Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock	2007
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith	2008
Guitar Hero: World Tour	2009

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) release of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a singleplayer and multiplayer cinematic camera music/rhythm game in the Guitar Hero series.

It's based on the Xbox 360 version of the game. However, it's missing the stage visual effects from the 360 and PS3 versions.^[1]^[2] The official Master server for multiplayer was shut down. Can be restored with a mod, see Multiplayer types.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 7.33.0017 DRM.
Retail		SecuROM 7.33.0017 DRM.

All Windows versions require SecuROM DRM, Mac DRM is unknown.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Instructions^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\DATA\MOVIES\BIK\`. Delete or rename `Aspyr.bik.xen`, `atvi.bik.xen`, `DELL_Cert_3CD.bik.xen`, `ns_logo.bik.xen`, and `ro_logo.bik.xen`.

Patches

GH3 Patch v1.31 (PC)

GH3 Patch v1.3 (Mac)

BetterGH3

Completely portable

All DLC included

Online play via Warehouse

remove old disc installations, force all as guitar, x360ce [Optional Fixes]

Almost perfect compatibility with Linux via Proton

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Aspyr\Guitar Hero III\AspyrConfig.xml
macOS (OS X)

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Aspyr\Guitar Hero III\Save\
macOS (OS X)

Video

Graphics settings

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)	Vert-
Windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
High-fidelity upscaling	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS
120+ FPS	Particles and effects will break if the game runs higher than 60 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Widescreen resolution

Custom resolutions^[3]
Go to `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Aspyr\Guitar Hero III\AspyrConfig.xml`. Find `Video.Width` and `Video.Height` values and change to the desired resolution.

Input

Keyboard configuration screen

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		A guitar controller is highly recommended, but regular Xbox 360 controllers are supported.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		All Xbox 360 guitar controllers and regular Xbox 360 controllers are supported.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		Gameplay works perfectly, including whammying. Left analog stick doesn't work. It's not possible to switch to the bonus songs tab.
PlayStation button prompts
Motion sensors support
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	Wired

Generic/other controllers		PC World Tour guitar controllers, PlayStation 3 guitar controllers and generic gamepads are supported.
Button prompts

Additional information
Button prompts		Always displays the guitar controller's button prompts.
Controller hotplugging		XInput-compatible controllers only.
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio		The game uses some licensed songs with no option to change to other songs.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Korean
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation by Central de Traduções; download.
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Players	Notes
Local play	2	Co-op, Versus
LAN play
Online play	2	Co-op, Versus Check these websites for restoring the Multiplayer: https://wiki.aiwarehouse.xyz/en/gh3-pc-guide or https://forum.plutonium.pw/topic/29272/plutonium-gh3-ghwt

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	3074
UDP	3074

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

Issues fixed

Stuttering

Force the game to run in borderless fullscreen windowed mode^[4]

Set list limit crash

Use modded file to extend the setlist to ~260 songs^[5]
Download the modded `engine_params.qb.xen` file Replace `<path-to-game>\DATA\SCRIPTS\ENGINE\engine_params.qb.xen` with the modded file

High frame rate issues

The particles and effects of the game are linked to 60 FPS, so playing at high FPS can cause problems.

Limit the frame rate using Nvidia Inspector^{[citation needed]}

Set refresh rate on 60 Hz^{[citation needed]}

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			This 32-bit-only macOS game does not work* on macOS Catalina (10.15) or later.*

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok Physics
Cutscenes	Bink Video

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP2	Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium D (Dual-core) 2.8 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3500+	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon Dual Core 4400+
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	5.1 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon X800 Nvidia GeForce 7600 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	ATI Radeon HD 2600 Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 256 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0c compatible
Controller	Official Guitar Hero X-Plorer Guitar Controller
Other	6X DVD-ROM drive

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.4.10	10.5
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz	2.33 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	5.1 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon X1600 Nvidia GeForce 7300 128 MB of VRAM	256 MB of VRAM
Controller	Official Guitar Hero X-Plorer Guitar Controller
Other	DVD-ROM drive

References

↑ PC gameplay sample - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Xbox 360 gameplay sample - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Guitar Hero 3 Resolution - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Performance fix for GH games on ATI/AMD cards (Final Release) - last accessed on 2022-02-03
"For future reference, this mod does what many others do these days, runs the game in borderless fullscreen mode. This is all you need to fix the performance on AMD cards. There isn't any kind of magic here. If you can no longer find a working mirror for this, any other mod that runs games in borderless fullscreen mode should work."
↑ How I Fixed a 10 Year Old Guitar Hero Bug Without the Source Code - last accessed on May 2023

[1] PC gameplay sample - last accessed on May 2023

[2] Xbox 360 gameplay sample - last accessed on May 2023

[3] Guitar Hero 3 Resolution - last accessed on May 2023

[4] Performance fix for GH games on ATI/AMD cards (Final Release) - last accessed on 2022-02-03
"For future reference, this mod does what many others do these days, runs the game in borderless fullscreen mode. This is all you need to fix the performance on AMD cards. There isn't any kind of magic here. If you can no longer find a working mirror for this, any other mod that runs games in borderless fullscreen mode should work."

[5] How I Fixed a 10 Year Old Guitar Hero Bug Without the Source Code - last accessed on May 2023

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Developers

	Neversoft
Publishers
	Activision
	Aspyr Media
Release dates
Windows	November 13, 2007
macOS (OS X)	December 10, 2007
Reception
Metacritic	79
IGDB	84
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Cinematic camera
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Music/rhythm
Art styles	Stylized
Series	Guitar Hero