Gameboy Cheats <8:30 PM CST - schu>
DJCil sent in some cheats for the Gameboy version of GTA.  I have no way of testing these codes so I don't know for sure if they are authentic.  I'm guessing that you enter them the same you enter codes in GTA or GTA2.  Thanks to DJCil for the cheats...

THEBITCH   (all cities except for Vice 2nd)
MYTURF     (cities up to 2nd town in 2nd city)

New Reviews <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Playnow, an Australian gaming site, has posted their GTA2 review, take a look.  Pocket.IGN.com posted their Gameboy GTA review today making some comments that are pretty similar to what ILLSPIRIT and Klamy have been saying.

GTA Car Competition <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Rob is running a GTA competition for car makers, read on and then click the link if you're interested:

GTA: 50 most memorable cars
"HEY, this is the fukker with a challenge for all you car makers.  Create motor Trend's 50 most memorable cars by St. Patrick's Day, 2000.  I'm sure you're not intimidated by a challenge from a relative newcomer."
 

GTA2 Editing & Foo's Cars <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Here is Tristan's latest editing update, this one details his findings on the fstyle.sty file and Foo's Car Lot:

I was looking at the fstyle.sty file in the c:\Program Files\GTa2\data\ directory through Paint Shop Pro and found out something.  Using 256 x 25325 co ordinates and a 78 byte header, I found out that the fstyle.sty file contains templates for the original GTA ! It has the ' GOURANGA! ' type writing ( the big, bold yellow letters ) as well as the guns, the police heads, and some other writing.  The part that was intriguing was the BINK logo and another MILES logo I have seen somewhere before.  I gave it some thought and maybe, just maybe, since there are original GTA letters, guns and cop heads, these could be used for a GTa2 add on - this add on being a replica of the original GTA.  I have made screen shots of the fstyle.sty file, in palette 192.
 
I was also cruising around the Industrial Sector of GTa2 and found another Wang Car Bonus Lot ! It is actually called Foo Cars.  Quoting the bill board, it is " for sexy mothers try a big hot rod " .  With a huge spare lot outside ( capable of holding bonus cars ! ) and room on the walls ( for numbers ! ) I can't help but think, is there  going to be a " Foo Car Bonus " ?  I have sent in screen shots of the Foo Car lot and a map on how to get there.

foocarlt.jpg 30KB  0576 x 0432
foodrect.jpg 23KB  0423 x 0338
fstyle11.jpg 47KB  0571 x 1024
fstyle12.jpg 25KB  0187 x 1024

Custom Map Center <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Johan Brodd has been getting a lot of the same questions on his Custom Map Editor (orginally mentioned in the November 24th update) and he asked that I post some Q&A here:

Seems I have 10 questions about the program so here they are with the proper answers:

No copying?
Not available yet, hang on the program is on the way.
 

Map editing ?
You cannot edit maps in this program, just create blank missions or missions based upon the original maps (version 1.1).
 

What will be the reward?
No cash or something like that, the program for free. Shareware $20

  
I cannot find the mission.ini
No file is provided right now, however I'm planning to provide the following files:
The GRY / G24 files
The CMP map files (blank)
The FXT files (slightly modified)
The mission.ini file

Does this program support GTA2 ?
Not for the moment, but in v 1.5 it will support GTA london, and possibly in v 2.0 it will support GTA2.

Readme ?
Yes there will be both a readme and a hlp file available.

Announcements <8:30 PM CST - schu>
GTA Nation's redirect page was hacked so you can only get to the site using its actual URL, but since the actual URL is pretty easy to remember it shouldn't be too much of a problem.  Check out GTA Nation @ gunther.niteshade.net.

Community News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  I've moved the Shrine! After my glorious year and a half at FortuneCity, I've moved Tiffany's Unofficial Grand Theft Auto Shrine since I ran out of free space!  The new, shorter, easier to remember URL is http://tiff.penguinpowered.com which is the first time my name's been in the first part of a URL! *giggle*

  With my recent move, I've updated the site! I got new counters that start where the old ones left off (this page's counter is new), by the way, before I moved, the counter was at 59,800+ but I started the new counter at 60,000. We all know it was gonna go there anywayz. *giggle* Thanx 4 all your support, everybody!

