III Classic Purple Nines Glitch Fix - PS2 Savegame Repair

[Stahli]

Purple Nines Glitch Fix

 

 

This thread is about the Purple Nines glitch. What it is. How you can prevent it. And how to fix it if your savegame is already affected. The repair guide is for the PlayStation 2 version of GTA III. So far I have only tested it on the European PAL version 1.60, as my savegame was affected. Feel free to let me know if you were able to do it successfully on other versions. I guess it works with all 1.60 releases, no matter if PAL or NTSC. At this point I would also like to thank the Youtube Creator Gilmore Rockefeller. Because thanks to his video tutorial there is now this thread here.

 

What is the Purple Nines Glitch?

Purple Nines are a street gang in Wichita Gardens on Shoreside Vale. In the mission "Uzi Money" from D-Ice you have to kill 20 Purple Nines by drive-by. But due the glitch, there are no Purple Nines in the game anymore. If you are playing GTA III for the first time and there is no save in any of the 8 save slots, you will not have the Purple Nines Glitch. But if there is already a GTA III save in your save-slot in which you passed the mission "Rumble" and it is loaded, then the Purple Nines are gone forever! Even if you start a new game! And without the Purple Nines you can't complete the payphone mission for D-Ice called "Uzi Money", so you can't reach the 100%.

 

How can I avoid the Glitch?

Never start a new game from a save that has passed the "Rumble" mission. It is best to simply not have any save files in your save slots when you start a new game. Only then restart the game completely from scratch.

 

Or you can do it the way psxdriverplayer once described it:

Quote

Starting a new game by booting the game without a Memory Card inserted also avoids this situation, since no game is loaded automagically. Also another thing. Since the game always tries to load the most recent (!) save file saved, don't keep such a file as the most recent where there's not any Purple Nines. I'd imagine it also works on PC that you just temporarily cut and paste the files there elsewhere, since the game checks that location, if it finds nothing, all is well. Then after New Game and saving, those other files can be cut and pasted back.

 

 

What can I do if my savegame is already affected?

The savegame must be edited with a HEX editor. For this you have to transfer it from the PS2 to the PC. There are several ways to do this. You can find instructions via google. I use the "MAX Drive" set from Datel.

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Stahli

[Stahli]

Savegame Repair Guide 

 

 

 

Needed Tools

PS2 Save Builder v0.8

HxD HEX-Editor

GTASum from thehambone

Java at least Version 7

 

 

1. Initial Situation: You have successfully transferred your Savegame from your PlayStation 2 to your PC and installed the tools.

 

 

 

 

2. If you are using Windows 7 or higher, change the compatibility mode of PS2 Save Builder to Windows XP (Service Pack 2) and set the program to run as administrator.

 

 

 

 

3. Open the PS2 Savegame File with the PS2 Save Builder v0.8

 

 

 

 

4. The files with the numbers in front are your savegames. In my case the first one 1 'THE EXCHANGE'... is my 100% savegame and the second file 2 'KINGDOL COME'... is the savegame that needs to be repaired. Make a triple click on the file so you can rename the file. Remove the last two dots from the filename and write an b and confirm with enter.

 

 

 

 

5. Now right click on the file and select Extract. Save the file on your desktop.

 

 

 

 

6. Open the with your Hex-Editor and click on Replace.

 

 

 

 

7. Select the Hex-Velues tab in the new little Window. 

 

 

 

 

8. In the textfield "Search for" paste the search pattern

8B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 02 00 00 00

and in "Replace with" paste 

8B 00 00 00 FF 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 02 00 00 00

 

 

 

 

9. At "Search direction" select "all" and then click on "Replace All".

 

 

 

 

10. Then you should get the message 3 values have been replaced. confirm this with "ok" and save the file.

 

 

 

 

11. Now start GTASum and drop the edited file into GTASUM. 

 

 

 

 

12. Then confirm the message and close GTASum.

 

 

 

 

13. In the Ps2 Save Builder you now have to delete the file you extracted earlier. Right click on the file and click on "Delete".

 

 

 

 

14. Then right click again somewhere in this area, click on "Add File" and add the file you just edited with the Hex editor and GTASum.

 

 

 

 

15. Now make a triple click on the file again, delete the b in the filename and add two dots.  So that behind the file name are three dots.

 

 

 

 

16. Now save the changed savegame and close the Ps2 Save Builder. That was all. Now you can transfer the Max file back to your PlayStation 2 and now there should be purple Nines running around Shoreside Vale again.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Stahli