Rockstar has announced the change log for the next patch for Grand Theft Auto IV on the PC. The patch, which will be required for Episodes from Liberty City, is not yet released but should be releasing later today/tomorrow.
Rockstar Games Social Club
• Remove Rockstar Games Social Club application
• Separate RGSC application no longer required to launch game
• Social Club login now occurs during the launch process
Shadows
• A new, less memory-intensive, and better-looking scalable shadow solution has been implemented
• Enhanced Night Shadows added with user-selectable level of detail (replaces Shadow Density)
Performance
• Rendering optimizations have been made to improve performance, particularly when enabling shadows
• User-configurable graphics settings have been added for shadow control
• Improved memory management
Multiplayer
• Enhanced security to isolate users from cheaters and hackers
Episodic Content
• Provide in-game support to purchase "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" (Not available in Russian/Japanese Versions)
Bug Fixes
• Vehicle shadows re-enabled between 8pm and 6am
• Fix floating street textures
• Pedestrians in vehicles appear further out from the player to allow for long range sniping
• The Moon has been implemented with simulated lunar phases
• Fixed garbled text in Japanese Multiplayer menus
• "RESC 10" error fix for specific hardware configurations
Perhaps you've never really noticed it before, but the default third-person view for driving in the Grand Theft Auto series is vastly different to how we drive in the real word. There is no doubt that driving in GTA using this view is far easier than the latter, first-person view, but how easy would it be to drive this way in a real-world car?
Rooster Teeth, who you may be familiar with for the Red vs. Blue Halo machinima, attempted to re-create the third-person view for the real world and put it to the test. Check out the video below to see how they did it, and how it turned out:
Source: Rooster Teeth
Rockstar has released the schedule of Social Club multiplayer events for April through June.
Saturday, April 17 (3-6PM EST)
Episodes from Liberty City
For PC on Games for Windows LIVE
Back-to-back jumpoff weekend in honor of the arrival of Episodes from Liberty City for PC and PS3. Make sure to get a lot of practice in that first day or two after game release – because we’re planning to have a few folks from both Rockstar North and Toronto coming online specifically to show you how it’s done.
Saturday, May 22 (1-4PM EST)
Red Dead Redemption
For Xbox 360 on Xbox LIVE
Like we said last week… get your wild bunch ready. Red Dead Redemption multiplayer – back-to-back for each system on the first weekend after the May 18th game release. Stay tuned for the big reveal of Multiplayer details next week.
The Xbox 360 versions of Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City have a new update available via Xbox LIVE as of now. The update applies the following fixes to numerous bugs and issues:
- The upwards velocity of parachutes is now capped
- Bowling alley ‘invisible pins’ are now fixed
- Updates have been made to prevent players modifying stats for online games
- Infinite Nitro is now fixed
Be sure to update at your earliest convenience.
(Reminder to PS3 and PC owners: only 1 month, 19 days until Episodes from Liberty City is available for you to enjoy as well!)
Major Nelson has recently posted the top 20 Games For Windows Live games of 2009. GTAIV took the top slot beating out some of the best sellers of late 2008-2009 such as Fallout 3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum. The 360 version of GTAIV didn't fare too bad either taking a respectable 6th place and getting beat only by the usual multiplayer suspects such as Call of Duty and Halo. Congratulations to Rockstar North and Rockstar Toronto!
Source: Major Nelson