Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition

This page is for the Definitive Edition. For the original game, see Grand Theft Auto III.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition
⤏ Go to series page
Subseries of Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition	2021
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition	2021
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition	2021

Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition is part of the Grand Theft Auto: Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, which comes with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition bundled.

The Definitive Edition release was very much similar to the original's, but with redone and AI upscaled textures and improved lighting. Data miners found that it was based on the mobile port of the original, which features numerous bugs. Upon release the game received severe criticism for its visuals, grammatical errors in upscaled textures, poor performance and technical issues. The Definitive Edition lacks the custom soundtrack and player skin functionalities from the original version.

The game was released exclusively on the Rockstar Games Launcher on November 11, 2021. More than a year later on January 19, 2023 the game was also made available on Steam. The original version released on the Rockstar Games Launcher featured an unencrypted archive allowing for mod support, though this was shortly thereafter changed to an encrypted archive. The game also received several updates correcting grammatical errors and fixing floating objects.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Official website		Includes Vice City – The Definitive Edition and San Andreas – The Definitive Edition.
Epic Games Store		Included with Vice City – The Definitive Edition and San Andreas – The Definitive Edition; only as part of Definitive Edition bundle.
Steam		Included with Vice City – The Definitive Edition and San Andreas – The Definitive Edition; only as part of Definitive Edition bundle.

All versions require Rockstar Games Launcher DRM.

Can only be purchased in a bundle and cannot be bought individually.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Delete or rename video files^[2]
Go to `<path-to-game>\Gameface\Content\Movies\1080\`. Delete or rename `GTA_3_RSTAR_CREDITS_FINAL_1920x1080_15HQ.mp4` and `GTA_3_RSTAR_STINGER_FINAL_1920x1080_15HQ.mp4`.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA III Definitive Edition\Config\WindowsNoEditor\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1546970/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA III Definitive Edition\Profiles\<user-id>\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1546970/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents* folder in OneDrive on all computers.*
Steam Cloud

Uses Rockstar Game Launcher's savegame cloud sync function.^[3]

Video

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		^[4]
Ultra-widescreen		Some cutscenes are pillarboxed to a 16:9 aspect ratio.^[5]
4K Ultra HD		^[6]
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Referred to as "Windowed Fullscreen".
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Choice between 2x, 4x, 8x, and 16x.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Options for FXAA, FXAA+, TAA, and TAA+.
High-fidelity upscaling		DLSS 2.3
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Choice between 30, 60, 180, 360 FPS or Unlocked.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		A toggle is present in the game options, but is broken and does nothing.^[7]
Ray tracing (RT)
Color blind mode		Toggleable on/off.

The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unreal Engine 4 page for more details.

Graphics settings.

Input

Control settings (Keyboard and Mouse).

Control settings (Gamepad).

Gameplay settings.^{[Note 2]}

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		Sliders are available for X and Y-axis.
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Referred to as "Invert Look". Can be toggled on or off.
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Only three presets are available.
Controller sensitivity		Referred to as "Look Sensitivity" and "First Person/Third Person Aiming Sensitivity". Sliders are available for each setting.
Controller Y-axis inversion		Referred to as "Invert Look". Can be toggled on or off.

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Keyboard and mouse bindings (on foot).
Keyboard and mouse bindings (in vehicle).
Gamepad layout (Modern, on foot).
Gamepad layout (Modern, in vehicle).

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sliders for SFX, Music and Dialogue.
Surround sound		Plays up to 6.1.^[8]
Subtitles		Optional accessibility features, such as adjustable font sizes for subtitles and hint text, are available.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Referred to as "Pause On Focus Loss". Can be toggled on or off.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Accessibility settings.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Russian				Fan voice-over by «WuzVoice», download.
Slovak				Fan translation, download.
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Turkish				Fan translation by CriminaL277, download.
Vietnamese				Fan translation by The Red Team, download.

Issues fixed

Camera gets stuck

When peforming a stunt jump, the camera switches to a new angle. When the car lands, it can become stuck.

Change the frame rate in the graphics settings^{[citation needed]}
Go to the Options > Graphics, scroll to Frame Rate, set it to 30, and return to the game, the camera should be fixed. The changes can be undone.

Stuttering

Use DX12 instead of 11^{[citation needed]}

Put "-dx12" in the steam launch options.

Notes

It can reduce stutter and improve framerate.

Use DXVK^{[citation needed]}

Extract d3d11.dll and dxgi.dll from x64 to <path-to-game>\Gameface\Binaries\Win64\.

Notes

Remove the -dx12 command if tried before.

Greatly reduces stuttering.

Disables DLSS.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX	v3.4.0.0

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-6600K AMD FX-6300	Intel Core i7-2700K AMD Ryzen 5 2600
System memory (RAM)	8 GB	16 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	4.3 GB	5 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 AMD Radeon R9 280 2 GB (Nvidia), 3 GB (AMD) of VRAM	Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 AMD Radeon RX 570 4 GB of VRAM

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (1546970) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
↑ Targeting and Aim Assist Sensitivity options are only available when playing with a gamepad.

References

↑ GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition Gets Surprise Update on Console and PC, Adds Visual Features That Were Exclusive to Mobile Versions - IGN - last accessed on 2024-11-13
↑ Verified by User:Mastan on 2023-01-25
↑ Verified by User:Mrtnptrs on 2023-01-20
Get prompted on first launch of the game by RGL if you want to use its cloud save functionality.
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-12-05
Tested on a multi-monitor setup.
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-11-17
Tested by playing the game at 2560x1080 resolution.
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-11-17
Tested by playing the game at 3840x2160 resolution.
↑ Verified by User:Meatsafemurderer on 2024-11-23
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-11-17
Tested in 7.1 using Orban Loudness Meter in conjunction with Razer Surround.

[Proton_path_note-3] 1.0 ^1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (1546970) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[2] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[3] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[4] The app ID (1546970) may differ in some cases.

[5] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[6] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[Note-9] Targeting and Aim Assist Sensitivity options are only available when playing with a gamepad.

[1] GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition Gets Surprise Update on Console and PC, Adds Visual Features That Were Exclusive to Mobile Versions - IGN - last accessed on 2024-11-13

[2] Verified by User:Mastan on 2023-01-25

[4] Verified by User:Mrtnptrs on 2023-01-20
Get prompted on first launch of the game by RGL if you want to use its cloud save functionality.

[5] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-12-05
Tested on a multi-monitor setup.

[6] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-11-17
Tested by playing the game at 2560x1080 resolution.

[7] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-11-17
Tested by playing the game at 3840x2160 resolution.

[8] Verified by User:Meatsafemurderer on 2024-11-23

[10] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-11-17
Tested in 7.1 using Orban Loudness Meter in conjunction with Razer Surround.

[1]

[2]

[Note 1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[Note 2]

[8]

Developers

Original	Rockstar North
Definitive Edition	Grove Street Games LLC
2024 Update	Video Games Deluxe^[1]
Publishers
	Rockstar Games
Engines
	Unreal Engine 4
Release dates
Windows	November 11, 2021
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Open world
Vehicles	Automobile, Bus, Flight, Naval/watercraft, Street racing, Tank, Train, Transport, Truck
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary, North America
Series	Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition