GTA IV Game Discussion :: SPOILERS INSIDE

[shantanu]

Hi Everyone.. Seeing the high demand involving me , i decided to make this thread for In game Discussionon GTA IV

SPOILERS ALLOWED..

We have SPOILERS here.. so Dont read Further if you Dont want to Spoil your Gameplay..



here are some screenshots , will post more..

[Third Eye]

Nice screenshots shantanu

[himadri_sm]

well i installed the game & applied the 1.0.1 patch & played around for a while. my questions-
1. i am always connected to the internet. when i start RGSC it tries to update itself & i have to terminate my network connection to stop it. is there any other way to do so?

2. in the graphics properties settings i have selected resolution 1680 x 1050(60hz). my 19" viewsonic has this as max resolution.the aspect ratio is kept at auto.i applied the patch to increase graphics quality to high but i cannot..if i do so the resource usage exceeds a lot.

the resource usage states- 856/470 (what do they mean?), Warning- your graphics settings are near or exceed the suggested resource settings for your system.it is recommended to reduce the graphic settings to run the game optimally.

when i change the render quality to highest & texture quality to medium it shows as 465/470 & when i change the texture quality to high(render quality highest) it shows as 856/470.

i have set these values- a)view distance- 32
b)detail distance- 70
c)vehicle density- 51
d)shadow density- 10
these were detected by the auto configure option.
my pc config is-
-asus p5kc m/b
-intel core2quad q9300(2.5ghz)
-1 x 2gb ddr2 800mhz & 1x 1gb ddr2 800mhz
-palit hd 4850( non OC'ed)

apart from the aforementioned problems the shadows sometimes turn into pixellated dots, while at other times it is uniform..i haven't checked my fps but the game is playable..its not lagging, hanging, freezing or crashing..i haven't played any missions but cruised around liberty city for around 20 minutes now..on car & on foot, i haven't experienced any problems.

what should i do?

[Ethan_Hunt]

Originally Posted by shantanu

@hunt : lol , i am playing this game.. hey tell me something.. michelle speaks like a FBI agent ?? did you notice that.. .. and that net cafe thing is good.. !!

where are you right now in the game ??

Dude you must really have good observation skills. I won't spoil the fun as I just discovered her full identity. But that's not before taking her out nearly 3 times & having sex each time I dropped her.

I have just completed one of Roman's mission, 'Hostile Negotiation'. Now Roman seems to have bought a new penthouse suite as our new safehouse. Better than those 2 sh*tty apartments I'd say.

Progress: 30%.

[Arsenal_Gunners]

^^wow that ruined my game

I got my GTA copy.

[shantanu]

great man.. awesome.. its going to be legendaryy.. lol

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Is anyone able to play multiplayer?

[himadri_sm]

Originally Posted by 767hsm.221bx

well i installed the game & applied the 1.0.1 patch & played around for a while. my questions-
1. i am always connected to the internet. when i start RGSC it tries to update itself & i have to terminate my network connection to stop it. is there any other way to do so?

2. in the graphics properties settings i have selected resolution 1680 x 1050(60hz). my 19" viewsonic has this as max resolution.the aspect ratio is kept at auto.i applied the patch to increase graphics quality to high but i cannot..if i do so the resource usage exceeds a lot.

the resource usage states- 856/470 (what do they mean?), Warning- your graphics settings are near or exceed the suggested resource settings for your system.it is recommended to reduce the graphic settings to run the game optimally.

when i change the render quality to highest & texture quality to medium it shows as 465/470 & when i change the texture quality to high(render quality highest) it shows as 856/470.

i have set these values- a)view distance- 32
b)detail distance- 70
c)vehicle density- 51
d)shadow density- 10
these were detected by the auto configure option.
my pc config is-
-asus p5kc m/b
-intel core2quad q9300(2.5ghz)
-1 x 2gb ddr2 800mhz & 1x 1gb ddr2 800mhz
-palit hd 4850( non OC'ed)

apart from the aforementioned problems the shadows sometimes turn into pixellated dots, while at other times it is uniform..i haven't checked my fps but the game is playable..its not lagging, hanging, freezing or crashing..i haven't played any missions but cruised around liberty city for around 20 minutes now..on car & on foot, i haven't experienced any problems.

what should i do?

please guys..why isn't anyone answering?

