Grand Theft Auto IV

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Grand Theft Auto IV

Developers
	Rockstar North
Windows	Rockstar Toronto
Publishers
	Rockstar Games
Russia	1C-SoftClub
Engines
	RAGE
Release dates
Windows	December 2, 2008
Reception
Metacritic	90
IGDB	88
Taxonomy
Monetization	Expansion pack
Series	Grand Theft Auto

Warnings

For Games for Windows - LIVE on Windows 8 or later, install the latest Games for Windows - LIVE software.

Key points

FusionFix fixes some issues not resolved in the official patches.

Essentially the same as Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City in terms of its engine and performance.

Extensive modding community, along with Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. See Downgrading.

Ability to import your music for your own custom radio station.

Rockstar has removed music from the game due to expired licences. Same with Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. See Restore removed music.

March 2020 update has introduced new Rockstar Games Launcher DRM, removing Games for Windows - LIVE and SecuROM DRM entirely, but also removing multiplayer (see Network for solutions).

Retail GTA IV keys can be redeemed on Rockstar Launcher activating Complete Edition (so additionally giving Episodes from Liberty City).

General information

Rockstar Support

GTA Modding - A wiki hosting mod information for the GTA series.

GTAForums - Grand Theft Auto IV Discussion

GTA Network - A huge network of fansites all dedicated to the Grand Theft Auto series

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Uses SecuROM 7 and SecuROM PA DRM for disc checking. CD keys can be redeemed on the Rockstar Games Launcher. Doing this will activate the Complete Edition.
Official website		Complete Edition.
Steam		Complete Edition.

Complete Edition includes Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

DLC and expansion packs

DLCs are now a part Complete Edition. All previously purchased copies on Steam were upgraded for free to that version, while original retail versions can be freely upgraded to Complete Edition, by registering a Games for Windows LIVE key on Rockstar Games Launcher.

Name	Notes
The Lost and Damned
The Ballad of Gay Tony

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use FusionFix

Apply the GTA IV Intro Patch[citation needed]

Edit loadingscreens_pc.dat
Go to <path-to-game>\GTAIV\common\data\ Open loadingscreens_pc.dat with Notepad Change the value of "duration" for sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 to 0. For the Rockstar Games Launcher version, run the launcher with the -scOfflineOnly parameter to avoid restoring original game files.

FusionFix

This projects aims to fix some issues in Grand Theft Auto IV Complete Edition.

FusionFix · GitHub

Applying FusionFix

Download the Ultimate-ASI-Loader.zip file. Extract the contents of the download to <path-to-game>\. Download the GTAIV.EFLC.FusionFix.zip file. Extract the contents of the download to <path-to-game>\ (replace the file(s) when prompted). For the Rockstar Games Launcher version, run the launcher with the -scOfflineOnly parameter to avoid restoring original game files. For Grand Theft Auto IV 1.0.8.0, see here.

ColAccel

Greatly reduces loading times

Does not work for versions older than Patch 6

If editing .IMG archives you need to delete colCache.dat and let it get re-created

Place ColAccel script in <path-to-game>
Requires an ASI Loader.

Restore removed music

Over 50 radio station tracks were removed from the game due to expired licenses in 2018.

Downgrading isn't required to install this mod.

Downgrading the Radio Stations
Download the downgrader. Unpack to the installation folder. Run install.bat. Notes If GTA IV was downgraded to Patch 4, don't extract and replace the "common" folder, as doing so will mess up all text in-game.

Run EFLC as DLCs

Merges songs from EFLC into the base game.

Does not work with versions older than Patch 6.

Removes RamJam FM, Self-Actualization FM and Vice City FM radio stations

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\Settings\SETTINGS.CFG
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/12210/pfx/

Configuration files are encrypted. For an alternative, see Command line parameters.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\savegames\<user-id>\ %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\Profiles\<user-id>\ (Complete Edition)
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/12210/pfx/

Rockstar Launcher version searches for Games For Windows Live saves.

Save game cloud syncing

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

Uses Rockstar Social Club's savegame & settings cloud sync function.

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			Cutscenes and loading screens are Vert-.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Ultimate Camera Control can be used to add a photo mode with adjustable FOV, does not allow adjustment of in-game FOV.
Windowed		Launch the game with -windowed parameter.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use FusionFix.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Use SMAA injector for SMAA. The game does not support traditional methods of anti-aliasing.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Cutscenes may be zoomed in incorrectly; slow handbrake camera; handbrake camera is too fast on high FPS (gamepad only)
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game keyboard/mouse settings.

In-game gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Forced deadzone with no known way of disabling.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Go to Options then Controls then Controller Options and click Enable DirectInput.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Can only switch between pre-set layouts.
Controller sensitivity		Called Aim Sensitivity.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Steam Input
Steam Input API support
Hook input (legacy mode)
Official controller preset(s)
Steam Controller button prompts

PS3 Controller Buttons

If using a PlayStation controller, you might want to change the Xbox 360 buttons to the PS2/PS3 buttons. In order to do so, follow the instructions below.

