GTA 4 PC Impressions

habibi · 12-02-2008, 05:29 PM

I'm downloading now from Steam.. and it's taking a lot of time. Any impressions here? What's the performance on the PC like. A couple of gamers in the Steam forum said that they are getting 20-25 fps on a AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (3ghz) with Geforce 8800GTX - 768mb. I sure hope that is not the case!

nordhus · 12-02-2008, 05:47 PM

I don't actually have the game, but if I understand Kieron correctly then
a. no current computer will run it at max settings and
b. the game is a bit optimistic with it's default settings.

Dhruin · 12-02-2008, 06:45 PM

Longest installation I can recall. Way too many hoops - I know I'm a luddite PC-only, single-player only weirdo but the Rockstar Social Club plus Live thing confused me. The game says a mandatory Live update is required, so I have to exit out and update that. Then I go to set up a Live account because apparently you can't save without it (!) and Microsoft lets me waste my time typing everything in then says the server isn't available.

A mammoth install later, Social club install, Live install, Live update, an online check to see if the release date is passed, an online Securom serial number registration and I'm finally in the game - even if I can't save progress because the Live account thing doesn't work.

It looks crap (yes, I've only got a 256Mb 8600GT), so I play with the settings. It just won't increase the resolution - if I understand the red "you are about to exceed your video memory limitations", my machine isn't capable of more than 800x600.

Going to go play Sacred 2, instead. I didn't expect my machine to look fantastic but I didn't expect all this hassle.

habibi · 12-02-2008, 08:36 PM

I believe your average gamer will face lots of obstacles. Support will be a terrible nightmare. Good luck, Rockstar.

deccan · 12-02-2008, 11:28 PM

Ouch, I was really looking forward to this one. I have a 512 mb 8800GT and if it can't run this at an acceptable resolution, I'm going to have to put this off for later. I'd appreciate anyone else who can chime in with how well this does on their machine.

interman · 12-03-2008, 01:27 AM

I remember VC and SA not running great when they came out, but this sounds like the cost of entry is a lot higher this time

habibi · 12-03-2008, 01:59 AM

I'm surprise that Kieron didn't discuss much about the whole installation process - Live, Social Club, etc. I wonder if he's score of 9/10 would have included the pains of getting started.

KieronGillen · 12-03-2008, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by habibi

I'm surprise that Kieron didn't discuss much about the whole installation process - Live, Social Club, etc. I wonder if he's score of 9/10 would have included the pains of getting started.

It's not that bad, to be honest. I mean it's annoying and intrusive, but it's not significantly worse than - say - an MMO. And you can apparently link your accounts so you only have to log into one.

The performance would be the more annoying aspect for most people.

Dhruin: You can make an offline account for Games for Windows live. You don't have to log into the Rockstar thingy either, as there's a skip login button.

KG

Dhruin · 12-03-2008, 03:12 AM

I still had to create a Live account, right? That wouldn't work for most of the day for me. Anyway, I finally got that done an hour ago but I'm not happy that it locks down the resolution. I appreciate my PC is nothing special but it meets minimum specs and I'd rather be able to bump up the res and drop down something else.

Edit: Ah, I see what you mean - I missed the completely offline thing.

I did see some documentation that said a view distance setting of "10" was equivalent to the console performance, which would mean NASA wouldn't be able to set it to 100. Having some future-proofing is nice but it's going to be a shock to a lot of PC gamers to have the sliders on the low side.

Erlend Grefsrud · 12-03-2008, 04:18 AM

Is there any real reason to get this if you have the x360 version ..?

KieronGillen · 12-03-2008, 04:33 AM

My review's linked upthread which mainly concentrates on the changes.

Big ones?
32 player multiplayer
Video editor
Custom Music
Looks much better if you have the hardware

32 player MP is the big one. It really does change the game to total mental.

KG

Godmil · 12-03-2008, 05:36 AM

I'm actually encouraged to learn that the default settings for current hardware is pretty low. I've been playing GTA3 on Steam lately and I've been really happy that you can set the resolution and drawdistance really high (Looks a thousand times better than the PS2 original, and a far cry from playing Diablo2 or Star Craft and being locked at 640*480).
I'm happy buying GTA4 in the knowledge that I can come back to it in 3-4 years and it will still look fantastic.