[SunnyChahal]

I'm installing Vista 64-Bit just for this game. Will there be any improvemen in FPS?

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Originally Posted by quan chi

well how its performing on single core.
was there any improvement after applying the patch.

It is playable.
I haven't applied the patch yet.

[shantanu]

i am on Vista 64 .. and yes the FPS are better.. my game is only 15% up .. just did that Bruce's Mission of Police car tracking and Wacking..

[himadri_sm]

Originally Posted by 767hsm.221bx

please guys..why isn't anyone answering?

Originally Posted by 767hsm.221bx

well i installed the game & applied the 1.0.1 patch & played around for a while. my questions-
1. i am always connected to the internet. when i start RGSC it tries to update itself & i have to terminate my network connection to stop it. is there any other way to do so?

2. in the graphics properties settings i have selected resolution 1680 x 1050(60hz). my 19" viewsonic has this as max resolution.the aspect ratio is kept at auto.i applied the patch to increase graphics quality to high but i cannot..if i do so the resource usage exceeds a lot.

the resource usage states- 856/470 (what do they mean?), Warning- your graphics settings are near or exceed the suggested resource settings for your system.it is recommended to reduce the graphic settings to run the game optimally.

when i change the render quality to highest & texture quality to medium it shows as 465/470 & when i change the texture quality to high(render quality highest) it shows as 856/470.

i have set these values- a)view distance- 32
b)detail distance- 70
c)vehicle density- 51
d)shadow density- 10
these were detected by the auto configure option.
my pc config is-
-asus p5kc m/b
-intel core2quad q9300(2.5ghz)
-1 x 2gb ddr2 800mhz & 1x 1gb ddr2 800mhz
-palit hd 4850( non OC'ed)

apart from the aforementioned problems the shadows sometimes turn into pixellated dots, while at other times it is uniform..i haven't checked my fps but the game is playable..its not lagging, hanging, freezing or crashing..i haven't played any missions but cruised around liberty city for around 20 minutes now..on car & on foot, i haven't experienced any problems.

what should i do?

please...is anyone reading this?

[Ethan_Hunt]

Originally Posted by 767hsm.221bx

1. i am always connected to the internet. when i start RGSC it tries to update itself & i have to terminate my network connection to stop it. is there any other way to do so?

I do the same thing. If you don't reboot your machine that often then just run the RGSC application & fire the game away. Then enable your Internet connection. Exit the game & don't close the RGSC from the system tray. Let it remain there. Browse all you want & launch the game again directly from the RGSC icon in the system tray.

Originally Posted by 767hsm.221bx

2. in the graphics properties settings i have selected resolution 1680 x 1050(60hz). my 19" viewsonic has this as max resolution.the aspect ratio is kept at auto.i applied the patch to increase graphics quality to high but i cannot..if i do so the resource usage exceeds a lot.

the resource usage states- 856/470 (what do they mean?), Warning- your graphics settings are near or exceed the suggested resource settings for your system.it is recommended to reduce the graphic settings to run the game optimally.

This means that it's exceeding your Video memory usage. The HD4850 has 512MB VRAM so enabling high texture quality occupies a large VRAM memory. It warns you because that setting is supposedly for higher end video cards with more VRAM. I have the same setting enabled but nothing major affected so far. The texture quality looks amazing after applying it. So ignore the warning for now.

Originally Posted by 767hsm.221bx

when i change the render quality to highest & texture quality to medium it shows as 465/470 & when i change the texture quality to high(render quality highest) it shows as 856/470.

i have set these values- a)view distance- 32
b)detail distance- 70
c)vehicle density- 51
d)shadow density- 10
these were detected by the auto configure option.
my pc config is-
-asus p5kc m/b
-intel core2quad q9300(2.5ghz)
-1 x 2gb ddr2 800mhz & 1x 1gb ddr2 800mhz
-palit hd 4850( non OC'ed)

apart from the aforementioned problems the shadows sometimes turn into pixellated dots, while at other times it is uniform..i haven't checked my fps but the game is playable..its not lagging, hanging, freezing or crashing..i haven't played any missions but cruised around liberty city for around 20 minutes now..on car & on foot, i haven't experienced any problems.

what should i do?

