It's historic! GTAIV receives its first patch

by Dustin Burg { Jun 23rd 2008 at 1:30PM }

Today is a monumental day in Grand Theft Auto IV history, a historic date that'll be scrapbooked by gamers the world over (even though scrapbooking is so 2002). Today's monumental occasion is none other than the release date of GTAIV's first patch, huzzah! The patch has already been released as a title update and will be insta-downloaded the next time you plop in GTAIV while connected to Live. Curious to know what's all getting patched? Hit the break to real the full list of GTAIV patch updates and fixes. Now pass the scrapbooking glue.

[Via Joystiq]

GTAIV Patch Updates and Fixes

Fixed an issue where players were unable to enter or exit vehicles in GTA Race.
Fixed an issue where scripted vehicles were causing games to unexpectedly crash.
Improved reliability and frequency of PS3™ online leaderboard updates.
Fixed a rare hang some players encountered when moving from a Race or GTA Race lobby into gameplay.
Fixed a hang that would occur when players were switching teams during the countdown in the lobby.
Fixed an issue where players were able to get ridiculously high scores from Cops 'n Crooks matches.
Changed GTA Race and Race so that the last player remaining always receives a reward of $250.
Fixed an issue where spectating players would prevent the game from finishing.
Fixed an issue where players were unable to spectate in Round 2 of Cops 'n Crooks games.
Changed countdown timer in lobby so that it no longer resets when new players join a game.
Changed the kick option so that kicked players are no longer brought back to single player.

Tags: grand-theft-auto-iv, gtaiv, rockstar, rockstar-games, take-two

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Delirium @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:41PM

Cool updates but since I stopped playing online when I first found out it sucked, I have no intention of going back for a second try.

offday @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:34PM

I dunno why you guys are giving him low ratings for that comment. He's right. There's nothing great about GTAIV's online. I bought it for it's single player. I've hardly played it online at all, because it does kind of suck. The single player is one of the best I've ever played, but the multiplayer, not so much. GTA is better off without it.

Insomnious @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:57PM

Haha, I love the way the comments are marked down as soon at it insults the game in any way. Kinda like the fanboys putting their fingers in their ears, closing their eyes and yelling "La La La I can't hear or see you, you don't exist anymore, La La La..."

A bit of criticism never hurt anyone.

JaysonAych @ Jun 24th 2008 5:01AM

Insomnious, criticism usually involves providing examples of what you don't like and explaining why you don't like it, and then possibly making suggestions as to what would do to improve the experience. Just saying "it sucks" adds absolutely nothing to the conversation.

jphueber @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:41PM

Nice

Azshros @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:42PM

So still no patch for the last mission. I guess i will never beat the Deal mission.

john paul @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:22PM

Are you talking abot the boat to helicopter part?
I got it, you have to go through the two rocks when you take the first turn, i tried, and got it three times in a row.

Azshros @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:34PM

Between the two rocks huh? I will have to try that after work. Thanks.

Heather @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:43PM

Why couldn't they have added a patch so you can frakking save whenever you want to??

Rick @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:55PM

Because it's a GTA game. Duh.

TehAdz @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:29PM

I guess you've never played any of the other Grand Theft Autos, then?

Timur Tabi @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:28PM

Probably because a patch like that would involve rewriting large chunks of the game. Saving and restoring your state is a difficult problem. Few non-programmers realize how difficult. So once a decision has been made as to when/where the game will be saved, it's pretty much impossible to change that. If you want to be able to save at almost any point (e.g. like Mass Effect or Oblivion), that feature needs to be designed-in at the beginning. It cannot be added as a fix.

deejaymoogz @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:49PM

In my game, I had this glitch where I missed Stevie's texts for the cars he wanted stolen. Until that is resolved hopefully with a patch, this game is sitting on the shelf.

Code601 @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:46PM

He sends emails about the cars, you have to reply to emails to get the txts

Toby @ Jun 23rd 2008 3:29PM

you can browse through your texts received to read any you've missed.

deejaymoogz @ Jun 23rd 2008 10:40PM

Thanks for you inputs, but I have already tried everything from reading the forums well before all of this. This glitch is caused by either using the sleep mode from the cell phone or from the quick saves after any of the missions. As for complete completion for the game, without Stevie's cell phone texts, I can only complete exactly 98% of the game.

Conor @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:54PM

I don't know what the reviewers thought when they were raving about GTA's amazing online multiplayer.