  I've added new cars to the Car Depot, I've added a Sniper Rifle to the Graphics page, I've added Obscene Language to the Files page, and I've updated the Links!

• Hughesies Hut
  Da cop has added some more cars to HH, as well as news and other stuff.  I have also added a new polls section to the site - The first poll this month is about:
  
  Who do you think has been / is the most influential person in the GTA scene?
  The 4 choices are:
   
  schu 
  Azz 
  Valdez 
  Mugwum
   
  Please take the time to visit the site and vote. Also, feel free to post on the message board and stuff.
   
• GTA2: Seek And Destroy
  I have been having many problems with my PC lately which explains why I haven't updated GTA2: Seek And Destroy but even though I had to get a new hard drive I will get my computer up to good condition again and have more regular updates. I am getting a new PC delivered in  the next few days so I will only be posting in the forum on my site until it is set up. Please post in my forum because I believe it is the best forum dedicated to GTA2. Please have a look

• GTA Place
  GTA Place has finally finished relocating and updating. Hopefully this site will be bigger and better than the past GTA Places. At the moment the site has just basic content but look out for further updates with more features coming including a Forum, News Page, Tutorials Page and interviews. All should be coming soon!  You can reach the new GTA Place through the new address www.theGtaPlace.co.uk

  

• GTA2 Burnout
  Hi people, Tobe here. Just wanted to let you know that GTA2 Burnout will not go to waste, it has been handed over to Tom (aka GTACoolman). He will have full responsibility for it now, and I wish him well, as I do you, the rest of the GTA peoples. Thanks for your support and over 44,000 page hits.

Rhys sent in the third file, version 1.1 of his GTA2 Quick Loader.  The GTA2 Quick Loader copies everything from a selected directory to a GTA2 directory and remembers the directory locations using an INI file.  The zip includes a readme file with some quick directions and contact info.  Check GTA Mod Central to get the latest versions of Rhys' utils and for up to date news on his utils.

GTA Zone's Trainer <9:25 PM CST - schu>
chriZ over at GTA Zone informed me that the English version of GTA Zone's GTA2 Trainer will be available very soon.  The trainer will feature 26 different functions some of which cannot be activated by cheats.  One example chriZ mentioned was that "you can start with your own 4 man gang at start or turn the busses or trains off."  You should be able to nab the trainer from GTA Zone's GTA2 downloads section shortly.  Even if you cannot speak German is fairly easy to find.  The GTA2 Trainer they currently have posted is the BIOS Systems trainer, not their trainer, I'd imagine they will call is something along the lines of Zone Trainer - English or something.

GTA Gameboy - Make The Hurting Stop <9:25 PM CST - schu>
Yow... It seems that people either love or hate the Gameboy version.  Klamy is of the latter conviction rather than the former and promptly returned his copy of Gameboy GTA just after he did a write up on it.

Ishani.com Back Online <9:25 PM CST - schu>
Ishani's GTA2 utils page is back online so you can now download the latest versions of his Power Manager and his Saved Game Editor directly from his site at Ishani.com.  Thanks to everyone who sent in an email on this.

GTA IAT <9:25 PM CST - schu>
sW has opened his own GTA site, GTA IAT.  GTA IAT stands for GTA Info and Tips, judging by the name I'm sure you can get a general idea of the content :).  If you have a GTA2 tip you should click on over and send it in.  He has already posted an interested bit of news on the GTA4 domain name.

Yakuza <9:25 PM CST - schu>
I just sent this URL to someone and thought someone else out there might be interested in a brief history of the real Yakuza.  I found this just by a simple search, I did not write it.

Site Updates <9:25 PM CST - schu>

• Well I didn't get back to my apartment until Sunday night and my parents ISP was acting screwy so I wasn't able to do an update on Friday.  Thanksgiving was pretty good, then again, anything that gets me a week off from classes is definitely a good thing :).
• I've got some more emails to go through but that news will most likely appear tomorrow...
• I noticed a slight frame problem with Netscape in 800x600 on Wednesday... I made some adjustments that should fix the problem.  I just hope no one is trying to look G! in 640x480 :)

GTA2 Editing <8:40 PM CST - schu>

• GXT Editing
  Ringo aka Gavin Rudd has uploaded full information on the GXT files to his Gain Software site.  He mentioned that, "anyone should be able to write an editor along the lines of GXTed" with this information.
   
