The case for a GTA San Andreas Remastered 20th Anniversary

[lefantome]

GTA San Andreas was a massive success and is considered the best GTA by many people.

 

Unfortunately is also a game that has few flaws that are not making it age well.

Those flaws though are not a big deal and can be easily fixed.

 

Between 2013 an 2014 an updated version of the game was released on mobile and console with some improvements but also many new problems, including the removal of several music due to licensing expiring.

 

2024, 5 years from now, will be the 20th Anniversary.

 

It's time for GTA San Andreas to have a real and good definitve edition.

 

There are many example of successful remasters and remakes such as the Master Chief Collection for Halo and San Andreas can follow their footsteps.

 

Big issues with old San Andreas

• Poor 16:9 and high resolution support
• Poor outdated controls and pad support
• Poor draw distance

 

Suggested features for GTA San Andreas 20th Anniversary

• 4K and 16:9 or more supported
• New modern optional control system
• Achievements
• HD textures and improved draw distance
• Rendering improvements, including Ray Tracing
• Ability to switch back to new graphics and faithful old graphics

 

Right now the mod community is offering many graphic improvements such as this one:

 

 

but without doubt a specialized R* team could do much better.

This isn't about changing the whole graphics but about making the old graphics looks better, something that can be amazing as shown with the Quake 2 RTX

 

https://www.dualshockers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Quake-II-RTX.jpg

 

By 2024 Ray tracing GPU will be widespread and capable of running an old game like GTA with full raytracing.

GTA San Andreas engine has already been ported to "modern" platforms in 2013 and 2014 so part of the work is already done.

 

C'mon R* do it!

San Andreas deserves to be properly preserved and enjoyed by future generations!

 

I bet many people will be willing to pay a decent price for this new version!

 

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by lil weasel
Youtube link.

[lil weasel]

The only thing wrong with the STEAM current revision is the GamePad controls no longer allow for the same button to be used in different columns for PS2/3/4 type reassignments.

 

Most children cannot stand the Ugly, crude graphics... they want picture perfect. No imagination.

Achievements  for normal game play is ridiculous, Achievements  should only be used for optional, avoidable game play.

Remember, 20,000,000 Dollars were lost to Law Suits regarding content. I doubt there is enough market to make it reasonable to do a remake, too many sites are offering the game for free (Torrents/Pirated) to make it profitable.

 

 

 

 

[El Penguin Bobo]

I wish. If anything, Rockstar either remove more songs, or completely ignore it.

[DOUGL4S1]

Rockstar has a pretty solid reputation for ignoring their games' anniversaries, I doubt that would change.

 

Also, while I do think it would be great, it would just not be worth it from Rockstar's perspective. Not only RenderWare is a pretty old engine (it has been in use since 1993, and it has been pretty much retired), it also hasn't been in use by Rockstar since 2007 with Manhunt 2, so they would either have to train a lot of people to work in an obsolete engine, or program the entire game in a new engine. Not worth it for an IP that made most of its profits 15 years ago.

 

They would rather leave the game for the community to fix.

Edited August 3, 2019 by DOUGL4S1

[Lioshenka]

The graphics definitely don't need to change - all of the the mods that are supposedly improve the picture are pathetic. You get fascinating in-game effects on a backdrop of low-poly models. Kind of when they import SA map into GTA 5, it just looks so wrong.

 

Either the whole maps needs to be re-done to match that, or nothing major needs to be done. Maybe a small tweak here and there.

[Max.pain]

i doubt that will happen. i’d happily buy it but since their remastered in 2014 wasn’t succesful, why make a new one? they don’t respect their old games anymore. gta online and red dead online that’s it

[lil weasel]

Because of Piracy, most all game publishers have given up on Packaged Games.

Everything is going on line now.  No stock, no shipping, near total control of the product.

As much as we (the fans) would like to have a totally remastered game, they are not going to waste money producing a hard copy game for us soloists. Even their remastered release STEAM was based on the Mobile Version not the Original PS2/PC versions. It was not just a removal of Unlicensed material, with minor touch ups...

