GTA IV on PC is a joke

The commonly criticized GTA 4 port is an absolute mess. Today I try to cover the more specific & lesser-known reasons as to why it's filth. And then I aim to guide viewers into fixing the lil turd.
📝 - Notes - 📝
- There are a few more mods I would highly recommend using outside of this video
Various Fixes: gtaforums.com/topic/975211-va...
Liberty Tweaks: gtaforums.com/topic/991160-li...
🔧 - Links - 🔧
- Main -
The Downgrader: gtaforums.com/topic/976691-gt...
7-Zip: www.7-zip.org/
Alternate Guide: gillian-guide.github.io/
- Multiplayer -
Games For Windows Live (GFWL): / discord
GTA Connected: gtaforums.com/topic/950295-gt...
- Sources & Credits -
(BLG) PS3 Gameplay: • Grand Theft Auto IV (P...
(BLG) Xbox 360 Gameplay: • Grand Theft Auto IV (X...
(Fuzion Xbox Testing) Xbox Series X Gameplay: • GTA IV/4 - Xbox Series...
(SQ3X) Xbox Series X Final Mission Bug: • GTA 4 - How to Get In ...
(LowEndPotato) Low End PC Gameplay: • GTA 4 on Intel i3, HD ...
(CowBoy69) Xbox vs PC Screenshots: libertycity.ru/gta-4/articles...
(Michael McWhertor) GTA IV Music Removal Article: www.polygon.com/authors/micha...
GTA IV Radio Wiki: gta.fandom.com/wiki/Vladivost...
(nuburb) Annihilator Kills: • nuburb's 4/20 quaranti...
(Duality) Ground PVP: • yeye should be
(catsmackatwo) Clown Clip: • GTA IV Clips | Hi Mist...
(GTA Series Videos) Multiplayer Clothing: • GTA 4 - Multiplayer Ch...
(Spicer-Vice) GTA IV Online Removal Article: gtanet.com/grand-theft-auto-i...
(Rockstar Games) Red Dead Redemption 2 Multiplayer Trailer: • Red Dead Redemption - ...
(Rockstar Games) Max Payne 3 Multiplayer Trailer: • Max Payne 3 - Multipl...
(Rockstar Games) GTA Online: The Contract Trailer: • GTA Online: The Contra...
(catsmackaroo) Online in Latest Patch: • Facts, Strats, & Glitc...
(catsmackatwo) Ground PVP: • GTA IV Online | Gamer ...
(catsmackatwo) Buzzard Kills: • random gta iv clips | ...
⌛ - Timestamps - ⌛
0:00 - The Why & How
4:10 - Beginners Guide | Downgrading
4:52 - Beginners Guide | Quick Notes
6:01 - Beginners Guide | Performance
6:25 - Beginners Guide | Final Tweaks
7:03 - Outro
🎶 - Music - 🎶
Mason Lindroth - Tomb (Hylics OST)
kliksphilip - Crossing Those Islands
Tangerine Dream, Woody Jackson, The Alchemist, Oh No & DJ Shadow - Pause Menu Theme (GTA V OST)
Steventhedreamer - Synchobonk
Scattle - frosty
✨ - Socials - ✨
Second Channel: / @catsmackatwo
Twitter: / catsmackaroo
Discord: / discord
🥇 - Credits & Thanks - 🥇
AliceTS
ItsClonkAndre
eCoJ
Gillian
Yilmaz
Nastyyaboi
Meriato
Al_Cpwned
The GTA IV Modding Community

[@catsmackaroo]

The long-awaited swear count has arrived! 💥 - Shit was used 6 times. 4 of them happening before the 20 second mark! - Fuck was used a staggering 8 times. - And finally, bitch was used a measly 2 times. How boring. Thank you for tuning into the swear count! See you guys next time

[@stevenjohnson8736]

I’m enjoy watching your video while im in the bathroom takin a SHIT 😃

[@definitelyweet5302]

very disappointing, expect better from you next time

[@TSunderground]

I don't know what's going on now, but in 2008 i was really impressed when it was released it was immediately on my pc and man i doesnt even sleep to play the story and i cant remember for any problemsKonly long loading)with this game it was perfect, ahh good old days with the best gta....

[@El_Sueno591]

boring vid..

[@Bromon655]

Haha funny swear words hahahahahas

[@eCoJ.]

The Rockstar games launcher is the most evil and useless joke ever told. The ultimate Gta IV experience are the friends we made along the way...

[@SammEater]

I hate how you can't play GTA IV offline because of the stupid launcher. So now everytime my region loses internet access I can't play the stupid game. Unless I use a cracked version.

[@KvltKommando]

@@SammEater yeah last time my internet went out the only game i wanted to play was GTA IV and it was the one game that didnt work

[@SammEater]

@@KvltKommando Seriously, that was the moment I went back to piracy and just cracked the game. Not worth to play it on pc like that. Especially with other stupidity like that one update that removed a lot of songs from the soundtrack.

[@Lem0n_Bre4d]

I have had to reinstall gta V 4 times because I was getting errors and 30 hrs of progression in RDR2 disappeared because of there confusing shitty cloud saving system.

[@SammEater]

@@Lem0n_Bre4d I also had to change hard drives and the game simply wouldnt start because while the game was in one drive the launcher was in the other that I turned off. And I couldnt simply uninstall the launcher. I had to delete everything and download the entire game again. Lol

[@DimentiosLoyalest]

The fact they screwed it up so bad that players feel the need to use a program literally called _"Downgrader"_ is both hilarious and incredibly sad to me.

