Topic: Grand Theft Auto 4

[MysterD]

Man, Que needs to strike it rich w/ his books and music.
That way, when he gets so rich, he can just retire and have time to kick some gaming ass!

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, that'll never happen.  But I can dream...

[MysterD]

Yeah, that'll never happen.  But I can dream...

Always good to have dreams.

[MysterD]

GTA4 Multiplayer on the PC will use exclusively Windows Live

GTA 4 PC Named Games for Windows Live Exclusive
by Nick Breckon Sep 22, 2008 10:55pm CST tags: Grand Theft Auto 4

Microsoft today announced that the PC port of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV will exclusively use Games for Windows Live for its multiplayer component when it is released on November 18.

"As we work toward the release of the PC version, Games for Windows Live affords us the opportunity to seamlessly translate the multiplayer console experience for PC gamers," said Rockstar founder Sam Houser. "The service is a natural fit for the platform and we strongly believe it will help in building a strong online community around GTA IV PC."

[scottws]

What a line of BS:  "The service is a natural fit for the platform..."

[Pugnate]

At least it is free now.

[MysterD]

At least it is free now.

Agreed.

But I'm sure some gamers would like to play GTA4 MP on the PC over a LAN, as well...

[Pugnate]

GFWL doesn't support LAN???

[MysterD]

GFWL doesn't support LAN???

I dunno -- does it?

I don't recall GoW PC or Kane & Lynch PC supporting it.

[MysterD]

Wired is taking their stance that they think it is possible GTA4 might save Games For Windows / Windows Live.

I think it's true that a game as well-known and well-regarded as GTA4 was on the consoles coming to the PC might help save GFW and Win Live, but this game was already on the consoles already -- and sold like crazy. Really, though -- how many people who own GTA4 already on the consoles are going to rebuy it for the PC?

And as big as the SP probably is in size (if you decide to do lots of things or everything, especially), how long is it gonna take for some SP gamers to switch over to the MP side? How many will even actually try the MP right off the bat and stick with just that?

Oh, and given the game's recommended requirements (which do seem high), how many people are actually going to buy it upon release knowing only THOSE specs? If those are not the bare min's (and we actually get some bare min specs revealed that ain't so high), you might see better sales of this game on the PC, upon its release.

[MysterD]

GTA4 PC delayed until December 2nd.

We've seen GTA 4 PC's reccommended specs.
Now, we have the minimum requirements revealed now for GTA4 PC.

GTA IV PC Delayed to December

Rockstar releases official PC system requirements.
by Jimmy Thang

US, October 30, 2008 - Rockstar has delayed the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV to December 2. Even though the console versions of the critically-acclaimed shooter were released back in April, the PC version was originally set for a November launch.

While Rockstar did not give any reasons for the delay, GTA IV for the PC will feature new enhancements and additions over its console counterparts. Not only has the game been configured for the mouse and keyboard controls, but the PC version will allow players to turn the city's traffic density up, and will feature graphical updates like better draw distances.

To take advantage of these new visual upgrades, Rockstar has released the official system requirements for the game. The Games for Windows web site previously posted technical specifications for the game back in September, but they were later removed. The previously posted requirements share a lot in common with the recommended system requirements. Specifications are posted below:

Minimum System Requirements

    * OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / Windows XP - Service Pack 3

    * Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz

    * Memory: 1.5GB, 16GB Free Hard Drive Space

    * Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

Recommended System Requirements

    * OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / Windows XP - Service Pack 3

    * Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz

    * Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista)

    * 18 GB Free Hard Drive Space

    * Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

IGN did a recent preview of the game; to see how the PC version of GTA IV is shaping up, click here.

[Pugnate]

Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

That's recommended That's them talking out of their ass.

[MysterD]

GTA4 PC preview from TotalVideoGames.com.
This preview looks at the Video Editing Suite that comes with the game.

