The funny part is that ninety percent of it is copy-pasted from the 360 review
You wanna talk about reviews that are bought and paid for
But to be fair, isn't the game at least 90% the same?
Technical issues do not change the story or fundamental gameplay, it might impact your personal experience if your box isn't super, but it might not impact the next person down. Gamespot tries to review games as a whole, not benchmark them for a user's experience for every gaming PC tier. I haven't read the review myself, but I imagine they should at least mention possible software issues, the enhanced multiplayer and that video recording thing. besides the flickering issues which I have resolved, I haven't even touched the other enhancements over the console versions. Not that software issues should be soncidered a feature, just saying.
You're really looking for villains if you think anyone paid Gamespot to reprint a review of the same game on a different platform.
Agreed. Most sites do that. Why write different reviews if most the of game is identical, anyway?
Actually most of the sites I've seen that review for cross-platform games usually start the review with something like "To get a better feel for the game itself, see our XYZ platform review here, this review is mainly going to focus on the changes and improvements"
Although I agree with the sentiment that this doesn't really mean they were paid off for it. Not as diligent as some other review sites are maybe, but that doesn't automatically point to paid off.
Q9550 came in today. It should be interesting to see how much of a jump it will give over an e6600. It's a shame it is the c1 stepping though, I was going to over clock it to 3ghz.
stigweard on
0
CarbonFireSee youin the countryRegistered Userregular
edited December 2008
So for those who have gotten the PC version into a playable state....hows the multiplayer? I know you have to put up with the GFWL BS, but does the multiplayer work? Is there much lag? Did they improve the lobby system and interface from the console version?
As much as I want to ignore this game, I enjoyed playing GTA4 on the 360 immensely and would like very much to enjoy it once again on the PC (hopefully with an improved multiplayer component).
So for those who have gotten the PC version into a playable state....hows the multiplayer? I know you have to put up with the GFWL BS, but does the multiplayer work? Is there much lag? Did they improve the lobby system and interface from the console version?
As much as I want to ignore this game, I enjoyed playing GTA4 on the 360 immensely and would like very much to enjoy it once again on the PC (hopefully with an improved multiplayer component).
When i host a game, and people join, multiplayer is very fun. I got no lag and had a great time.
However i have yet to join a game in the browser. Any time i connect i get booted or sent to an empty lobby. This could be a problem my network but other games connect fine so im not sure.
My roomate spent this morning playing Cops and Robbers (or Cops and Crooks as the game calls it I think). It looked pretty fun. He also played Gang Wars or something where you cap territory around the map; he and three other guys got ina car and drove around, and whenever they'd see an enemy dude they'd just light him up. It was hilarious.
But the original reviews were paid for. So, Olivaw's still technically correct.
This was never more obvious than when Halo 2 got a 9 and Kasavin reviewed it like it got an 8.5 max because of the singleplayer, and looked like he wanted to stab someone in the video review.
Although to be technical they most likely did that in order to get early gold code, like everyone else.
Sam on
0
ArminasStudent of LifeSF, CARegistered Userregular
edited December 2008
Does multiplayer have any affect on single player? I mean I'm not very far and would rather not disrupt some aspect of my single player game that I haven't experienced yet.
Does multiplayer have any affect on single player? I mean I'm not very far and would rather not disrupt some aspect of my single player game that I haven't experienced yet.
The theme of one of the modes is you getting orders from a crime boss who appears in single player. The orders are just random shit for points.
When i host a game, and people join, multiplayer is very fun. I got no lag and had a great time.
However i have yet to join a game in the browser. Any time i connect i get booted or sent to an empty lobby. This could be a problem my network but other games connect fine so im not sure.
Just a note, I get this too.
Pretty annoying when half the reason I bothered getting the game was the multiplayer.
Also, I love how the game doesn't show server pings, but instead red/yellow/green bars.