[Vanzant]

I don't see any of that happening either. Too much effort for little profit. And those big name actors get their cut.

 

Just wanted to point one thing out, the draw distance is done on purpose to make the map seem bigger. Changing that will ruin the experience. That's why the remaster seems to be worse with it's clarity. I showed three years ago it's on the exact same timer as PS2. 

[lefantome]

On 8/3/2019 at 3:35 AM, DOUGL4S1 said:

Rockstar has a pretty solid reputation for ignoring their games' anniversaries, I doubt that would change.

 

Also, while I do think it would be great, it would just not be worth it from Rockstar's perspective. Not only RenderWare is a pretty old engine (it has been in use since 1993, and it has been pretty much retired), it also hasn't been in use by Rockstar since 2007 with Manhunt 2, so they would either have to train a lot of people to work in an obsolete engine, or program the entire game in a new engine. Not worth it for an IP that made most of its profits 15 years ago.

 

They would rather leave the game for the community to fix.

 

7 hours ago, Vanzant said:

I don't see any of that happening either. Too much effort for little profit. And those big name actors get their cut.

 

Just wanted to point one thing out, the draw distance is done on purpose to make the map seem bigger. Changing that will ruin the experience. That's why the remaster seems to be worse with it's clarity. I showed three years ago it's on the exact same timer as PS2. 

 

Little profit?

 

Companies are making lots of money with full remakes of much less successful games. 

 

 

[DOUGL4S1]

47 minutes ago, lefantome said:

 

Sure, they even did one for Vice City. But I haven't seen one for San Andreas, Advance, LCS, VCS, IV, TLaD, Chinatown Wars, and i doubt we'll see one for TBoGT later this year. So that makes it more of an exception than the rule.

[Rhoda]

I think having an anniversary for III made sense because it was their first foray into the world of 3D, and it was a complete game-changer. I'm not saying that its sequels were less successful (they obviously weren't) but sometimes it's not about profit. They're pulling in bank from online players and GTA V as a game sold an insane amount of copies. I don't think there's much of a reason to revisit it, which is a shame but people are still playing and loving it in 2019, over 15 years later. To count it as a true re-master, the game would probably be rebuilt from the ground up. We didn't get a Stories edition, and I doubt we'll see anything else from the 3D universe.

[MrBozidar]

Most of these features you want in remastered version can be installed via mods so Rockstar North would use that as an excuse.

Also, think about Renderware engine. It's very old, outdated engine to work with (from engine editor side). You can easily modify game without access to source project, but who knows where are the source files from GTA San Andreas. HDD is probably collecting dust in some storage locker in Edinburgh. 

Edited August 6, 2019 by MrBozidar

[lefantome]

On 8/4/2019 at 3:55 PM, DOUGL4S1 said:

Sure, they even did one for Vice City. But I haven't seen one for San Andreas, Advance, LCS, VCS, IV, TLaD, Chinatown Wars, and i doubt we'll see one for TBoGT later this year. So that makes it more of an exception than the rule.

only a small percentage of games get remastered or remade anyway what's your point?

 

They usually pick the one that needs or can be extremely profitable. GTA SA is one. 

22 hours ago, MrBozidar said:

Most of these features you want in remastered version can be installed via mods so Rockstar North would use that as an excuse.

Also, think about Renderware engine. It's very old, outdated engine to work with (from engine editor side). You can easily modify game without access to source project, but who knows where are the source files from GTA San Andreas. HDD is probably collecting dust in some storage locker in Edinburgh. 

Mods are usually ugly hacks.

 

Professionals with a budget should do it.

Edited August 7, 2019 by lefantome

[Casualplaya]

I would love to see a remastered GTA III Era re-release, somehow combining each of the original stories with each other and adding the ability, to have missions as one of the main protagonists in each city - the entire map! Add all the features to all games, e.g. Burglaries in VC and LC or the like...

[Nintendo Thong Tuna]

Honestly while the original 3D Universe games will always be great, I believe they're the kind of game that could benefit from full-on remakes. There are some games out there sure that don't need any like Tetris or Doom because there isn't much to add into them, but I'd love to see the original SA state for instance with not only better graphics but added details like more ambient activities by peds, wildlife etc. like in IV or V.