[MysterD]

GTA4 PC DRM interview here w/ IGN

Summary for ALL Versions:
--Securom IS the game's protection for ALL versions (Retail, any Digital version, Steam, etc)
--Three pieces will be needed to run the game: G4WL, Rockstar Games Social Club program, and (of course) Securom

Summary for Retail Version:
--Disc IS needed in the drive to play
--Online activation IS required
--Changing major PC components "two" times or more will ask you to do an online "re-activation"
--NO install number limits

Summary for Steam version:
--NO additional install limits
--NO disc needed to play (obviously)

[Quemaqua]

Haha, I have to sign up for G4WL and some stupid Rockstar bullshit?  Fucking pass.

[Pugnate]

They can't be serious... they want me to sign up with that club? I don't understand why they are making us jump through three hoops here.

[Ghandi]

I don't understand why they are making us jump through three hoops here.

Because they know that no one will sign up for some stupid bullshit unless they make it mandatory.

[PyroMenace]

Or just get the console version and be done with it.

[MysterD]

They can't be serious... they want me to sign up with that club? I don't understand why they are making us jump through three hoops here.

I could make a guess...

Since GTA4 PC has this new Video Editing Suite coming built in with it, I bet The Rockstar Social Club will probably be where we can upload our very own GTA4 PC Videos and screenshots to.

Just a guess. I could be wrong.

[Cobra951]

Or just get the console version and be done with it.

Developers and distributors bitch about the PC market woes, and then they drive people away with shit like this.  Too funny.

[MysterD]

Developers and distributors bitch about the PC market woes, and then they drive people away with shit like this.  Too funny.

Let's analyze this all.

PC Version
Securom protection forced for every version -- a lot of people hate this protection, regardless of which "version" it is; known to cause issues.

You're forced to activate period -- no matter what.
For SP or MP, you MUST put the disc in the drive (retail version).
I could understand the MP forcing activation and all, but SP should only need the disc.

G4WL and Rockstar Social Club required -- yeah, that's a lot of stuff to be forced to run at once and all.
I think those two should be OPTIONAL, myself.

Double-core processor required -- not everybody has this kind of processor.

Console version
Pop game into disc drive and just play.

Yeah...and people wonder the console versions often outsell PC games...

[Cobra951]

Now why didn't I think of every single thought in your post before I made mine?

[gpw11]

Let's analyze this all.


Double-core processor required -- not everybody has this kind of processor.

Well, you can't really blame this on the developers entirely.  But yeah, I agree 100% with everything else you've said.  I'm kind of in a weird place in that I'm actually considering getting it off of STEAM just because it'd be less of a bitch to deal with, and I don't really want to.  How many people here are actually planning on getting this for PC by the way? 

[Quemaqua]

Now why didn't I think of every single thought in your post before I made mine?

[Pugnate]

Well, you can't really blame this on the developers entirely.  But yeah, I agree 100% with everything else you've said.  I'm kind of in a weird place in that I'm actually considering getting it off of STEAM just because it'd be less of a bitch to deal with, and I don't really want to.  How many people here are actually planning on getting this for PC by the way? 

Honestly... I planned to. Not anymore. Being the lazy person that I am, I get discouraged from buying anything that has me make an effort to use my purchase beyond the work I did to earn the money that paid for the game.

Now this money will go in the L4D fund. (Yes Que, that is very ironic)

[scottws]

I was thinking about this today after reading MysterD's post about the DRM on this game.  I have always been the type of person to buy the PC version of a mulitplatform game ever since I got a 360 since the pad works for the PC too.  Usually you have a lot more customization and generally the possibility of better performance and visuals, aside from a few ugly ducklings like Gears of War and Halo.  It's interesting they are both Microsoft games, but that's irrelevant.

But reading about all this bullshit you have to put up with now is really starting to turn me off.  I had been feeling bad about my argh matey ways and was buying everything, even considering buying a copy of Norton Ghost and some third party backup software, things I wouldn't have even given a real thought to in the past if I needed them.