[@JayCeeCreates]

been like that ever since the good ol' days of gta trilogy (original), especially san andreas

[@ayskudo6771]

Thanks to Steam for implementing forced updates.

[@joeyreidelbach5509]

@@JayCeeCreatesyep, I have the San Andreas downgraded program that I use to downgrade my copy and of San Andreas from the current version to version 1.0 that had the “infamous “ hot coffee mini game .

[@rickkcir2]

Skyrim non-vanilla players: *First Time?*

[@JimMilton-ej6zi]

Rockstar is kind of known for having stuff so bad that people prefer downgrading it over what rockstar made. You wanna play GTA SA? You'll only be able to truly enjoy it if you use the downgrader patch. You wanna play manhunt 2? You literally need to download a crack to play it because rockstar messed up their anti-piracy, causing the game to believe that legit owners are pirating the game, and the only way to play it on PC right now legitimately is by downloading a crack to bypass it. You wanna play rdr2 in singleplayer? You can't name a horse "butt", so you have to download a mod to remove the singleplayer profanity filter.

[@DudleyKetsukane]

Rockstar try to make a good port to any platform challenge impossible.

[@dmer-zy3rb]

id argue that the GTA 3, VC, SA PC ports were good ports that very much improved the before often frustrating on foot controls. also atleast having stable 30 fps was also very nice. Also the modding scene was and still is huge obviously..shame about the missing graphics effects though.

[@gouvass]

gta v was a nice port too

[@thirdhandlv4231]

The red dead port is the best version of the game right now, overpriced but still a good port.

[@swilleh_]

@@thirdhandlv4231 i really hope that you are talking about RDR2. Because RDR1 port is dogshit

[@thirdhandlv4231]

@@swilleh_ Whats the problem with it?

[@doggydude98]

I'd rather stub my toe to open my games, than use the Rockstar game launcher.

[@GTAbestplayer123]

You can always downgrade the game so you can run the game directly without RGL.

[@stanleybochenek1862]

@@GTAbestplayer123exactly what i do

[@GTAbestplayer123]

@@stanleybochenek1862 the tutorial is at the towards of end of the video.

[@thepeskyone]

EA launcher is a great competitor. Fuck that stupid ass launcher

[@serevine9730]

Ah yes... The launcher thay doesn't let me launch games I bought, gave them my own money for, to play single player, without internet. Rockstar really treat their fanbase like shit nowadays

[@Sound557]

Every major game studio has broken our hearts these past few years

[@erso_returned2530]

You let them do this shit

[@YeahIDontKn0wEither]

Because everything in our world is now for money...

[@organicleaf]

@@YeahIDontKn0wEither it was always for money, the difference being that people actually cared about quality, now you have people defending a broken game filled with mtx because "tHe DaY oNe PaTcH wIlL fIx It" and whatnot

[@dietwater711]

@@YeahIDontKn0wEither thats why they make games retard for money💀💀💀

[@JustChill-zd4ib]

If you are so sensitive that it affects you, I got news for you. You need to grow tf up.

[@Ongez]

one thing that these kind of videos always forget to mention is the DXVK (Directx9 To Vulkan) fix, it fixes the stuttering and basically fixes all the performance issues this game has.

[@catsmackaroo]

It was for a reason. I made a section going over it but I cut it because it can get complicated and I didn’t want to bloat the video (plus I don’t know enough yet and I was getting sick of working on this) Itll most likely get a video of its own

[@midgetspinner7007]

@@catsmackaroo If you do, please test on AMD AND Nvidia hardware, from my own experience I've noticed my AMD cards (R9 290X & RX6900XT) benefitted way more from dxvk than my GTX 1070 did, but on a completely unmodified copy, the 1070 got the best performance.

[@lavishonpc]

@@catsmackaroowhat’s complicated about dragging and dropping a file into main directory

[@flamingscar5263]

@@lavishonpc the complicated part is vulkan this is an old game that many will play on old hardware, vulkan is pretty new, not even 10 years old, so its only supported on very modern GPUs, ironically its supported on the GPUs that need it the least as most modern GPUs can brute force the game

[@Anonymous-Wolf]

​@@lavishonpc drag and drop on the steam version . Good luck with that .

[@arshkhanlm3086]

Pirating a Rockstar Game is morally correct

[@ESStar-xk7sd]

im a pirate, i confirm

[@sampletext8552]

fr cant wait to pirate gta 6 so i save myself $100+ lol

[@chachaboy2]

Pirating AAA games is morally correct*. Let's be honest, most AAA games would gladly do the same things

[@kawtherhachi8244]

@@chachaboy2 broke

[@Juicybignut00]

@@sampletext8552 def pirating it lol. especially if online is anything like 5

[@MidnightClubStillCancelledSoz]

The volumetric lighting is one of those things that I liked about GTA IV on the 7th gen consoles.

[@madhunter6420]

u can still have it ( console visuals mod and fusionfix )

[@user-rw8rc3yp9d]

The volumetric lighting is one of those things that I liked about GTA IV on the 7th gen consoles.

[@stanleybochenek1862]

Hey man it’s good to see you again

[@prgaming5063]

The volumetric lighting is one of those things that I liked about GTA IV on the 7th gen consoles.

