GTA IV

[Fiach]

Is it just the PC version that needs to be registered?

I have a 360 and didnt have to register.

I do remember buying Half Life 2 and then realised that you had to register it, to play it, which really irked me.

There was also an issue with Bioshock, you could only install it a couple of times on a PC, they had to incrase it to 10 after a huge outcry.

These are anti pirating measures and combating second hand sales measures, so I guess they serve a purpose.

GAME make more profit from second hand sales than new game sales, that is a significant dent in the revenue of the publishers and developers, which in turn inhibits investment and risk taking by producers.

Imagine a world of just Madden and FIFA sequels  :'(, so I just consider it a necessary evil and get over it.

But .... there is always a "but", there are some anti pirate measures that just have "the suck" in spades causing all sorts of PC mayhem, GameGuard and Starforce spring to mind, Starforce being a darn scary one!

http://www.glop.org/starforce/

[Hacko]

BTW: the MP part of GTA IV has a problem with cheaters, they were supposed to fix this with a patch, but the last I played it, it was not. But what MP game doesn't have a problem with cheaters. ;)

[DKM2]

As far as I know you need a internet connection to install and activate the game,
same as FC2, but after that you can play without one.
GTAIV uses the same SecuROM that Farcry 2 does.

I know, I've hardly had any internet at home for more than a week.
Got my new modem today though, I can set it up tonight.  Hallelujah, I've been saved!
hope I didn't speak too soon....

[Art Blade]

"welcome back" matey  :-X

[PZ]

Welcome back indeed!
I finally had a new satellite Internet system installed, and while it is still not fast, at least it is on all the time so I don't need to do the dialup nonsense.  Unfortunately, I doubt that I'll be able to play MP  :'(

[JRD]

Well, is satellite internet that slow??
Or is it due to time lag?
As for MP on GTA... I'm not that interested to be honest, usually I use to play only SP campaingns, but its a pity, I think we could find a way to create great coop games with OWG crew!
Games like OFP2 and FUEL will have great MP experiences, I'm sure.

To Hacko:
What's in GTA to do in MP? Create havoc in Liberty City? Social interaction? Can you play a level along with friends?
I could check the net for answers, but I rather hear it from a member ;)

[PZ]

Well, people are claiming up to 2 second lag, but I'm more concerned about throughput - it seems to be relatively slow even with web pages.

[Art Blade]

sad, really  :(

[PZ]

You're telling me... I was hoping for a reasonable throughput; according to their claims, it should have been sufficient, but you know how it goes with claims - their stats are probably based on a single user burst speed rather than real-world shared bandwidth.

[JRD]

Man... I have to tell you... GTA looks great, but its a damn heavy game to play.
Not only it takes +18GB of disk space, but also it runs a little slow on my rig. Note that I reach the recommended system requirements with twice the video memory necessary (512 recommended, mine is 1GB).
I can play Crysis on high settings smooth... will run a benchmark test in GTA to see what I can do to improve it.

spaceboy... I was running in Liberty City and couldn't stop thinking about inFamous... the city, islands, the elevated tracks.... all very similar, yet different studios.

Imagine Nicko meets Cole for a beer and some havoc  8)

[spaceboy]

Imagine Nicko meets Cole for a beer and some havoc  8)

Sounds good.  Don't ask me why but it reminded me of when characters from one TV show used to show up on others, like when Fonzie was on Lavern and Shirley...oops, showing my age again.  Now I'll bet you never thought you'd see Lavern and Shirley in a GTA post.  ::)

[JRD]

Imagine Nicko meets Cole for a beer and some havoc  8)

Sounds good.  Don't ask me why but it reminded me of when characters from one TV show used to show up on others, like when Fonzie was on Lavern and Shirley...oops, showing my age again.  Now I'll bet you never thought you'd see Lavern and Shirley in a GTA post.  ::)

... neither Fonzie  ;D

[Hacko]

JRD:

There are different aspects to MP in GTA IV. There is the regular deathmatch, teamdeathmatch, and then there are things like races, cops and robbers or just free play where you can roam around the maps and do stunts.

As for getting the game to run better/smoother, there are tweaks that you can do to get it to run a little better. Read this thread.
http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=404147

Create a .txt file in the root directory of the game (C:\Program files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV) called "commandline".

Then try the settings at the top of the thread to see if you get better frame rates. Try different settings and different drivers till you find one that works for you. This game is a resource hog.