[Official General]

You don't need a remaster when there are mods that already do this for you. Avoid all of the ENBs, most of them are no good, they very often give the game an out of place look, and they hinder the performance of the gameplay. Use SkyGfx, which is a simple graphic enhancer that gives SA smooth, clear graphics and retains the game's original look at the same time. Then add Project 2dfx for lighting effects. 

 

A decent powered PC with SkyGfx and Project 2dfx running at 60fps is a remaster in itself. Also use the  GTA IV physics and gunshot sounds/effects mods and then it is completed. 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Official General

[lefantome]

On 9/5/2019 at 1:13 AM, Official General said:

You don't need a remaster when there are mods that already do this for you. Avoid all of the ENBs, most of them are no good, they very often give the game an out of place look, and they hinder the performance of the gameplay. Use SkyGfx, which is a simple graphic enhancer that gives SA smooth, clear graphics and retains the game's original look at the same time. Then add Project 2dfx for lighting effects. 

 

A decent powered PC with SkyGfx and Project 2dfx running at 60fps is a remaster in itself. Also use the  GTA IV physics and gunshot sounds/effects mods and then it is completed. 

Mods are poorly made and I don't want to waste my time looking, installing and troubleshooting them, we need a remstered made by PROFESSIONALS

[Official General]

2 hours ago, lefantome said:

Mods are poorly made and I don't want to waste my time looking, installing and troubleshooting them, we need a remstered made by PROFESSIONALS

HA HA REALLY !! ?? 

 

You clearly do not know anything about mods, or else you would NEVER had said such rubbish, no disrespect. Mods are the best thing that ever happened to entire GTA series, the modders can do a much better job than some of those lazy fools at Rockstar with their eyes closed and that is the realest talk ever. 

 

Check this out and tell me the mods are poorly made : https://gtaforums.com/topic/936093-gta-san-andreas-94-the-story-so-far/

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Official General

[lefantome]

On 9/23/2019 at 7:06 PM, Official General said:

HA HA REALLY !! ?? 

 

You clearly do not know anything about mods, or else you would NEVER had said such rubbish, no disrespect. Mods are the best thing that ever happened to entire GTA series, the modders can do a much better job than some of those lazy fools at Rockstar with their eyes closed and that is the realest talk ever. 

 

Check this out and tell me the mods are poorly made : https://gtaforums.com/topic/936093-gta-san-andreas-94-the-story-so-far/

 

Yes it is.

 

I have seen plenty of mods, they are amateurish.

 

That's why GTA V is better looking than any GTA IV photoreal mod even though it's made to run on a weak console hardware instead of a high end PC of the time.

[Truong Vu]

On 8/3/2019 at 10:59 PM, Lioshenka said:

The graphics definitely don't need to change - all of the the mods that are supposedly improve the picture are pathetic. You get fascinating in-game effects on a backdrop of low-poly models. Kind of when they import SA map into GTA 5, it just looks so wrong.

 

Either the whole maps needs to be re-done to match that, or nothing major needs to be done. Maybe a small tweak here and there.

Nah i don't think so, low poly doesn't mean it's pathetic 

it is not supposed to be realistic like gta v or etc.... 

 

and the lighting is the importain factor that make the atmosphere of the game greater 

Thus, sa engine limit on polygon, re work for the whole map seem like it is impossible 

also, the variety of material, the physics couldn't change as well

 

i think these graphics mod look aesthetic with an old game, low poly model with more realistic lighting that giving my experience mixed with modern day game and nostalgia , i really do appreciate for modder community their efforts to create this masterpiece 

 

You don't have to make it real , make it look like real ! 

Edited September 28, 2019 by Geogre
Typo

[Official General]

6 hours ago, lefantome said:

Yes it is.

 

I have seen plenty of mods, they are amateurish.

 

That's why GTA V is better looking than any GTA IV photoreal mod even though it's made to run on a weak console hardware instead of a high end PC of the time.