So I'm going for 100%. I just completed the story (and got the Liberty City Minute trophy, thank you very much) and was doing the random character missions. I've done everyone else but I can't seem to find Pathos for his second encounter. A lot of time has passed since I did his first one and I've finished everyone else's. He just doesn't show up at the place he's supposed to be. What should I do? Will I have to restart if I want 100%? Help!
If he doesn't show up, then you'll likely need to restart the game. If you have any other things to do (jumps, pigeons, etc.), do some of them first. Hang out with any available friends/girlfriends. Change Niko's clothes (it usually worked in San Andreas).
Also, be sure you're looking in the right place at the right time. I don't think he's limited to a specific time of day, but check back later. You can tell on that map that he's not in the same spot the second time. Drive all around Star Junction slowly and keep an eye on the radar.
When i host a game, and people join, multiplayer is very fun. I got no lag and had a great time.
However i have yet to join a game in the browser. Any time i connect i get booted or sent to an empty lobby. This could be a problem my network but other games connect fine so im not sure.
Just a note, I get this too.
Pretty annoying when half the reason I bothered getting the game was the multiplayer.
Also, I love how the game doesn't show server pings, but instead red/yellow/green bars.
Bah, I'm sick and tired of PC games adopting this console convention. Even Valve have started using it with Left 4 Dead, it's stupid. Why can't they just give us the pings? We're big boys and girls, I've been assured by my kindergarten teacher that I know how to count and which number is bigger and which is smaller.
subedii on
0
augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
When i host a game, and people join, multiplayer is very fun. I got no lag and had a great time.
However i have yet to join a game in the browser. Any time i connect i get booted or sent to an empty lobby. This could be a problem my network but other games connect fine so im not sure.
Just a note, I get this too.
Pretty annoying when half the reason I bothered getting the game was the multiplayer.
Also, I love how the game doesn't show server pings, but instead red/yellow/green bars.
Bah, I'm sick and tired of PC games adopting this console convention. Even Valve have started using it with Left 4 Dead, it's stupid. Why can't they just give us the pings? We're big boys and girls, I've been assured by my kindergarten teacher that I know how to count and which number is bigger and which is smaller.
+1. UT3 had a similarly awful server browser. It's getting a little silly. Consoles are making games dumber.
TychoCelchuuu on
0
Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
edited December 2008
I too dislike not having pings, but seriously, let's not turn this into a "consoles make games dumber" shitfest
"Oh no instead of a number there are colors this means that consoles suck and are ruining games"
Do they not load no matter how low you turn things down? And did you try cleaning your drivers in safe mode and installing the latest beta drivers?
The textures don't load regardless of settings, high or low, resolution included. I've reinstalled drivers, removed drivers in safe mode with cleaners and sacrificed goats. No luck.
It's a P4 3.0 ghz HT, 1024gb DDR2, ATI x2600HD. It's not the greatest system in the world, but should do fine.
Do they not load no matter how low you turn things down? And did you try cleaning your drivers in safe mode and installing the latest beta drivers?
The textures don't load regardless of settings, high or low, resolution included. I've reinstalled drivers, removed drivers in safe mode with cleaners and sacrificed goats. No luck.
It's a P4 3.0 ghz HT, 1024gb DDR2, ATI x2600HD. It's not the greatest system in the world, but should do fine.
I dunno about that.
Rohan on
...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.
The patch itself must go through Microsoft for approval (all games that support Games For Windows Live have to have that extra approval process) but Rockstar does expect that process to move swiftly. Here are some of the fixes they say will be in the patch:
-A fix to the crash after legal screen that some German customers were reporting.
-Numerous improvements to the video editor: Smarter naming of videos, improved rendering quality, better fx during replays
-Fix to bowling while using certain sensitive mice
-Fix for ATI 1900 shadows
-Overall savings to memory
-Graphic improvements to particle systems and mirrors
-Multiplayer character settings are preserved
-Support for DirectInput controllers.
