Playing SA for the first time, what to know?

[Anywhere USA]

Have played every other 3D and 2D game prior to 100%, from GTA 1 to VCS

[44Orca]

@Anywhere USA

How come you didn't before? I think it's the best GTA that we have, and one of the best games of all time. Of course it's just my opinion though.

It's quite a long one in story so it will take a while to complete but take your time with it, then you also have a lot of activities which are fun to do but some could be tedious or way too challenging/difficult.

If you are on PC you will need silentpatch and few other fixes for a better experience but it's still playable as it is though. Also there's mods that add some missing ps2 features, or better textures/map/hud from GTA TDE version if you want those as well.

[cant remember]

Man surprised you haven't played SA before, it's the grandest one of the 3D era, map is even bigger than GTA4.

 

- Don't save in Mad Dogg's crib, it has a glitch

- Don't bother taking over all gang turfs until you return from Las Venturas (game takes them away again after you leave LS)

- Flying outside the map can cause dangerous glitches, so get informed there or make sure the version you play is patched against that

- Working out until you hit the daily limit can also cause glitches, best to avoid it.

[ArmanCan]

2 hours ago, cant remember said:

- Don't save in Mad Dogg's crib, it has a glitch

- Flying outside the map can cause dangerous glitches, so get informed there or make sure the version you play is patched against that

- Working out until you hit the daily limit can also cause glitches, best to avoid it.

 

If you choose to play it vanilla... yes..

 

@Anywhere USA you should install Silent Patch for basic graphical errors, Widescreen Fix for the resolution and MixSets for remaining glitches and fixes..

 

- It seems you are trying to complete %100.. I highly suggest you to find yourself a collectibles, weapons and USJ map or.. after that print it or stream to another screen (for example your phone/tablet).. you can also watch speedrunner or tutorial videos (for example All Snapshots Run)

- You will be more comfortable if you memorize all of them.. other than that weapon, driving skills may help you to complete the missions..

- If you like a challenge you may try to collect the special vehicles.. with this way you can extend your game season little bit more..

[Midnight Hitman]

@ArmanCan

 

Amen to SilentPatch. It really is a monstrous improvement.

 

I would also recommend SkyGFX. All of that is easy to install, even my non-modding ass was able to handle that, and it improves the experience alot. Would never go back to Vanilla SA/VC/III.

 

And - in case you got the game on steam - you'll get all the removed songs back when downgrading to version 1.0 (which is a straight-forward process that has to be done before adding those patches)!

 

EDIT: Oh and I really hope you play the original 2004 version, not the DE or 360/PS3 "remaster".

Edited June 15 by Midnight Hitman

[JetNormalGuy]

If you're on PC, I suggest installing Silent Patch as the bare minimum (you can still play 100% vanilla if you want the pure 25 fps and broken mouse experience), and if you want to get the game up to date, get the Widescreen Fix for the resolution.

 

If you're going for a 100% run, I also suggest doing the side activities as you're progressing through the game instead of leaving it all to be completed after bating the game, because the amount of stuff you have to do is even bigger and more time consuming than in 3 and VC, 250 collectibles instead of 100 is really something. There areways to optimise your gameplay like leaving the vigilante mission to be completed when you unlock a Hunter chopper or a Rhino Tank, or completing the paramedic missions when you unlock the small towns that make it easier.

Or you can ignore all of this and do it the hardcore way of doing everything before the first mission is completed lol.

 

I hope you enjoy playing through SA, this game is worth it.

 

 

[Midnight Dutch]

Everything can’t remember said +

 

I recommend doing the three side missions (Paramedic, Vigilante, Firefighter), as in complete level 12, before you do ANY story missions.  Reason why is because Firefighter makes you fireproof; Paramedic gives you 150 health capacity and Vigilante gives you 150 armor capacity; which is something that will greatly help out through the story — but it’s easier to do it in only Los Santos as opposed to the whole map.

 

Few tips on Vigilante in the beginning of the game:

 

• Use a police bike to do the missions.  CJ can drive by and also shoot directly ahead which is basically necessary to complete the missions.

 

• You’ll need a SMG to do effective drive-by’s.  Literally take a car and ride around Balla territory and run over gang members and pick up their sub machine guns.  You’ll need about 1500 rounds of ammo to complete the missions, and every gang member you kill drops 50 rounds.  You could get by with about 1200 rounds but I recommend getting 1500 because: if you get to the final round and run out of ammo it will be virtually impossible to pass.  The bonus here is that after you complete Vigilante, you *should* have some leftover smg ammo you can take with you into the beginning missions which will be a great help.  You’ll also boost up you SMG skill quickly by doing the missions and get you fairly close or at least halfway to hitman level.

 

• You can heal the police bike completely by sticking it into the garage at CJ’s mom’s house.  You can do this mid mission to repair the bike as you have 60 seconds to get back on.  This is a big help if you end up too close to a suspect’s car that explodes and severely damages the bike.

 

I also recommend activating the missions in non-gang territory such as the port, airport, or west Los Santos as gang members on the streets will shoot at you if you shoot at criminals too close to them.

