#1. Download the game
Q: Where can I download the game?
A: Go to the resources . You'll find everything you need at the PATCHES section.
Q: Wow! What should I choose?
A: The MAX PACK by Toshiba-3 is the best way to play the game nowadays. It uses the DOSBox for MS-DOS emulation, so you can use all DOSBox features during the gameplay (e.g. save states). MAX-PACK also includes both London 1969 and London 1961 add-ons. It is also allowed to be used in the speedruns (Any%, Any% NME and 100% categories), but without using any emulator only features.
Q: Cool, what about other versions?
A: PC (Windows) version is absolutely unplayable for now, however, it is still possible to fix it. PlayStation USA/Japanese versions are used for the Any% PS category; Gameboy Color version is used for Any% GBC category. You can use any PS/GBC emulator for that. If you want to play casually/speedrun main categories (Any%/Any% NME/100%) - MAX PACK is the right choice (you can use PC (Windows) version if you really want).
#2. Setting up
Q: How do I force the game to go into windowed mode?
A: Alt + Enter / Alt + TAB does the trick! To force game to go into windowed mode automatically, open "dosbox.conf" file in a text editor and change the line "fullscreen=true" to "fullscreen=false". Playing in the nGlide mode may require specific soft like "DXwnd".
Q: Arrows? Is there a way to rebind controls?
A: Run MAX-PACK; go to: [4] Options ---> [4] Run Setup ---> [1] Setup GTA 1 ---> Choose Controls.
Q: Normal Mode? Glide mode?
A: Normal Mode runs the game in 8-bit/24-bit graphics (you can change it in the options in the MAX-PACK main menu); Glide mode runs the game like the normal 24-bit mode but it makes the textures smoother.
Q: Transparency Effects? What is it?
A: Enables/Disables transparent textures (e.g. yellow arrow).
Q: Everything in the game is ultra-fast, how to fix it?
A: Turn on the frame limiter by pressing "F8". Intended framerate is approximately 23 FPS (runs with consistent lower or higher fps might not get accepted).
#3. Speedrunning
#3.1. Any%
Q: What is your goal?
A: GTA is the level based game. There are six levels in a total. To complete the level, you need certain amount of money (target score): $1.000.000 in Gangsta Bang; $2.000.000 in Heist Almighty and Mandarin Mayhem; $3.000.000 in Tequila Slammer and Bent Cop Blues; $5.000.000 in Rasta Blasta. As soon as you have the money the level exit appears.
Q: Why do you stack so many vehicles? Why do you explode them? How did you make so much money so quickly?
A: You need at least 14-16 vehicles to get the target score (depends on how large the target score is). Exploding vehicles in a chain multiplies the money you're getting for each explosion. Since there is no limit on how big combo can be, you can just explode a lot of cars in a chain to get a very big combo, which shall give you the money you need to progress.
Q: I CAN'T GET THE MONEY! CAR STACKING STRATEGY DOESN'T WORK FOR ME!!!
A: The thing is - combo mechanic in this game is broken (just like almost every single mechanic), so most of the time game counts one big chain of explosions as different combos (e.g. instead of 16x combo you're getting 5x + 2x + 9x combos, and instead of getting "100 × ((2^15) + (2^14) + ... + (2^0)) = 6.553.500" you are getting "100 × [((2^4) + (2^3) + ... + (2^0)) + ((2^1) + (2^0)) + ((2^8) + ... + (2^0))] = 54.500" (100 is the amount of the score for the car explosion). In the reality this exploit is absolutely unpredictable, so all you can do is just hope that game will count every explosion as a part of the same combo. In theory it's enough to park 14 cars for the first level (100 × ((2^13) + ... + (2^0)) = 1.638.300 > 1.000.000), but it's kind of tricky to get this working. That's why Any% NME exists, basically.
Q: Why are you shooting cars?
A: To force the driver get out. It gives less points than dragging him out, so you won't get in trouble with the law so early.
Q: Mandarin Mayhem Any% strat is crazy, what is happening?
A: That is called Infinite Money Glitch (Infinite Score Glitch/Max Score Glitch/Max Money Glitch). Check out the taskabuto2's video and its description:
Q: Infinite Money Glitch as unpredictable as car stacking strategy?
A: It is more predictable than car stacking strategy, but it is still unpredictable.
Q: Tequila Slammer WR is 11 seconds long?
A: The level exit in this level isn't locked (only unmarked), so you can finish the level at any time if you know where the exit is.
Q: I can't finish the Rasta Blasta level, even though I have enough money. Why?
A: Red marker won't appear if you are on the mission. Rasta Blasta starts with the active mission already, so you have to fail the mission first.
#3.2. Any% NME
Q: What is NME?
A: NME stands for No Major Exploits.
Q: What exploits?
A: Read here for details.
#3.3. Any% PS
Q: What emulator are you (@Tarakan3000) using?
A: ePSXe.
Q: Why are you doing some missions in Vice City? Why don't you grab any Rocket Launcher on the street?
A: There are no Rocket Launchers on the streets in Vice City, so I have to start certain missions that spawn them.
#3.4. Any% GBC
Q: What emulator are you (@Tarakan3000) using?
A: BGB.
Q: What does level skip mean?
A: Completing the level unlocks the next locked level, even if you are completing already completed level. Also you can skip levels by dying five times (by loosing all lifes). So the full-game speedrun is all about completing the same level/dying five times in order to unlock Rasta Blasta.
#3.5. 100%
Q: Wait, you failed the frenzy! Is it fine?
A: Read here for details.
Q: I failed the last mission, is there a way to replay it?
A: No. That's why full-game 100% is brutally hard. Failing any mission means that the entire level is ruined and you have to restart.
#4. Game mechanics
Q: I can see there's an item on the map, but there's no such item in the reality...
A: Some items are appearing after attempting certain missions. For example, Rocket Launcher in Mandarin Mayhem on the shore on the south of the map will appear during the Phone 3: Mission 3. In the same level, some Score Multipliers will appear after attempting all Market missions. So if you can't find some item which is marked on the map from the guide, then there should be a special condition for its appearance.
Q: How to get in a vehicle fast? How to skip entering the car animation?
A: Press the "Get In" key while holding the "Turn Left/Right" key.
Q: How to drive in this game? It is impossible!
A: It is possible. Firstly, each freeway has a specific lane that will be empty if you drive at maximum speed. Secondly, game automatically lines you up once you're on the road (game doesn't line you up off-road). But it doesn't mean you don't need any skills. Practice, practice, practice.
Q: How to pause the game/check the stats?
A: Some of the F-keys are actually do things: - Pressing F5 changes current radio station. - Pressing F6 pauses the game and shows some useful information. - Pressing F7 shows the last message on the pager. - Pressing F8 enables or disables the frame limiter. - Pressing F9 shows the name of the current district. - Pressing F10 shows the last message on the mobile. - Pressing F11 allows you change the resolution.
Q: How do you predict what car will spawn in the beginning?
A: The RNG in this game is based on player's movement. Thereby you can surely predict the traffic in the beginning of the level. For example, walking north in the beginning of Bent Cop Blues level will surely give you a bike in the traffic.
