"If you've been over to my message board then you'll have heard about this, but I'm hoping to get everyone involved in making a Community Map.  What do I mean?

Well the basic premise is that we're going to make a map for GTA. And when I say we, I mean us, as a community (well, all those who want to get involved, which should be most). The idea is simple Everyone makes a building, I stick em all on a map and we have something that no other online community has.. a community created mod!

Sounds simple, and it is really. If you're interested bob over to the Community Map website and see what's going on."
 

Terror In Tiny Town! <9:30 PM CST - schu>
This kicks ass!  Get it now!  You need more?  Well if you are looking for a quick action fix, this is it!  pid has taken the popular Tiny Town multiplayer GTA2 level and set it up for single player.  If you can't tell by the name, Tiny Town is, well, a tiny town with tons of peds and enough weaponry to make the people of Tiny Town a little uneasy, especially since they all seem to clump together into groups that make sidewalk surfing all that much more enjoyable.  All ya do is download this zip (729 bytes), unzip the file, and copy it to the GTA2\DATA directory, but for Christ's sake BACK THE ORIGINAL UP FIRST.  Then you just run the game as normal and there you are.  Thanks to pid (GTA2 Wipeout) for making all this possible.  If you still aren't sure you haven't got the bandwidth and time to download all 729 bytes of it (yup, its not even 1k - that equates to a 0.0000001 second download on even the shittiest cup and string connection), check out this screenshot (which takes even longer to download than the file itself!).

Linux GTA2 - Make it Happen <9:30 PM CST - schu>
You want your favorite games to appear on a Linux box near you but your voice isn't being heard; so what do you do?  Bitch and moan?  Hell no, you get over to Tux Games and sign one of their petitions which will hopefully show a publisher that Bill Gates crap OS isn't the only one out there.  There are multiple petitions including GTA2, check it out at www.tuxgames.com/petitions. Thanks to Klamy for this bit of info.

Zloty / Kovaski <9:30 PM CST - schu>
J. Sun wrote me about the name of the Russian Mafia in GTA2.  According to him the name Zloty is just the name of one of the Russians you contact and that Kovaski is actually a word for restaurant.   I hadn't even heard of the GTA2 Russian Mafia being called Kovaski before, but I do currently have the Russian gang listed as the Zloty in the GTA2 info section and I'm pretty sure I got that from an email from Rockstar or from a preview, either way it appears to be incorrect.  To tell you the truth I had all but forgotten about the Russian Mafia even having a name until now.  Thanks to J. Sun for clearing that up...

Announcements <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• Aqutiv (creator of the GTA2-Workshop) has published his own website, BUSTED!.  You can find his site at drop.to/busted.  It features regular updates and all the latest on the GTA2-Workshop.  Currently Aqutiv would like to create a GTA2 cars section as well so if you have anything to donate, why not drop by and send it in?

 
Community News <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• The GTA2 Attack Shack
  New Stuff
  There have been major updates at the GTA 2 Attack Shack.
  The Attack Shack now has a classified ads page. Here you can put all your TC/PC or mod requests, there is also a new poll and a GTA 2 mailing list where you can receive updates from the Attack Shack. If you have a GTA 2 site then add it to the links page, hopefully this will build into the largest selection of GTA 2 links. If you don't like any of those you could even join in our voice chat sessions."

• GTA2 Planet
  High Score Competition
  "Hey cop killaz!!! It's ZMan. I just wanted to update you all since my site wasn't...I haven't been able to update my site cause of some 'technical difficulties' with the site builder. I still haven't received any highscores.  Please send them with a pic for proof. If you can't get a pic, e-mail me for  an alternative!!! Also e-mail me with POLL ideas. See-ya cop killas!!!"
   

New GTA Sites <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• BUSTED!
  

