 480..... if your system doesn't support it, the game will just hang up.

 

If so-- check the buglist with solutions thread -- http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=188753 Problem # 31 .... I "hosted" 2 settings files with links in that thread.... try one or the other... put it in your VC user files folder (should be under mydocuments or what not-- not sure what "8" uses)... and then try starting that game--- if that was the problem then the settings file will get you past the check and the game should start.

 

If that was the issue, please post back so others can benefit from this.

 

If that is the problem, you will need to get someone to post a settings file for III with a supported resolution selected to get past the check (I don't have III for PC-- I play on playstation but happen to own VC for PC in addition to my PS2 version.

 

HTH

 

Spuds...

 

//edit//

 

OOPs.... just saw you have the steam version--- no promises that the settings file will work-- I use the PC disk version.... but if it doesn't work for your (my settings file)-- then I still urge you to try the solution with another persons Steam version settings file.

 

I wish you luck.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Spuds725

[mitchnorton]

Running the game in XP SP2 mode didn't work, and the problem isn't with the resolution but with the actual displaying of the game once loaded. I'm able to change all of the settings in the game's menus, and I'm suspecting it might have something to do with directx. Right now I'm hoping a service pack will fix it

 

EDIT: I checked spuds list of bug fixes and tried number 30 and it worked, the games run perfectly fine now. So it looks like turning on the frame limiter for loading up the game also fixes the black screen issue in Windows 8 as well. Spuds, you can add this to your huge list of fixes if you want so other people upgrading to Win8 can play 3 and VC fine.

Edited November 4, 2012 by mitchnorton

[Spuds725]

Cool, glad you got it running

[ramarar]

you can experiment with compatibility modes.I run gta vice city and 3 on win 98, xp sp2 and xp sp3 mode.