• Map Editing
  Tristan Beard has been doing some research into reading the map files and he sent in the his latest findings:

  "I was just looking over the GTA2 Style Files (ste.sty, bil.sty and wil.sty files) and after I had looked all through the wil.sty file, I tried my luck at the bil.sty file.  When I found out only one of the palettes worked on the building templates, I tried my luck at the bil.gmp file, to see what the .GMP files were about.  I extracted it as a RAW file, dimensions 256 x 25325 (the normal .STY configuration) with a 78 byte header, and zoomed in till the zoom factor was 1:2.  I saw the Industrial Sector Map!  I mucked around with the dimensions a bit, and after a while I could (sort of) clearly make out the Industrial Sector Map!  The dimensions I used are 512 x 25325 (the 25325 bit should probably be shorter, but who cares) and I didn't use a header though.  I sent along the steps I took till I found the map (file sizes below) as well as a smaller version of the Industrial Sector Map, so you can compare them.  I hope you can tell everyone on your site and see how far this can go!"

  step1.jpg 9kb  256 x 25325 78 byte header zoom 1:2
  step2.jpg 25kb 256 x 25325 78 byte header zoom 1:1
  step3.jpg 22kb 512 x 25325 78 byte header zoom 1:1
  step4.jpg 22kb 512 x 25325    zoom 1:1
  step5.jpg 18kb Industrial Sector Map
   

Custom Map Center <8:40 PM CST - schu>
Johan Brodd is working on a new util called the Custom Map Center and he sent me the following details on it:

Are you interested in a fast and easy way to create new missions for GTA?  The thing is that you can just in a few clicks compose a entire new scenery for GTA in just a few minutes of spare time!  The secret is that you have access to all the files needed for the level.

Picture 1: The check boxes enables the specific file to be copied, to the right you see what will be copied.

You can select the source directory and the target directory with a few clicks

Picture 2: Managing the source and target directories is easy!

You're getting a good overview when the copying is in progress, you'll see which file is copied for the moment, you can also see when the copying is done, a perfect status on what is done and what is skipped.

Picture 3: The status screen, not much right now... but there will be more coming!

Important note! This program is version 0.1, so there is a faked copy; no data is copied, there is just a timer that updates so it will look like it's copying the missions, just in case you're getting mad at me... This will be provided when I've got information about one big question:

Does this program require any specific files? Can you do me a big favor and download the program (209k), try it, and send any bug reports to me; You'll be rewarded: Send me your email address when done this. I'll send the program to you when it is finished. You'll get the program for free if all runs painless.
 

Who Da Hell is DA Hool? <8:40 PM CST - schu>
If you read the update I did on Monday about the Wankers on Duty video by DA Hool you'll know what this is about, if not, go read that first.  Gangsterboss sent in some information on who DA Hool is, something I was wondering myself:

"DA Hool was DJ Hooligan, before he changed his name. He made the techno hit Rave Nation.  After changing his name to DA Hool, he made for instance Meet her at the love parade"

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <8:40 PM CST - schu>

• Your Friendly Neighborhood Gang
  Mjollnir made an interesting observations about how gangs react to you when you're on the run:
  

  "I noticed that when you go to a hostile gang's territory on foot and they normally would open fire at you, they don't shoot if they see a policeman following you. If you kill the cop(s), they start shooting again."

• Kicked In The Wang
  I realize I've posted a lot on the whole Wang topic but rathstar did a pretty good job summing it all up that I really couldn't resist posting it:

  "I just got the Wang car bonus on level 2, and I didn't see any mention of it on G!, so I figured I'd give you the details if you're interested.  Basically you have to find and enter the 8 'magic Wang cars' in the level.. Each one has a number on the top, 1 through 8. each time you enter a magic Wang car, you get teleported to Wang's car lot, and when you enter the last one, the parking lot is filled with some awesome vehicles, and you get something like $100,000 for your trouble.

  So where are the cars?

  1: Dominatrix, on the northeast side.  You have to jump from crate to crate until you get to a crate that has a path south to car #1.