 

The paramedic missions are fairly frustrating as they always are.  Start them at the Medical Center in Balla territory and always go get the furthest patients first.  It’s definitely worth completing this side mission because that 150 health cap is extremely useful later on in the story.  

 

The fireproof reward from the firefighting missions isn’t all that great but firefighting missions actually pay pretty decent so you’ll make good money doing it.

 

Finally, I recommend doing all of the graffiti tags as early as possible as well.  They are only in Los Santos and once they are all completed, Grove Street gang members get SMGs (the good kind, not micro-smg) and knives, making them much more deadly.

 

 

Good luck and enjoy, it’s a great game and you’ll have a lot of fun playing it.

 

 

[Anywhere USA]

PS2 Version

[JetNormalGuy]

21 minutes ago, Anywhere USA said:

PS2 Version

Even better. Arguably the best way to experience GTA SA, just as it was originally intented.

[GhettoJesus]

1 hour ago, Midnight Dutch said:

The paramedic missions are fairly frustrating as they always are.  Start them at the Medical Center in Balla territory and always go get the furthest patients first.  It’s definitely worth completing this side mission because that 150 health cap is extremely useful later on in the story.  

I would say wait with the Paramedic mission until  you get to Angel Pine. It's a lot faster to do it there than in LS.

[Anywhere USA]

Oh, and if anyone has a PSP, PS3, and PSP version of LCS, I need someone for multiplayer

[DubiousThiny]

I have a confession to make: everytime I start a new game I always start the Paramedic, Vigilante and Firefighter before "Big Smoke", having max health and armor, fire immunity & free weapons at the start of the game is so unintentionally broken it's amazing. 

 

Also, bonus tip from me for Vigilante: always make the criminals bail out of the car, then run them over with your Copcar or Copbike and loot up their weapons, they drop Baseball Bats and 9mms in the early levels, Micro SMGS and Shotguns mid-levels and AK-47 in the later levels, alongside being an easy way to get these weapons early into the game you'll also get a sh*tton of ammunition for them, it works for me everytime I start Vigilnate early into my starter save.

Edited June 16 by DubiousThiny

[Super Grunt 281]

You can acquire powerful weapons at the beginning of the game by finding them on the map, 2 Minigun pickups are available at Las Venturas, to be precise : at the top right (underground car park) and bottom right (up on some scafolding at a construction site)

 

With a mouse to aim, it's the most devastating weapon by far however, going onto a locked island by land, air and boat will get you a 4 stars wanted level, it can be removed but it will come back very fast.

 

It's the price to get the power to steamroll early but it's not hard to cross locked islands once you are used to do it.

 

Also the most simple way to tackle Vigilante early if paired with the police bike, I don't remember how many times you have to pick up a Minigun to get through level 12 but it's not a lot.

[Collibosher]

As soon as you reach San Fierro, seduce Katie to be your girlfriend, so you don't lose your weapons anymore when you die. Talking about losing your weapons, you will still lose them all twice during the story, so I guess don't bother wasting too much money on them until it has happened the second time.

[Anywhere USA]

Unlike every other game up to this pont(where I followed the 100 percent guide) I’m taking my time with this one. Wanna enjoy it, savour it, enjoy all the world building. People made all sorts of lovely theories with all the depth.

 

Oh and I have a strategy guide that came with my PC copy off Ebay(not playing it, but I have a Machinima idea I want to do in the future someday)

 

After San Andreas…hmm…maybe I’ll do Bully and Manhunt 2 before GTA 4? Maybe not? Eh. I’m gonna do 4 and it’s episodes all at once, chronological order of missions. Then Chinatown Wars.

[Official General]

8 hours ago, Anywhere USA said:

Unlike every other game up to this pont(where I followed the 100 percent guide) I’m taking my time with this one. Wanna enjoy it, savour it, enjoy all the world building. People made all sorts of lovely theories with all the depth.

 

Oh and I have a strategy guide that came with my PC copy off Ebay(not playing it, but I have a Machinima idea I want to do in the future someday)

 

After San Andreas…hmm…maybe I’ll do Bully and Manhunt 2 before GTA 4? Maybe not? Eh. I’m gonna do 4 and it’s episodes all at once, chronological order of missions. Then Chinatown Wars.

 Also play it with mods, it's a whole new game with them. But only after playing the story campaign. 

Edited June 18 by Official General

[ArmanCan]

On 6/16/2023 at 6:21 PM, Collibosher said:

As soon as you reach San Fierro, seduce Katie to be your girlfriend, so you don't lose your weapons anymore when you die.

that means he needs to gain some muscles

On 6/16/2023 at 6:21 PM, Collibosher said:

so I guess don't bother wasting too much money on them until it has happened the second time.

you are right.. i don't spend my money for ammunation because the whole SA is a goddamn armory.. and yes.. the game annoyingly likes to remove weapons from the player.. especially the pistols..

8 hours ago, Anywhere USA said:

After San Andreas…hmm…maybe I’ll do Bully and Manhunt 2 before GTA 4? Maybe not? Eh. I’m gonna do 4 and it’s episodes all at once, chronological order of missions. Then Chinatown Wars.

than good luck on your journey

[Lioshenka]

You only to need to know one thing: it's 2023, and if you haven't played the game then you are the luckiest man alive.

