gta3-GWAaarrr!!

[permazorch]

What in the wild, wild world of sports is going on with my new (to my house) system build?! Grand Theft Auto 3 plays acceptably well on my old PIII 450. The videocard is only a 16mb tnt2. I thought it was the drivers for my new adapter, but updated and still problems persist.
Game starts...game freezes...computer fully locked.
I press reset.
repeat ad nauseaum.
Maybe I got the wrong drivers, but Nvidia's web site seemed pretty self explanatory.

[casey]

All I can say ia that this game is bug ridden. Look at the forums at Megagames.com. Shocking. Bad programming.

[grimfandango]

the game maybe a little buggy...


but it maybe cause your system too..

first update your video drivers.

also get the latest update for the game too..

[permazorch]

Yes! The official game patch! Thanks to you both, grimfandango & casey.

[Pimpmaster]

Try out the 1.1 patch and try setting your display colour to 16 Bit. Also which version of Windows are you running? There's been alot of problems for people who try to play GTAIII with Windows XP and a Nvidia card.

[permazorch]

Yes, well...I updated the drivers and applied the patch (v1.1) to no avail. Upon shutdown, I got a system hang. I have gone from a pristine machine to a bug-ridden ka-ka crate.
Maybe I should just be content playing staccato gta3 on my old 450 PIII, and uninstall the sucker from my rapidly degrading new sweetness. Still, gta3 was part of the reason for my purchasing a new PNY Ti 4200 video adapter.
RATS!!!

[glc]

What motherboard is in the new system and what version of Windows are you running?

[Furius92]

What about heat issues? That 1.2GHz Athlon is a T-Bird, which do run quite hot. Have you checked your system temperatures?

Also, how many fans do you have in your case, what kind of case is it, and what HSF unit are you using?

[permazorch]

System temperatures...check
Number of fans...3
HSF...I can't remember, but it screams like a jet taking off.
Mainboard...8KTA3
Windows OS...98SE
Case...Antec (big, black & heavy)

Now, really...C'mon! Shouldn't this rig work??!!

What foolish & obvious mistake did I commit?

[glc]

Have you installed any of the Via "4 in 1" drivers? If so, which ones and what version? Via chipsets sometimes need a lot of fiddling to get things happy. What AGP speed is set in the bios? There are other bios settings that can affect this too.

[Furius92]

I'm still stuck on the heat issue here. I know nVidia cards make a lot of heat compared to ATI ones. Check to see that the HSF unit on the video card itself is attached well, and that the fan is spinning.

Also, have you tried simpler things like reinstalling the game. Also, when you installed the nVidia drivers, did you turn off any anti-virus scanning that was on? I know people usually ignore these warnings, but with the nVidia drivers it actually matters... they won't install properly without turning off anti-virus scans.

[permazorch]

OK.
I'm not sure which 4 in 1 drivers are on, I installed the basic hardware almost 9 months ago. Which drivers should I have?
The heatsink fan on the video adapter seemed to spin fine...
I guess I'll reinstall the game, but that's never really worked before. Still, it makes sense...
I haven't checked the AGP speed in the bios. What should I look for?

[ssahl]

I would make sure you have the latest direct X drivers installed too. Also depending on what OS your using I would shut down as many things as you can. I like to do this using 'msconfig' but you can also use the 'ctrl>alt>del' method.

[CurtM]

Originally posted by permazorch All I can say ia that this game is bug ridden. Look at the forums at Megagames.com. Shocking. Bad programming.

That is just plain misinformation. You'll find forums for every pc game where a bunch of people experience technical problems. But it is not any more common with GTA 3 than any other game.
You forget that there are alot more pc gamers, like me, who had no problem whatsoever with GTA 3, and thus had no reason to find a forum to bitch on.

[permazorch]

OK.
After uninstalling/reinstalling; after resetting to 16 bit; after downloading latest drivers & gta3 patch, the Via 4-in-1 driver update finally did the trick!
Thank you to all who responded. They were all good suggestions.
A special thank you very much to glc.
Tell me more about the bios settings, please. I would like optimal.
Now I must drive...

[glc]

Sorry - can't help you with bios tweaking - I avoid Via like the plague. I would say if it ain't broke now, don't fix it!

[ssahl]

If it's working I would leave settings as they are. As for the game make sure in the GTA options you have frames turned off.

[permazorch]

Thanks.
I'll leave well enough alone, check the frames...
I won't be playing today, most likely.
Thank you all, I appreciate it.