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Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition > Guides > ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ's Guides
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(For my future reference) Getting GTA IV To Run Properly
By ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ
As the title states, this is mostly for my future reference as I'm going to be upgrading computers in a month or so. I've tried many ways of getting this game to run correctly, and this is what has worked the best for me.
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Created by
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ
In-Game
SimCity™ 3000 Unlimited
Category: Modding or Configuration
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
Feb 26, 2023 @ 7:21pm
Jun 21, 2023 @ 4:44pm
8,919 Unique Visitors
202 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Intro 
In-Game Graphics Settings 
commandline.txt 
stream.ini 
LAA 4GB Memory Patch 
DXVK Vulkan Wrapper 
Disable Shader Pre-Caching in Steam 
NVIDIA Control Panel 
Comments
Intro
I've tried multiple guides to try to get this god forsaken game to actually run and be playable, some stuff has worked and some stuff hasn't. This is just a compilation of stuff that I've tried and has worked for me, mostly for future reference because I'm upgrading my computers pretty soon and I still want an enjoyable experience playing this game on my new computer. No explanations because I'm lazy, don't remember, and it's not important for me.

These are the current specs of the computer I am using:
Core i7 4770 (4 core, 8 thread, base clock 3.4GHz, turbo clock 3.9GHz) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 16GB DDR4 RAM 128GB SSD (Boot) 1TB HDD
In-Game Graphics Settings
This is courtesy of somebbq:
Texture Quality - High Reflection Resolution - Very High Water Quality - Very High Shadow Quality - Very High Night Shadows - Off Texture Filter Quality - Anisotropic x16 View Distance - 40 Detail Distance - 40 Vehicle Density - 100 Definition - On VSync - Off
commandline.txt
  1. Navigate to the GTA IV install directory, specifically where "GTAIV.exe" is located
  2. If it doesnt already exist, create the file "commandline.txt"
  3. Add commands to the text file, save and close
The following is what I'm using currently:
-height 1080 -width 1920 -nomemrestrict -norestrictions -availablevidmem 6144 -forcehighqualitymirrors -texturequality 2 -renderquality 4 -novblank -viewdistance 40 -detailquality 40 -heapsize 1048576 -noprecache
The following is a list of all commandline commands, courtesy of machomuchacho:
====[Global]==== -FrameQueueLimit: Maxiumum number of frames that can be queued up -adapter: Use the specified screen adapter number (zero-based) -disableimposters: Turn of the imposter rendering for vehicles -episodesFolder: Sets the root folder for Episodic content -noBlockOnLostFocus: Don't block the window update when it loses focus. -rglLanguage: Language set by the Rockstar Games Launcher -scNoAutologin: Disable Social Club autologin -scOfflineOnly: Forces the Social Club UI to load the offline website only. -useSteam: Activates the Steam APIs ==== [AUDIO] ==== -fullspecaudio: Force high-end CPU audio footprint -minspecaudio: Force low-end CPU audio footprint ==== [GLOBAL] ==== -benchmark: Determines if we run the benchmark immediately -safemode: Sets graphics setting to lowest setting ==== [GRAPHICS] ==== -enableRemoteDesktop: enable remote desktop -forcehighqualitymirrors: Enable 64 bit mirrors -forcer2vb: force r2vb -frameLimit: number of frames to limit game to -framelockinwindow: Force framelock to work even in a window (works best with 60Hz monitor refresh) -fullscreen: Force fullscreen mode -gpucount: Lets you manually set the GPU count if query fails -height: Set height of main render window (default is 600) -managed: Use D3D runtime managed resources -nominimize: Disables the ability to restore the game from minimize and changing resolutions - Reduces System Memory Footprint -norestrictions: Do not limit graphics settings -noswapdelay: Disable sleep delay before Present (disable fix for hard Present stalls) -novblank: Disable wait for vblank -refreshrate: Set refresh rate of main render window -stereo: Set game to support stereo rendering mode -unmanaged: Use application managed resources -width: Set width of main render window (default is 800) -windowed: Force windowed mode ==== [MEMORY] ==== -availablevidmem: Override available video memory (in megabytes) -extravidmem: Set amount of extra video memmory to report in MB -lazydelete: Take your time deleting stuff -memrestrict: Set the restriction the amount of available memory for managed resources -no_3GB: Disable 32bit OS with /3GB -nocache: Do not cache resources -nomemrestrict: Do not restrict the amount of available memory for managed resources -noprecache: Do not precache resources -reserve: Amount of memory to set aside for other applications -reservedApp: Amount of memory to leave available within application space ==== [QUALITY SETTINGS] ==== -autoconfig: Automatically adjust quality setting to maintain desired frame rate (15-120) -detailquality: Set detail distance (0-99) -renderquality: Set anisotropic filtering (0-4) -shadowdensity: Set the number of lights that cast shadows -shadowquality: Set the shadow quality (0-4) -texturequality: Set texture quality (0-2) -viewdistance: Set LOD view distance (0-99) ==== [TIME] ==== -notimefix: Disable Time Fix ==== [grcore] ==== -d3dmt: Allow D3D device to be initialized in multithreaded mode (PC ONLY) -d3dst: Allow D3D device to be initialized in single threaded mode (PC ONLY)
stream.ini
  1. Navigate to \GTA IV\pc\
  2. Open "stream.ini"
  3. Replace every 204800 with 409600
  4. After saving and closing, copy and paste "stream.ini" into the main GTA IV install directory*
This is what it should look like when done:
virtual 409600 physical 409600 virtual_optimised 409600 physical_optimised 409600