Rockstar's Racers <5:00 PM CST - schu>
DailyRadar had another dose of Rockstar today reporting further details on Rockstar's two upcoming racing games for PS2.  The games are both being developed by Angel Studios and will be published by Rockstar Games.  The more I read about them the less they sound GTA influenced though.  Gamespot UK also gave the projects a mention but it was pretty much a rehash of AGN3Ds update yesterday.  While you're there you might as well check out the DC WildMetal preview, a DMA/Rockstar game.

GTA Linux? <5:00 PM CST - schu>
Avault is reporting that Take2 (Rockstar Games' parent company) has begun releasing games for Linux.  The main group of games sounds just like some budget games cd, but they also make mention of at least two original products for Linux.  The question is, will GTA or GTA2 ever make it to Linux?  No mention was made of GTA at all but if Take2 is sucessful with their Linux ventures then perhaps GTA will have a future on Klamy's favorite OS.  Currently this is just me spreading rumors, nothing official behind it, but with news lagging off my mind begins to wander :).

TownFIVE! PreRelease <5:00 PM CST - schu>
GTA seems repleate with vaporware, but that seems to be pretty common with most games with any sort of mod community.  Anyway I began wondering what ever happend to GTA Jedi's Town Five and just about that time I got this message (You can get TownFive at GTA: Section 487):

"Ok, long time no see.  I have a motto of not updating til there's something to update, so I got bored, so I made something to update about.  I've had a pre-release candidate 2 of TownFive for GTA on my harddrive for a while so I decided to upload it. :o)  Its good IMHO take a look, not many missions but its not too bad........

Give me some nice feedback and I might finish."

San Andreas 2 v1.0 <5:00 PM CST - schu>
Following BulbaMaster's San Andreas mod, GrandTheftAce sent in his take on San Andreas with his creation, San Andreas 2 v1.0 (159k).  Strangly enough, just like BulbaMaster, GrandTheftAce is also working on an updated version, here is the message he sent in with the file:

"I have created an improved the San Adreas map. It's called SA 2. Here some of  its features:

• Prison
• Hovercrafts you can actually ride in
• A1 Tourist Agency
• Full parking lots with bumps
• Remastered Fire Department (in Atlantic Heights)
• Improved police car impound lot
• "Car Wasters" (Used to be cranes)
• Construction place (in Sunview)
• Sand that drowns you!

This is a version 1.0 But currently I am working on version 2.0 which will probably include gas stations, park with benches and pedestrians in North West Atlantic Heights (originally it is like a forest with nobody inside it),  emergency lanes on high way, etc."
 

Community News <5:00 PM CST - schu>

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  "Every car creator kept asking, begging and pleading, so I finally caved in. Tiffany's Unofficial Grand Theft Auto Shrine now has car ratings. Don't anyone get offended over low scores, because it's just my personal preference. I have strange tastes. *giggle*

  But anyways, after re-uploading the site, and updating everything, my Car Depot is much easier to scroll through. I used many ideas that were used on other car sites, and fit it all into a neat little package. So visit the shrine... oh, yeah, there's a few more new cars on there too!"

• The GTA Store
  "The GTA Store is updated! We got an own domain: www.theGTAstore.de.  Many changes, deleted dead-links, new vote-buttons, no advertising anymore, some new cars for Grand Theft Auto, and new files for GTA2"

Brak For President! <5:00 PM CST - schu>

I just saw the commertial on Cartoon Network and I couldn't resist.

Paid for by the citizens who support Brak for president.


   

Rockstar on PS2 <8:30 PM CST - schu>
AGN3D posted a short update on two games that Rockstar is planning on bringing to Playstation2.  The games are titled, Midnight Club: Street Racing and Getaway and they both seem to be along the same sort of lines as GTA although a little more specific.  Midnight Club sounds like a mad race through cities, hopefully allowing you to run down pedestrians and such.  Getaway sounds a little closer to GTA as you are commissioned to smuggle goods around the city.  These titles are NOT being developed by DMA Design and are NOT GTA related.