The patch itself must go through Microsoft for approval (all games that support Games For Windows Live have to have that extra approval process) but Rockstar does expect that process to move swiftly. Here are some of the fixes they say will be in the patch:
-A fix to the crash after legal screen that some German customers were reporting.
-Numerous improvements to the video editor: Smarter naming of videos, improved rendering quality, better fx during replays
-Fix to bowling while using certain sensitive mice
-Fix for ATI 1900 shadows
-Overall savings to memory
-Graphic improvements to particle systems and mirrors -Multiplayer character settings are preserved
-Support for DirectInput controllers.
Do they not load no matter how low you turn things down? And did you try cleaning your drivers in safe mode and installing the latest beta drivers?
The textures don't load regardless of settings, high or low, resolution included. I've reinstalled drivers, removed drivers in safe mode with cleaners and sacrificed goats. No luck.
It's a P4 3.0 ghz HT, 1024gb DDR2, ATI x2600HD. It's not the greatest system in the world, but should do fine.
I don't really know how you could expect that system to cope with this game.
Do they not load no matter how low you turn things down? And did you try cleaning your drivers in safe mode and installing the latest beta drivers?
The textures don't load regardless of settings, high or low, resolution included. I've reinstalled drivers, removed drivers in safe mode with cleaners and sacrificed goats. No luck.
It's a P4 3.0 ghz HT, 1024gb DDR2, ATI x2600HD. It's not the greatest system in the world, but should do fine.
I don't really know how you could expect that system to cope with this game.
The patch itself must go through Microsoft for approval (all games that support Games For Windows Live have to have that extra approval process) but Rockstar does expect that process to move swiftly. Here are some of the fixes they say will be in the patch:
-A fix to the crash after legal screen that some German customers were reporting.
-Numerous improvements to the video editor: Smarter naming of videos, improved rendering quality, better fx during replays
-Fix to bowling while using certain sensitive mice
-Fix for ATI 1900 shadows
-Overall savings to memory
-Graphic improvements to particle systems and mirrors
-Multiplayer character settings are preserved
-Support for DirectInput controllers.
Finally, memory leakage is still my only problem. Having to restart the game every hour or so is pretty minor compared to some people's issues but it's still fairly annoying. At least, I'm hoping the "Overall savings to memory" means that they're shoring up this problem.
Edit: Comparing performance in Crysis to GTA4 hasn't proven to be a very good benchmark for some people unfortunately.
Beren39 on
Go, Go, EXCALIBUR! - Trent Varsity Swim Team 2009, better watch out for me Phelps!
Do they not load no matter how low you turn things down? And did you try cleaning your drivers in safe mode and installing the latest beta drivers?
The textures don't load regardless of settings, high or low, resolution included. I've reinstalled drivers, removed drivers in safe mode with cleaners and sacrificed goats. No luck.
It's a P4 3.0 ghz HT, 1024gb DDR2, ATI x2600HD. It's not the greatest system in the world, but should do fine.
I don't really know how you could expect that system to cope with this game.
I can run Crysis on Med/High with decent FPS?
Very luckily, and probably due to patches. Your processor is quite weak but should be able to handle most games. GTA IV however, is very CPU reliant and does not perform well using single-core processors. HT is not a substitute for a dual-core chip. Your graphics card is quite weak also, but should just about be able to run the game. As mentioned, though, it is the processor that matters with GTA IV, and yours just isn't strong enough.
Rohan on
...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.
Saw some stuff on another forum about how the calculations done by the game engine may be more suited to console processors than PCs; the example was how Folding@Home runs way faster on the PS3 (and desktop GPUs) than it does on a normal desktop CPU.
But yeah, the game is definitely extremely CPU intensive.
Ayulin on
0
ArminasStudent of LifeSF, CARegistered Userregular
edited December 2008
So I just finished one of Faustin's missions and then i was driving around aimlessly when i saw a crowd of people and I just thought... "oh, hm...I wonder how the physics are with this car and that crowd of people".
So I flipped a bitch, revved my engine and off I went, through the crowd. Bodies smashed onto the hood, groceries went flying, people rolled off the hood and my car was bloodied. But as I went through this, I just realized, how...detailed it all was. And I just realized that I ran over 30 people and I felt nauseated. I felt terrible.
Look, I know there were NPCs, they weren't people, they were pixels on my screen. But oh god, I could practically feel every thump on my hood. I'm on the PC so it's not like I have rumble or anything, but the sound and physics all combined, oh god, I just feel sick thinking about it again. I feel awful. I know they respawn, but oh geezus. I have no problems mowing down drug dealers and gangsters, but these people were just strolling by the beach, enjoying the sunlight, carrying groceries. I don't know how Rockstar did it, but I feel downright awful for doing that. I felt so bad, I drove my car off the pier to commit suicide to redeem myself and Niko.
but then I went and stole some more vehicles for Roman's friend, that 'roid head. But! I was careful to look both ways before taking off in my car, I followed all the traffic signals, stopped for pedestrians. Made sure to beat up the guys guarding the bike I was after. And then drove home safely.
So I'm going for 100%. I just completed the story (and got the Liberty City Minute trophy, thank you very much) and was doing the random character missions. I've done everyone else but I can't seem to find Pathos for his second encounter. A lot of time has passed since I did his first one and I've finished everyone else's. He just doesn't show up at the place he's supposed to be. What should I do? Will I have to restart if I want 100%? Help!
If he doesn't show up, then you'll likely need to restart the game. If you have any other things to do (jumps, pigeons, etc.), do some of them first. Hang out with any available friends/girlfriends. Change Niko's clothes (it usually worked in San Andreas).
Also, be sure you're looking in the right place at the right time. I don't think he's limited to a specific time of day, but check back later. You can tell on that map that he's not in the same spot the second time. Drive all around Star Junction slowly and keep an eye on the radar.
I found him. I looked at a bunch of maps, waded through fora and stared at screenshots for minutes to make sure that I was in the right position, facing the right building etc. Fuck, was I relieved when I found him.
The patch itself must go through Microsoft for approval (all games that support Games For Windows Live have to have that extra approval process) but Rockstar does expect that process to move swiftly.
Remind me again what huge benefits we're supposed to be getting from GFW Live and how this is supposed to be shining showcase of the system?
The patch itself must go through Microsoft for approval (all games that support Games For Windows Live have to have that extra approval process) but Rockstar does expect that process to move swiftly.
Remind me again what huge benefits we're supposed to be getting from GFW Live and how this is supposed to be shining showcase of the system?
DLC content will be bought through it (or at least might be, I know Beth will use it to push F3's).
So I just finished one of Faustin's missions and then i was driving around aimlessly when i saw a crowd of people and I just thought... "oh, hm...I wonder how the physics are with this car and that crowd of people".
So I flipped a bitch, revved my engine and off I went, through the crowd. Bodies smashed onto the hood, groceries went flying, people rolled off the hood and my car was bloodied. But as I went through this, I just realized, how...detailed it all was. And I just realized that I ran over 30 people and I felt nauseated. I felt terrible.
Look, I know there were NPCs, they weren't people, they were pixels on my screen. But oh god, I could practically feel every thump on my hood. I'm on the PC so it's not like I have rumble or anything, but the sound and physics all combined, oh god, I just feel sick thinking about it again. I feel awful. I know they respawn, but oh geezus. I have no problems mowing down drug dealers and gangsters, but these people were just strolling by the beach, enjoying the sunlight, carrying groceries. I don't know how Rockstar did it, but I feel downright awful for doing that. I felt so bad, I drove my car off the pier to commit suicide to
but then I went and stole some more vehicles for Roman's friend, that 'roid head. But! I was careful to look both ways before taking off in my car, I followed all the traffic signals, stopped for pedestrians. Made sure to beat up the guys guarding the bike I was after. And then drove home safely.
Ragdolls physics do give you a sense of guilt. Especially the homeless people.