This DRM thing is really disheartening.  There is no way I'm going to put up with this level of DRM on GTA4, and I'm finding that increasingly true of other games as well.  I'm not saying I'm going to pirate the game, but I'm definitely not buying them.

[MysterD]

Now why didn't I think of every single thought in your post before I made mine?

Ummm...I'm guessing you did.
I thought you and I were on the same page, so I basically expanded on your one-liner.

You know, I am so sick of PC games getting extra non-necessary bullshit attached with them -- G4WL required on some games; Valve games require Steam; some games got nasty DRM; some games got install limits; some digitally distributed games extra-DRM on top of their digital distribution protection (Sacred 2 on Impulse has its Securom install limits with revokes allowed imposed on it, Crysis Warhead has install limits over Steam); etc etc.

So many games I was going to pony up for upon release, it just never happened b/c of extra unnecessary bullcrap coming with the PC version of the product -- Spore, Mass Effect, Dead Space, etc etc; that's just to name a few. It's okay, though -- I'll just buy the game when it's MUCH cheaper.

I wouldn't be surprised if all this vicious DRM is a conspiracy by certain publishers to try and get the hell away from the PC market just to try to lower PC games sales so they can blame piracy and just not make PC versions of games. But, if that's the case -- why don't they just stop making PC versions altogether?

Regardless, over-vicious DRM and these publishers themselves are the ones hurting the PC market more than anybody else.

EDIT:

Well, you can't really blame this on the developers entirely.  But yeah, I agree 100% with everything else you've said.  I'm kind of in a weird place in that I'm actually considering getting it off of STEAM just because it'd be less of a bitch to deal with, and I don't really want to.  How many people here are actually planning on getting this for PC by the way?

Only annoyance with buying it from STEAM is if you get the STEAM Edition, you'd have one more processes running in the background than the retail -- so, you'd then have Steam, G4WL, Rockstar Social Club, and those Securom drivers running all at once.

I'd probably buy GTA4 PC, if I actually had a Double Core processor -- yes, even w/ all these unnecessary annoyances and all. I dunno, I'm just a PC gamer, regardless of everything -- I just like a lot of the other advantages of PC gaming. When publishers start doing this install limit bullshit, I get concerned and think I should wait on major price drops for that actual game.

In the meantime, I really should go back and try to push myself further along in GTA: San Andreas PC and actually get it done...

[MysterD]

9.0 from Eurogamer (out of 10) for GTA4 PC

But on other levels, it hasn't a clue. Like the vast majority of PC games, it auto-calculates its graphic settings. Unlike the vast majority of PC games, its auto-calculation is more than a little optimistic, generally underestimating what your PC can manage for the logical reason that a less-attractive game is less annoying than a less-playable one. I had to knock down the default graphic options quite a bit on my PC (dual-core 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 640MB GeForce 8800) until I got an acceptable rate, and even then there was the occasional really nasty drop. While my experience was more pronounced than most, speaking to other reviewers via the secret review-grapevine lead to confirmation that fiddling to get it playable was universal.

...

Any untotalling of the win happens outside the system. There's quite a lot of hoops you need to jump through outside the game. To play multiplayer, you have to have a (free, I stress) Games for Windows account plus another one for the Rockstar Social Club. You can skip the login of the latter (if you don't want multiplayer or uploading videos), but it does have to be running in the background. For Steam users, it's three processes in the background. It's not a lot of hassle, certainly, but it is a bit of hassle, and worth knowing if you're the sort who get angry when talking about DRM. While we're talking about that, there's online activation too.

[gpw11]

Holy shit, that is a huge resource hog.  It's like ever article I come across makes me not want to pay for this more.

[scottws]

You know, I am so sick of PC games getting extra non-necessary bullshit attached with them -- G4WL required on some games; Valve games require Steam; some games got nasty DRM; some games got install limits; some digitally distributed games extra-DRM on top of their digital distribution protection (Sacred 2 on Impulse has its Securom install limits with revokes allowed imposed on it, Crysis Warhead has install limits over Steam); etc etc.