  2: Mobile RV, east of the red phones.  Take a fast car and drive it to the red phones, then drive east until you see a jump over the water. Take the jump and you'll land on an island with car #2.

  3: Near the prison.  The block that's just north of the prison has a jump across the water.  Take the jump and you'll land on a long island with car #3.

  4: Stromberg.  The south highway has a median gutter that you can drive in from the east side.  Drive in the gutter and keep going until you see a peninsula to the south. Turn south there and you'll see that there's a tunnel to car #4.

  5: Near the Mall.  On the map, you can see that from the mall there are a series of catwalks that start in the middle of the mall, then go up, right, down, down, and left.  Follow all these catwalks to car #5.

  6: Xenoton.  Take the Zaibatsu ramp to just before Guntersville  then to the south there's an opening in the building.  Drive through the opening to car #6.

  7: Xenoton.  Take the Zaibatsu ramp again. This time, when the ramp starts going up, stay straight.  At the turn, there is a ramp going north.  Take the ramp and you'll land on a building.  Head left to car #7.

  8: Arbo.  Head north on the long north-south highway.  At some point, the southbound section raises up a bit.  There is an opening under there that you can get in heading west to car #8.

  That's all of it.  It's a very fun bonus to get, since it gives you a tank, a special agent car with machine guns, a fire truck with a flame-thrower mounted on it, etc. good luck."
   

Site Updates <8:40 PM CST - schu>
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in the US and I probably won't update.  If I find a few spare moments and my parents computer is cooperating I might do a mini-update, but most likely the next update will be late Friday night or early Saturday morning depending on when I get back to my apartment (my parents live 125 miles away so its not just down the block or anything :) )...

GTA Zone: When will the official tools like the map editor be released?
Colin: There will be some nice goodies on the gta2.com homepage soon.

GTA Zone: When will you release the first patch?
Colin: Also soon. We´re looking for bugs and errors yet...

Thanks to chriZ and GTA Zone for sending this in.

GTA2 Adverts In Manchester <7:40 PM CST - schu>
Matt sent in the following message about GTA2 adverts on busses in Manchester:

Something I noticed while I was up in Manchester today (in the REAL world, that is :) ) All the double decker buses displaying the GTA2 advert along the side - which is basically the 'STEAL THIS GAME' slogan along the length of the bus with the GTA2 logo slapped on the end. Anyhow just about all these ad's have now had the word 'CENSORED' in red text painted over the word 'STEAL'.  I couldn't help but find it amusing after reading about the banning of the movie in the flicks and it looks to me like a dig at the body behind the flick censoring, but then I have a warped perception of life so make of it what you will.

 
Ishani's GTA2 Utils <7:40 PM CST - schu>
Ok, I've got the Power Manager and two versions of the Saved Game Editor.  I've added em all to the GTA2 Tips & Cheats section.  Egg wrote in about Ishani's site and commented that ishani.com is hosted by 3dluvr.com which is also down.  Thanks to Mundeep, Greg, A11-99.x01, and Rhys for sending in the files.

Saved Game Editor:

• GTA2_svge10a.zip (26k) - version 1.0a
• GTA2_svge11b.zip (27k) - version 1.1b

Power Manager:

• GTA2_pwrmgr10a.zip (12k)

Gameboy GTA Comments <7:40 PM CST - schu>
Apparently not everyone is impressed with GTA for Gameboy.  I've gotten a few positive emails on it with the only gripes being the controls, but ILLSPIRIT has a different opinion:

"I haven't been doin too much in the GTA area recently.  I still don't have a computer that will run 2, and the original seems to be a dying breed.  I did however get GTA for Gameboy tho.... and its awful.  I wasn't expecting it to be as good as the PC version or anything, but, uuuhng, its hard to explain.  For starters, there's no sort of physics involved with the car handling... All the cars go the same speed, with almost instant acceleration, and no sort of sliding in the turns whutsoever.  Again, I wasn't expecting much, but even Mario and Tetris games have better physics on Gameboy.  The worst thing has to be the lack of active things.  Its not uncommon to walk around for 5 minutes without seeing a single car or pedestrian.  I'm guessing the reason for both of these problems is the fact that they put the ENTIRE maps from the original game in there.  This is about the only thing that impressed me, but considering the size of the maps, that's probably where 98% of the available RAM goes.  I just want to know why they didn't make new, smaller maps, that left more room for things like action and control (plus the old maps are just that, old!)."