Rob_Merritt · 12-03-2008, 06:01 AM

This forum thread seems to cover some of the worst problems people are having:
http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=378702

docvego · 12-03-2008, 06:31 AM

Anyone with a little patience and interested in saving a few bucks can pick this up at Circuit City in a few days. Their Ad for next week will supposedly have the game listed for $45, and with any luck will stack with this coupon code:

10% Off Any Video Game (limit 3)
6za3cjga3n

Bringing you down to about $40.50 + Tax

foogla · 12-03-2008, 06:35 AM

they wont sell it to me on steam so I wont buy it, sucks to be them

ElGuapo · 12-03-2008, 07:15 AM

Where's that PC gaming level of domedness image when you need it?

Just wait till you guys start actually playing the game. Have fun learning to drive again!

Seriously, it's kind of funny that when the same game comes out on consoles and PC, one thread starts out "So what about that first mission/area/impressions of gameplay/min maxing character" and one starts out "I can't get my video card and/or sound to work".

Now back to The Witcher.

Sol Invictus · 12-03-2008, 07:27 AM

Merely getting Grand Theft Auto IV to run is a long and tedious experience. Talk about sabotaging your customers. Yes, this crap even happens to people who buy it on Steam.

I'm sure they'll blame the sales figures on piracy and a d0med PC market while Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead sell millions.

InfiniteJest · 12-03-2008, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sol Invictus

Merely getting Grand Theft Auto IV to run is a long and tedious experience.

Damn, won't work on Vista 64 thanks to an incompatible Live update? I guess I won't be buying it.

Cory · 12-03-2008, 07:45 AM

Holy shit, what a mess. EA's recent PC releases are looking better and better...

any review of gta 4 PC that doesn't mention this part of the game isn't worth the web space, imo.

RobotPants · 12-03-2008, 07:48 AM

Sounds great so far!

Tim James · 12-03-2008, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dhruin

Having some future-proofing is nice but it's going to be a shock to a lot of PC gamers to have the sliders on the low side.

Again, it's time for vanity sizing for sensitive PC gamers. Maybe they should use SecuROM to check the date and bump up the length of the setting bars after a few years.

Naeblis · 12-03-2008, 08:22 AM

Thing is, it doesn't matter how you put the sliders.

If you have the sliders down, the game looks barely decent, and still needs a somewhat beefy computer (8800 onwards).

If you have the sliders up, the game looks good (but not THAT great) but it needs a computer that it would run Crysis at high quality @ 2560 X 1600.

In the end, the game have a crappy performance-visual quality ratio.

intruder · 12-03-2008, 08:31 AM

There are early reports of massive problems with ATI cards.
Nvidia once seems fine.
German magazine "PC Games" did contact Rockstar and was notified that these problems are known and they are working on a solution.
(Linked article is in German only)

Just a word of warning.

Tim James · 12-03-2008, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naeblis

In the end, the game have a crappy performance-visual quality ratio.

That's fine, and it could be a driver or optimization issue, but when gamers are "shocked" at having to lower sliders on a computer they "just" bought two years ago (heh) then it's time for vanity sizing.

RobotPants · 12-03-2008, 10:47 AM

That's not what people are saying though, is it? It seems the general consensus is that even higher-end systems are struggling.

Cory · 12-03-2008, 11:04 AM

IGN's review:

Quote:

Yet with the PC version, you're going to need a particularly powerful machine to see it in all its splendor at a decent framerate, as even on our system (Core 2 Quad 2.40 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 768 MB GeForce 8800 GTX with Vista 32) we were having performance problems even after toning down a few of the settings, and some of the effects (the shadows in particular) didn't look so hot when displayed in high resolutions.

A system like that shouldn't be having "performance problems"...

did rockstar push this out the door a bit too quickly?

RobotPants · 12-03-2008, 11:09 AM

The only reason I'd even get this game on PC is if it improved on the visuals of the 360 version. It looked pretty good there, but the weird jiggly shadows drove me nuts and the framerate wasn't so hot in a lot of places.

Lux · 12-03-2008, 11:19 AM

Do they add these third party componants after QA or something?

Naeblis · 12-03-2008, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobotPants

That's not what people are saying though, is it? It seems the general consensus is that even higher-end systems are struggling.