[@tensei6914]

​@@prgaming5063🎉❤

[@lukakion2978]

Modders finally giving GTA IV the love it deserves, nice. Let's just hope that the same will be done to Saints Row 2

[@viniciusribeiro7279]

man I'm still hoping for that patch they promised, at least as an homage to IdolNinja's legacy

[@ceasar9460]

Idk if it’s gonna happen with volition out of business though:(

[@R3TR0J4N]

YOOO mod community

[@0FFICERPROBLEM]

RIP IdolNinja you legend, your work was lied about and later ignored by corporate goons.

[@southsidetherealest2860]

I have saints row 2 on 360 ps3 and PC and the PC version plays better than the consoles why are yall keeping a lie alive😂

[@UndeadFrankie]

1:03 Part of the reason why the color pallet looks different on the PC version is that Xbox 360 uses Piecewise Linear sRGB compared to the standard sRGB on PC. Despite being visually pleasing the Xbox 360 version is actually less accurate to the color pallet of the game. Some other notable examples are in Dead Rising 2 and Oblivion. I say part of the reason because like you mentioned a lot of effects were either stripped out or broken in the pc version including a lot of the lights on buildings, houses and stores.

[@MidnightClubStillCancelledSoz]

I can only dream of a proper remaster…

[@talpatv512]

From r* ? Keep dreaming

[@safsnake]

or midnight club

[@themanwithnoname4385]

Lmao. They'll port the PS3 version to modern systems, have it run at 640p 25 FPS, and you'll buy it. You'll keep feeding the fat cow that is rockstar regardless of what they do

[@GamingBenchmarksBI]

Proper remaster would require a lot of work, since RAGE used in GTA IV is very old, they would need to start developing GTA IV again from the beginning.

[@viniciusribeiro7279]

I was gonna say that I was gonna be happy with a simple port like RDR, but there's too many broken, removed features, the radio being stripped of one of the most iconic things in this game imo and I doubt they would pay for the licenses again, maybe I should just keep my original PS3 copy and maybe the PC version

[@dr_sax1479]

I'd also recommend adding DXVK to GTA IV as well as it provides much better frame times and FPS, there are videos out there providing it increases performance on GTA IV

[@TheSh4rK]

This! I've played GTA IV since it's release on the PC (on and off for big periods of time lol) and i've never enjoyed it nearly as much as when I saw a video about DXVK on GTA IV last month and decided to go back to GTA IV and try DXVK, it's a whole new experience.

[@Weneedaplague]

*Watches one video about gpu benchmarks* "FrAmE tImEs"🐔

[@CuteSkyler]

This is not necessarily true, while it may help on new/modern GPU's, it can lack functionality with older ones. Because DXVK is a Vulkan API renderer and not all GPU's support Vulkan necessarily.

[@fransindongo3207]

​@@CuteSkyler😢...me with a Geforce 540m...that doesn't support Vulkan

[@CuteSkyler]

@@fransindongo3207 You should... probably upgrade.

[@bignut8466]

Just want to say thanks for the information and the guide on how to fix the issues we all have been running into, I’ve been dying to play the story and multiplayer again, game was light years ahead of its time and this video will come in handy for sure when I try to get everything working, thanks!

[@emit...]

DXVK is the single and easiest thing to apply to the game to basically double your framerate.

[@Sithhy]

I have installed DXVK into my GTA 4 but it didn't really help much, it still stutters, freezes & runs like shit, almost the same as before

[@emit...]

@@Sithhy Let the shaders compile. As with any vulkan/dx12 application.

[@twall4381]

DXVK works half the time, usually does not work for high end modern systems like an i9 4090 setup

[@diewott1337]

I remember buying GTA IV on Steam in 2022, totally afraid I wouldn't be able to run it in any playable way. Lucky me, got a smooth 60+ FPS experience out of the box without changing anything with a old quadcore i5 and a 1050ti 😂

[@Khaled-bd1pl]

I mean still your specs were considered mega powerful back in the day

[@KrikZ32]

It's a weird game, it's ran fine on multiple pc's over the years but I've had to do a ton to get it running mostly right on my 3060ti and ryzen 5 5600

[@OutlawedPoet]

@@Khaled-bd1pl I have a 1660 super and a ryzen 5 2600 and the game stutters like hell on my end no matter my settings unless I use DXVK. Even with DXVK, I get really bad frame drops unless I turn my view and detail distance down to 20-ish. I think the game simply favors some hardware more than others even if it's weaker

[@Khaled-bd1pl]

@@OutlawedPoetsame, you can never have a smooth 60 fps experience with any of the rockstar's pc ports

[@OutlawedPoet]

@@Khaled-bd1pl Indeed. The only good PC port Rockstar has released is GTA V, and even *that* port isn't perfect. I get severe frame drops at night in that game due to a bug with ryzen CPU's and lodlights. RDR2's port runs pretty well but the native TAA is really blurry and wasn't optimized for PC, and it has weird stuttering issues and crashes.

[@mohammeds.r.1238]

Above all, the most annoying bug for me is the infinite loading screen during certain missions especially in Tbogt And Tlad & unfortunately there is no mod yet (even after 15 years) to fix this stupid pesky bug.

[@talibong9518]

Cap your FPS

[@AndreiB617]

Yep, as the other person is saying, just cap the FPS at 60 whenever you get to the missions with the bug also it's better to cap the fps in cutscenes too. You can easily do that with Rivatuner that is installed usually with MSI Afterburner, you can even set a key to toggle the cap on and off, that's what I do.

[@mohammeds.r.1238]

@@AndreiB617 I play this game on a low end laptop. I can barely reach 15fps so my usual fps is around 12-14 at low settings. Thus, capping the fps to 60 isn't something that's gonna solve the issue for me.

