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Grand Theft Auto Released For Free
Snover writes "It's already incredibly difficult to actually get to the site due to its extreme popularity, and can only get worse after the inevitable slashdotting, but Rockstar Games has updated their original hit, Grand Theft Auto, to run on 'modern' computers and released it for free to the public. It'd be nice if more gaming companies did this! Unfortunately, it (of course) is Windows-only and utilises the propietary DirectX API, but hey, free game for anyone that's paid the Microsoft tax! (The download speed, once you actually manage to connect to the site, is quite excellent -- it's maxing out my 2Mbps connection.)" Ah, what a classic game.
I've seen the opposite happen, where games are first freeware, then changed to a shareware or other license because they realized all the oodles of cash they could make off of it. I don't think that is a good practice and if more companies follow Rockstar's exmaple, they will have many more happy gamers that will gladly support their other products by purchasing them legitimately.
Ahh...the memories.
anyone tested it with winex yet? I really love that game!
Damn, I already paid for it :(
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Can anyone afford the OS to run it on?
Here, along with GTA London and GTA 2.
When I last looked at the site (a year ago, admittidly), it had GTA1 up for download then.
Quick look shows it has GTA2, Hidden & Dangerous, and many others available for free download. All you have to do is watch some ads on your screen whilst the files download.
Since nobody around here really gives a crap about what the various companies think anywho, would someone please put this up on Kazaa or one of the other P2P networks? If we can make a habit of doing this when binaries are available then future /.ings might be somewhat abated.
"Free game for anyone who paid the Microsoft tax?"
A little bitter about this are we?
~S
How does a summary of a story about a free game become a microsoft bashing opportunity?
This is just about the most childish story post I have ever seen Hemos.
Free software is evil.
:P
Cop killing video games are evil! You have to repent to the lord Gates and be forgiven of your sins, washed away by the blood of the lame (Jobs).
Actually, never played the game myself. I remember ALL of the churches and law enforcement agencies in my area pitched a raving hissy fit though.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
Anyone else think these kinds of games are partly the reason why we're going to invade Iraq, North Korea, and various African countries once we're done there?
Nope. We were fighting wars long before video game came about; they just make us good at using the drones.
Violence breed violence and encourages hate. Why do we love to hate?
Because hate encourages violence, they hate us, and thus they visit violence upon us and we visit violence upon them.
This is why "love thy enemy" is such an important part of our culture. We bomb Afghanistan out of the stone age, and then hold their hand as they struggle to sort out all the damage their ex-ruler did. We did the same thing with Japan and Germany, and we'll do the same thing with Iraq.
An unknown suspect, or suspects, rammed the Rockstar Games server, waited for the admin to get out and then reversed over them several times.
police suspect slashdotting...
but people are playing the exact same games everywhere else in the world (the guys who did GTA are Scottish, BTW). Yet for some reason you don't see Scotland bombing every little country they can get away with, do you? Violent video games are not the reason.
Or do you think Saddam Hussein started making WMD's after too many rounds of Command & Conquer..?
What these guys have finally realized is that a game's value to its creator is first (obviously) as a revenue generator, but after newer versions have obsoleted the old product, it's more useful in terms of marketing as a giveaway. I for one, haven't ever purchased any of these games, but I'll give this a try, and who knows, they might just pick up a new customer. Enlightened self-interest works again!
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Did anyone else find the full version somewhat lacking after playing the demo for weeks? It was just that after you had unlimited time, you actually needed to calm down and play nicely so that you'd stay alive.
With the demo, you had only a short amount of time, and you could _almost_ finish all four missions successfully in the time given, if you were really fast. Attempting to get all four in one insane speed-mayhem rush was the most fun I've had playing a video game, _ever_. The full version just didn't provide the same level of excitement.
Then how come the most popular games in the world are "The Sims" and "Myst"?
The download is 328MB, so I imagine it includes the sound.
Anyone else think these kinds of games are partly the reason why we're going to invade Iraq, North Korea, and various African countries once we're done there?
Let us all join hands and sing "Kumbaya" then...
(hint: that won't help)
I pledge allegiance to the flag...
of the Corporate States of America...
http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=2398
I'm guessing there are many other places also to download it from. But if you are willing to wait in line for it at fileshack, its another option.
Its not what it is, its something else.
Actually, if someone reverse engineered the network protocol and made a server for it that allowed persistent multiplayer GTA I that would be bloody fantastic. It seems that everyone is making MMORPGs now, but they're all spending too much effort on the graphics, and not enough on gameplay. (Except for a couple of notable entrenched examples which have crappy graphics, but have become extremely popular. You know what they are.)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
But then concidering wine(x) is crap, most probably not.
I'm not a native speaker, so I am always happy to learn new idioms. Does "concidering" mean "drink some cider together"? Please concider this with me!
This sounds like a nice thing... altho I think what Carmack did was much cooler.. GPL the engine and still charge for the data file. If Rockstar games did this, they might even find plenty of volunteers ready to port this thing to OpenGL.
