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Grand Theft Auto IV

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 18:45, 28 July 2016 by Blackbird (talk | contribs)
Template:Infobox game/row/winporter
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV cover
Developers
Rockstar North
Publishers
Rockstar Games
Engines
RAGE
Release dates
Windows December 2, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV guide on StrategyWiki
Grand Theft Auto IV on Wikipedia

Warnings

For Games for Windows - LIVE on Windows 8 or later, install the latest Games for Windows - LIVE software.
Grand Theft Auto 1997
Grand Theft Auto 2 1999
Grand Theft Auto III 2002
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 2003
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 2005
Grand Theft Auto IV 2008
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City 2010
Grand Theft Auto: iFruit 2013
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 10 Year Anniversary 2014
Grand Theft Auto V 2015
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars 2021
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (series)

Key points

Shares many similarities with Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City in terms of its engine and performance.
Extensive modding community, along with Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.
Ability to import your music for your own custom radio station.

General information

Rockstar Support
GTA Modding - A wiki hosting mod information for the GTA series.
GTAForums - Grand Theft Auto IV Discussion
GTA Network - A huge network of fansites all dedicated to the Grand Theft Auto series
Steam Community Discussions
Steam Users' Forums for game series

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
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Requires online activation
Windows
Amazon.com
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Requires online activation
Windows
Amazon.com
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Requires online activation
Complete Edition
Windows
Incorrect store name. See here for available options.
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Requires online activation
Windows
Incorrect store name. See here for available options.
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Requires online activation
Complete Edition only
Windows
GamersGate
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Requires online activation
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
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Requires online activation
Complete Edition
Windows
Green Man Gaming
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Requires online activation
Windows
Humble Store
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Requires online activation
Windows
Steam
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Requires online activation
Windows
All versions require Games for Windows - LIVE and SecuROM.
Online features require Rockstar Games Social Club.
Complete Edition includes Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Instructions

Patches

Since 1.0.6.0 patch Rockstar Social Club is no longer required to run the game.[1]

Downgrade to 1.0.4.0

Some mods work only with this version. This version is also claimed to improve game performance.[2][3]
Multiplayer won't work with older versions.
Instructions

Flash Player

Flash Player is required to use the Social Club TV features. Flash Player for Internet Explorer is the version that needs to be installed.
Instructions

Recoil Fix

By default, recoil/bullet spread is only enabled when playing with a controller. This results in 100% accuracy when using a keyboard and mouse.
Not recommended to use in Multiplayer
Instructions

ColAccel

Heavily decreases loading times
If editing .IMG archives you need to delete colCache.dat and let it get re-created
Instructions

XliveLess

Built-in ASI loader
Remove Games for Windows - LIVE service.
Disable access to the multiplayer.
Instructions

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/row
System Location
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/12210/pfx/[Note 1]
Configuration files are encrypted. For an alternative, see Command Line.

Save game data location

Template:Game data/row
System Location
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/12210/pfx/[Note 1]
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\XLive must also be backed up as the save data is bound to the Games for Windows - LIVE profile.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Input settings

In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game keyboard/mouse settings.
In-game keyboard/mouse settings.
In-game gamepad settings.
In-game gamepad settings.

Template:Input settings

DirectInput Controller support

Instructions
Instructions

PS3 Controller Buttons

If using a PS2/PS3 controller, you might want to change the Xbox 360 buttons to the PS2/PS3 buttons. In order to do so, follow the instructions below.

Instructions

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Czech
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Polish
Russian
Spanish
Ukrainian

Network

Social Club website stat tracking and leaderboards have been shut down. All other online features are unaffected.[4]

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
32
Online play
32

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 53, 80, 3074
UDP 53, 88, 3074
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

Issues fixed

Game uses Games for Windows - LIVE. Make sure you are running latest version and refer to the concerning page if you have further problems

Release Date Check Failure on Windows 10

Instructions

Fatal error RMN20 upon attempted launch

Instructions
Instructions

Stuttering and other performance issues after running the game for a while

Instructions
Instructions

Game minimizes after clicking start

If the game minimizes after selecting between GTA IV base and EFLC and can not be made full screen again it may be a problem with PunkBuster. It can be fixed by stopping it from running.
Instructions