Update the drivers to Catalyst 8.12 & also update to the latest patch. Turn the shadow down to 0 as it doesn't help anyway. If you're not having any major issues then what's stopping you from playing the game?

[himadri_sm]

Originally Posted by Ethan_Hunt

I do the same thing. If you don't reboot your machine that often then just run the RGSC application & fire the game away. Then enable your Internet connection. Exit the game & don't close the RGSC from the system tray. Let it remain there. Browse all you want & launch the game again directly from the RGSC icon in the system tray.

This means that it's exceeding your Video memory usage. The HD4850 has 512MB VRAM so enabling high texture quality occupies a large VRAM memory. It warns you because that setting is supposedly for higher end video cards with more VRAM. I have the same setting enabled but nothing major affected so far. The texture quality looks amazing after applying it. So ignore the warning for now.

Update the drivers to Catalyst 8.12 & also update to the latest patch. Turn the shadow down to 0 as it doesn't help anyway. If you're not having any major issues then what's stopping you from playing the game?

Thanx a lot for replying.Actually nothing is stopping me from playing the game..i only wanted to know if i could set my texture quality to high...& if i could stop RGSC from updating itself..But why does the game not run from the launchGTAIV.exe? when i click on this exe only a command prompt window appears..in the task manager i can see the process RGSC.exe running but the game does not start. it only starts directly from RGSC.exe ? BTW, i have completed 3.~something% of the game & i can already say its awesome..even with pixellated shadows liberty city is just amazing. & since the game does not freeze or crash..its completely worth enjoying.

[Ethan_Hunt]

RGSC is somehow connected to the main launcher. The main game is triggered only via RGSC. It's also a part of the Multiplayer aspect of the game, so I guess it needs to be running whilst the game is being played.

[Psychosocial]

OK you guys have tempted me to order the game today itself .

One question, seeing the performance flaws, will I be able to run it @Medium, no AA on 1440x900 with a 8800GT 512MB, 2GB RAM and C2D E4500@ 2.4GHz ? I dont mind bad image quality as GTA games are known for gameplay rather than grafix .

[aminsagar123]

will gta4 run on my HP DV6767TX Laptop.

Processors: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5550, Intel 965 PM Express Chipset
RAM DDR2: 3 GB
Hard Disk (in GB): 250 GB SATA 5400RPM
Optical Drive: Lightscribe 8X Double Layer (8.5 GB) DVD +RW/ +R Writer
Operating Systems: Windows Vista Home
N VIDIA FORCE/Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, 256 MB Dedicated Graphics,Up to 895 MB TAG* memory (as allocated by Vista), Supports DirectX 10

[Ethan_Hunt]

Originally Posted by Psychosocial

One question, seeing the performance flaws, will I be able to run it @Medium, no AA on 1440x900 with a 8800GT 512MB, 2GB RAM and C2D E4500@ 2.4GHz ? I dont mind bad image quality as GTA games are known for gameplay rather than grafix .

Simply put, Yes.

[himadri_sm]

Originally Posted by Ethan_Hunt

enabling high texture quality occupies a large VRAM memory. It warns you because that setting is supposedly for higher end video cards with more VRAM. I have the same setting enabled but nothing major affected so far. The texture quality looks amazing after applying it. So ignore the warning for now.

Update the drivers to Catalyst 8.12 & also update to the latest patch. Turn the shadow down to 0 as it doesn't help anyway. If you're not having any major issues then what's stopping you from playing the game?

hey i enabled the high settings in texture quality in spite of the warnings & played for about an hour..no crashing, freezing whatsoever....but sometimes the textures would turn to very low resolution for a brief 3-5sec..then they would be normal again..one can hardly notice it.my only complaint is about the pixellated shadows...leaving that the game ROCKS.

[Ethan_Hunt]

I'm not able to visualize what you mean by pixellated shadows. If you could point out from a screenshot then that would be helpful.