-- Knowledge shared is power lost. -- Aleister Crowley
I'm all in favor of trying to root out the causes of hate, but it's annoying when you ask a question like "why do we love to hate?" as though you yourself were a pixie floating free above the human condition who had never actually hated anyone or anything. The roots of hatred go a lot deeper than video games.
Anything worth doing is worth doing badly -- G.K. Chesterton
I get the feeling this may be just something that comes from Rockstar being a relatively cool company. Their UK offices are just round from my brother's in Leith, and from their thankyou note to the pond in VC (the pub down the road from the office, and best pub I've ever been to) they do seem fairly cool guys.
Now, if more companies were like this, and less corporately minded then maybe we'd see more of this kind of thing.
I can't get to the site, so apologies if it's answered there.
Are they releasing the source too, as I think ID did with Doom?
That way we can kill processes by crashing into them. But seriously, if there is source released, we can get it ported to Linux.
Get your own free personal location tracker
GTA1 runs great with WineX.
Yes. We're going to steal Iraqi cars and run over police officers with them.
*What* loyal customers would be rewarded with this? If they're loyal, they already bought the game!
Then how come the most popular games in the world are "The Sims" and "Myst"?
*cough* *cough* counter-strike *cough* *cough*
--
#include <malloc.h>
free(your.mind);
Judging by the fact that he has written software for "everything from a pocket pc to an as/400"... I'd say he's not afraid to learn. In fact, he says he's used Linux... so I'm sure he has learned it. But what he is saying is... he's not interested in jumping through hoops to run a single piece of software that someone already wrote.
And I tend to agree with him. I'm a developer and I like to spend my time doing things that no one else has done before.
--
"What do you want me to do? Whack a guy? Off a guy? Whack off a guy? Cause I'm married."
I seem to recall my freshman year of college, those with faster Pentium-based computers played Quake with cracked copies.
Those with slower machines opted for multiplayer GTA, which was also not paid for. Unlike Quake, I was led to believe that this was the norm for GTA, and that compared to the sales, the number of GTA "users" was staggering. But this might have something to do with the fact that stores refused to carry the product.
Anyway, this is hardly amazing news, as there were already patches for GTA back in the day that allowed for Glide accelerated graphics ( for all that fixed overhead angle texture-scaling ). Moving it to Direct3D is simply a small step in the same direction.
But, then again, there are dozens of classic software titles that could receive a similar treatment. But the companies don't want to let go of anything remotely valuable, and even make up excuses about having to support a free product. I would not be surprised if the GTA community takes up most of the support slack on this one, so maybe that will blow one of the most common developer's excuses right out of the water.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
The relative quality of your experiences does not change the fact that for the vast majority of the population, it is perceived that one has no option but to pay for Windows. Therefore, it's a tax. The term describes the current status quo quite well really.
It seems like that you do not understand the "Microsoft Tax" term.
It is called so because you pay it EVEN if you do NOT want Windows (or DOS in the old days).
Your Linux/Windows comparsion clearly falls into the "Troll" category.
Real life is overrated.
A modern game that will run on Linux :-)
http://apex-designs.net
Have fun.
_considering_ NWN runs better in wine then it does in windows (at least for me), I wouldn't say wine is crap.
Hey! That's my sig you're smoking there!
'Microsoft Tax' refers to the fact that it can be difficult to avoid paying for a copy of Windows with a new PC even if you don't actually intend to use it. It's a complaint about Microsoft's business practices, not the fact that Windows isn't free.
for the vast majority of the population, it is perceived that one has no option but to pay for Windows
except with a big BUT.
BUT, the general public does not see Windows as the scourge that most Linux users do. In fact, if you plopped down Linux in front of most users, in five minutes you would hear "I want Windows back".
Im sitting here desperatly trying to get settlers (the first in the series) to run under dosemu (great project btw) and it occurred to me. Why doesn't Bluebyte release this under the GPL or something like that? It's not like they are selling huge quantities of this game.
It's almosed impossible to properly run this game with sound and everything on a modern PC unless your modern PC happends to have a legacy sb16 awe ISA card.
If they released old titles perhaps small communities would pop up not to mention the good will the company would get.
just my $.02
this is what you get after you put your details in
We have received your information; unfortunately, we cannot provide you with this download at this time.
they should put this BEFORE you register.
* NOTE: The information you provide on this form may be collected even if you are not eligible to download the game.
Anyone not eligible?
He's talking sales. He's wrong though. The most popular computer game in the world is Solitaire, or maybe Minesweeper. I can't prove it, but it makes sense.
All you proved is that the most popular online game is Counter-Strike, but I bet there are more than 120k players in Everquest... something like 400k players last time I checked, though I doubt they are all playing at once.
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
Don't get me wrong, I commend Rockstar for distributing a great game like GTA free of charge, but why not give the source also while they are at it? Since the game engine is completely different than the one used in GTA3 and Vice City they really don't have to worry about competition arising from modifications to the source code of the original GTA.
:P ). The FreeSpace Source Code Project was formed and has made many enhancements to the game. They recently released FS2 Open version 3.5 which adds OpenGL support, the ability to add custom movies to mission briefings, many new weapons, damage decals, and ship trails just to name a few things.