*May not be necessary, this is more of a just in case thing I guess
LAA 4GB Memory Patch
The LAA 4GB memory patch can be found here.[ntcore.com] Thank you to MythAlex for the new link.
  1. Run "4gb_patch.exe" located in the downloaded .zip
  2. Select "gtaiv.exe" in your main install directory and patch it
  3. After "gtaiv.exe" is patched, right click it and click "Properties"
  4. Navigate to "Compatibility" and tick "Disable fullscreen optimizations"
DXVK Vulkan Wrapper
The DXVK Vulkan wrapper can be found here.[github.com]
  1. Download the latest version of the Vulkan wrapper
  2. In the downloaded .zip file, navigate to the x32 folder specifically, not x64. x64 will cause game crashes because GTA IV is a 32 bit application
  3. In the x32 folder, copy "d3d9.dll" and "dxgi.dll" to your main GTA IV install directory
Disable Shader Pre-Caching in Steam
This is (apparantly) required for the DXVK Vulkan wrapper.
  1. In Steam, click the Steam drop down menu at the top left and open settings
  2. Select Shader Pre-Caching at the bottom
  3. Untick Enable Shader Pre-Caching
NVIDIA Control Panel
This is courtesy of somebbq and Punkamania. Punkamania's settings were tried first, then somebbq's settings were. Honestly have no clue what will be better with my new computer.
  1. Open the NVIDIA control panel
  2. In the left menu under "3D Settings", select "Manage 3D settings"
  3. In the 3D settings, select the "Program Settings" menu
  4. Select "Add" and add "Grand Theft Auto 4 (gtaiv.exe)"
The following are the settings I'm using in the control panel:

Do not set FPS above 60.
31 Comments
< 1 2 3 4 >
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ  [author] Jan 6, 2024 @ 6:05pm 
i also install the liberty's legacy trainer, just have to make sure you use the complete edition patched scripthook
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ  [author] Jan 6, 2024 @ 6:03pm 
wouldnt even bother downgrading, just install fusion fix and a couple other game enhancements you can find in the recommended mods section of the forum post for it. that and dxvk async
Still Alive Jan 6, 2024 @ 12:44pm 
this guide covers everything needed to run the game well https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2850546763
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ  [author] Dec 5, 2023 @ 2:46pm 
one of the biggest issues is the game was just poorly ported to pc to begin with. the game runs differently for pretty much every single hardware configuration
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ  [author] Dec 5, 2023 @ 2:44pm 
honestly i think i might delete this and write a new one for people who dont even know where to begin. love this game and want people to be able to enjoy it lol
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ  [author] Dec 5, 2023 @ 2:43pm 
this guide was honestly outdated when i wrote it, and i didnt even know it. if you just want to play the complete edition and dont really want to get into modding, try fusion fix https://github.com/ThirteenAG/GTAIV.EFLC.FusionFix
michaellacelle8 Dec 5, 2023 @ 12:41pm 
My problem is that whenever i get onbto the game its really laggy when im in the menu and super slow to load to stuff like fast traveling in a taxi or going in and out of cut scenes and stuff like that it takes like 25 minutes just to get into the game and takes a bit to get out of the safe house but it has normal FPS outside of cutscenes so i dont know why please help me.
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ  [author] Nov 6, 2023 @ 6:25pm 
im so glad i posted this lol i just came back after two upgrades and was just like "why am i struggling to hit 60fps?" lol big difference now compared to when i made this guide
MSI Z690
Core i7 12700K
RTX 4060 Ti
32GB DDR5 4800
1xWD Blue 1TB M.2 SSD
2xSamsung 2TB M.2 SSD
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ  [author] Jun 21, 2023 @ 4:45pm 
new link available thanks to https://steamcommunity.com/id/MythAlex
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ  [author] Jun 21, 2023 @ 12:34pm 
I'm at work right now, but when I get home I'm going to remove that link. that's pretty sketch