G! Jive <8:30 PM CST - schu>
A friend of mine sent me this.  A site called The Dialectizer allows you to enter an URL and have the site of your choice reworked in the dialect of your choice (Redneck, Jive, Cockney, Elmer Fudd, Swedish Chef, Moron, or Pig Latin).  Anyway, go here and click the button to see G! in Jive.  Its not great, but its sort of entertaining, some of its choices are a little odd, but for the most part its pretty cool.

Site Updates <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Here are a few links that are totally GTA unrelated but are pretty cool sites/utilities.  The first is Napster, if you are into MP3's, and especially if you have a good connection, this a great way to find and share MP3s.  Another great MP3 tool is Sonique, personally I've come to prefer it over WinAMP, but I guess its just a matter of opinion.  Last is BidXS, this site will allow you to search multiple auction sites by doing one quick search.  Like I said, totally unrelated to GTA but they are just a few sites I seem to be using lately, and no I wasn't paid to mention them here.

DMA Design have just posted the documents detailing *exactly* the format for the style files & the map files. 

On www.dma-design.com, 

• go to the audioclips page
• go to the "all files in mp3 format" line
• move the mouse carefully along to the right
• there's a small greyish dot - nearly invisible - which contains the link to the file, OR, www.dma-design.com/gta2/gta2formats.zip

Reopen the SACI? <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Valdez is looking for opinions on whether he should reopen the SACI.  What do you think?  Yes or No?  He is currently working on SACI2 and reopening the SACI might delay it a little, but with SACI2 a little ways off a reopening might spur further interest, here is Valdez' original message:

People, should I bring the SACI back as it was tomorrow?  I have been looking at it and I am starting to get back into the GTA scene again.  SACI2 is quite a way from completion and I was wondering if you people would like me to start updating SACI1 again?

Give me a mail (saci@valdez.co.uk) telling me if I should or not - If I get a positive response then I will bring it back, can't say fairer that that now can I? 
 

grandtheftau.to Domain Up For Sale <8:30 PM CST - schu>
It seems that raphael gerber is rather busy lately and is looking to sell off the grandtheftau.to domain name, interested?  Read on:

www.grandtheftau.to, the probably most unique domain in the gta world is for sale!!!

with more than 300 visitors per day, its well-known name for great quality and content and the free e-mail service with over 400 members it's a damn good investment.

note: the design and the contents are not for sale! you will need some server space in order to use this domain. however, it can point to your tripod/geocities/whatever homepage.

why do i sell www.grandtheftau.to??? well, there are different reasons for this (not easy) decision:

• i don't have that much time to update regularly anymore. besides my job as a webpublisher for the swiss federal railways, i'd like to concentrate more on my own company plumps dot com (plumps.com).
   
• over the past nine months i collected tons of gta files (approx.80mb) which i stored at xoom. unfortunately, xoom deleted my account for unknown reasons and without any warning or notice. i don't have the time and motivation to search for all those files   again.
   
• i simply lost the interest in gta.

so, head over to www.grandtheftau.to for more information and to place your offer. whoever makes the best and most interesting offer, gets the domain.

i also would like to take the chance to thank all the great guys in the gta community: schu, azz, valdez, adam jordan, no fear, gleb, chriz, erix, kain etc.

best regards from switzerland
raphael
 
 

Project News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA Aus Canceled?
  Byron has decided to cancel his GTAus project.  Its been hanging in limbo and recent strife on the X-Com front and the loss of the mission.ini'er pretty much put the last few nails in the coffin so to speak.  But all is not lost, Byron may still yet release a car pack that will include all the cars that would have appeared in GTA Aus, here is the latest from Byron:

  "I haven't had a chance to work on GTA AUS lately - been VERRRRRRRY busy with XCommand (you may've heard that XCom Genesis has probably been canned - the entire team sacked).

  I'm not going to finish GTA AUS, as our mission programmer has officially went AWOL, and I don't have time to do anymore work on it, I just want to concentrate on XCommand.

  Although I never finished the project totally, I did finish MOST of the cars. So, I'll be releasing a carpack (zipped bmps and car replacement data info) or a style file in the near future. That way, part of the project will be released and enjoyed. The map was nearly done, but it's really useless without the missions, so I doubt I'll release it.