Install limits for a Steam game?  Why?  I thought Steam was supposed to be sort of the end all, be all online store where you had the one account that everything was tied to (for better or for worse) so you make one purchase and it follows you forever?  Why put install limits on a Steam game?  Clearly it is legitimately purchased!  I know Steam games can and have been hacked, but if it's a hacked game then there are no install limits so what is the point?!  This has got to end.

[Xessive]

This is getting out of hand. Next we'll need an internet connection to play singleplayer games--No wait that's already happened. We're beyond fucked at this point.

There are still a few beacons of hope scattered throughout the dark mist of DRM. I don't want to jinx them just yet.

[MysterD]

Holy shit, that is a huge resource hog.

Like most Rockstar PC versions.

I think the only one they really got right was GTA: Vice City PC-- I ran that on a PC below its Mhz requirement and it right fine. Everything else for requirements, I made by a fair amount.

GTA: San Andreas PC ran fine for me, but at that time, my PC was top-of-the-club. So, it was expected to run fine on that.

It's like ever article I come across makes me not want to pay for this more.

I will either wait until it gets cheaper ($10) and/or when I buy a new PC first.

This is getting out of hand. Next we'll need an internet connection to play singleplayer games--No wait that's already happened. We're beyond fucked at this point.

HL2 made that popular -- thanks, Valve!

There are still a few beacons of hope scattered throughout the dark mist of DRM. I don't want to jinx them just yet.

I thought (Stardock's) Impulse would be one of them, until I saw Sacred 2's install limits (Securom Internet Version WITH Revokes) are imposed over the Impulse edition of that game -- which is basically what Steam does with many 3rd party games.

[K-man]

I really do hope this doesn't sour some of you guys from playing this game, whether it be on PC or one of the consoles.  Because the game really is excellent, and this coming from a guy who pretty much hated all the others.

[Cobra951]

OK, reality check.  Who here doesn't own either a 360 or a PS3?  Because this game was made for these suckers, then ported to the PC.  The control devices of choice are dual analog sticks, 2 analog triggers and a slew of buttons, not KB + mouse.  I'm all for PC gaming's advantages where they count.  They don't here.  Add to that the obstacle course being laid out in front of prospective PC players, and I can only come to one conclusion.

[MysterD]

OK, reality check.  Who here doesn't own either a 360 or a PS3?

Me.

Because this game was made for these suckers, then ported to the PC.  The control devices of choice are dual analog sticks, 2 analog triggers and a slew of buttons, not KB + mouse.

I have the X360 Control Pad -- which plugs right into my PC USB port.

I've played a fair amount of console games that were turned into PC ports on my PC with that control pad.

I play the GTA PC games usually with KB/mouse on foot (for precision aiming purposes), X360 gamepad for driving purposes.

I'm all for PC gaming's advantages where they count.

I bet the Video Suite for the GTA4 PC will be cool.
 

They don't here.  Add to that the obstacle course being laid out in front of prospective PC players, and I can only come to one conclusion.

I think there's a lot of hurdles and annoyances here for the PC version -- which is why I posted what y'all gamers who are thinking of getting GTA4 PC might want to weigh the options on if you want to deal w/ all of these hurdles. I can't run this game anyways, so I'll sit and wait on it for it to get cheaper.

[Xessive]

I borrowed GTAIV on the PS3 from my cousin. It seems decent enough but the controls can be frustrating at times. The camera seems to be the biggest factor on that since it keeps readjusting. The driving is pretty finicky too, though it's still the best driving I've experienced in a GTA game, I'm mainly comparing it to Burnout Paradise.

Overall I wasn't very impressed with graphics, but then this is a game about gameplay rather than razzle-dazzle. It just felt very 'brown' to me.

I was thinking about getting it for PC in the hope that the controls will be more to my liking, but it sounds like way too much of a hassle. I'll just suck it up and give it another go on the PS3.