[himadri_sm]

Originally Posted by Ethan_Hunt

I'm not able to visualize what you mean by pixellated shadows. If you could point out from a screenshot then that would be helpful.

please take a look at my GTA IV screenshots. the settings i have used are :-
-1680 x 1050(60hz)
-texture quality- high; render quality- highest
a)view distance- 30
b)detail distance- 70
c)vehicle density- 50
d)shadow density- 10

at these settings the game is running smoothly..no hanging, freezing, crashing whatsoever even after playing around for near 3 hrs.

Screenshots-a) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/...7cb9a854_b.jpg
b) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3072/...8b1bac68_b.jpg
c) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/...00878377_b.jpg
d) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/...ae53b9b9_b.jpg
e) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3175/...fbbcabf1_b.jpg
f) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/...e11045c6_b.jpg
g) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/...c6b95742_b.jpg

take a look around the edges of the shadows..they look like a group of small dots..thats what i meant by pixellated shadows...any cure for them?

[Ethan_Hunt]

LOL! Oh that's what you meant by pixellated shadows. Everyone has the same issue dude. The shadows are broken because of the lack of proper AA on objects. So when they reflect shadows they appear to be jagged as well. Hence the mixed effect which you have in front of you. Nothing major. Just ignore it & move on.

[himadri_sm]

Originally Posted by Ethan_Hunt

LOL! Oh that's what you meant by pixellated shadows. Everyone has the same issue dude. The shadows are broken because of the lack of proper AA on objects. So when they reflect shadows they appear to be jagged as well. Hence the mixed effect which you have in front of you. Nothing major. Just ignore it & move on.

thank you..BTW what do you think of the graphics quality from the screenshots..are they okay..can you please upload a few of your screenshots..i just want to compare the graphics quality..also please mention the settings you are playing at.

[Ethan_Hunt]

The screenshots look fine. I have just taken a few. Hate FRAPS running in the background.

http://i37.tinypic.com/wufkog.jpg
http://i37.tinypic.com/2ur1p4x.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/123mmva.jpg

I'm playing at 1280x1024 @75Hz with Texture Quality on High & Render Quality on Very High. Rest of them are pretty standard.

[shantanu]

i discovered a thing.. either you set the gfx at highest.. the GFx does not change.. i tested it and found nothing much changing.. i think these guys did not change any overlays for the Gfx in all modes.. they are almost same...

[himadri_sm]

Originally Posted by Ethan_Hunt

The screenshots look fine. I have just taken a few. Hate FRAPS running in the background.

http://i37.tinypic.com/wufkog.jpg
http://i37.tinypic.com/2ur1p4x.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/123mmva.jpg

I'm playing at 1280x1024 @75Hz with Texture Quality on High & Render Quality on Very High. Rest of them are pretty standard.

THANX..i tried to check my fps using FRAPS but after playing the game for only about 2 minutes it crashed with an error..so i quit FRAPS & then restarted the game..played for around half an hour & the game ran fine, no crashing or freezing..wonder what FRAPS did!?

[shantanu]

what gfx are you using ^ ..

and ethan : you on 4850 ??

[himadri_sm]

Originally Posted by shantanu

what gfx are you using ^ ..

and ethan : you on 4850 ??

am using palit hd 4850(standard non OC'ed).

a few more screenshots-
a) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/...b5efde63_b.jpg
b) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/...f525ede5_b.jpg
c) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/...f1aac91c_b.jpg

i think this game is highly worth playing.

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Originally Posted by shantanu

i discovered a thing.. either you set the gfx at highest.. the GFx does not change.. i tested it and found nothing much changing.. i think these guys did not change any overlays for the Gfx in all modes.. they are almost same...

I read somewhere that the patch or new gfx drivers solve this issue.

[SunnyChahal]

Now I'm ignoring the minor issues like shadows and really enjoying the game. Everything is maxed out and I am getting 25-30 FPS on 1680X1050.
Even at 20 FPS the game seems to run normally,no lags nothing.
Just a question,isn't the AA in this game?Their is a bit of jerkiness in buildings.