  Thanks for keeping the community updated on this project, schu, and thanks to the fans of GTA out there for being interested in this project."
   

• Wild Wild West - Update
  X-Mail sent in another update on Wild Wild West and he also mentioned that the demo should be available any day now, the only thing holding it back is some problems with sending the attachment:

  News:
  Yeah, a few minutes ago I made the big bridge.  It's.......well, it's brown. At 0:00 it happened, I made a new fastest car, here is a screenshot of the new fastest car. The thing I still have to make is the Motorcycle, for other things I don't have any time

  Info:
  Wild Wild West will support:
   
  - 3Dfx
  - 24-Bit (Windows)
  - German
  - English
   
  I made a small banner for WWW (below)
  

  Files:
  A screenshot of the new fastest car in WWW...

  E-Mail:
  Gregor-Kurczyk@gmx.de
    

Community News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• Dark Side Auto
  Long Time No See
  Sorry I've been gone so long (my last update was last summer before I went on vacation) but I haven't had any time to play GTA at all, let alone edit it. So, I'm now releasing cars I was set to release last August. They're World War II cars that were sent to me by Christopher Edgcumbe to put into GTA for a project he was working on. A World War II Jeep, German Truck and Halftrack.
    
    
  I've also added a bunch of new radio tracks (WWF and Twisted Metal 2) so stop on by Dark Side Auto!

• GTA2 ND
  Free Email
  GTA 2 ND is offering free e-mail addresses.  The address will be @gta2mail.zzn.com.  I also have added many links to my site and made some sections look better.  To get a free e-mail address come to gta2nd.tripod.com ...

moving shadow <8:30 PM CST - schu>
You may have heard about the moving shadow / GTA2 cd that was released awhile back, the only problem is no one has been able to find it.  I still don't know where anyone can pick one up but I did find a page on moving shadow's site about the CD set, check it out here.  Keep in mind you need Flash to view the page.  You can also find this page if you just go to movingshadow.com and click on Albums.  I also found this announcement, a little too late I might add, about a tour featuring Rob Playford and presented by moving shadow, GTA2, and diesel.

GTA2 Editing / The Car Garage <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Stephen has set up his site to distribute his GTA2 utils.  Currently his utils include the GTA2 File Editor.  He also mentions that version 1.2 of his file editor will include a new feature called The Car Garage used for distributing GTA2 cars.  Find out more about his stuff at www.users.totalise.co.uk/~stephen-d/.

San Andreas 1.2 <8:30 PM CST - schu>
BulbaMaster decided to make some modifications on the original San Andreas level from GTA and dubbed it San Andreas 1.2 (110k).  He has made numerous modifications explained in his message below as well as some things he has planned for version 1.3:

A while ago I finished a San Andreas map that contained extra cars in it.  Here are the extra features:

• Trams
• A parking spot with all the small cars in SA below your starting spot
• A small area with about 4 cop cars, 2 trams, and a Monster Truck (not a kill frenzy)
• More trams
• A parking spot with the big vehicles
• Boats next to the water that you can ride on
• Ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars next to some stations  

Coming in version 1.3:
 
Note: The features with the * next to them are ones that I'm not sure about

• A helicopter as your starting vehicle*
• An improved impound yard
• Mew missions*
• More violent special.fxt
• More trams and Monster Bugs
  

I am also making another new map but I need other people help me make some of the textures and cars.  If your interested in this please e-mail me at zipki@ihug.co.nz

New GTA Sites <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• Marc's GTA2 Site

Everybody:
It's obvious that I can't keep up with the GTA news often enough, and I simply don't get time any more to create and edit GTA News. Therefore this is the last issue that I am releasing.

Want to Help Keep GTA News going?
I have a few people that take priority if they want to maintain the GTA News. But if anybody else wants to help keep the GTA News going, email gtanews@svenlat.screaming.net and tell me what you'd like to do.