There are people who are playing with good perfomance (40 fps) and almost everything high (except view distance, at 40%). And they just have an iCore7 and a GTX280!

:P :P

RobotPants · 12-03-2008, 12:10 PM

Heh. Yeah, I think I'll wait until this thing hits $15 and GTX280s are mid-range cards.

12-02-2008, 05:29 PM	#1
habibi Spinning Toe Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Rapture Posts: 564	GTA 4 PC Impressions I'm downloading now from Steam.. and it's taking a lot of time. Any impressions here? What's the performance on the PC like. A couple of gamers in the Steam forum said that they are getting 20-25 fps on a AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (3ghz) with Geforce 8800GTX - 768mb. I sure hope that is not the case!

12-03-2008, 03:12 AM	#9
Dhruin Spinning Toe Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 724	I still had to create a Live account, right? That wouldn't work for most of the day for me. Anyway, I finally got that done an hour ago but I'm not happy that it locks down the resolution. I appreciate my PC is nothing special but it meets minimum specs and I'd rather be able to bump up the res and drop down something else. Edit: Ah, I see what you mean - I missed the completely offline thing. I did see some documentation that said a view distance setting of "10" was equivalent to the console performance, which would mean NASA wouldn't be able to set it to 100. Having some future-proofing is nice but it's going to be a shock to a lot of PC gamers to have the sliders on the low side. Last edited by Dhruin; 12-03-2008 at 03:21 AM..

12-03-2008, 07:45 AM	#19
Cory New Romantic Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Lafayette, IN ---> XBL: Cubit33 --------------> PSN: Cubit85 --------------> Posts: 9,413	Holy shit, what a mess. EA's recent PC releases are looking better and better... any review of gta 4 PC that doesn't mention this part of the game isn't worth the web space, imo. Last edited by Cory; 12-03-2008 at 07:53 AM..

12-02-2008, 05:47 PM	#2
nordhus Broad Band Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Norway Posts: 186	I don't actually have the game, but if I understand Kieron correctly then a. no current computer will run it at max settings and b. the game is a bit optimistic with it's default settings.

12-02-2008, 06:45 PM	#3
Dhruin Spinning Toe Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 724	Longest installation I can recall. Way too many hoops - I know I'm a luddite PC-only, single-player only weirdo but the Rockstar Social Club plus Live thing confused me. The game says a mandatory Live update is required, so I have to exit out and update that. Then I go to set up a Live account because apparently you can't save without it (!) and Microsoft lets me waste my time typing everything in then says the server isn't available. A mammoth install later, Social club install, Live install, Live update, an online check to see if the release date is passed, an online Securom serial number registration and I'm finally in the game - even if I can't save progress because the Live account thing doesn't work. It looks crap (yes, I've only got a 256Mb 8600GT), so I play with the settings. It just won't increase the resolution - if I understand the red "you are about to exceed your video memory limitations", my machine isn't capable of more than 800x600. Going to go play Sacred 2, instead. I didn't expect my machine to look fantastic but I didn't expect all this hassle.

12-02-2008, 08:36 PM	#4
habibi Spinning Toe Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Rapture Posts: 564	I believe your average gamer will face lots of obstacles. Support will be a terrible nightmare. Good luck, Rockstar.

12-02-2008, 11:28 PM	#5
deccan Mad Chester Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Malaysia Posts: 1,283	Ouch, I was really looking forward to this one. I have a 512 mb 8800GT and if it can't run this at an acceptable resolution, I'm going to have to put this off for later. I'd appreciate anyone else who can chime in with how well this does on their machine.

12-03-2008, 01:27 AM	#6
interman Spinning Toe Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 542	I remember VC and SA not running great when they came out, but this sounds like the cost of entry is a lot higher this time

12-03-2008, 01:59 AM	#7
habibi Spinning Toe Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Rapture Posts: 564	I'm surprise that Kieron didn't discuss much about the whole installation process - Live, Social Club, etc. I wonder if he's score of 9/10 would have included the pains of getting started.

12-03-2008, 04:18 AM	#10
Erlend Grefsrud Mad Chester Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 1,259	Is there any real reason to get this if you have the x360 version ..?

