GTA San Andreas released today! [native ws]

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 07 Jun 2005, 20:54

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released today, with support for widescreen gameplay.

Woohoo! :)

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 07 Jun 2005, 21:00

...

Wonder if it has the offset crosshair problem that Vice City had when using widescreen mode? :?:

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 07 Jun 2005, 21:09

I'm going to pick it up on the way home - I'll post some screenshots. :)

xens · Post by **xens** » 07 Jun 2005, 23:07

It supports the resolutions, but objects are still stretched and squished, therefore we still need a solution to change the FOV. I'm playing it right now.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 08 Jun 2005, 03:03

...

Wonder if it has the offset crosshair problem that Vice City had when using widescreen mode? :?:

Well, I don't think this is the same thing - I think this crosshair is off just because he's holding the gun "gangsta" style ... :lol:

But here's a screenie: http://www.worldcrossings.com/hchord/screenshots/GTA-SA/GTA-SA_1680x1050_4.jpg

More screenshots available here: http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1007

JetSonic · Post by **JetSonic** » 08 Jun 2005, 05:57

Yep, just picked up the game at Best Buy and installed it, it looks beautiful in widescreen. Maxed out draw distance, man this game is really sweet looking.

And the maps are HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tk421 · Post by **tk421** » 08 Jun 2005, 15:24

it's not the same as III and VC - the widescreen button in the options doesnt work quite the same.

running it at 1280x768@32 on my 9600pro:

first, i maxxed everything but AA, and hit widescreen. choppy graphics with limiter on or off.

second, i left the widescreen button on, and lowered the draw distance to 4 bars, quality to low, and still choppy.

i uncheck the widescreen button, maxxed everything out, and it didnt get choppy till i hit 3 on the AA.

I think that this game is a LOT more gpu hungry than the last 2. i had yet to find a game that really made my card feel old. i guess it's time for an upgrade.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 08 Jun 2005, 15:32

Well, I don't think this is the same thing - I think this crosshair is off just because he's holding the gun "gangsta" style ... :lol:

But here's a screenie: http://www.worldcrossings.com/hchord/screenshots/GTA-SA/GTA-SA_1680x1050_4.jpg

I didn't quite mean like that - I meant does it do what Vice City did (I'm not sure about GTA3, I only played it on the PS2) and have the bullets that you fire land about an inch (on the screen) to the right of the crosshair. Once you were aware of it, and with a weapon that could fire quickly, it wasn't a problem, but with the pistols, it was a nightmare! :lol:

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 08 Jun 2005, 15:40

Ah! No - no problems like that - targeting is dead-on in this!

My biggest gripe right now is that the mouse, while driving, is in permanant "free look" mode -- I hate that. When I turn the vehicle, I want the "camera" to follow the turn AUTOMATICALLY - I don't want to have to turn it with my mouse to keep from getting screwed up mentally about the direction I'm actually headed in!

StreetPreacher · Post by **StreetPreacher** » 08 Jun 2005, 17:37

Is there any trick to getting all of the widescreen resolutions to show up in the game selection screen?

I normally run my games at 1600x900 or 1776x1000, but for some reason GTA doesn't give me those options...

obstler · Post by **obstler** » 08 Jun 2005, 18:54

GTA allows me to select 1920x1200 right out of the box.. but the AR isn't really correct. with widescreen mode off, it looks a bit stretched, with it on, it looks squashed... so off is better, but still not exactly right.

maybe in time we'll get true AR, but for now it's good enough.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 09 Jun 2005, 12:07

Some comparison screenshots here ...

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1007

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 09 Jun 2005, 16:17

My biggest gripe right now is that the mouse, while driving, is in permanant "free look" mode -- I hate that. When I turn the vehicle, I want the "camera" to follow the turn AUTOMATICALLY - I don't want to have to turn it with my mouse to keep from getting screwed up mentally about the direction I'm actually headed in!

FYI - I discovered a solution to this (kind of). When driving, as long as you don't actually MOVE the mouse itself, the camera WILL follow the vehicle in almost the same fashion as it did in previous GTA releases.

It doesn't seem to have quite the same "snap" to it, but it's better than nothing, and has made it a little bit easier to control. It's hard to not move that mouse when your handbrake is bound to the RMB, though! I might have to bind an additional key to the keyboard, but that would just feel weird.

I really do hope they add in an option to disable this feature in a future patch.

obstler · Post by **obstler** » 09 Jun 2005, 16:23

another option might be a gamepad. gta:sa actually supports gamepads with 2 analog sticks, so it plays pretty much the same as on consoles (of course with the much better graphics powered by the PC ;))

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 09 Jun 2005, 16:54

Yeah ... I'm kind of a keyboard/mouse guy ... hehe. I'm just stubborn, I suppose. :D

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 09 Jun 2005, 16:58

Same here - I can play games with a keyboard and mouse with no problems - give me a PS2 controller, and suddenly I can't even keep a car on the road in NFS:U. :lol: About the only games on the PS2 I can play without problems are RPG's and the DMC series... ;)

tk421 · Post by **tk421** » 09 Jun 2005, 17:25

i use the mouse&trackball on foot and in car - and use my 2 stick gamepad (interact axispad ps2 clone) for bikes, motorcycles, planes and helo's - tends to work great for me.

using a trackball eliminates the mouse steer problem and still gives you easy handbrake.

on the graphics front - i went into the CCC and saw that i had maxxed everything out in there. setting it back to balanced and disabling the truform and catalyst ai stuff really bumped up the performance and it pretty much looks the same to me.

obstler · Post by **obstler** » 09 Jun 2005, 17:28

btw: anyone installed the ati 5.6 drivers (released today) yet? gta seems to crash for me with these drivers as soon as I leave the house (after loading the savegame, and exiting through the door). sometime it even works for a short time, but after a maximum of like 5 mins it always crashes.

anyone else having similar/different experiences?

update: reverted back to 5.5 drivers, and it's working great again.. strange.

JetSonic · Post by **JetSonic** » 11 Jun 2005, 03:39

I loaded the newest ATI drivers to try to get rid of that haze, that oven heat effect I was seeing at the start of the game in that neighborhood you first start out in.

It worked, and now I don't see the heat effect. Haven't had any issues with game crashing. Runs smooth on 1920 x 1200 resolution in widescreen.

tk421 · Post by **tk421** » 11 Jun 2005, 09:31

i loaded the 5.6's without thinking about it. game wouldnt load. saved pref folder out of my doc's - reinstalled game. no go. rolled back drivers, and it worked. i guess that it just doesnt like the 5.6/9600 combo.

and as for the heat haze - i think it's supposed to be there. it's only apparent from about 1000 till 2000 - just like the real LA.

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