Instructions[citation needed]
Download the Controller Button Icon Change mod. Extract buttons_360.wtd and frontend_360.wtd to <path-to-game>\PC\textures\

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		SFX & Music.
Surround sound		Up to 5.0 output
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Commands responsible for audio in the game:

• -fullspecaudio: forces higher quality audio (default).
• -minspecaudio: forces lower quality audio - good for low-end CPU's (e.g. radio cannot be heard outside car).

Game uses DirectSound which can be handled by Creative ALchemy (set duration to 10). Just run LaunchGTAIV.exe as admin in case of game crash (unnecessary in Rockstar Launcher version).

DSOAL for using as alternative DirectSound wrapper (w/ or w/o HRTF) is compatible at least with Rockstar Launcher version and Windows 10 build lower than at least 1809.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Fan translation, download.
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation.
Italian
Japanese
Polish				Fan translation, download. For Complete Edition download this version
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation, download.
Russian				Official localization by «1C-Softclub» retail version, download.
Russian				Fan translation by «ENPY Studio»
Spanish
Ukrainian				Fan translation, download.
Turkish				Fan translation, download.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Notes
LAN play		Use CitizenMP:IV or IV:MP.
Online play		Use CitizenMP:IV or IV:MP.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP	8888

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision			For better support use Helix Mod: Grand Theft Auto IV
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

Fatal error RMN20

Run game in compatibility mode[citation needed]
Go to the installation folder. Right click on GTAIV.exe and enter its properties screen. Under the compatibility tab, set the compatibility mode to Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) and click OK.

If using Windows 7, Vista or XP, update your Windows to the latest available service pack

Game stuck at disclaimer screen or Rockstar logo on Windows 10

Disable fullscreen optimization
Go to the installation folder. Right click on GTAIV.exe and enter its properties screen. Under the compatibility tab, tick Disable fullscreen optimizations and click OK.

Large framerate drops on diverse parts of the city

Lower view distance to 20 or lower. Anything higher causes high drops in peformance impact when looking at the skyline for very little visual gain.

You may also increase your peformance significantly while minimizing pop-in and graphical glitches by keeping distance detail between 10 and 40. If you are after very high framerates (144 FPS) and above disable shadows as they use a lot of cpu power and reduce vehicle density to around 40, (33 is the console default if you want a "vanilla experience" Keeping V-Sync enabled (with shadows disabled) may help maintain close to stable 60 FPS even on old Core2Quad CPUs. Alternatively you can also try out disabling replays in "Game" in main menu and setting -mispecaudio which can unburden CPU in some extent depending on specs and -noprecache in some scenarios and -disableimposters excluding flying.

Texture popping, stuttering and other performance issues after running the game for a while

Force maximum available memory

Create a file named commandline.txt in your root installation folder. Depending on your texture quality, enter one of the following codes in to the newly created file: Low textures (256 MB VRAM): -memrestrict 230686720 Medium textures (512 MB VRAM): -memrestrict 314572800 High textures (1 GB+ VRAM): -memrestrict 681574400 Save the file and launch the game. -reservedApp 0 is also worth a try for a 64-bit OS. Keep in mind that the use of High Textures is not recommended for 32-bit Vista/7 or newer. Forcing available memory with Patch 8 is not recommended as it will make the game unstable.

Make sure Steam Overlay is enabled[citation needed]

No recoil/bullet spread

By default, recoil/bullet spread is only enabled when playing with a controller. This results in 100% shooting accuracy when using a keyboard and mouse.

Apply FusionFix

Regular camera movement and handbrake camera are too slow

This bug occurs if the frame rate is very high.

Apply FusionFix

Cutscenes are too zoomed in

This bug occurs if the frame rate is very high.

Apply FusionFix

Game language doesn't follow Steam/Rockstar launcher settings

Change Windows language

Replace .gxt file
Go to <path-to-game>\common\text\ and make a copy of .gxt file of desired language Delete the file of language you currently having in game Rename previously made copy to make it look like previously deleted file You need to do this separately for TLaD and TBoGT: <path-to-game>\TLaD\common\text\ and <path-to-game>\TBoGT\common\text\ folders respectively.

Game will load with minimal graphic settings and won't let you change them

For video cards that have more than 2 GB or VRAM the game will run but won't let you change the graphics settings to anything better. In order to force the game to allow the changes, load the .exe with the extra parameter: -norestrictions.

Bypass graphics restrictions on Steam version[citation needed]
Open your Steam library. Right-click on Grand Theft Auto IV and select Properties. Press the Set Launch Options... button. Enter -norestrictions into the text field, press OK. Start the game.

Bypass graphics restrictions on other versions[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>. Create a new text file in this folder and name it commandline.txt. Open it and add the string -norestrictions to it. Save the file. Start the game.