San Andreas would not look good in photorealistic graphics, I've tried it and it don't suit the game. All you need is SA's low poly graphics to look clean, sharp, have a nice colour palette and lighting effects, which is easily done with SkyGfx and Project 2Dfx. 

 

Ok fair enough, sleep on the mods, you're the one missing out. My modded PC copy of San Andreas is the perfect remaster.

Edited September 28, 2019 by Official General

[MISSINGSTRING]

This is not going to happen, it isn't worthy for R* / T2, they will focus on online micro-transactions on the near future.

[ANDRES170]

Even if R* Remaster The Game, Remaster it with The RAGE Engine will Make it too Different with The Original San Andreas, The Original Versions Was Made In The RenderWare Engine, When EA brought Criterion Games (Who owns the Engine), EA Restric The comercial Use Of The RenderWare,

In Conclusion: R* Don't care AnyMore About GTA San Andreas, Steam and RGL versions Are Garbage, Mods will make it even Better than modern GTA Games

Funny Fact: They're More users and More Online users in SA-MP (500+ in any server) Than GTA Online (32 Per Server)

Sorry for my Bad Grammar

Edited January 24, 2020 by ANDRES170

[AlexGRFan97]

On 1/24/2020 at 6:42 AM, ANDRES170 said:

Even if R* Remaster The Game, Remaster it with The RAGE Engine will Make it too Different with The Original San Andreas, The Original Versions Was Made In The RenderWare Engine, When EA brought Criterion Games (Who owns the Engine), EA Restric The comercial Use Of The RenderWare,

In Conclusion: R* Don't care AnyMore About GTA San Andreas, Steam and RGL versions Are Garbage, Mods will make it even Better than modern GTA Games

Funny Fact: They're More users and More Online users in SA-MP (500+ in any server) Than GTA Online (32 Per Server)

Sorry for my Bad Grammar

Basically all of this post right here.

R* can't do anything with the Renderware engine other than re-use what they had. That, or use the Rockstar Leeds engine, which was their in-house clone made for the Stories games.

 

In addition, the 3D-era games are no longer what R* would most likely refer to as their "flagship products". There would be a lot of money in properly remastering III, VC & SA but not enough money for R* to justify it. They could skim a few million dollars from sales, perhaps a few tens of millions over the lifetime of the product, but when you realize V made billions of dollars in the first week, any potential profit would be nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

 

Then there's the logistics for a proper remastering:

• Diving into archives to find the master pre-release copy of the game, could probably take weeks searching through each of the known facilities
• Finding/re-hiring old members of staff to explain how their part of the code worked
• Finding employees who would be willing to take a pay cut to work on a non-flagship title
• Reinstalling/creating new tools to work with the long-deprecated file formats
• Renegotiating license deals with the soundtrack holders, ultimately cutting into R*'s profits

It just cannot work. The only way in which R* could remaster the 3D-era titles would be as a passion project, and R* lack passion.

 

On 9/23/2019 at 7:06 PM, Official General said:

HA HA REALLY !! ?? 

 

You clearly do not know anything about mods, or else you would NEVER had said such rubbish, no disrespect. Mods are the best thing that ever happened to entire GTA series, the modders can do a much better job than some of those lazy fools at Rockstar with their eyes closed and that is the realest talk ever. 

 

Check this out and tell me the mods are poorly made : https://gtaforums.com/topic/936093-gta-san-andreas-94-the-story-so-far/

 

>try to form an argument against modding being amateurish

>show him your fanfiction which is a poorly-compiled selection of general lore-friendly mods

Wew, bad example. Even from here I can tell your Diamond and Elegant mods have not been installed properly and lack the correct handling lines. They shouldn't ride on their suspensions like that at all.

 

Anyway,

On 9/23/2019 at 4:18 PM, lefantome said:

Mods are poorly made and I don't want to waste my time looking, installing and troubleshooting them, we need a remstered made by PROFESSIONALS

Sorry to break it to you bud, but everything concerning the 3D-era since 2005 has been made by amateurs:

• The PC port of SA was broken and amateurish.
• The Stories games were delegated to R* North's B-Team, R* Leeds
• The mobile and later console ports of the 3D games were delegated to no-name teams like War Drum Studios

"Professionals" will never work on earlier titles ever again. They're too preoccupied with the present and breaking new grounds. The only difference between the amateurs who release stuff under R*'s lucrative brand and the amateurs who release stuff on modding sites is that the former are licensed to do so. You just sound like a brand whore to me. Graciously eating up everything R* produces even if it's clear they put no effort into it.

 

Silent, The Hero, DeeZire and TheTurretGamers don't have the luxuries of the source code in front of them or a paycheck that they can depend on, yet they still run rings around the jokers in charge of breaking SA even more than it already is. The "amateurs" are better than the "professionals", and that is the objective reality. Deal with it. Regardless, I hope you enjoy your broken, cut-down game. Because it's all you'll get from R*.

[Official General]

13 hours ago, AlexGRFan97 said:

Basically all of this post right here.

R* can't do anything with the Renderware engine other than re-use what they had. That, or use the Rockstar Leeds engine, which was their in-house clone made for the Stories games.

...

Anyway,

Sorry to break it to you bud, but everything concerning the 3D-era since 2005 has been made by amateurs:

• The PC port of SA was broken and amateurish.
• The Stories games were delegated to R* North's B-Team, R* Leeds
• The mobile and later console ports of the 3D games were delegated to no-name teams like War Drum Studios

[pQu

Mister I'm not forcing you. You think mods are rubbish ? Ok fine, you are missing out, not me. But it's your decision and I respect that.

Edited February 9, 2020 by lil weasel
Reduced HUGE prior quoted post.

[JetNormalGuy]

The only thing I expect them to do is remove a lot more songs because of copyright issues...

 

[AlexGRFan97]

On 2/9/2020 at 3:14 PM, Official General said:

Mister I'm not forcing you. You think mods are rubbish ? Ok fine, you are missing out, not me. But it's your decision and I respect that.

Congratulations, your reading comprehension skills suck.

Did you not notice that immediately after dismissing your post I took apart lefantome's argument piece by piece?

 

I just think your example of modding was rubbish, because you clearly ignore the .txts that each car mod comes with, owing to their weird ride height in the screenshots you added, and mash together mods which don't really fit with one another. You could've linked to any one of the marvelous workshops and showrooms out there from talented authors such as Crack Yo' Neck, Savidge, Helomyname or Junior_Djjr just to name a few, but instead you linked him to your weird little fanfiction. Had to get that small bit of narcissism in there.

[Nappy]

If Will ever see another remastered.

-no bouncing cars

-no horrible draw distance

-no cartoony textures

-no white kendle

-better physics 

-better interior system

[Official General]

6 hours ago, AlexGRFan97 said:

Congratulations, your reading comprehension skills suck.

Did you not notice that immediately after dismissing your post I took apart lefantome's argument piece by piece?

 

I just think your example of modding was rubbish, because you clearly ignore the .txts that each car mod comes with, owing to their weird ride height in the screenshots you added, and mash together mods which don't really fit with one another. You could've linked to any one of the marvelous workshops and showrooms out there from talented authors such as Crack Yo' Neck, Savidge, Helomyname or Junior_Djjr just to name a few, but instead you linked him to your weird little fanfiction. Had to get that small bit of narcissism in there.

Cool. Have a good day brother. 

[Sombra]

I know it's an old post but I'm dying at OP's I WANT PROFESSIONALS TO DO IT argument whilst also stating mods aren't good enough - the reason stuff like ENB etc "isn't good enough" is the same reason a "hd remaster" or whatever other jargon you want to call it will never happen; SA is very low poly in comparison to newer games and for something like ENB or other shaders/plugins/etc to look even halfway decent would require everything to be remodelled. That in itself would be a gigantic task and you really expect the company mostly known these days for milking the cash cow to suddenly up and remodel an entire game on an engine that is for the most part no longer relevant? 16:9/high res/etc can be fixed with widescreen fix/silentpatch, plenty of plugins for draw distance extension etc.