Playing GTA IV with achievements

PC version of GTA IV was originally shipped with Games for Windows Live (GFWL, later Xbox Live) achievements. In latest Complete Edition GFWL was removed and replaced with Rockstar Games Social Club (RGSC) and Steam achievements. This guide will help you to play whatever version of GTA IV you might have with achievements. 

Obviously this guide is not for legit game which already has Steam and RGSC overlay with achievements. However, legit game users still might find this guide useful.

Popular scenarios

1. Playing Complete Edition fully offline using custom achievement overlay
2. Playing downgraded 1.0.7.0 or 1.0.8.0 version offline with achievements
3. Playing Complete Edition on Steam without Rockstar Game Launcher using native Steam overlay 

Corrupted savegame in GTA IV

How a save gets corrupted

It is related to modding or using a trainer. 

I got a corrupted save after 25 missions (after Roman’s Sorrow) when I was making a Russian translation of mission names frequently modifying .gxt file and using SNT’s Mission Help a lot. 

How to know if your savegame is corrupt

Symptoms of a corrupted savegame are:

Универсальная русификация GTA IV, EFLC, Complete Edition

Для чего вам может понадобиться данная русификация

• Вы используете EFIGS версию игры, которая хорошо поддерживает нужные вам моды (например, для локализованных версий GTA IV и EFLC сложно найти scripthook, а также многие кастомные .asi моды поддерживают только наиболее популярные EFIGS-версии GTAIV.exe и EFLC.exe);
• Вам не нравится мат и корявые названия миссий в других самопальных переводах этой игры;
• Вы не знаете английского;
• Вы знаете английский, но в последнее время западное вам как-то не катит, и вам хочется чего-то необыкновенно богатого, великого и могучего.

Особенности пакета

• Поддержка всех EFIGS и локализованных RUS версий GTA IV и EFLC включая последнюю Complete Edition
• Русификация интегрированных GFWL эпизодов TLAD и TBOGT в базовой игре GTA IV 
  
  

Episodes from Liberty City integrated as GFWL DLCs in GTA IV

Contents

Why you may want this

What is needed
HOW-TO
Appendix

Alternative tools

Troubleshooting
References

Why no "Shweine" at the start of GTA IV?

The first song playing in Roman’s car at the start of  GTA IV is "Schweine" by Glukoza. However, during recent playthrough I didn’t hear it so I researched this issue using Parik’s AudioMetadataTool. 

Here’s why you may not hear the song

1. You have latest Complete Edition with cut radio

How to downgrade GTA IV Complete Edition to EFLC

So you've got latest GTA IV Complete Edition on Steam/Rockstar Launcher or Fitgirl repack and you want to turn it into original binary-identical EFLC (Episodes From Liberty City). This downpatch made in ISXPM in conjunction with official Rockstar EFLC Patch 2 or 3 (both included in the package) does just that.

How to correct file sizes in rehashed loose files torrent

This article may be no longer relevant after qBittorent implemented file size correction in later versions. 

 

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It is originally written for Cyberpunk 2077 update using loose file torrent rehash method but may be applied to any torrent.

If you rehash game files using updated torrent, download missing chunks and successfully recheck files in torrent client you may still get the error Cyberpunk 2077 encountered an error caused by corrupted or missing archives

This happens if some files were updated and their size became smaller in newer version of the game but torrent client did not truncate the file to reflect new smaller size. Even if the game data file contains all needed data and torrent rechecks OK Cyberpunk exe will check the size and will exit with the above error! 

You must use torrentcheck utility to find such files and manually delete and redownload them OR correct their sizes (semi)automatically using batch file TRUNCATE_REHASHED_TORRENT.BAT below. 

Create multiple GTA IV instances for downgrade or modding

This article is for modding enthusiasts who want to save disk space while maintaining several copies of GTA IV. It can also be useful to create a single separate copy of game folder for downgrade.

Reducing space taken by GTA IV copy folder 1

General barebone_iv.bat usage. 1

Example usage scenarios. 1

How to make copy for 1.0.0.0 rollback. 1

How to make copy for 1.0.4.0 downgrade with old radio downgrader 1

How to make copy for classic 1.0.7.0 downgrade with official Rockstar Patch 7. 1

How to make copy for simplified 1.0.7.0 express downgrade with ZolikaPatch. 1

Overall space savings. 1

Portable GTA IV on PC

This method works for any older GFWL-based GTA IV  1.0.0.0 - 1.0.8.0. If you have later game version you should downgrade it first.

Portable GTA IV became possible due to XLivelessAddon settings and savegame folders redirection.

Red Dead Redemption 1 on PC using keyboard+mouse (Xenia, Ryujinx, Yuzu)

 

This guide is obsolete after native PC version of Red Dead Redemption became available on Oct 29, 2024 and Razor1911 cracked it.