[@Brositive]

I play at 144hz and got no problems, maybe iam the lucky one

[@snotface8]

So glad i found this Channel. Keep these updates coming. I had the disc version of gta 4 and after 2020 it will not let me install it. I’ve gotten close. But I think I need windows 7

[@BlueEyedVibeChecker]

Install it on a VM, then copy the files to a USB and transfer them to Windows 10/11. See if that works.

[@vinesauceobscurities]

I always wondered which developer was tasked to develop the PC port. Marred my experience with this game for years no thanks to these clowns, and sowed early disillusions of Rockstar's treatment of games post-release before the GTA Online era really ruined their image for me. The first years of this port were full of screw-ups, like how in-world LED displays and tickers (like the ones in Star Junction) didn't work until about 3 or so patches in, and in the process some street furniture became invisible before they were fixed a couple patches later. Then there's the "shadow enhancement" patch that added moonphases, but also created more LOD popups and Z-fighting in the world model (the colored night lights on the Empire State Building used to be totally visible from any distance until that patch) and tanked game performance with harder shadows regardless of distances due to a lack of shadow softening, which meant passing airliners flying high in the sky will terrifyingly cast their silhouettes on street level. That fact that there are still so many lingering problems in 2023 goes to show that they barely improved the port over the course of 8 or so patches, probably even left behind more problems than before. And the DRMs...oh boy. Nothing but bloatware. It's not just the RSGL (known back in the day as the Rockstar Social Club, which didn't even start out as a storefront, but a DRM system), but also GFWL and Securom (not even counting Steam since the game had been released as a standalone version). Similar to the now defunct GameSpy, GFWL was originally there to handle the DLC storefront, achievements and multiplayer, while the RSC was merely around to tack on social-related stuff (mostly hand-picked usermade replays) and event news and patch notes on the front page, before these features were phased out when they release leaner versions of the launcher, then merged the base game and EFLC into the Complete Edition. Securom ended up being dead weight for years, because it prevented the game from being run on Windows 10 as the DRM was left uncertified due to its malware-like nature; it contributed to a flurry of negative Steam reviews during 2015-2018, about the time Rockstar finally removed Securom for good. It's hard not to see why the RSGL in its current form has absolutely nothing to offer for this game, since it wasn't developed with pre-RSGL games in mind, not to mention they abandoned GTA4's online component as it couldn't be monetize beyond the initial purchase, removing any social element to this game. They likely had plans to also replace this version of GTA4 with a "definitive edition" like they've done with the original 2001-2004 games so they have an excuse to jack up the price of this game again, but with DE's reception derailing Rockstar's remaster plans it's likely to be delayed at the very least. What a trashfire of a port. Bless the modding community for attempting to right all these wrongs.

[@FosterDBD]

bro wrote a fucking essay

[@Jupa]

Interesting read man. Glad I wasn’t on PC back then damn

[@BleedForTheWorld]

@@FosterDBD it's a good one. This shit was hilarious to read especially the part about airplanes casting shadows like that. Totally bonkers where they hired a circus to port the game over.

[@ILC_YTP]

Would like to mention DXVK, which allows DirectX games to run under Vulkan. While primarily meant for Linux gaming, there are Windows versions and some games were able to preform better than running natively under DirectX. I tested DXVK on GTA IV, and I have seen some performance improvements.

[@IosaJ]

Yeah man I second this. Performance was waaaay better with dxvk

[@JJJustinSecondary]

DXVK really boosted my FPS. Highly recommend it. Only thanks to this mod I could max out the graphics with my RTX 4060...

[@IosaJ]

@@JJJustinSecondary it’s crazy to think you need a mod for a 15 year old game just to max out the graphics on a powerful gpu.

[@sharp14x]

DXVK runs under WINE. It *is* a Windows version.

[@milesbbop9563]

DXVK is broken and makes textures disappear. So is fusionfix

[@bocaj7766]

I stumbled across this in my recommended. This is incredibly helpful. Simple and straight to the point.

[@ahmetdenizsezgin]

dude uses gta 4 as a reason to teach people how to use task manager effectively liked it!

[@paskudne]

Best thing for fixing performance of this game is dxvk wrapper: without it in most taxing areas, like main bridges, i had 40-45fps at most, and with wrapper its 90+fps and only for a brief moment, in other cases it was 144 locked. All maxed out, amd5600x and 3080 so there even more room for improvement if you need it. There is initial stutters from shader compiling and i feel like some lod problems but after hour of normal gameplay everything got as smooth as it can be in this case.

[@ColdWhim]

Pretty comprehensive guide, thank you for putting everything together in a neat lil video!

[@thirdhandlv4231]

I didn’t have a problem with it on the 360, ran just as well as all other games did and looked pretty good, especially in the rain.

[@MrBrewskiDrewski]

I’m glad there is a video for a step by step process on fixing this mess. A caveman could do better than me at computer stuff, so I definitely need my hand held.

[@milesbbop9563]

DXVK is broken. So is fusionfix

[@Kliptrech26Rg001]

You did an incredible tutorial here, very good, I had saved your channel in my email so you could get a sense of how much I found your important tips, and today I came back here to revisit and found this tutorial.

[@TheJesterMasque]

Great guide, I played a lot up until 1070 or so and have been wanting to get back in but never knew where to start. Thanks for this!

[@seaque.]

_So this is the dream, this is the definitive GTA IV experience we longed for._

[@Toasted1337]

Good & Funny vid, wanted replay GTA 4 recently. Thanks.

