Grand Theft Auto: Vice City readme document provides system requirements and installation instructions. It outlines that the game requires Windows 98 or newer, a minimum of 128MB RAM, 32MB video card and at least 915MB of hard disk space. The document provides details on installation, configuration, known issues and extras available for the PC version.

1. ________________________________________________________________________________
_____
G r a n d T h e f t A u t o : V i c e C i t y
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
ReadMe.txt
Thank you for purchasing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
This ReadMe contains last minute information and troubleshooting tips.
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
CONTENTS
__________
1) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
2) INSTALLATION
3) GENERAL INFORMATION
4) CONFIGURATION
5) PC SPECIFIC EXTRAS
6) KNOWN ISSUES
7) DRIVERS
8) CONTACT INFORMATION
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
1) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
________________________
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City uses Microsoft DirectX 9.0.
Supported Operating Systems are:
Windows 98
Windows 98 Second Edition
Windows Millennium
Windows 2000 Professional (Workstation) plus Service Pack 3
Windows XP (Home and Professional) plus Service Pack 1
The following operating systems are NOT supported:
Windows 95 (any version)
Windows NT (any version)
Minimum Hardware Requirements
800 MHz Intel Pentium III or 800 MHz AMD Athlon
or 1.2GHz Intel Celeron or 1.2 GHz AMD Duron processor
128 MB of RAM
8 speed CD / DVD drive
915 MB of free hard disk space
(+ 635 MB if video card does NOT support DirectX Texture
Compression)
32 MB video card with DirectX 9.0 compatible drivers
("GeForce" or better)
Sound Card with DirectX 9.0 compatible drivers
Keyboard

2. Mouse
Recommended Hardware Requirements
Intel Pentium IV or AMD Athlon XP processor
256(+) MB of RAM
16 speed CD / DVD drive
1.55 GB of free hard disk space
(+ 635 MB if video card does NOT support DirectX Texture
Compression)
64(+) MB video card with DirectX 9.0 compatible drivers
("GeForce 3" / "Radeon 8500" or better with
DirectX Texture Compression support)
DirectX 9.0 compatible sound card with surround sound
Gamepad (USB or Joystick Port)
Keyboard
Mouse
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
2) INSTALLATION
_________________
Insert Grand Theft Auto: Vice City disc one ("INSTALL" disc) into the CD /
DVD drive. If you have Autoplay enabled then the setup routine will
automatically
launch. If you do not have Autoplay enabled, then use Explorer to navigate Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City disc one, and manually launch setup.exe
2000 / XP User Accounts:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City requires to be installed, and run for the first
time,
with a user account that has ADMINISTRATOR privileges. On the first run of the
game,
we decide whether or not to use DirectX Texture Compression, and then if
necessary
un-compress the games textures to your Hard Disk. For more information on
ADMINISTRATOR user accounts, see your Windows 2000 / XP manual.
Footprint:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City requires approximately 915 MB of hard disk space if
you
choose not to install the radio stations to your hard disk. If you copy the
Radio
Stations to your hard disk then you will need to have approximately 1.55 GB of
free
space. If the video card in your computer does not support DirectX Texture
Compression, then this means an EXTRA 635 MB is required for the un-compressed
textures.
Radio Stations:
During Installation, we offer the user the option to copy the Radio Station
files from
the "PLAY" disc to your hard disk. On some machines this will provide a
performance
benefit, though you will need to weigh up the benefits, as on slower machines it
is
preferable to have the Radio Stations being played from a device on a separate
IDE
channel. Note that whether you copy the Radio Stations to hard disk or not, the
game
still requires the "PLAY" disc to be in your CD / DVD disk at all times.
Save Games:

3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City uses the "My Documents" directory of the currently
logged in user to store the "GTA VICE CITY USER FILES" directory. This is where
we
store your save games, individual settings files and gameplay statistics. This
was
chosen to allow each user on a Windows 2000 or Windows XP system to have their
own
set of saves, configurations and statistics.
Un-installation:
When Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is uninstalled, we do not delete the "MP3",
"SKINS"
and "GTA VICE CITY USER FILES" directories. It is up to the user to remove these
manually.
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
3) GENERAL INFORMATION
________________________
DirectX:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City requires Microsoft DirectX 9.0 to run. As a
consequence
we recommend that the video and sound drivers installed are also DirectX 9.0
compliant.
DirectX Texture Compression:
Where available, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will use DirectX Texture
Compression.
If the video card does NOT offer DirectX Texture Compression, then we require an
EXTRA 635 MB of hard disk space to create the un-compressed textures (over and
above the
915 MB minimum install / 1.55 GB maximum install).
Windows XP:
We recommend manufacturer distributed drivers for Windows XP (i.e. drivers that
expose
the user controls for changing settings on the particular piece of hardware),
instead
of the default drivers installed by Microsoft as part of the machine setup
process.
Memory:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City requires at least 128 MB of memory to run. In most
cases
on a computer with 128 MB of Ram, disk swapping will occur. For optimal
performance
at least 256 MB is recommended.
Running Applications:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has been designed to take best advantage of the
available
machine it is running upon, therefore we recommend that you close down all
applications
before running Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. We do not support the use of CD
emulators,
and as such these programs will be closed down when run in the background.
Video Memory:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City requires a video card with at least 32 MB of video
memory

4. to run. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will refuse to run if launched on a machine
with
less than 32 MB of video memory.
Intel Celeron and AMD Duron Processors:
These processors play slower than their direct MHz equivalent Pentium III and
AMD
Athlon, as a consequence we recommend 1.2 GHz as the base speed for these
processors.
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
4) CONFIGURATION
__________________
Sound Provider:
The first time you launch Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, we auto-detect the best
sound
provider for your available Sound Card. You can also manually select
alternatives.
Providers which are not compatible with your Sound Card will not be selectable.
MP3 Volume Boost:
This setting allows you to assign an additional boost in the volume that your
available
MP3 files are played back with. This will only be selectable if the game detects
the
presence of MP3 files in the MP3 directory.
Dynamic Acoustic Modeling:
Turning off Dynamic Acoustic Modeling in the Sound Options will give a small
performance
gain.
Screen Resolution:
Selecting lower Screen Resolutions in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City display setup
will
allow faster gameplay on lower end machines. Also, using 16 bit color, instead
of 32 bit
color, will help in these circumstances.
Frame Limit:
We do not suggest disabling the "Frame Limit" in the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
display
Setup page, as this will lead to a more "variable" rate of playback.
VSYNC:
We recommend that you make sure you have set your video card to VSYNC ON in your
video
card advanced options (from Control Panel/Display Properties).
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
5) PC SPECIFIC EXTRAS
_______________________
Skins:
The appearance of Tommy can be altered or changed by editing inside a paint
program
a skin file. Skin files need to be 24 bit un-compressed bitmaps of size 256 *
256.
An example file is provided in your "SKINS" directory called

5. "TEXTURE_GUIDE.JPG".
When applied, the skins will only affect Tommy's street outfit, and only in-
game,
not in cut-scenes.
MP3 Radio Station files:
We have provided the ability to play the users own music files instead of the
Radio Stations. Simply place your MP3 files into your "Grand Theft Auto Vice
City/MP3"
directory, and then use the "change station" key to cycle to the MP3 radio
station.
Use the MP3 boost volume control to add extra amplification to your MP3 music
files
to equalize the volume relative to the Radio Stations and Sound Effects.
Stat Saving:
During a game, you can output the detailed list of your in-game accomplishments
from
the STATS menu. On this menu pressing "S" will output a "STATS.TXT" file and a
"STATS.HTML"
file to the "GTA VICE CITY USER FILES" directory of the currently logged in
user.
Standard / Classic mode:
Standard mode allows for the control of Tommy with Keyboard and Mouse; Classic
mode
is similar to the control system employed in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the
PlayStation2 using a control pad.
Mouse Steering:
In Standard mode, there is an option to allow you to use your mouse to steer
vehicles.
This is not available in Classic mode.
Replays:
The last 30 seconds of gameplay is available as a replay to play back at any
time.
To use a replay:-
F1 - Replay the last 30 seconds of gameplay.
F2 - Save the last 30 seconds of gameplay as a file.
F3 - Recall and show the last saved replay file.
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
6) KNOWN ISSUES
_________________
Windows 98 Installation
On some Windows 98 machines, there can be problems with the Installshield
version that
we use. This can be caused by an invalid "OLEAUT32.DLL" file. Often this file is
an
updated version to the one that is installed during the machine setup routine.
This
problem usually manifests itself as an error message when you re-boot your
machine after
DirectX 9.0 setup.
This error message is often of the form:-
Error number: 0x80070725
Description: Incompatible version of the RPC stub

