GTAKid667 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Common Issues and Solutions There are many issues you may encounter when playing Grand Theft Auto III, from bugs during gameplay to technical issues trying to run the game on your hardware. This topic is designed to highlight common issues encountered by players and provide solutions to them. Most of the issues featured specifically refer to the PC version of Grand Theft Auto III but some solutions may work across multiple platforms. If you can't find the solution you are looking for, create a separate help topic for your issue. Remember, this forum is for unmodded versions of Grand Theft Auto III only. If you're having issues in a game with modifications installed, seek help in the GTA III, VC & SA modding forum. Common Fixes The following suggestions are some of the most common solutions for issues with the game. It's recommended you try these first and that you install the fix modifications if running the PC version on modern hardware and operating systems to fix a wide range of further potential issues. Enable "Frame Limiter" under "Options" and "Display Setup" in the game menu Delete the gta3.set file from the "GTA3 User Files" folder Update the game to Patch 1.1 (Direct Link) For the Steam version, verify the integrity of the game files by right clicking on "Grand Theft Auto III" in the Steam application, selecting "Properties" and the "Local Files" tab Reinstalling the game Installing SilentPatch and the separate DDraw Component - A modification that fixes a variety of issues with the PC version of Grand Theft Auto III Installing Widescreen Fix - A modification to fix widescreen resolution support on the PC version of Grand Theft Auto III Installing Steam Car Colour Fix - A modification to fix the dark vehicle issue that appears when playing the Steam version of Grand Theft Auto III on modern operating systems Issues List Censorship Problems: The game is censored and has the following restrictions: There are no Rampages present in the game The "Rampages passed" and "People wasted" statistics are removed Some missions use alternative bloodless models NPCs will not bleed when killed and cannot start a blood trail NPCs will not lose their limbs when killed with powerful weapons NPCs will not be kicked when on the ground NPCs will not make a sound when ran over NPCs will not drop money when killed Solutions: Install SilentPatch Download a "Blood Patch" Change your PC System Language and Keyboard Layout from French or German Dark Vehicles on Steam Version Problems: When playing the Steam version of the game on modern operating systems, vehicles appear with a dark tint to their colour Solutions: Install Steam Car Colour Fix Frequent FPS Drops and Game Lag Problems: There are frame rate drops during gameplay, including when firing a weapon and crashing a vehicle The game experiences severe lag during gameplay Solutions: Change your Audio Hardware settings to "Miles Fast 2D Positional Audio" under "Options" and "Audio Setup" in the game menu Game Does Not Launch Problems: When clicked, the game does not launch The game launches to a "Cannot find 640x480 video mode" error Solutions: Try the following compatibility settings by right clicking on the gta3.exe file, selecting "Properties" and going to the "Compatibility" tab: Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2) Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution Change high DPI settings and then tick "Override high DPI scaling behaviour" in the pop up window ensuring "Application" is selecting in the drop down - This is recommended if you use Windows on a high DPI screen with a scaling of 125% or more Delete the gta3.set file from the "GTA3 User Files" folder Update the game to Patch 1.1 (Direct Link) Installing SilentPatch and the separate DDraw Component Graphics, Physics and Speed Issues Problems: Elements of the HUD including the Health Indicator and Police Stars will flash much quicker than normal When running down sloped surfaces or jumping, Claude will jump far forward and take a great amount of damage The game clock, clouds and timers advance quicker than normal Vehicles do not reverse correctly Solutions: Enable "Frame Limiter" under "Options" and "Display Setup" in the game menu - These are all frame rate related issues and occur when the game exceeds 30FPS For speed issues where "Frame Limiter" is enabled, upload your save file to GTASnP.com and redownload it with the "Reset Timers" modification enabled from the drop down menu Aiming Issues Problems: When the "Widescreen" setting is enabled, the aim reticule does not match where weapon bullets hit Solutions: Install Widescreen Fix Audio Issues Problems: There is an echo with the game sound Solutions: Change your Audio Hardware settings to "Miles Fast 2D Positional Audio" under "Options" and "Audio Setup" in the game menu Update your PC Sound Drivers Can't Find Save File Location Problems: On Windows, the "GTA3 User Files" folder is not present in its usual location as a subfolder of "Documents" Solutions: Check the following locations for the "GTA3 User Files" folder: C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\ C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Data\ Try the following compatibility settings by right clicking on the gta3.exe file, selecting "Properties" and going to the "Compatibility" tab: Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2) ddhelp.dll Error Problems: An error occurs relating to ddhelp.dll Solutions: Disable onboard sound cards Game Freezes when launching another GTA Problems: The game freezes when launching another Grand Theft Auto game Solutions: Install SilentPatch and the separate DDraw Component Missing Mouse Problems: The mouse does not appear in game and nothing happens when the mouse is clicked or scrolled Solutions: Alt+Tab out of the game and then return to it Multistorey Mayhem Statistic Missing Problems: The statistic for "Multistorey Mayhem" does not appear in the stats menu Solutions: There are currently no public tools available to correct this issue but it can be re-enabled through manual save editing by correcting the missing value in the stats block of the save file. Start a new topic to request someone with save editing experience to fix your save. Suggestions: To prevent this issue from occuring: If you are planning on exploiting the glitch involving the Information Pickup at the Police Station, use an Ambulance and the Paramedic mission. Using a Taxi and Taxi Driver will remove the statistic from the menu No Fires and Explosions Problems: There is no fire or explosions in the game where there should be Solutions: Turn on "Frame Sync" under "Options" and "Display Setup" in the game menu Purple Nines Missing Problems: There are no members of the Purple Nines gang spawning in Wichita Gardens Solutions: [PC] Load your save file with GTA III Save File Editor and apply the fix for the "Purple Nines glitch" [PS2] Repair your save file using HEX editing by following Stahli's Savegame Repair Guide Suggestions: To prevent this issue from occuring: Install SilentPatch When starting a new game without SilentPatch, ensure that there are no save files present in the "GTA3 User Files" directory which have the mission "Rumble" completed Rampages Missing Problems: One or more Rampages in the game are missing There are no Rampages present in the game Solutions: Check the secondary location for the Rampages that are missing - Rampages in Grand Theft Auto III will spawn at an alternate secondary location if they are failed Install SilentPatch Download a "Blood Patch" Change your PC System Language and Keyboard Layout from French or German Silent Radio Stations Problems: All Radio Stations have no audio when selected, but other game sounds including dialogue and city ambience work as normal Solutions: Update the game to Patch 1.1 (Direct Link) Stuck Controls Problems: The player is continuously running around in circles while no buttons are being pressed One or more of the game controls are permanently being executed while no buttons are being pressed Solutions: If you play with a controller: Check that it did not disconnect while buttons were pressed down - If this is the case, reconnect the controller to fix the issue Check the battery status to avoid it disconnecting while buttons are being pressed down Check that no buttons are damaged and permanently pressed down Check that Z Axis and Throttle Options for the controller are set to 0% Disconnect any peripherals that are not being used for the game Taxi Driver Does Not Activate Problems: It is not possible to activate the Taxi Driver mission No prompt about the Taxi Driver mission appears when entering a Taxi or Cabbie Solutions: There is currently no known fix for this issue. Know how to fix it? Let us know by posting a reply! Suggestions: To prevent this issue from occuring: This issue occurs when you activate the "Taxi Driver" mission in an Ambulance once the prompt detailing the Paramedic side mission appears. You may do this accidentally when trying to execute the "Ghost Ambulance" glitch for an easier experience Paramedic. Make sure you activate "Taxi Driver" as soon as the game allows you to do so, and be sure to check that the mission can still be activated in a Taxi or Cabbie as soon as you are able to do so Unhandled Exception error when loading Save Files Problems: An unhandled exception error occurs when trying to load a save file Solutions: Restore the original main.scm file for save files created on an unmodded version of the game or the modded main.scm that was used to create the save file originally - Save files will only work with the main.scm file they were created with Check that the save file is for your version of Grand Theft Auto III. You can upload it to GTASnP.com to view version information Unique Jump Camera Freeze Problems: After completing a Unique Jump, the special cinematic camera does not disable The game clock stops advancing after completing a Unique Jump Solutions: Upload your save file to GTASnP.com and and redownload it with the "Reset Timers" modification enabled from the drop down menu - This issue occurs when the game timer exceeds 74:34 (days:hours) when playing at 30FPS or 37:17 when playing at 60FPS Xbox 360 Cheats Not Activating Problems: Cheats from the Xbox version of Grand Theft Auto III do not activate when playing on the Xbox 360 Solutions: When entering a cheat, press the Left Bumper (LB) in place of the Black Button and the Right Bumper (RB) in place of the White Button Thanks Thanks to Demarest, Justin, Karcus, Silent, Spuds725, Stahli, stef_92, thehambone, ThirteenAG, Wolf68k and the many other GTAForums members who have contributed solutions to issues with Grand Theft Auto III over the years! gta3rookie and I*GTA* 2 The Chain Game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stef_92 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 If you try to run the game on Windows 10 on a high DPI screen with 125% scaling or more it just won't launch. You can fix this by the following settings from the compatibility mode GTAKid667 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