[@htrtrhtftfhbfth]

i replayed this 1 year ago and apart from it being the"Complete Edition" and hearing about some missing stuff, i didnt really notice anything being different. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, this video will forever be saved and watched whenever i replay gta4

[@Terminated_Account]

Wtf is that pfp you weirdo xD

[@adrifauzan1454]

Wanna ask, can i reuse the downgrade app, to edit an already downgraded gta 4 or do i need a clean version of the game to edit the installation?

[@Slawek361]

GTA 4, what a total classic, remember playing it first time on Athlon 3000+

[@shamusbob7969]

You swear too much, we GTA enthusiasts are a classy bunch.

[@windowsxpforever2330]

Makes sense, since this game is so broken that you cannot max out the graphics. No GTA game made me swear more than IV...

[@Blind_Hawk]

If I am about to downgrade my game, do I need to start over or continue in my original save file?

[@gregorysimicich6347]

SHOUT OUT CATSMACK, love ur vids since the beginning. Im am fully delved into an immersive story playthrough currently and it wouldnt be possible without your help thorugh the years. Thank you for the vids! Absolute legend

[@Sizifus]

Rockstar is the only big time studio to my knowledge that sh*ts in the plates of their fans, calls it an improvement, slaps a "market appropriate" price on it and the "fans" gobble it up. Rinse, repeat. P.S. good usage of 3klicksphilip music, props for that, good sense of humor

[@gaming10701]

I would highly recommend for those who are looking to install these mods at a later date or such to be vigilant and download them as early as possible, you never know when Rockstar might DMCA these mods. They did something similar for the original Trilogy (3, VC and SA), so if you want these mods then act now and create a backup on a pendrive or cloud drive ASAP before Rockstar takes away these mods and relegates you to playing the buggy version or a poorly made "remastered" version of this amazing masterpiece of a game! Rockstar has given no love whatsoever to GTA IV after V launched. I understand why, but acts like releasing the abhorrent "definitive" edition and the recent $50 port of a 13 year old game and similar anti-consumer practices are cementing Rockstar as a developer who simply cannot be trusted anymore.

[@romeatyes3473]

Your commentary was top notch. Looking forward to more excellent content from you!

[@ThompYT]

love the kliksphilip music, and awesome video btw.

[@mysterious_559]

Rockstar can make the best games but worst ports

[@calvinsFuntimeBounceHouse]

okay okay the lil kiddo learned to say FUCK like a man lmao.. there are zero issues with the pc port, you guys need new computers. for allahs sake i am using an off the shelf 2021 dell inspiron laptop with 8gb ram and 120gb memory and im running gta4, tony, damned, all at 60fps on max settings with amd cards..

[@LegendCj-xn5de]

Are you new to pc directories I think You lockdown kid don't know a fuck about pc go play gta 4 only and get do nothing of it in life anymore You fucking bitch 😂

[@frogglen6350]

I agree. I literally played this game on an outdated work laptop and experienced no issues. Also the radio station that he claims was cut out is still there, I believe

[@calvinsFuntimeBounceHouse]

thank you. proof is on my videos ;) @@frogglen6350

[@VlogsMarcus]

I tried using this patch about 6 months to a year ago. I downgraded my version but did the mix of old/new songs version. It bricked my game, I was unable to progress passed one of the early Dimitri missions. It would just freeze up entirely. Is it fixed now?

[@3MGTV]

bro i tried commandline but how you get your graphics card ram usage that high to 8000 mines at 2000

[@JTPlayingTunes]

Whats even stranger is that on PC if you use KBM you'll get a laser beam shot, but you pick up a controller it goes to the normal spread

[@dmer-zy3rb]

it worked like that on GTA 3, VC and SA pc ports too!

[@BDozer666]

@@dmer-zy3rb No it didn't. Weapons in 3 and VC didn't even have spread. What you could do on KBM that you couldn't on controller however was shoot without entering aim mode with heavy weapons, avoiding having actual weapon recoil. In SA, there is a way to shoot without spread (don't know if you can do that with controller), it's simply shooting without aiming. If your gun skill is poor, or you're crouching, you got perfect accuracy for anyone that's not on a higher or lower elevation than you.

[@Dregomz02]

Mate how could you make guide about GTA IV and not mention DXVK? It make game run at 2x framerate with that api vs dx9. I recommend dxvk-gplasync since it has async but also with no stutters during the cache creation.

[@twall4381]

Because dxvk has been proven to only increase performance half the time and works best with only low end hardware

[@goofygooberz1101]

Hi just wanted to edit this message, I've seen your last out of date video, specifically the part where to put back your "downgraded save files" but I don't seem to have a "savegames" folder to store it in so I'm kinda stuck. And to note aswell, when going though the downgrading process it advised me to move GTA 4 out of program files as it could cause problems, so I did so and made a separate folder outside of program files to do the rest. I feel that this is wrong, am i able to put everything back into program files and the GTA 4 folder? because it is separated from it. Sorry if im waffling bares I'm just really tired and confused. Thank you

[@monstersponge9096]

Do you still need to have the downgraded version of GTA 4 on a separate hard drive without a Program Files x86 folder or can we mod it as we would mod GTA V?

[@Criductive]

great video, these fixes do help alot,i tried using dxvk to remove alot of the stutters but it didn't work for me but this video helped alot

[@Sh0ckV]

does your gpu support vulkan?

[@iceangelx22]

If you still had stutters with dxvk, try dxvk-async instead. Much less stuttering with it

[@jh047o]

@@Sh0ckV DXVK is mostly hit or miss even if your gpu supports vulkan. in my experience gta 4 with vulkan either has worse performance/same performance without dxvk/marginal 5 fps difference, it swings between these moods randomly for some reason.