6. To correct this problem, un-install Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (If the "Start
Bar" and
"Add/Remove Programs" un-install shortcuts do not work, then un-install by
launching the
setup routine from the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City "INSTALL" disc - this is one
of the
symptoms of this DCOM error). Once you have un-installed Grand Theft Auto: Vice
City,
perform the following procedure to fix your DCOM installation, then you will be
able
to install Grand Theft Auto: Vice City correctly. We are sorry that we cannot
redistribute this file, but the Microsoft EULA for this file prevents us doing
this.
Instructions to correct this problem (From Microsoft Installshield Support)
1) Download to your Desktop, but do not run, the Distributed Component Object
Model
(DCOM) file.
Windows 98: http://support.installshield.com/kb/files/Q105810/dcom98.exe
2) Select Start > Shutdown
3) Select Restart in MS-DOS mode.
4) At the command prompt c:WINDOWS, enter the following commands on separate
lines
as shown. Windows automatically restarts.
CD c:windowssystem
rename oleaut32.dll oleaut32.old
exit
5) Ignore the error message: "A required .DLL file,
C:windowssystemoleaut32.dll,
was not found." This error message appears because the file was renamed in
step 4.
6) Log in as you normally would.
7) Double-click the file you downloaded to your Desktop in step 1. Click Yes
to the dialog that opens. The dcom.exe file installs a new oleaut32.dll file.
8) After DCOM has been installed, select Start > Restart.
More information on this problem, and DCOM:-
http://support.installshield.com/kb/view.asp?pcode=ALL&articleid=Q105810#addinfo
http://www.microsoft.com/com/dcom/dcom98/dcom1_3.asp
S3 Pro Savage, Savage 4 and Savage 2000 video cards:
We found these video cards have missing texture problems in 16 bit color which
are
cured in 32 bit color, so we suggest using these video cards in 32 bit color.
3dfx Voodoo 5 video cards:
While Grand Theft Auto: Vice City does run on Voodoo 5 video cards, the age of
the
drivers means that there are minor visual artifacts that cannot be corrected,
and
so we do not support this chipset, or previous 3dfx chipsets.
Matrox surround gaming:

7. We have not implemented any support for Matrox Surround Gaming / 3 monitor mode.
Please use single monitor mode on Matrox Parhelia video cards.
Matrox G550 and G400 video cards:
Minor graphic corruptions in the distance while playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice
City
and during the intro movie.
ATI Rage 128 video cards:
Minor graphic corruptions during the intro movie.
SIS 315 video cards:
Minor graphic corruptions during the intro movie.
Motherboard based sound chips:
We have found certain motherboard based sound chipsets do not report having a
hardware sound buffer, and crash with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. We found that
running Microsoft's "DXDIAG" and performing the sound tests, will present the
user
with an error message saying that a hardware buffer is not supported, and would
you
like to use a software buffer. Selecting a software buffer will allow this sound
chipset
to work with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Hard disk de-fragmentation:
If you are experiencing short, periodic slowdowns whilst driving, Grand Theft
Auto:
Vice City may be having trouble retrieving data at a fast enough rate from your
hard
disk. It is recommended that you run your systems De-fragmentation utility
regularly
to allow optimum performance.
Changing hardware / re-initialization:
Changing either your video card or soundcard may mean that you get Grand Theft
Auto:
Vice City into an "invalid" settings state for the particular hardware. If you
change
hardware, to prevent having to un-install and re-install Grand Theft Auto: Vice
City,
perform the following:-
Video card:-
- delete from the "Grand Theft Auto Vice City/models" directory the files
"TXD.DIR" and "TXD.IMG" (if they exist)
- delete from the "Grand Theft Auto Vice City/data" directory the file
"CAPS.DAT"
- delete from the "Documents and Settings/Current logged-in User/
My Documents/GTA Vice City User Files" directory the "GTA_VC.SET" file.
Sound Card:-
- delete from the "Documents and Settings/Current logged-in User/
My Documents/GTA Vice City User Files" directory the "GTA_VC.SET" file.
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
7) DRIVERS
____________
Video Drivers:
We recommend using the latest available Video drivers for your video card. Where
available use the video chipset manufacturers "Reference" drivers in preference

8. to
video card manufacturer customized drivers or Microsoft WHQL certified drivers.
This means for nVidia based cards Detonator 4 series drivers, and for ATI based
cards
Catalyst 3 series drivers.
Below for convenience are common video card manufacturer's websites. Grand Theft
Auto:
Vice City may not support some or all video cards by a particular manufacturer.
Inclusion
of a manufacturer in this list does not mean there are any assurances of
compatibility.
3Dlabs - http://www.3dlabs.com/
Asus - http://www.asus.com/
ATI - http://support.atitech.ca/
Creative Labs - http://www.creativelabs.com/
Guillemot - http://www.guillemot.com/
Hercules - http://www.hercules.com/
Intel - http://www.intel.com/
Leadtek - http://www.leadtek.com/
Matrox - http://www.matrox.com/
nVidia - http://www.nvidia.com/
S3 Graphics - http://www.s3graphics.com/
Sis - http://www.sis.com.tw/
VIA - http://www.viatech.com/
VideoLogic - http://www.videologic.com/
Motherboard Chipset Drivers:
Please ensure your motherboard chipset drivers are updated to the latest
available
versions. Also ensure you are using the correct IDE drivers for your Chipset /
Operating
System combination. We have noted better performance with the use of the "Intel
Application
Accelerator" on Intel 800 series chipsets.
Intel - http://www.intel.com/
VIA - http://www.viatech.com/
nVidia - http://www.nvidia.com/
SIS - http://www.sis.com/
ALI - http://www.aliusa.com/
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
8) CONTACT INFORMATION
________________________
For news, hints, and the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City community, check out
http://www.rockstargames.com/
http://www.take2games.com/
http://www.rockstarnorth.com/
http://www.gtavicecity.com/
For Technical Support:-
United States:
Web : www.take2games.com
Email: support@take2baltimore.com
Phone: 410-933-9191 Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm EST.

9. United Kingdom:
Post: Take 2 Interactive Technical Support
Unit A, Sovereign Park
Brenda Road
Hartlepool
TS25 1NN
Telephone: (0870) 1242222 / calls charged at the UK national rate
(7 days a week from 8am to 10pm (GMT) excluding bank holidays)
Fax: (01429) 233677
Email: take2@europesupport.com
tech.support@take2europe.com
Web Site: www.take2games.co.uk
If necessary, you may be asked by Technical Support to obtain an analysis of
your
machine to help troubleshoot problems. Forward this file to Technical Support
only when
requested to do so.
To perform an analysis:-
Using Explorer, locate the "Grand Theft Auto Vice City" main directory, and
right
click on "GTA-VC.EXE", then select the option "Launch Analysis". This will
create the
file "AnalysisLog.sr0" in the root directory of hard disk C:
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
This software and documentation
Copyright (c) 2003 Rockstar Games.
________________________________________________________________________________
_____