Where am I going?
Well, I have tons of college work, 4 A Levels, my own site SVENlat is being redesigned (svenlat.tsx.org is a provisional page) - and I have a radio show! Saturdays at 9pm GMT. You'll need Winamp to connect to alienwebshop.com:8000 to listen, and more details are on svenlat.tsx.org.  I'll still try to keep up with GTA and maybe you'll see me around. But not now. I have a lot of work to do :)
 
Thanks to Rich, Paul Wright, Adam, Hughesie, schu, Erix, and everybody else over the past few years.

  
GTA2 Editing <10:00 PM CST - schu>
Nope, no editors just yet but I'm going to check into it again and see if I can get some more info on their status.  But until then you can check out some of Teknics findings with Paint Shop Pro:

 
It's teknics again for his weekly input from "http://www.niteshade.net ~ Gamers Army" last night I came upon some interesting things while hacking through GTA2. I was able to load up all the .gmp's into Paint Shop Pro 6 (www.jasc.com) as .raw file's. I then cropped, swore a lot, and filter even more. I was able to make quite a lot of things. I have included a .zip which hold's the following (all of which are black and white):
 
bilsoftened.jpg
bilsharper.jpg
stesoftened.jpg
stesharper.jpg
wilsoftened.jpg
wilsharper.jpg
wil-multisoftened.jpg
wil-multisharper.jpg
 
"But that's not all Johnny, show him what's behind curtain #2" And now back to realistic voice also enclosed within the Zip is a file called gta3dpremap.jpg Thug was sent this image by someone who says they are a disgruntled ex-DMA employee who got fired about 2 weeks ago. It is what looks to be an amazing Map done in full 3D. We are as of yet still unsure to whether or not it is legit. But I believe it is as everything seems to be cubed except the road surface (nice to see curvy roads). This was sent to Thug in black and white as well. I posted all this up at Gamers Army already so feel free to post whenever.

  
Community News <10:00 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 More Extreme
  GTA2 News site "GTA2 More Extreme" has finally opened up a message board. Yeah I know what your thinking, oh no not another one, but I felt it was necessary for those who do need support from me or other people. So I really hope the board is going to be used. If you didn't know this, there's a very good Problems help section and a Q&A section, and a thing that I'm pretty proud of is the Multiplayer guide, its a guide that helps you step by step how to start or join a Multiplayer game. I'm doing the best I can to support everybody, if you have any new idea's that can help the GTA2 fans I would like to know. Just drop by GTA2 More Extreme and contact me... thanks!

• GTA2Mods
  Just thought I'd mention that they've been various changes to GTA2Mods this weekend.

  Firstly, I'd like to welcome Neo to the GTA2Mods group - he's been appointed official car dealer of GTA2Mods, so if you have a car for GTA2, please send it to him here. He's already got to work, with 8 more car reviews and downloads for your viewing pleasure.

  Secondly, GTA2Mods has got a brand spanking new flash introduction, that's to the brilliant Martin from GTA2World. You can get out this audio and visual treat here. This is the first steps in our two websites, GTA2Mods and GTA2World, become strong affiliates.

  Last, and most certainly not least, is the new G2M Message Board. Sick and tired of the old one, I've got a complete new board, with individual forums for specific GTA2 Editing sections. If you have any questions, queries, ideas or general topics of discussion, you can visit it here.

• EGP4
  Hello there, this is ERiX from EGP4, come.to/egp4
  EGP4:s new design will soon be online, and this new version will also include a "cars" section, so I am just announcing that you can send all your GTA 2 cars, old aswell as new ones to: egp4@hotmail.com with your attachments. It would be great if the cars section wont be empty at start but have like 10-15 cars on it. My page has got more than 100 visitors per day, so your cars will most probably be on many computers around the world soon! Again, I would be very grateful and glad if you could send me your cars, I will rate them, mention the author, and write some comments!
   
  If you run a GTA 2 website, I would be very grateful if you could post the message above on your news site (maybe not all the text, just a message to car makers)

  
New GTA Sites <10:00 PM CST - schu>

• GTaZONE