[@Sh0ckV]

@@jh047o yeah that's true, it varies

[@kooldogkid149]

Tbf, Rockstar has been known to screw over the pc community, just look at manhunt. They left the anti-piracy measures in manhunt’s Steam version, and never fixed it. They also used a crack for the Steam version of max payne 2

[@al_cpwned2244]

Great video Catsmackaroo! Very helpful and straight to the point.

[@ceda-qc8ql]

It doesn't work for me. Things get corrupted when downloading the mods like crazy. And the link to the discord server doesn't work too. I removed the mods I had before and I have uninstalled and redownloaded the game to make sure I don't have any mods before doing the downgrading. I have complete edition of the game on steam btw. Error messages: "An error occured. Details: Central Directory corrupt." I look in the temp file and the legacy radio and 1080 file is corrupted.

[@RatedRLoquender]

I still play the PS3 version every now and then, gives me the feels of 2008, old school style. Man 2008, I feel kinda old, time flies.

[@danishmahmood2763]

How's the gameplay on the ps3, any bugs or crashes?

[@kingtonza9711]

​@@danishmahmood2763 Rarely for me it has not crashed unless I play around with swingset glitch

[@DajsonGGPlaywp]

Me too have good pc but play gta 4 on ps3 nostalgia

[@atFanta]

Thanks for the video dude! I was contemplating whether I should get the game on steam, I have it on ps3 but I wanted to use mods and mess around. Do you think I should still get it or is it not worth it?

[@Vomitbukkake]

Your question is one only you can answer. Nobody is gonna play the game for you get it or dont

[@El_Sueno591]

how dare you ask that question!!!!!!!!

[@TheDiego365]

Does it works with other mods like DXVK, Console visuals and Various fixes? I'm mostly interested in the radio downgrader.

[@_Domo]

Really liked the Hylics and Kliksphilip songs in the vid, very nice 👍

[@SABRESOLDIER]

I bought Grand Theft Auto IV on the Rockstar Launcher (i know how silly of me) and it just randomly deleted it one day. I had to re-purchase it on steam.

[@yungchris3238]

Happened to me too and the worst thing was entering the captcha to create a support ticket. I had to solve 10 of them and it reset every time I got even one wrong. It was impossible due to my bad eyesight and I had to get some help on discord.

[@SABRESOLDIER]

@@yungchris3238 Damn bro. Thats even worse.

[@bloodkelp]

just pirate it.

[@pessimistickris2718]

I did and I have the problem of not being able to save the game no matter how many tricks I tried. I didn't even download the version 1.0. 7.0 or whatever it is, the one that allows you to mod easily. This whole thing is just a fucking mess

[@dopey473]

Old moddable versions are hard to find and also buggy and shitty as hell. The newer steam versions are often repacked with mods so the downgrader gets confused and doesn't work on them. Realistically the only way to play fixed modded gta4 is either the fitgirl/dodi repack but not being able to do anything else with it or buying the game and using the downgrader.

[@Arthur_Rodri]

​@@pessimistickris2718 open the game in adm mode

[@HylianBean97]

It's easily accessible on Xbox still, I got it on sale including the DLC for £15 quid which would've been almost £30 if it wasn't on sale Played it for a long while, its very outdated, graphics are too blurry and I honestly much prefer GTA 5 better, I LOVE BOTH don't get me wrong but I'd much rather play GTA 5, I have a small ass TV just, FYI GTA 4 isn't built for big TV's IMO

[@flamestriderb3123]

​@pessimistickris2718 ik i am a bit late here but you can use the run as date program to allow yourself save the game in a pirated copy , it's very easy to install.

[@highking4670]

downloaded everything and when i load the game it goes to black for 5 seconds then quits the program. any help would be appriciated?

[@ravelord2168]

same problem

[@theonlyplain]

I like the use of 3kliksphilip and his father's music

[@definitelyweet5302]

i jerk off to 3kliksphilip

[@kalamarz997]

Does it fix things like lack of weapon recoil either?

[@dikamarmulu]

hey what about vehicle density setting? 06:05 i like it set to 100 but i think it is kinda buggy, someone said it can f'ed up some vehicle engine sound (i experienced it and it sucks)

[@LaurenceSouthDrumsUK]

Thank you for keeping GTAIV alive! My favourite game of all time.

[@Fanatic17]

I played GTA IV on the steam deck with basically zero bugs (yeah the missing content and lack of features remained i imagine) but it was basically a perfect experience with high settings too

[@weluvedrea]

so bro can I just buy it through steam and run it just fine? Or would I still need to downgrade

[@nas1887]

@@weluvedreadid u ever find out me rn

[@lnf1niti]

Please help, I did all the steps but when i launch the game from the PlayGTAIV file it ends up with a black screen and then crashes. How do I fix this?

[@PlexusOfficial]

same issue someone pls help

[@TheIronSnowMan8D]

Does Fusionfixes overload work outside of complete edition or nah? Just wondering if I should use the downgrader if I intend to use that

[@appelc4004]

the online downgrader doesn't work and the game won't launch after manually downloading all of the mods

[@meinkek7896]

found a fix?

[@appelc4004]

@@meinkek7896 nope just used fusionfix and mods instead of

[@JohnDaubSuperfan369]

Just source the original cracked release and play it on an older, preferably 32-bit computer, works absolutely perfectly with no hiccups. Never had a problem running IV on pc, performace is more solid than on 360 too since the framerate holds together more consistently.