Infinite loading loop

Launch the game with -availablevidmem 0.9 -percentvidmem 100 parameter

AMD/ATI Radeon Water Fix

There is a problem where the water loses its features and details after a while. To fix this issue do this:

Replace the water shaders[citation needed]

Download the fixed waterTex shader file. Go to <path-to-game>\GTAIV Go to common\shaders\win32_30_atidx10\ Place your downloaded waterTex.fxc shader file and replace the original. Go to common\shaders\win32_30_low_ati\ Place your downloaded waterTex.fxc shader file and replace the original. Play! Notes Don't forget to backup original files. For the Rockstar Games Launcher version, run the launcher with the -scOfflineOnly parameter to avoid restoring original game files.

Invisible fonts glitch

An invisible fonts glitch may occur which involves game menu text disappearing.

Instructions[citation needed]
Download the files fonts.dat and fonts_r.dat located here. Go to the installation folder. Drag and drop the files into common\data\ in <path-to-game>. For the Rockstar Games Launcher version, run the launcher with the -scOfflineOnly parameter to avoid restoring original game files.

Frame rate drops after a short time in game (e.g. smooth 60 FPS to a choppy 45 FPS)

Launch game via LaunchGTAIV.exe

The game stays in the foreground after hanging, making it impossible to see the task manager to close it

Click "Options" on the Task Manager and enable "Always on top", it will now be possible to alt-tab to it

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9
Shader Model support	3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Bullet Physics Library, Euphoria
Interface	Adobe Flash
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.9r Used for ingame television

Custom music

Grand Theft Auto IV allows users to play their own music on a custom radio station, Independence FM.

Simply place any audio files/folders or create shortcuts in the %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\User Music\ folder, and tune into the station in-game.

Supported formats are MP3, WMA, M4A. Other formats and extensions are not recognized.

QuickTime or iTunes needs to be installed for M4A support.

Use shortcuts to audio files/folders to save disk space and improve performance.

Supports High-resolution audio files. Up to 96 kHz / 24 bit.

Supports Surround audio files. Up to 6 channels.

FLAC is not supported. Convert to WMA Lossless to use in-game.

Monaural audio files not supported.

Launch Options

By creating a file called commandline.txt and saving it to your root installation folder you can alter the way your game runs. Below is a list of all the parameters.

Few commands works only on clear game and patch 1.0.3.0.

Parameter	Description
-help	Lists the available commands
-adapter	Use the specified screen adapter
-autoconfig	Automatically adjust quality setting to maintain desired frame rate (15-120)
-availablevidmem	Set amount of physical Video Memory
-benchmark	Launches the game in Benchmark mode and then quits it
-detailquality	Set the detail quality of the game (0-99)
-disableimposters	Turn off imposter rendering for vehicles
-forcehighqualitymirrors	Enable 64 bit mirrors
-forcer2vb	Force Render to Vertex Buffer
-frameLimit	Limits your FPS to your refresh rate
-framelockinwindow	Force framelock to work even in a window
-fullscreen	Force fullscreen mode
-fullspecaudio	Force high-end CPU audio footprint
-gpucount	Lets you manually set the GPU count if query fails
-height	Sets the vertical resolution
-managed	Use D3D runtime managed resources
-memrestrict	Set the restriction the amount of available memory for the game
-minspecaudio	Force low-end CPU audio footprint
-no_3GB	Disable 32-bit OS with /3GB
-noBlockOnLostFocus	Don't block the window update when it loses focus.
-noprecache	Disable precache of resources
-nomemrestrict	Disable memory restrictions
-nominimize	Disables the ability to restore the game from minimize and changing resolutions (Reduces System Memory Footprint)
-norestrictions	Do not limit graphics settings
-noswapdelay	Disable sleep delay before Present (Disable fix for hard Present stalls)
-notimefix	Disable Time Fix
-novblank	Disables V-Sync
-percentvidmem	Percentage of Video memory to make available for the game
-refreshrate	Set the refresh rate (Must be supported by your monitor)
-reserve	Amount of memory to set aside for other applications
-reservedApp	Amount of memory to leave available within application space
-renderquality	Set the render quality of the game (0-4)
-safemode	Sets graphics setting to lowest setting
-shadowdensity	Set the number of lights that cast shadows (0-16)
-shadowquality	Set the shadow quality (0-4)
-stereo	Set game to support stereo rendering mode
-texturequality	Set the texture quality of the game (0-2)
-unmanaged	Use application managed resources
-usedirectinput	Allow DirectInput alongside XInput support.
-viewdistance	Set the view distance of the game (0-99)
-windowed	Force windowed mode
-width	Sets the horizontal resolution

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP3	Vista SP1
Processor (CPU)	AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz	AMD Phenom X3 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1.5 GB	2.5 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	16 GB	18 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon X1900 Nvidia GeForce 7900 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	ATI Radeon HD 3870 Nvidia GeForce 8600 512 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	5.1 Channel Audio Card