I find it to be laggy in big matches and in a lot of team deathmatch games you can never find anyone to kill!

I'd stick to my Halo 3 online any day.

Single player's great though :')

offday @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:36PM

I 100% agree with that comment.

Daniel @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:55PM

Maybe they should fix the issue of being able to kick the host of a game.

webster1990 @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:58PM

i want them to fix the problem that when i play online with my friends, when we switch from the lobby to another game type we often get split up or sent back to single player.

Bac0nator @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:01PM

"Fixed an issue where players were able to get ridiculously high scores from Cops 'n Crooks matches. "

I was i not informed of this glitch.. damn. Anyways as long as when i load the game and the patch installs I still have my 95% completion I'll be happy.

Jay900 @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:03PM

the kick thing is great because some people kick you when you join for no reason and you go back to single player and have to sit though 2 load screens before your back online it is annoying and i'm glad it's fixed

Ryan @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:20PM

Dude, no kidding. That was so annoying. I'm glad to see that was fixed.

JHTM @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:07PM

just got my 100% and key to the city last night - why cant they release details of the DLC :)

only joking just soapboxing - i was hoping they would release a graphic fix - stop the 'darkness' of the game without turning the world bright / orange.

for me MP doesnt sub for an awesome SP - doesnt matter if SP went on for 100 hrs - still too short :-P

Jonman @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:15PM

So they haven't fixed my pet hate with the online modes.

Let's say I'm in a race with 12 other people. I'm in 5th place - a reasonably position, and I'll get some cash at the end of the race. However, everyone in 7th place or worse quits before the end of the race. Lo and behold, I'm now no longer in the top half of the race, and i get nothing.

This is why I'm not playing this online anymore.

AoE @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:38PM

Yeah, I really enjoy the racing in this game... but this exact issue is pretty much why I stick to deathmatch only

dunnypop @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:18PM

GTA 4 freezes for me on occassion... I'm not sure if it's the game or my xbox.
and I also get the dirty disc error too.

ryanp @ Jun 23rd 2008 2:29PM

Online is a lot of fun when you play with friends. It's not a FPS so any criticisms on those merits are silly.

Kayla @ Jun 23rd 2008 3:40PM

So are any of these fixes going to fix the fact that GTAIV overheats my 360? :/

xenocidic @ Jun 23rd 2008 4:10PM

"Changed the kick option so that kicked players are no longer brought back to single player."

Best...change...ever!

Not that I need to play co-op anymore (I got the cheev), but people are such dicks. just ask me to leave if you want to get your buddy in the game.

AlecM2012 @ Jun 23rd 2008 4:22PM

Was getting excited for this but then i reaslised there is no fix for the freezing i get. And thats why my copy is shelved and im on the last mission where it always freezes no matter what.

ianwarner75 @ Jun 23rd 2008 4:42PM

I think I've been able to get in about 6 online matches. It's beyond frustrating. It's like getting half the game you paid for. And getting kicked back to single player every time something goes wrong is a very poor design.

jxn @ Jun 24th 2008 12:13PM

YES!! I CAN NEVER ACTUALLY START A GAME ONLINE~ SPEND FOREVER WAITING TO START, THEN IT SAYS JOINING GAME WITH A BLACK SCREEN THAT STAYS TILL I RESTART! WTF POS!! HAVE ONLY GOTTEN TO PLAY ONLINE 2WICE!

DBoyFlex @ Jun 24th 2008 12:10AM

@jxn
adding all caps actually makes me skip your comment. Vote down for dumbness.

Mikemyerz666 @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:36PM

i love the online play of this, it's strategic but not as strategic as say cod4 or something, which by all means i'm glad. i'm not too hot at cod4 online, but gta4 i have my moments where i just rape ppl. I'm glad they've made the fixes, gta4 is still a top game on my list

Cube @ Jun 23rd 2008 8:04PM

As it isn't mentioned in the list, I'm guessing that 80% of my attempts at joining/starting an online game will still fail...

Urza @ Jun 23rd 2008 10:05PM

Wow.. not a single issue most people have with the game was addressed by the patch.

natrontheape @ Jun 24th 2008 8:44AM

I have so many problems connecting to multiplayer games. I get a "cannot join a game you were kicked from" message even when I haven't been kicked, and more often than not, my friend invites mysteriously don't arrive--despite knowing they were sent by my buddies.

Anyone else have these problems with GTA IV?Where's the patch for that?

p.s. I love the multiplayer deathmatch. With like 3 of your buddies it is so damn fun.