Game will load with minimal graphic settings and won't let you change them

For some video cards the game will run but won't let you change the graphics settings to anything better. In order to force the game to allow the changes, load the .exe with the extra parameter: -norestrictions. If running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, run the game in compatibility mode for Windows Vista (SP2)[citation needed].
Instructions
Instructions

AMD Radeon water fix

There is a problem where the water loses its features and details after a while.
Instructions

Algonquin Bridge lag issue

Instructions

Invisible fonts glitch

An invisible fonts glitch may occur which involves game menu text disappearing.
Instructions

2GB+ VRAM is wrongly recognized

Instructions

Textures/Models not loading

Instructions

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9
Shader Model support 3
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics Bullet Physics Library, Euphoria
Interface Flash
Cutscenes Bink Video
Multiplayer Games for Windows - LIVE, Rockstar Games Social Club

Modifications

It is strongly recommended to make a backup of any files modifications may replace or amend in the event of corruption.

XLiveLess

XLiveLess enables modding.
XLiveLess disables all multiplayer functionality to prevent cheating.

Custom Music

Grand Theft Auto IV allows users to play their own music on a custom radio station, Independence FM.[5]

Simply place any audio files / folders or create shortcuts in the %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\User Music folder, and tune into the station in-game.
Supported formats are MP3, WMA, M4A. Other formats and extensions are not recognized.
QuickTime or iTunes needs to be installed for M4A support.
FLAC is not supported. Convert to WMA Lossless to use in-game.
Use shortcuts to audio files / folders to save disk space and improve performance.
Supports High-resolution audio files. Up to 96 kHz / 24 bit.
Supports Surround audio files. Up to 6 channels.
Monaural audio files not supported.

Command line parameters

By creating a file called commandline.txt and saving it to your root installation folder you can alter the way your game runs. If you are using Steam; go to the game in your library, right-click and click Properties, select Set Launch Options... and enter the commands separated by spaces.
Parameter Description
-help Lists the available commands
-adapter Use the specified screen adapter
-autoconfig Automatically adjust quality setting to maintain desired frame rate (15-120)
-availablevidmem Set amount of physical Video Memory
-benchmark Launches the game in Benchmark mode and then quits it
-detailquality Set the detail quality of the game (0-99)
-disableimposters Turn off imposter rendering for vehicles
-forcehighqualitymirrors Enable 64 bit mirrors
-forcer2vb Force Render to Vertex Buffer
-frameLimit Limits your FPS to your refresh rate
-framelockinwindow Force framelock to work even in a window
-fullscreen Force fullscreen mode
-fullspecaudio Force high-end CPU audio footprint
-gpucount Lets you manually set the GPU count if query fails
-height Sets the vertical resolution
-managed Use D3D runtime managed resources
-memrestrict Set the restriction the amount of available memory for the game
-minspecaudio Force low-end CPU audio footprint
-no_3GB Disable 32-bit OS with /3GB
-noBlockOnLostFocus Don't block the window update when it loses focus.
-noprecache Disable precache of resources
-nomemrestrict Disable memory restrictions
-nominimize Disables the ability to restore the game from minimize and changing resolutions (Reduces System Memory Footprint)
-norestrictions Do not limit graphics settings
-noswapdelay Disable sleep delay before Present (Disable fix for hard Present stalls)
-notimefix Disable Time Fix
-novblank Disables V-Sync
-percentvidmem Percentage of Video memory to make available for the game
-refreshrate Set the refresh rate (Must be supported by your monitor)
-reserve Amount of memory to set aside for other applications
-reservedApp Amount of memory to leave available within application space
-renderquality Set the render quality of the game (0-4)
-safemode Sets graphics setting to lowest setting
-shadowdensity Set the number of lights that cast shadows (0-16)
-shadowquality Set the shadow quality (0-4)
-stereo Set game to support stereo rendering mode
-texturequality Set the texture quality of the game (0-2)
-unmanaged Use application managed resources
-usedirectinput Allow DirectInput alongside XInput support.
-viewdistance Set the view distance of the game (0-99)
-windowed Force windowed mode
-width Sets the horizontal resolution

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP SP3, Vista SP1
Processor (CPU) AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4 GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz
System memory (RAM) 1.5 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 16 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon X1900
Nvidia GeForce 7900
256 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible
Sound (audio device) 5.1 Channel Audio Card
Online play requires log-in to Games for Windows - LIVE.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/12210/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (12210) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References