[JRD]

Thanks a lot Hacko... will try those setings today (if my wife ever stop playing her game  ;D )

I did a disk defrag and clean up and tested different settings with the benchmark tool. Found a configuration that results in 20 FPS (medium textures and all others on high), which is quite good if compared to what I had before (10 or less FPS).
Still, I think I can get a beter config to play smooth like it deserves  ;)

And thanks for the reply on the MP question... will try it someday, but I want to go on with the SP experience now... its such an amazing game....  :-X

[JRD]

One thing I forgot to ask... should I patch it?

You know, sometimes patches makes things worse  :-\

[Hacko]

JRD:

I learned long ago to get seperate computers for my wife and I, she had a habit of hogging the computer so that I couldn't play any games, I rectiified that by getting her her own computer. ;)

As for patching, I remember reading on the GTA site that I posted, that 1 of the patches DOES improve the framerates. I believe there is 3 patches. I think the 1st or 2nd one is the one that improves the framerate. You will have to patch it maually though, as if you let the game update it automatically, it will patch it to the latest one. And if you want to play online, you will need the latest patch.Hope this helps. ;D

[JRD]

As for getting the game to run better/smoother, there are tweaks that you can do to get it to run a little better. Read this thread.
http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=404147

Create a .txt file in the root directory of the game (C:\Program files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV) called "commandline".

Then try the settings at the top of the thread to see if you get better frame rates. Try different settings and different drivers till you find one that works for you. This game is a resource hog.

Weirdest thing happened...
Used those settings and the FPS dropped from 20 to 16 under the same configuration....
Turned texture qualities to low and FPS dropped a little bit more. And here is the weird thing: turned texture quality to high and deleted commandline.txt file - FPS went from 16 to 22-23!!!
Now That is intriguing   :o

Will do more tests, and be back here  ;)

[Fiach]

Check this out JRD see if its any use mate :)

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=386262&st=0

[Hacko]

This game is very hard to get to run properly on most systems. I've read numerous complaints on the GTA forums that people have problems with this game, even with great systems and video cards. It mostly has to do with the way the game was coded. It seems to have a memory leak, as it plays fine for awhile, but the more you play it the slower it gets, sometimes locking up and crashing.

I have tried various tweaks, drivers, and visual setups, and the game still never runs great or good, for that matter consistently. It is frustrating cause the game is really good.

I guess what I am saying in his long post is read up on the GTA forums for tips, and try different things. Hopefully they will release better patches to fix the coding problems.

[Art Blade]

ow... a memory leak is a nasty bug. Bloody hell. Reminds me of TheGuild, had a nasty bug, the savegames grew bigger and bigger, after short I had savegames of like 20MEGS EACH lol

[JRD]

Thanks Hacko
Actually, its good to hear from other players about performance issues (better if we had none, of course  ;) ).
I think my PC has a pretty decent configuration (Intel Dual Core, 2GB RAM, 1GB nVidia GT9800) and was frustrated and concerned at the same time.
I tried many configs, tweaks and drivers and now it runs, as you said, neither great or good, but smooth. In fact, all those patches and tweaks decreased my frame rate (  :( ) and what did the trick was a nVidia driver
I whish I could have a better performance, but apparently nobody does.
Anyway, I can enjoy GTA IV at least ;)

Thank you and thanks Fiach and all other members for your helpful advices...

[DKM2]

Don't be too worried, most games look pretty good without being max'd out.
There is a point of diminishing returns as far as system power and game performance goes.

[JRD]

Yeah... I noticed GTA looks great even with medium settings.
Besides, not only textures and shadows are important, but also game dynamics like interaction with the scenario and NPCs, reaction of NPCs to your decisions, shootings and police escaping  ;D ;D, hanging out with your friends and girlfriends... man, this is by far the best game of the series... and I'm at 7% yet  :)

[Fiach]

The screenie looks really awesome compared to the 360 :(

[Binnatics]

Hey JRD, last time I replied to your GTA experience you mentioned about moving to this topic, but so far I didn't see another message? How are you doing in Liberty? I'm planning a new playthrough, not sure what to do first; the DLC's or the main story. This game is so hughe that it's hard to decide where to start.
Maybe I'll try to do some pre-playthrough sidemissions first. I did that in all older versions (GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas) and that's allways fun!!
Not like in FC2 you can have early access to the locked islands if you survive long enough with a heat-level of at least 4 stars, and that gives an extra thrill to the gameplay.

Well, let me know how it went with the cool breese in your gaming-room. I think that really is a luxury-problem you have there; MAN, "gonna be winter and the temps are below 30 degrees.... Here in Holland, if we have temps above 30 degrees in mid-summer, ppl start complaining about the weather being so hot.. lol