Free Tip: Don't buy GTA IV on Windows 8

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cbrunny

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2007
6,791
406
126
Steam has it on sale, but if you are running Windows 8, keep moving. This game is so riddled with activation and game-launch issues that you're far better off saving your money & buying something that actually works.

The Steam Community boards are full of people complaining about how it doesn't activate and for those that get it working, crashes nearly immediately. Rockstar really screwed their customers over on this one - myself included. Guaranteed they don't care either.

So, in sum, avoid GTA IV on Steam if you have a modern PC.
 
cronos

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
26
101
cbrunny said:
Steam has it on sale, but if you are running Windows 8, keep moving. This game is so riddled with activation and game-launch issues that you're far better off saving your money & buying something that actually works.

The Steam Community boards are full of people complaining about how it doesn't activate and for those that get it working, crashes nearly immediately. Rockstar really screwed their customers over on this one - myself included. Guaranteed they don't care either.

So, in sum, avoid GTA IV on Steam if you have a modern PC.
Click to expand...

Umm... what? The PC has nothing to do with it, it's the choice of OS that's messed up.

I remember it was about a year ago that I built my computer and thought about installing Windows 8 just because I had a license unused from MSDNAA (and a little bit curious). One thing that held me back is that I wasn't sure how games would play on it, and games are a big reason of why I was building that computer. So I posted about it here and immediately was told by pretty much everyone not to do it. I'm glad I didn't :)
 
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dougp

Diamond Member
May 3, 2002
7,909
4
0
I've ran it on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 since launch ... we routinely play this at our LAN parties where everyone is on Windows 8 or 8.1.
 
PliotronX

PliotronX

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 1999
8,883
107
106
dougp said:
I've ran it on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 since launch ... we routinely play this at our LAN parties where everyone is on Windows 8 or 8.1.
Click to expand...
Just for curiosity's sake, does your crew all run with on GPU maker? I'm jealous you get to LAN it BTW.
 
Regs

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,665
21
81
Never was a fan of cloud saving. Bat Man, Max Payne, GTA series...all require you to create a network ID and save in the cloud.
 
F

futurefields

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2012
6,470
32
91
cbrunny said:
Steam has it on sale, but if you are running Windows 8, keep moving. This game is so riddled with activation and game-launch issues that you're far better off saving your money & buying something that actually works.

The Steam Community boards are full of people complaining about how it doesn't activate and for those that get it working, crashes nearly immediately. Rockstar really screwed their customers over on this one - myself included. Guaranteed they don't care either.

So, in sum, avoid GTA IV on Steam if you have a modern PC.
Click to expand...


Lol... ooooook.

*goes back to playing GTA 4 online on his modern pc*
 
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SPBHM

Diamond Member
Sep 12, 2012
5,066
418
126
if you don't mind hacking I think you can get it working perfectly under windows 8 (there was some hack to remove GFWL that helped the game to work better, if you don't mind loosing the MP portion of the game, which is not that good anyway)...

but yes, GTA 4 protection is excessive, you have to activate with a key, GFWL AND social club I think, I haven't played the game in a while, but it was always painful
 
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Super56K

Golden Member
Feb 27, 2004
1,390
0
0
I thought about revisiting it on PC (I never really got into it on console), but I don't want to play it that bad. I don't do the GFWL stuff. It's about a slap in the face to consumers to have a Russian doll of DRM to deal with.
 
M

manko

Golden Member
May 27, 2001
1,846
1
0
I just got it a few weeks ago and play with an offline GFWL profile on Windows 7. I just click No or Cancel at the Rockstar SC popup and it works fine for single player. After activating, you don't even need Steam to run it. I just run the game launcher.

The game itself is a bit of a letdown playing for the first time right after V. I played the earlier ones, but skipped IV until now. It's hard to get into and I hate the driving camera, despite trying mods. So far, it hasn't lived up to all the nostalgic reviews and comments I've seen.
 
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Raduque

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,140
138
106
I played it using my Live ID as an offline profile. Is R* planning on patching out GFWL, or is GTAIV just going to stop working correctly when Microsoft kills the GFWL servers?
 
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Anteaus

Platinum Member
Oct 28, 2010
2,448
4
81
Raduque said:
I played it using my Live ID as an offline profile. Is R* planning on patching out GFWL, or is GTAIV just going to stop working correctly when Microsoft kills the GFWL servers?
Click to expand...

There is a pretty good chance Rockstar will patch out GFWL. Capcom has already announced they are removing GFWL from their lineup in favor of Steamworks and there is no reason to think Rockstar wouldn't do otherwise. GTAIV is an older title, but if they completely pulled support it would have an impact on future sales, a possible GTA V included.

In the short term, GTAIV supports offline GFWL accounts so once the service is removed the single player game should still work. No idea about activation, though I believe activation is handled by Rockstar directly and not GFWL.

If I had to make a guess, I would think Rockstar will end up swapping GFWL to match what LA Noire uses or even what GTA V will eventually ship with. It would explain their silence on the matter. There is still 6 months to go before they need to make a move.
 
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cbrunny

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2007
6,791
406
126
Sounds like you lot have had better luck than I. I click "Play" and literally nothing happens.
 
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cbrunny

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2007
6,791
406
126
I click 'Play' in Steam, and literally nothing happens. I don't even get the Rockstar Social Club login screen.

I can sit there and click 'Play' every 10 seconds and nothing happens.

Going to give this one last re-install effort. Trying something slightly different this time. If this fifth attempt doesn't work, I quit GTA.
 
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dougp

Diamond Member
May 3, 2002
7,909
4
0
cbrunny said:
I click 'Play' in Steam, and literally nothing happens. I don't even get the Rockstar Social Club login screen.

I can sit there and click 'Play' every 10 seconds and nothing happens.

Going to give this one last re-install effort. Trying something slightly different this time. If this fifth attempt doesn't work, I quit GTA.
Click to expand...

Have you tried doing a repair? I had to do that before it ran ...
 
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cbrunny

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2007
6,791
406
126
Thanks for the link & suggestions... What do you mean by 'repair'? I don't see that as an option with this installer....
 
Raduque

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,140
138
106
Anteaus said:
There is a pretty good chance Rockstar will patch out GFWL. Capcom has already announced they are removing GFWL from their lineup in favor of Steamworks and there is no reason to think Rockstar wouldn't do otherwise. GTAIV is an older title, but if they completely pulled support it would have an impact on future sales, a possible GTA V included.

In the short term, GTAIV supports offline GFWL accounts so once the service is removed the single player game should still work. No idea about activation, though I believe activation is handled by Rockstar directly and not GFWL.

If I had to make a guess, I would think Rockstar will end up swapping GFWL to match what LA Noire uses or even what GTA V will eventually ship with. It would explain their silence on the matter. There is still 6 months to go before they need to make a move.
Click to expand...

Oh boy, the Rockstar Social Club. :rolleyes: Yet another piece of crap online software nobody needed.

I don't think RSC handles the activation. IIRC, the last time I forced myself to finally finish GTAIV, I had to put the key in GFWL and let it check it online before I could use my profile offline.
 
Maximilian

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
A poorly done console port + windows 8 + GFWL + that social club bollocks.... recipe for disaster right there lol.

Hope when GTA V comes to PC its better done... or at least dosent have a bunch of extra trash tacked onto it.
 
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