First impressions were terrible. Had to go through the fucking 50 step program for installing it, and it still needed the disk in the drive? What the fuck. First impressions in the game were just as bad. It ran terribly, so I knocked all the settings down, so it looked worse than GTA3 - and still ran terrible. Yay. I was afraid I just wasted my money on something I wouldn't ever play. I thought I'd try some tweaks and give it another shot though. This is what I did.
1. Downloaded the crack - Apparently Securerom causes some crashes and takes up a bunch of resources
2. Downloaded nVidias new beta drivers - Apparently a good boost for GTA4
3. Made a file called commandline.txt in the games root directory - added the norestrictions and nomemrestrict flags
4. Turned off the 30 second video clip option
5. And ran the game
The difference was incredible. I don't know which tweak made the biggest difference, but I'm now running at high settings at 1650x1080 with a much higher, rock solid framerate. And it looks pretty damned good. My specs, for those interested.
Posts
But to be fair, isn't the game at least 90% the same?
Technical issues do not change the story or fundamental gameplay, it might impact your personal experience if your box isn't super, but it might not impact the next person down. Gamespot tries to review games as a whole, not benchmark them for a user's experience for every gaming PC tier. I haven't read the review myself, but I imagine they should at least mention possible software issues, the enhanced multiplayer and that video recording thing. besides the flickering issues which I have resolved, I haven't even touched the other enhancements over the console versions. Not that software issues should be soncidered a feature, just saying.
Agreed. Most sites do that. Why write different reviews if most the of game is identical, anyway?
Switch - SW-3699-5063-5018
Actually most of the sites I've seen that review for cross-platform games usually start the review with something like "To get a better feel for the game itself, see our XYZ platform review here, this review is mainly going to focus on the changes and improvements"
Although I agree with the sentiment that this doesn't really mean they were paid off for it. Not as diligent as some other review sites are maybe, but that doesn't automatically point to paid off.
As much as I want to ignore this game, I enjoyed playing GTA4 on the 360 immensely and would like very much to enjoy it once again on the PC (hopefully with an improved multiplayer component).
When i host a game, and people join, multiplayer is very fun. I got no lag and had a great time.
However i have yet to join a game in the browser. Any time i connect i get booted or sent to an empty lobby. This could be a problem my network but other games connect fine so im not sure.
This was never more obvious than when Halo 2 got a 9 and Kasavin reviewed it like it got an 8.5 max because of the singleplayer, and looked like he wanted to stab someone in the video review.
Although to be technical they most likely did that in order to get early gold code, like everyone else.
The theme of one of the modes is you getting orders from a crime boss who appears in single player. The orders are just random shit for points.
Just a note, I get this too.
Pretty annoying when half the reason I bothered getting the game was the multiplayer.
Also, I love how the game doesn't show server pings, but instead red/yellow/green bars.
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums | My ko-fi donation thing.
If he doesn't show up, then you'll likely need to restart the game. If you have any other things to do (jumps, pigeons, etc.), do some of them first. Hang out with any available friends/girlfriends. Change Niko's clothes (it usually worked in San Andreas).
Also, be sure you're looking in the right place at the right time. I don't think he's limited to a specific time of day, but check back later. You can tell on that map that he's not in the same spot the second time. Drive all around Star Junction slowly and keep an eye on the radar.
Do not engage the Watermelons.
Bah, I'm sick and tired of PC games adopting this console convention. Even Valve have started using it with Left 4 Dead, it's stupid. Why can't they just give us the pings? We're big boys and girls, I've been assured by my kindergarten teacher that I know how to count and which number is bigger and which is smaller.
+1. UT3 had a similarly awful server browser. It's getting a little silly. Consoles are making games dumber.
"Oh no instead of a number there are colors this means that consoles suck and are ruining games"
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
I'm not saying that consoles are dumbing games down, but this convention IS dumb.
I wasn't talking about you I was talking about Tycho
But yeah, I do prefer pings
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Am I missing something? That's a reference I don't get...