[@Ghosty6464]

Doesn’t fix the graphical downgrades the PC release had at launch.

[@JohnDaubSuperfan369]

@@Ghosty6464 So? The incredibly high and consistent production values and thoroughly thought-out art style still come through and the game *still* looks way better than its successor despite its "shortcomings" in terms of fidelity. I don't particularly miss any of the FX from the 360 version since all of them were coupled with abysmal anti-aliasing and frequent drops in framerate, no matter which version you play it's gonna look like a 15 year old game in one way or another. Also, every single "graphical issue at launch" can be modded out of existence in a matter of minutes, seconds in fact if you're even a remotely capable human being. Not that it even requires such action, the vanilla pc port still looks better than pretty much anything released after it.

[@pierrec5617]

After installing the mod on the game there still a few option missing for me in the option menu under Display such as the Fps limiter, color Filter and such or the FXAA missing in the graphiques tab also. These feature came with the FusionFix mod. Do i need to manuel activate these feature somewhere or the install can of mess up?

[@laurentfabron]

Was wondering where I heard the song around the minute mark. Happy to see that kliksphilip is getting love.

[@lilmonix]

GTA 4 is one of the most poorly optimized games I've ever seen. My i5 9400f rtx 3050 can run GTA 5 high settings smoothly but cannot run GTA 4 high settings at 60FPS September 5, 2023 4:55PM

[@storm8216]

Use vulkan i guess

[@VulpesAllium]

It's a very good game with a shitty PC port.

[@trueshoes9937]

The 3kliks music caught me off guard lol. Good taste.

[@midnightclub7629]

always a good day when you upload!!

[@NotAJ]

The first 4 minutes of this video made me realize how in-depth my 8 year old childhood game got ruined 💔 But like you said, modders make this game feel lively! Great video 🌟

[@jesusohnebart]

crazy how u really filled 4 minutes with gay emotional crying the music really the cherry on top hahahaha

[@JaCrispy3060]

I like the mini tutorial for how to force quit a game from task manager lol. So much time lost from my childhood restarting my computer cause a game hard crashed.

[@WrathDrago]

Will these mods work if you have bought it off Rockstar games launcher store. I heard you can't for that version?

[@BingoXXIIV]

also a great perfomance tip is to basically never play above 60fps, because the game is behaving very weird in some missions (similar to gta5). In the helicopter mission with little jacob, he would always crash or never follow the enemy. Or some missions wouldnt even load at all and blackscreen. After a lttile research, the main reason was obviously the fps.

[@CosmicHarmony58]

Thanks my baby girl, u keep them skirts clean okay…oh and don’t hurt yourself! be good!

[@sirrivet9557]

​@@CosmicHarmony58what

[@CosmicHarmony58]

@@sirrivet9557 shake ya shimmy - da tweekaz…that what

[@d4rksonic474]

Weird, I didn't have any issues like that. I figured that the AI tends to road rage on the bridges due to the 60+fps, but that's it. Only thing I experienced was the final mission being broken anyway, but a simple setting change fixed that at least.

[@yvngneo]

6:28 bro im dead

[@tibersulla2305]

Thank you! Gave up re-playing this game around 2 years ago because of this mess, now I might try again soon. Can you give me a recommendation on a mod to remove the brown filter (grey for Lost & Damned)? Last time I was messing around with that, the mods I found either went overboard with colors or just crashed the game... I just want the game to look clean of filters, kinda like Ballad of Gay Tony.

[@DrMicahLuv]

FusionFix has it.

[@nil4309]

another awesome video thanks a lot man! thanks for all the help and info you share brother

[@deathcold_longplaysua4846]

Yeah, I remember when I first bought the physical copy of GTA 4 back when it came out for PC. And back then, by looking at system requirements, it looked like my PC was more than enough to run it. And so I got home, turned ON my PC, installed the game, which took around 30 minutes, and right there and then shit started to get weird. First of all, after installation it created TWO exe files on my desktop, one of which was Rockstar Game Social Club and the other one GTA 4 itself. Then, when I tried to launch the game, it gave me error, saying that some weird Games for Windows Live was not installed. So I booted up the disc with the game again, found that Game for Windows Live application, installed it, ran the game and... it said that I have to register in Rockstar Games Club. And I tried it. I tried to register, but it did not allowed me to, saying that my country is not supported back then, which is Ukraine by the way. And I decided that, if this is the case, then I do the best thing, to make my life easy, that gamer who respects himself can do. I went to pirate forums, downloaded the crack made by guy under a nickname of Razor, installed it and that's it. Game booted up for me right away and I did not had to do any of the dancing with drums around campfire to make it work. And everything looked fine on start up menu screen, but there was massive, MASSIVE disappointment awaiting for me further down the line. And so, when I decided to configure the game, you know, graphics and controls, and got in to the Options menu, I noticed this bar on the bottom, that said that I did not had enough video memory. I was like, WTF? Like, my PC back then ran first Crysis game, which was a massive benchmark back then for any PC. So yeah, I decided that, screw it, I'm gonna set everything to low, and even resolution up to 800x600, and since I had square monitor back then with 1280x1024 resolution, it wasn't bugging me. And that did it. The bar stopped showing that I have not enough memory and it was green. And so yeah, I started the game, watched prologue cutscene and then, when gameplay started, everything went down to hell. I soon as I started to move, driving that car from the docks, I got like from 5 to 10, maybe 15 FPS, which is what shocked me. Like, I was able to play Crysis that was huge benchmark for PCs back then, but for some reason GTA 4 lags for me? And so yeah, I continue playing and tried to explore the world of the game, after I finally got to very first save house, and maximum FPS that I was getting was from 5, to 10, 15, sometimes 20 and even 30, when there is not much going on, on the screen. And so yeah, I was very disappointed that, I payed too much money for this game, and back then it was 180 bucks but in our money, I don't know how to translate it to $, cause I suck at it. And that was too much. But guess what? Despite my disappointment, I managed to beat the game with that low FPS on a cracked version of the game. And again, I would not cracked it if it supported my country back then, but since it didn't, I had no choice. And maybe that was the case for lag, but as far as I have read about it, it wasn't the cracked version problem. It was whole PC port problem. It had bad performance and bad port in general. And so yeah, looking at these fixes right now and trying them, I can say for sure that they don't work for me because, I don't have very powerful modern PC, which they require. Well, at least GTA 4 works for me on very low settings, but even then it manages to lag after some time. I wish there was a way to fix the whole GTA 4 port properly to make it work like it should.

