Grand Theft Auto Grieving Thread - Yep, I've been drinkin' again...

[30+GameOvers]

Bully may be getting fresh updates to make it actually be able to run without requiring patches.
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I would backup your games if I were you, they might censor content without telling anyone about it. They already censored GTA5 and only the last gen versions avoided the axe.

 

[The Last Stand]

Bully may be getting fresh updates to make it actually be able to run without requiring patches.

The Android port of Liberty City Stories works as well again. Thank you.

So far, I think that the mobile ports of LCS are the best way to play. Minimal performance hits, smoother graphics, customizable music.

 

[Prophetic Spirit]

So far, I think that the mobile ports of LCS are the best way to play.

Superior from PS2? Yes. Superior from PSP? Nah. Lightning got fucked in the port. Same as some textures.

Minimal performance hits

I'm sure the perfomance hits are the same as PSP/PS2, mainly in Stantuon Island.

smoother graphics

If you think the shitty reflections and the real-time shadows are smooth... Oh boy.

Customizable music.

Yeah, straight from PSP. Nothing new.

 

[The Last Stand]

AFAIK, all the music in LCS' mobile ports is intact, if I'm not mistaken. At the least, their music from Head Radio and Lips was made in-house.

 

[LifeAlert]

I would backup your games if I were you, they might censor content without telling anyone about it. They already censored GTA5 and only the last gen versions avoided the axe.

If you have them on Steam just back up the install folders somewhere. Failing that, you can use SteamCMD to get older builds. If you have the Android versions use adb or any APK backup utility, and especially make sure to backup the "obb" folder (usually located in your device's root folder/Android) because that's where the folders containing the actual game data is. Make sure you've ran each game at least once so they can install the game data, though.

Superior from PS2? Yes. Superior from PSP? Nah. Lightning got fucked in the port. Same as some textures.

As has always been the case with Rockstar games, you want to play them on the original platforms they were released on. Generally all of the ports are inferior in some way. The mobile version of LCS felt like a cheap bootleg to me, almost like that ungodly mobile version of SA but not quite as bad.

 

[The Last Stand]

As has always been the case with Rockstar games, you want to play them on the original platforms they were released on. Generally all of the ports are inferior in some way.

What about the original Xbox ports? You'd have a point with San Andreas.

 

[William Murderface]

The only gripe I have with playing on the original platforms comes down to how dated and clunky the graphics are. I played VC on the PS2 recently and I know a lot of people complained about the Definitive Edition of III/VC/SA but the graphics really are night and day compared to the PS2.

 

[LifeAlert]

What about the original Xbox ports?

They're fine, but in the case of GTA 3 textures appear to be blurrier and other effects appear to be missing (such as in the first Luigi cutscene, the wall light has a shadow/mold under it on PS2 which is missing on Xbox) also when you're driving at night your car is harder to see on Xbox

For Vice City, the PS2 version makes better use of light and shadow compared to Xbox which seems to have more static lighting in some places (intro cutscene is a great example)

That's not to say they're bad ports though. The original Xbox versions are mostly pretty faithful and imo would be the best ports other than patched PC versions

 

[The Last Stand]

The only gripe I have with playing on the original platforms comes down to how dated and clunky the graphics are. I played VC on the PS2 recently and I know a lot of people complained about the Definitive Edition of III/VC/SA but the graphics really are night and day compared to the PS2.

Cliche answer, but the fuzziness and blocky character models add to the charm of Vice City. Like reliving an old vacation spot as you'd remember it. The mobile port of VC is too clean for my liking.

 

[William Murderface]

Cliche answer, but the fuzziness and blocky character models add to the charm of Vice City. Like reliving an old vacation spot as you'd remember it. The mobile port of VC is too clean for my liking.

And that's certainly a valid take on the issue. And yes, I agree that looking at the old game is like revisiting an old friend and it was a product of its time. It's just jarring to me to go from the polished environmental graphics of the DE version back to the blocky PS2 version is all.

 

[30+GameOvers]

Are we really going to defend the graphics of DE?

How low must our standards get?
BTW PC ports are, obviously, the best as you can mod them. Simple as that, PS2 might have better performance out of the box but you can do anything with the PC version, at least with the older games. Not sure about GTA 4 or 5. I mean the original PC releases, of course, not those garbage mobile ports that were on Steam before they got taken down in favor of DE, which was somehow even worse.

 

[The Last Stand]

It's just jarring to me to go from the polished environmental graphics of the DE version back to the blocky PS2 version is all.

I disagree, nothing about the DEs of GTA were polished in any way. All those high quality textures from the Unreal Engine don't mesh together with the lower poly count assets from Renderware. Also, there's cases where hitboxes don't align with how/where textures are placed.