 

Enjoy. It's the best game there ever will be.

 

Do 100% and explore every little corner of the map, look for hidden secrets and easter eggs.

[Anywhere USA]

On 6/18/2023 at 2:34 PM, Lioshenka said:

You only to need to know one thing: it's 2023, and if you haven't played the game then you are the luckiest man alive.

 

Enjoy. It's the best game there ever will be.

 

Do 100% and explore every little corner of the map, look for hidden secrets and easter eggs.

Oh I remember you, you were in that thread from years ago when I said I didn't like GTA 3

[Anywhere USA]

Big Smoke was ordering for the whole group, I’ve been lied to 

[Anywhere USA]

THAT was the big scary train mission? I beat it in one go, it’s f*cking simple, just drive alongside the train at the right distance so smoke can fill em full of lead, they were all dead by the tunnel 

(I had the same reaction to Demolition Man in Vice City, I don’t get it, time limit is very generous I finished with minutes to spare)

[Super Grunt 281]

It's between people meme'ing to death and people who suck at it, to be fair the pseudo timer is not insanely generous but still good.

 

Supply Lines isn't better but it's all about controlling the plane and not lagging too much behind the targets, this is not hard either.

 

EDIT : Katie can be found at the beginning of the game but I don't remember if you get some benefits by simply talking to her.

Edited June 29 by Super Grunt 281

[cant remember]

The real meme mission should have been zero's delivery run one. The only solace there is that everytime you fail you reappear right by the mission marker to try again and you can't die/get arrested since it's RC.

[Anywhere USA]

Finally finished Rider and Smokes missions(I kinda forgot about them, I already unlocked gang territories prior lol) I've got to say, this is already Top 3, Vice City is still barely ahead(mostly because it's got significantly more music that appeals to me, it blows every other game thus far out of the water), but SA honestly feels like a living world where I still feel like I'm "doing stuff' even when I'm off mission, in a way none of the other games prior have.

 

Also, since I was spoiled on the twist, I kept my eyes open. Smoke is a walking red flag, every other line is hinting at something. Ryder is more subtle, but I've still caught hints(Him promising to warn the gang about ticking off the Ballas in his first mission and then not doing it, his dialogue in Drive Thru with Smoke showing he knows more then he let on where Smoke basically tells him to shut up, Tenpenny popping into his house, and his mysterious unseen friend LB)

Edited June 29 by Anywhere USA

[Lioshenka]

On 6/28/2023 at 11:44 PM, Anywhere USA said:

THAT was the big scary train mission? I beat it in one go, it’s f*cking simple, just drive alongside the train at the right distance so smoke can fill em full of lead, they were all dead by the tunnel 

(I had the same reaction to Demolition Man in Vice City, I don’t get it, time limit is very generous I finished with minutes to spare)

Just wait until you play that "impossible" mission for Zero in San Fierro that everyone keeps going on about. Piece of piss.

 

ADDED Oh, look, someone has just said that again just above me

Edited July 2 by Lioshenka

[Anywhere USA]

Air Raid, took me 3 tries, but two of those were at night which in hindsight, not wise. Fighting by radar is harder than fighting by sight. Won the first time in day.

 

Supply Lines. The original version. Mmmhmm. I’ve beaten the GTA 2 Kill Frenzy’s, glitchless, unpatched. First ever to do so. I ain’t scared of Supply Lines

[Anywhere USA]

Ok, done. Like…yeah it’s harder than your average mission, but it felt fair. I messed up once or twice and still made it back. Time limit was never the problem, most of my failures came from bad passes leading to me getting machine gunned. And yeah, I checked, original PS2, fuel runs out even when your gliding.

On 6/29/2023 at 2:55 AM, cant remember said:

The real meme mission should have been zero's delivery run one. The only solace there is that everytime you fail you reappear right by the mission marker to try again and you can't die/get arrested since it's RC.

I mean, it’s harder than the train mission, took a couple tries, but…like it took less than 40 minutes to beat. And I spent some of that eating pizza. I’ve seen way worse 

[44Orca]

11 hours ago, Anywhere USA said:

Air Raid, took me 3 tries, but two of those were at night which in hindsight, not wise. Fighting by radar is harder than fighting by sight. Won the first time in day.

 

Supply Lines. The original version. Mmmhmm. I’ve beaten the GTA 2 Kill Frenzy’s, glitchless, unpatched. First ever to do so. I ain’t scared of Supply Lines

What mission have you reached now? There's the flight missions that you might find them weird/difficult, I'll suggest you to change controls on PC if you already haven't so it's not with numpad but it's up to you. It will be more enjoyable flying those planes with other controls.

Edited July 9 by 44Orca

[Anywhere USA]

Anyone else have a habit of checking the impound lot every time they get arrested? I pretty much always have something good down there to ride out on 

[justdany]

SA is the Grand Theft Auto IV of the 3D era, how come you didn't play it until now?

 

Get the usual fixes for the PC version

 

You can edit the skygfx settings to play with the PS2 preset