GTA IV PC: Many Problems Exist But Rockstar is on Top of the Issues
If you recently bought the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV and are experiencing any minor to major difficulties, you’re not alone. This is a PC release of a GTA game with the single most problems ever. This version of the game was outsourced and developed in Canada at Rockstar Toronto and this might have something to do with the problems, we honestly can’t say for sure. But I’m sure you all expected to have a fully working game when you meet the listed hardware and software requirements.
The most critical part of the system for playing GTA IV seems to be the graphics card and the game box recommends at minimum a GeForce 7900 or Radeon X1900 chip. However, even cards from the generation above these are struggling – by far the most vocal group seems to be those who own nVidia’s GeForce 8800 series of graphics cards. It seems that people using this hardware aren’t getting the performance they expected.
Most users using current PC hardware as of December 2008 are advised to use medium graphics settings. Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available.
— Rockstar Games, 2nd December 2008
Thankfully back in the old Liberty City days a patch was swiftly issued and performance was improved drastically. Whether we’ll get a repeat performance this time around remains to be seen, although SLI support will be coming according to Rockstar.
If you’re on the fence at the moment about buying this game, and if you’ve got anything less than a GeForce 8800 then it’s probably advisable to hold out on your purchase and see if the situation develops further.
Anyway, Rockstar has today sent out a general e-mail to fan sites to spread the word that the company is working on sorting out all the PC issues, be it audio, graphical, performance or network related. On the network part, GTA4.net has pointed out earlier today that if you’re experiencing error code “MMA10″, sign your account out of the Rockstar Social Club. It appears as though that just like with the PS3 version back in May, connection issues with this service is allowing game issues. But that’s just one of many problems people seem to encounter out there. For a full list of error codes or available help, visit the Rockstar Games support website.
Here’s the e-mail from Rockstar Games:
Hey guys,
We are aware that a small number of fans are having problems running GTA IV on their PC’s and we would like to assure them we are working to help solve these as quickly as possible.
We would ask anyone that is encountering difficulties to contact their local technical support helpline for advice and recommendations. These telephone numbers can be found in the game’s manual.
There is also a regularly updated technical support page available on the Rockstar Games website http://www.rockstargames.com/support/ where there are many useful faqs and information on how to resolve some common problems being encountered.
Thanks,
Webmaster@R*
I’ll keep you all updated on this, especially word on any patch(es) or slight fixes from Rockstar Games.
Sources : GTAGaming#1, GTAGaming#2 & PlanetGTA
Muchas gracias, un mensaje desde España donde nosotros tambien seguimos conmocionados con este problema. Adios
No mention of the fact that you inexplicably and stupidly have to be signed in to Games For Windows Live if you want to save games?
It has FOUR kinds of DRM for those of us who bought it from Steam, and most of the DRM is a little bit broken.
A SMALL number of fans? Get real. This game has got MAJOR problems that are affecting everyone who bought it in some way. You only have to look at forums to see how bad it is. The game isn’t optimized properly and runs like crap.
Why do the PC gamers have to wait months after the console release only to be stuck with this second rate product?
I’ve got the network problem that means I can’t save. Thing is this problem wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for all the extra copy write protection there bolting on to games now. Well I’m taking my Game back to the shop for a refund and them I’m going to down load a cracked version cos that’s more likely to work.
Stick that rock star.
cant wait for rockstar to pull there fingers out of there arse’s and fix this shit!!!
I can’t believe i spent my cash on this and i’ve been fighting with the damn South African Post Office the whole week and i finally got my game delivered and i STILL can’t f*ckin play. This is horsesh!t! F*ck!
I don’t know why you guys are so mad.
I run an average 30 to 35fps on my 20″ LCD, and i only have an HD2900XT 512M with a Athlon X2 6000+ and 4 GB of ram, i run it on 64bit.
The game is slow but it is normal imo, we had the same trouble when san andreas came out. Sure you guys expected to run at 100fps on 24″, well don’t dream, maybe next year with the new generation cards.
I have not encountered any problems with the game, it just kills me that my gamepad doesn’t work and that i have to install crap applications and be connected to the internet to save my game…
So rockstar, what you really need to fix is compliancy for all pc gamepads, at least the good ones, and make it save my game without login connections.
Normaly I don’t buy PC game…anyway
but for GTA4 i’ve made a exception….. poor me.
Picked up my copy from EB Games yesterday. Running a GeForce 7950. The speed of the game is normal, however I get a grey shader across the floor – so i cannot see where I am going. it’s unplayable. All my drivers are the most recent from Nvidia, and I applied patch 1 from rockstar. This is a major issue.
“Most users using current PC hardware as of December 2008 are advised to use medium graphics settings. Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available.
— Rockstar Games, 2nd December 2008″
Does that sound like a cop out to you as well? What are they expecting of us, that we play 30mins and then put it away and play it properly when the hardware has improved to a point where the bugginess isn’t a problem anymore LOL. So it’s not there lazy port across that’s the problem it’s our machines? Despite they play all the other bleading edge games with no problems. Wouldn’t be the rush to get it into the stores before Xmas that has caused the issue is it?
I actually bought a 8800 gs for my dad this christmas and was testing it out before i gave it to him. The 8800 gs runs 100% better than my hd 3870 which is a superior card. i get no black outs, shaky camera or fps drops. i’m f***ing pissed and i want a fix. i don’t know why it would be the nvida people that are be pissed it, ati fanboys should be instead.
Anyone else notice that the control layout still has a picture of the Xbox 360 controller? “Future generations” my ass, try “lazy, half-assed conversion”.
I AM SO f***IN PISSED I SPENT MY HARD EARNED MONEY ON THIS DAM GAME AND IT DOESNT f***ING WORK ROCK STAR I BEEN A FAN FOR YEARS AND THIS IS HOW YALL DO ME IF I DONT GET THIS GAME PLAYIN IN A MONTH IM THRU WIT ROCK STAR I SPENT MONEY DAT I DONT EVEN f***IN HAVE BECAUSE I f***IN THOUGHT IT WAS WORTH IT AND I GET HOME ALL HYPED UP AND SHIT THINKING IM GONEFINALLY GET 2 PLAY DIS GAME AND I f***IN CANT PLAY IT I WISH I CULD SUE DA SHIT OUT OF ROCK STAR BECAUSE THEY PISSED OFF SO MANY PEOPLE AND IM NOT FUKKIN BUYIN ANOTHER COPY YALL GONE HELP ME FIX DA FUKKIN 1 DAT I GOT AND I MEAN DAT ROCK STAR
ROCKSTAR – Go f*** yourself you lazy f***ing shit eaters. In the next 2 years your company is going down the pan and you deserve to be out of a job. GTAIV is the last Xstar game i will ever buy and the VAST majority of PC gamers feel exactly the same. Enjoy rotting in the gutter. You deserve it. Learn to port you f***ing n0000000000000bs
Boy I was planning on getting this game, infact I was going to get a new computer for it (my old one is crap anyways). But you guys scared the shit outta me, dozens of bugs, large issues with multiplayer, man if I am going to ever get this game it is definitely going to be for the console!
“Most users using current PC hardware as of December 2008 are advised to use medium graphics settings. Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available.
— Rockstar Games, 2nd December 2008″
LOL R* ARE TIME TRAVELERS!
but seriously, that is just scary, they have a game so advance that it won’t even match up with the higher end production computers! but it’s okay, we can all use the medium setting until we all upgrade our graphics card and ram and what not.