Do not engage the Watermelons.
Uh look up about 4 posts?
The textures don't load regardless of settings, high or low, resolution included. I've reinstalled drivers, removed drivers in safe mode with cleaners and sacrificed goats. No luck.
It's a P4 3.0 ghz HT, 1024gb DDR2, ATI x2600HD. It's not the greatest system in the world, but should do fine.
I dunno about that.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
Oh shi-
I thought it was in reference to Tycho (Jerry Holkins)... I had initially skipped that post for whatever reason.
Carry on.
Do not engage the Watermelons.
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums | My ko-fi donation thing.
Clearly the most important fix. Yay!
I don't really know how you could expect that system to cope with this game.
I can run Crysis on Med/High with decent FPS?
Finally, memory leakage is still my only problem. Having to restart the game every hour or so is pretty minor compared to some people's issues but it's still fairly annoying. At least, I'm hoping the "Overall savings to memory" means that they're shoring up this problem.
Edit: Comparing performance in Crysis to GTA4 hasn't proven to be a very good benchmark for some people unfortunately.
Very luckily, and probably due to patches. Your processor is quite weak but should be able to handle most games. GTA IV however, is very CPU reliant and does not perform well using single-core processors. HT is not a substitute for a dual-core chip. Your graphics card is quite weak also, but should just about be able to run the game. As mentioned, though, it is the processor that matters with GTA IV, and yours just isn't strong enough.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
But yeah, the game is definitely extremely CPU intensive.
So I flipped a bitch, revved my engine and off I went, through the crowd. Bodies smashed onto the hood, groceries went flying, people rolled off the hood and my car was bloodied. But as I went through this, I just realized, how...detailed it all was. And I just realized that I ran over 30 people and I felt nauseated. I felt terrible.
Look, I know there were NPCs, they weren't people, they were pixels on my screen. But oh god, I could practically feel every thump on my hood. I'm on the PC so it's not like I have rumble or anything, but the sound and physics all combined, oh god, I just feel sick thinking about it again. I feel awful. I know they respawn, but oh geezus. I have no problems mowing down drug dealers and gangsters, but these people were just strolling by the beach, enjoying the sunlight, carrying groceries. I don't know how Rockstar did it, but I feel downright awful for doing that. I felt so bad, I drove my car off the pier to commit suicide to redeem myself and Niko.
I found him. I looked at a bunch of maps, waded through fora and stared at screenshots for minutes to make sure that I was in the right position, facing the right building etc. Fuck, was I relieved when I found him.
Remind me again what huge benefits we're supposed to be getting from GFW Live and how this is supposed to be shining showcase of the system?
DLC content will be bought through it (or at least might be, I know Beth will use it to push F3's).
Achievements.
Uh...
Hmm...
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums | My ko-fi donation thing.
Ragdolls physics do give you a sense of guilt. Especially the homeless people.
First impressions were terrible. Had to go through the fucking 50 step program for installing it, and it still needed the disk in the drive? What the fuck. First impressions in the game were just as bad. It ran terribly, so I knocked all the settings down, so it looked worse than GTA3 - and still ran terrible. Yay. I was afraid I just wasted my money on something I wouldn't ever play. I thought I'd try some tweaks and give it another shot though. This is what I did.
1. Downloaded the crack - Apparently Securerom causes some crashes and takes up a bunch of resources
2. Downloaded nVidias new beta drivers - Apparently a good boost for GTA4
3. Made a file called commandline.txt in the games root directory - added the norestrictions and nomemrestrict flags
4. Turned off the 30 second video clip option
5. And ran the game
The difference was incredible. I don't know which tweak made the biggest difference, but I'm now running at high settings at 1650x1080 with a much higher, rock solid framerate. And it looks pretty damned good. My specs, for those interested.
Core 2 Duo, 3Ghz (overclocked)
8800GTS 320MB
4GB Ram
Vista 64