12-03-2008, 04:33 AM	#11
KieronGillen Neo Acoustic Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,710	My review's linked upthread which mainly concentrates on the changes. Big ones? 32 player multiplayer Video editor Custom Music Looks much better if you have the hardware 32 player MP is the big one. It really does change the game to total mental. KG

12-03-2008, 05:36 AM	#12
Godmil Pillow Talk Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Aberdeen, Scotland Posts: 35	I'm actually encouraged to learn that the default settings for current hardware is pretty low. I've been playing GTA3 on Steam lately and I've been really happy that you can set the resolution and drawdistance really high (Looks a thousand times better than the PS2 original, and a far cry from playing Diablo2 or Star Craft and being locked at 640*480). I'm happy buying GTA4 in the knowledge that I can come back to it in 3-4 years and it will still look fantastic.

12-03-2008, 06:01 AM	#13
Rob_Merritt New Romantic Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Gamertag: Baron Calamity Posts: 9,962	This forum thread seems to cover some of the worst problems people are having: http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=378702

12-03-2008, 06:31 AM	#14
docvego Hustle Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: PA/MD Posts: 396	Anyone with a little patience and interested in saving a few bucks can pick this up at Circuit City in a few days. Their Ad for next week will supposedly have the game listed for $45, and with any luck will stack with this coupon code: 10% Off Any Video Game (limit 3) 6za3cjga3n Bringing you down to about $40.50 + Tax

12-03-2008, 06:35 AM	#15
foogla Mad Chester Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Hamburg, Germany Posts: 1,321	they wont sell it to me on steam so I wont buy it, sucks to be them

12-03-2008, 07:15 AM	#16
ElGuapo New Romantic Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 9,811	Where's that PC gaming level of domedness image when you need it? Just wait till you guys start actually playing the game. Have fun learning to drive again! Seriously, it's kind of funny that when the same game comes out on consoles and PC, one thread starts out "So what about that first mission/area/impressions of gameplay/min maxing character" and one starts out "I can't get my video card and/or sound to work". Now back to The Witcher.

12-03-2008, 07:27 AM	#17
Sol Invictus Social Worker Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 2,598	Merely getting Grand Theft Auto IV to run is a long and tedious experience. Talk about sabotaging your customers. Yes, this crap even happens to people who buy it on Steam. I'm sure they'll blame the sales figures on piracy and a d0med PC market while Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead sell millions.

12-03-2008, 07:48 AM	#20
RobotPants Social Worker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Damn comedians. Gamertag: Stuperhero Posts: 4,163	Sounds great so far!

12-03-2008, 08:22 AM	#22
Naeblis Der Schulde Social Worker Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 3,664	Thing is, it doesn't matter how you put the sliders. If you have the sliders down, the game looks barely decent, and still needs a somewhat beefy computer (8800 onwards). If you have the sliders up, the game looks good (but not THAT great) but it needs a computer that it would run Crysis at high quality @ 2560 X 1600. In the end, the game have a crappy performance-visual quality ratio.

12-03-2008, 08:31 AM	#23
intruder Social Worker Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Munich, Germany Posts: 2,793	There are early reports of massive problems with ATI cards. Nvidia once seems fine. German magazine "PC Games" did contact Rockstar and was notified that these problems are known and they are working on a solution. (Linked article is in German only) Just a word of warning.

12-03-2008, 10:47 AM	#25
RobotPants Social Worker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Damn comedians. Gamertag: Stuperhero Posts: 4,163	That's not what people are saying though, is it? It seems the general consensus is that even higher-end systems are struggling.

12-03-2008, 11:09 AM	#27
RobotPants Social Worker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Damn comedians. Gamertag: Stuperhero Posts: 4,163	The only reason I'd even get this game on PC is if it improved on the visuals of the 360 version. It looked pretty good there, but the weird jiggly shadows drove me nuts and the framerate wasn't so hot in a lot of places.

12-03-2008, 11:19 AM	#28
Lux Spinning Toe Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 603	Do they add these third party componants after QA or something?

12-03-2008, 12:10 PM	#30
RobotPants Social Worker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Damn comedians. Gamertag: Stuperhero Posts: 4,163	Heh. Yeah, I think I'll wait until this thing hits $15 and GTX280s are mid-range cards.

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GTA 4 PC Impressions