[MysterD]

I was thinking about getting it for PC in the hope that the controls will be more to my liking, but it sounds like way too much of a hassle. I'll just suck it up and give it another go on the PS3.

I run a lot of games w/ XFire running in the background, these days -- so I can do screenies and add them directly to my profile without much hassle at all.

God, running XFire with everything GTA4 PC wants to also run at the same time (G4WL, Rockstar Social Club, and Securom drivers -- you can add Steam to the mix, if you get the Steam version of GTA4 PC) -- sound like you'd need RAM-city to run so many programs in the background!

[gpw11]

OK, reality check.  Who here doesn't own either a 360 or a PS3?  Because this game was made for these suckers, then ported to the PC.  The control devices of choice are dual analog sticks, 2 analog triggers and a slew of buttons, not KB + mouse.  I'm all for PC gaming's advantages where they count.  They don't here.  Add to that the obstacle course being laid out in front of prospective PC players, and I can only come to one conclusion.

Yo, although I do plan on getting a PS3 as soon as I get off my ass and get a new tv.

[MysterD]

Looks like Andrew Burnes of Voodoo-Extreme had a hell of a time getting GTA4 PC going.

Grand Theft Auto IV PC Installation Notes & Tray App Memory Usage
Dec 02, 2008 at 3:30 AM - Andrew Burnes - 38 Comments

Just got done installing Grand Theft Auto IV PC following a 13.8GB .zip download, a twelve-minute extraction process and a twenty-minute 14.9GB installation. Installation would have been far speedier were it not for the file corruption caused by WinRAR. Turns out, you see, that Direct2Drive hold onto this ridiculous notion of using WinZip. Failing to follow their demands (hidden in support pages), causes one or more files to be corrupted, at which time I was required to download WinZip, re-extract the necessary file, and continue installation. Once the main files are installed you're unable to opt out of Virtual Studio installs and all kinds of other crap (I'm a good boy, I keep my software up-to-date at all times).

First off -- why would you buy it off D2D, anyways?
Even if you do get a discount from there?

With the installation complete, I was directed to Rockstar's Social Club to tie my account to my Games For Windows info. With that done, I was allowed to boot up the actual tray app. This uses around 60MB of RAM at load, and 1-3% CPU on a Quad Core Q6600 clocked to 3GHz. Sending the app to the tray pushes RAM to 8-12MB (it bounces around randomly) and stops the CPU usage, though it does occasionally use a burst of processing power. It also adds an entry to your Windows Startup file, silently.

Inside the app, required to play GTA4 MP, there are basic pictures linked to Rockstar's Social Club, Social TV site, and the game itself. A news page notes that a Games For Windows update (22MB) is required and that it should be installed outside of the game. Turns out this is the update installed several weeks ago by Fallout 3.

With all hoops jumped, I was finally ready to play! Oh, perhaps not. Activation is required, though this is a painless key entry, done entirely over the net. Yes, now, finally, I can play!

Right, it loads fine, but I can't set texture quality to maximum because the game is mis-reporting the amount of memory on my GeForce 9800 GTX+. Render Quality is on Highest, but no combination of slider tweaking or option gimping enables High Resolution Textures. Running a benchmark, built in to the Graphics menu, returns the following results:

    CPU Usage: 32%
    System memory usage: 56%
    Video memory usage: 59%

What gives? Do I have to suffer with the Xbox 360 textures until a patch? Shame on you, Rockstar. Ah, a Command Line to set textures to maximum! Hmm, that resets all my options to minimum - I do love PC gaming so very much. What's this, another problem? Yes! I can't use Rockstar Social Club TV (the snazzy video editor) because I have Flash 10 and not Flash 9, even though a competently developed application should support Flash 10 automatically, as it's the latest, released, stable Flash client, and is also required for professional Flash tools I use daily.

What's that Lassie? You're getting a whiff of Mad Doc Software (Rockstar New England) portolitis?!

[idolminds]

Fuck this shit. Not buying the PC version, and no 360 or PS3 so....too bad for Rockstar.