One great example of how releasing the source brings benefits to fans of a game is Descent Freespace 2. Early last year Volition released the source code to the game. I know personally I enjoyed hacking around with it a bit for fun (and playing make believe that I coded games for a living instead of backend java apps
Releasing the source to GTA would undoubtedly spawn similar projects to enhance what is still a great game, and who knows some of the ideas the community may come up with could help Rockstar out with new innovations for latest games in the series.
This comment was generated by a Squadron of Ultra Ninjas
I am truly impressed. There are so many old games that I would LOVE to see released like this just because they're classics. (Maxis kind of did the same by creating a java applet of the Original Sim City that will run off their site.)
Half of them are games once bought that no longer run on modern PCs. So I've already spent the money. Populous, Warcraft I, all the old sierra games, etc.
It's really nice of them to release an updated copy but I'd appreciate just releasing the source even more.
I don't mind supporting a company that does this one bit!
Way to go guys!
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Well, it is not completely free, but if you by Return to Wolfenstein, it does come with a copy of the original Wolf 3D. At no extra charge even!
Download my free songs!
The general publics attitude is irrelavant in the case of person who just wants a bare box minus the cost of Windows. Anything unwanted you have to pay for is a scourge. The fact that you or the general public like it doesn't matter. The general public isn't using a Linux or BSD user's personal machine.
For the medium term, bare boxes are a perfectly acceptable vendor alternative. They're still obligated to exchange defective hardware but most Linux users can support themselves. The "we can't support it." argument doesn't matter either. The vendor doesn't need to know what I'm running. Just fork over the box and I'll worry about the OS.
I think you misunderstand the term.
I agree with your sentiment. Windows 2000 is the best OS Microsoft has ever put out. Absolute cream of the crop. Wonderful system. And, I would/have paid for it.
I've also paid for nine other copies of Windows for my three working computers. I was taxed. I keep my manuals, and moved not too long ago. On a whim, I located all my former Windows licenses. Nine. I've never had more than three Windows computers at one time, and I have NINE Windows licenses. Seven of them are OEM, five of those are a variant of Windows 95, two Windows 98. The other two are from Windows 95 and 98 that I bought on release day.
I was a loyal customer. Yet, without my cognizance, Microsoft managed to weasel seven useless, duplicate, licenses out of me. Pardon me if I want a refund.
I'm as mimsy as the next borogove but your mome raths are completely outgrabe.
I suggest creating a BitTorrent for it. BitTorrent is open source software written in an open language for both Linux and Windows. Here is a link to a great BitTorrent site. BitTorrent makes better use of your bandwidth than Kazaa or GNUtella. It is important to note that BitTorrent is just a swarming and segmented downloading technology that allows someone with limited bandwidth to provide a large file to 1000s of downloaders.
Already done:i ew.php? pid=3517
http://www.intimidated.f2s.com/sharelive/v
-- Grey d'Miyu, not just another pretty color.
I will boycott his until they release a Mac version!
That'll show'em...
if the official server wouldn't be down all the thime. are there already mirrors available?
Gamer's Hell has got mirrors up. Feel free to slashdot FileHell!
I agree completely, although I've been modded up to 5 once or twice, it's extremely rare, even though the majority of my comments are on topic (I usually get modded down as a troll if I say something the mod's disagree with).
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25 (NKJV)
Many of the older games have timing loops, which expect to take a certain time, but newer CPUs basically optimize those loops out, so they seem to take 0 time. I know that the old Origin game Strike Commander wouldn't run on a Pentium 100 without rebooting into the BIOS, and turning off the CPU cache.
So, to go along with the "never assume the input length is less than a constant", we have "never assume that there's a minimum time to complete an operation."
--paul
-- Every time you kill a kitten, God masturbates.
It's too bad companies don't have an incentive to release their copyrighted works into the public domain.
Hrm. Here's a thought on copyright reform:
Make all copyrights viable for 100 years from the date of the creation, period. The first year, the author is capable of receiving full royalties on their works. The next year, a 1% "copyright tax" is levied, to help administrate the copyright system, and as a sort of "copyright social security". Each year thereafter, that tax is increased by 1% - so you receive 100% of your revenue the first year, 99% the second, 98% the third, and so on. Make it a special 'income tax' for copyright holders.
Now, here's the cinch: As copyright holder, you can choose to release your work into the public domain at any time. By doing so, you get back a percentage of the money you paid into the system in taxes, based on the number of years left (i.e., if you had 19 years left until the copyright expired, releasing it into the public domain 19 years early would give you 19% of the total taxes you paid in over the last 81 years).
Any remaining money can be thrown at whatever bullshit "arts endowment" projects Congress seems to hold so dear, so long as the law stipulates that ONLY that money can go into the NEA. I.e., let the system feed back into itself.
What do you think, Sirs?
-Hentai [in vita non pacem est]
If you are having problems launching setup.exe in WindowsXP, rename the install folder from GTAINSTALLER to something like GTA and it'll run succesfully.