[@cydragon2.099]

yeah R* had plenty of patches after day 1 though

[@ARMASOG]

i played it on a windows vista laptop and don't remember any problems besides having to make a windows live to save my game.

[@deathcold_longplaysua4846]

@@cydragon2.099 Yeah, and none of those patches makes any difference.

[@deathcold_longplaysua4846]

@@ARMASOG Lucky you. Wish I was this lucky with video games and my PC. No pun intended.

[@ARMASOG]

@@deathcold_longplaysua4846itching my balls 😎

[@painfully-q2w]

⌛ - Timestamps - ⌛ 0:00 - The Why & How 4:10 - Ultimate Guide | Downgrading 4:52 - Ultimate Guide | Quick Notes 6:01 - Ultimate Guide | Performance 6:25 - Ultimate Guide | Final Tweaks 7:03 - Outro (for people who never read the description/rarely read the description)

[@jackfruit420]

the timestamps are already included

[@KvltKommando]

Is this a replacement for the last how to fix gta iv video you made? (perfecting GTA IV (with mods)

[@NewtGQ]

I love the addition on kliksphillip's music. Glad to hear it in a video unrelated to counter strike. Its really a great soundtrack for this kind of video

[@ThatKidGaming]

idk if did anything wrong but i followed your guide to the letter and the game still looked like shit/ ran like shit. This shit is unfixable, change my mind.

[@Dgovuo]

dawg nigga the video has barely been out for 15 minutes and you already did the goddamn guide???

[@ash735]

He forgot to mention the Shader Fixes Pack which fixes majority of the things he mentioned at the start, grab that and those graphical effects will be restored.

[@jayceontalylor4244]

you are comparing a 2008 game to 2023 standards ! back in time it was a very good game, i remember playing that game with total satisfaction

[@amentco8445]

He's talking about them failing to maintain the game and making failed ports, etc.

[@DivineBanana]

if i have a save file from the newest version and I downgrade to one of the older versions, will I be able to continue that save file or do I need to start fresh?

[@braixy642]

I think GTA 4 in general was in very hot water. Not only were the ports messy, but the game itself was a pretty big slap to the face. Only its fantastic story and characters managed to save this game from its ton missing side activities, shops to enter, realistic driving mechanics, collectibles and even vehicles. The last main entry before GTA 4 was San Andreas, so it was a very questionable decision to make GTA 4 be basically empty

[@unr8ted77]

Only a dumbass would think GTA 4, one of the best games ever made) is empty

[@peopleperson]

we get it bro u learned swear words a week ago

[@majimbo480]

Downgrading works till the last step, before actually pressing the downgrade button. It says that "1080.zip" is missing. Any ideas?

[@NaakteMolrattenZijnCool]

are you sure you ran it as administrator

[@Chiverzx]

Someone help me start the game? I am trying to start it both through Steam and the Rockstar launcher, and the game always gives the same error.It shows that it will look for my Windows Live and gives an error. If I click on cancel to not search for my Windows Live, it gives an error. If I click on the x, it gives an error. I have tried in various ways, even trying to download Windows Live.Please help me.

[@appratows6795]

now yall know how we mobile gta san andreas players feel 😂

[@raulcristiannoo]

5:05 aswell as the zooligma patch, i cant take his mods serious unless they re a trainer, every other mod that he does besides trainers is a literal joke + kind of a keylogger

[@BrynnaDaRosa]

they're not a keylogger. that rumor was started by those people on gtaf pissing themselves over pride flags in the menu

[@aalaazimi]

the mod seems to work well, but it also changes the tree models back to the console version, how do i get the newer pc tree look back?

[@Da_Docta]

Synchobonk and Crossing Those Islands are really good choice for background music

[@kaushik6371]

Video starts at 4:09

[@fuguthefish]

no need to swear every 20 seconds, ur not a 12 yo. good vid otherwise.

[@FxnWaySheGoes]

He can do whatever the fuck he wants

[@bearbro10]

Fair point ​@@FxnWaySheGoes

[@Kaiser187]

Thank you so much for the performance settings! I have a 1080Ti i7 8700k and had everything turned to max and couldn't figure out what was killing my FPS. I was in the 30s to 40FPS at times and couldn't understand WTF was going on. My GPU temps sky rocketed on 1440p with everything maxed. The view distance and detail distance destroyed my FPS by 20+ frames. I turned them down to 50 and set the shadows to high. Really appreciate your info!