BTW PC ports are, obviously, the best as you can mod them. Simple as that, PS2 might have better performance out of the box but you can do anything with the PC version, at least with the older games.

I think he was talking about out of the box ports. Obviously, the PC ports haven't aged well with modern hardware (high frame rates messing with physics, intermittent controller support, no widescreen) but that can be forgiven as they were made 15-20 years ago.

 

[30+GameOvers]

I think he was talking about out of the box ports. Obviously, the PC ports haven't aged well with modern hardware (high frame rates messing with physics, intermittent controller support, no widescreen) but that can be forgiven as they were made 15-20 years ago.

Buddy, I can still open up my boxed copy of Vice City, install the game and play it with no problems like it's 2002 all over again, despite being on much better hardware. I only need to install one certain patch to make sure to prevent a couple of crashes, but other than that I never have any technical problems with these older games. Sounds like a user issue, and every single port after was much buggier and ran worse too. Ultimately resulting in DE.

 

[The Last Stand]

Buddy, I can still open up my boxed copy of Vice City, install the game and play it with no problems like it's 2002 all over again, despite being on much better hardware. I only need to install one certain patch to make sure to prevent a couple of crashes, but other than that I never have any technical problems with these older games.

Out. Of. The. Box. Meaning no modifications or patches (I was going to ask if the patch was R* created to move the goal post.)

 

[30+GameOvers]

Out. Of. The. Box. Meaning no modifications or patches (I was going to ask if the patch was R* created to move the goal post.)

The console releases have their bugs too. While it is not uncommon for PC ports, especially from the early 2000s, to have added in compatibility issues like crashes, I genuinely never had any problems with my PC copies, other than what the patches advertised to fix. Moreover, I never had any additional problems and I changed computers 4 times to four very different set ups ever since I bought the game in 2003. I would say that is an impressive record, considering that these days games not only get worse depending on hardware used but also by each title update, which is of course mandatory now.
Now, try to patch your shitty mobile or console port that is more broken than my PC game out of the box, you can't. The update likely makes the game worse and there is nothing you can do about it. No comparison.

 

[The Last Stand]

Speaking of PC, I love these conversion mods for the 3D era of GTA that make the game harder by changing mission objectives or adding more enemies. Almost like they're made for speedrunners.

 

[LifeAlert]

works on my machine

Good for you. I don't need to install any patches nor have any internet connectivity to play the PS2 or Xbox versions of Vice City, they just work. Enjoy being a slave to online downloads that will inevitably cease to exist, lest your game becomes crash prone once you change over PCs again

 

[The Last Stand]

Good for you. I don't need to install any patches nor have any internet connectivity to play the PS2 or Xbox versions of Vice City, they just work.

I know the original PS2 version had a game breaking bug where if you purchased the ice cream property, Cherry Poppers, and save there, it could corrupt your save file. I cannot think of any other game-breaking bugs from 3D era GTAs.

Now, try to patch your shitty mobile or console port that is more broken than my PC game out of the box, you can't.

I wouldn't need to. It would just work. I'm not dissing PC gaming. I'm just saying the PS2 ports were the authentic experience for GTA.

 

[30+GameOvers]

Good for you. I don't need to install any patches nor have any internet connectivity to play the PS2 or Xbox versions of Vice City, they just work. Enjoy being a slave to online downloads that will inevitably cease to exist, lest your game becomes crash prone once you change over PCs again

Actually, that patch was already on the disc. That's back when every game had it's own launcher, with options on what to install and what not. Even if it wasn't there, the patch is still available and it's been available for longer than some of the people here been alive. The console versions still have their issues and no patches are ever coming for them.
I swear people here don't know how to read, I just said that I switched my PC around 5 times since I bought the game, various operating systems and hardware, and the game always worked. If the game crashes for you, it's your problem.

I wouldn't need to. It would just work. I'm not dissing PC gaming. I'm just saying the PS2 ports were the authentic experience for GTA.

First of all, I am going to ignore you unironically saying "it just works" for bugged releases like Definitive Edition since I've seen your low IQ takes in other threads and it's not worth the effort. Second, I heavily disagree, auto-aim GTA is garbage and it absolutely detracts from the experience. Only way to play the game is with free mouse look, which is only available on PC this generation. That's aside from all the boons the PC version gets. Console babbies really have no arguments other than "muh nostalgia", as if that matters for a game that has a dozen better ways to play it now in 2025.

 

[The Last Stand]

First of all, I am going to ignore you unironically saying "it just works" for bugged releases like Definitive Edition since I've seen your low IQ takes in other threads and it's not worth the effort.

I wasn't even talking about the Definitive Editions. I was talking about the original releases from PS2 and Xbox.