As of April 2021 Red Dead Redemption for Xbox 360 is playable on PC thanks to recent developments in Xenia emulator. Default Xenia controls are far from perfect so this guide helps to configure X360 gamepad emulation for PC RDR2-compatible keyboard and mouse controls. Physical gamepad is not required for playing!

As of August 2023 Red Dead Redemption for Nintendo Switch is available and is playable on PC using Switch emulators. This guide can be used to play that version too.

ENB with DXVK for GTA IV

What GTA IV version to use for ENB

Version 1.0.4.0

·        Better performance, better look

·        CONS: on some GPUs/drivers may initialize graphics and load game very slowly, no FusionFix

Version 1.0.6.0+ or EFLC

·        Has more robust video initialization routine. May work better than 1.0.4.0 for some GPUs/drivers.

·        New shadows implementation, better look but GPU-demanding.

·        FusionFix v1.10 works

In general you may use any GTA IV version. The guide was successfully tested on:

·        GTA IV 2020 Complete Edition properly downgraded* to 1.0.4.0 and 1.0.7.0. *Vanilla 2020CE 1.2.0.X without downgrade may also be used but for AMD GPU make sure that enbseries.ini has ForceNVidiaCard=false or else ENB won't be able to initialize display.

·        GTA IV Razor1911 original release upgraded to 1.0.4.0 and 1.0.7.0

Antialiasing with DXVK and GTA IV

This guide may be useful only for 1.0.4.0 or older versions of the game. For later versions including 2020 Complete Edition you should try FusionFix which has many more native AA settings.

The antialiasing method described below is very simple and uses older Sweetfx that is based on injectSMAA. 

• SweetFX antialiasing works for fairly modern GPUs e.g. very good at rx580, OK at gt730. 
• It is not CPU hungry and works without significant fps degradation even on 2-core Athlon X2. 

Latest Reshade may also be used for Vulkan antialiasing but it is harder to install/configure and at the moment it works only in global mode e.g. it will affect all games that output through Vulkan. 

How to play Red Dead Redemption 2 from offline

As of July 2021 this method works again. I successfully tested both LaunchRDR2.bat and desktop shortcut for PlayRDR2.exe on
- RGL 1.0.42.369
- RGSC 2.0.8.5 - after every RGL/RGSC update you should redo steps from "Required setup steps when connected"section
- RDR2 build 1436.25 (Blood Money/DLSS update)
- Epic Launcher 12.2.10-16850973
Be advised that although Rockstar is commited to supporting offline mode it may inadvertently break again in some future RGSC update. Offline mode launch with saved RGSC credentials used to work until Rockstar broke it in October 2020 RGL update, then after my ticket they fixed it in November 2020 RGL update. At least now there is "alternative offline running method" by EMPRESS V2 & Mr Goldberg.

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This method works if you legitimately bought the game from Epic Games Store and want to play through RDR2 story mode offline. The method (after  modifications for specific store) and Troubleshooting section are also applicable to RGL and Steam RDR2 versions.

TL;DR - recent Epic Game Launcher and Rockstar Game Launcher versions explicitly support offline mode and RDR2 story mode can now be started without internet connection using only saved RGL/RGSC credentials. Moreover, it can be started from custom desktop shortcut for RGL without running Epic at all as long as this shortcut has correct saved Epic credentials as parameters - they can be obtained from RGL logfile. 

Manual downgrade GTA IV to 1.0.4.0 or 1.0.7.0, Retail DVD version

Downgrade requirements and steps. 1

Running with XlivelessAddon 1

Appendix. 1

About SETTINGS.CFG file in 1.0.4.0. 1

Setting -availablevidmem.. 1

Manually unpacking GTA IV Rockstar patches.. 1

About ZolikaPatch express downgrade.. 1

Downgrade GTA IV to v1.0.0.0 retail DVD version.. 1

Reference links. 1

How to run GTA IV offline

Overview.. 1

XlivelessAddon is the preferred method to run GTA IV – game starts through GTAIV.exe. 1

Step-by-step guide. 1

Example - installing and running a retail DVD version of GTA IV or EFLC. 1

Example - Vice City Nextgen Edition. 1

Obsolete methods – game starts through LaunchGTAIV.exe. 1

Razor1911 SecuROM crack. 1

Reloaded crack. 1

RGSC  GTA 4 Crack. 1

XLiveless. 1

How to fix choppiness and stutters in GTA IV

TL;DR - to fix GTA IV stutters if your GPU supports Vulkan try DXVK method, if it doesn't support Vulkan then go to 4-step DxWrapper method (should help in all other cases). Do not combine methods below, use only one of them! If you are still not satisfied with gameplay then you may have to read the rest of the article and/or downgrade to version 1.0.4.0