Gameboy GTA still hasn't shown up in any of my local stores so I don't have it yet.

Help Wanted (GTA Nation) <7:40 PM CST - schu>
Gunther is looking for help with a few things he is working on:

"Howdy all.
Would it be possible if I could have a helper or two to  help me set up a few things in the GTA Community.

Firstly could anybody that was involved in GTA Rally  contact me at SirGunther@xoommail.com if I don't get in contact with you first. 

As well, could any prominent (and not so prominent) Aussies in the GTA scene also get in contact with me. 

Lastly, would it be possible to set up a sort of "finger" thing where anyone in the scene could write what they are planning etc. where everybody else could check it out? Like a sort of updatable profile thing. If anyone has any comments e-mail them to me."
 

Community News <7:40 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2Mods
  "I'm proud to announce that GTA2Mods has made 10,000 hits! At the moment it's all happening; Today I've uploaded some exclusive information on the GXT files, the text files for GTA2. I've also recently opened a GTA2Mods Message Board - the only board dedicated to GTA2 Editing. Yesterday uploaded the newest version of CSE - the main change is that it is supported by my new GTA2 proggy - Development Suite. Download them both from the software section.

And all this from someone who doesn't (yet) own GTA2!"

• LingSter's Autos
  "I have officially found my new home!   With a bit of luck and waiting it out with all the competitors, I have moved to a more permanent spot.  GTAXtreme!
   
  Yes, the Xtreme Gateway sites have added me to their list of great sites.  Such sites included LCG, and Squish development.  So, pop on over now and see the new home.  There is even a surprise for everyone too..."
   
  The address is now:    lingster.gtaxtreme.net

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  "I won't be making any major updates or adding anything to my site for a few days or so. I've finally reached my 20MB web space limit, so I'm moving the site! Just pleez give me some time 2 settle in."
   

New GTA Sites <7:40 PM CST - schu>

• GTA  Have Your Say...
  "Hey everybody come and check out my new cars site where you can vote for your favorite cars and decide who gets the awards.  Come to gtasay.8m.com, but a word of warning, the server is screwy so I'm only allowed to post half the news I wrote (dunno why) so don't be alarmed when you see me stop mid sentence.  I will be getting a new server and a new design soon.  This week you can vote using polls on your favorite car out of a selection of recent one winners (cheers to Azz for letting me use the one) but I would like you all to send me some cars patrickrussell@grantheftau.to so I can include them in an upcoming poll."

Site Updates <7:40 PM CST - schu>
Thursday is Thanksgiving Day here in the United States and as such I will driving home to eat turkey and other assorted Thanksgivingesqe dishes :). Anyway this means that I probably won't update on Thursday, unless of course my family drives me insane and I'm forced to take refuge in the basement, which also happens to be where the computer is :).  I'm going to try and do an update on Friday but its all depends on whether my parents' computer decides to cooperate.

New GTA2 Artwork <10:00 PM CST - schu>
chriZ informed me that GTA Zone has an exclusive set of GTA2 concept artwork from Take2.  I've seen a few of the pics before, but most of them are never before seen GTA2 art.  Along with the art they also have some shots from the "Wankers On Duty" video.  Once again, thanks to chriZ for this update.

Ishani's Utils <10:00 PM CST - schu>
Ok, hopefully the Powermanager is on its way, until then, here is version 1.0a (26k) of Ishani's GTA2 Saved Game Editor.  Still no work from Ishani so I'm not quite sure why ishani.com disappeared off the face of the earth.  If all goes well Ill have version 1.1b of the Saved Game Editor and version 1.0a of the Powermanager available for download in tomorrow's news.

Gameboy GTA Updates <10:00 PM CST - schu>

• GameBoy Bug
  sW sent in the following about a Gameboy GTA bug that allows you to walk well above street level making it very easy to walk above water, cops, etc.:

  "I noticed in GTA for Game Boy there is a serious bug.  There is a hospital in North Banana Grove in Vice City.  There is a tiny flight of stairs on the North end of the hospital.  Climb them.  Walk over the edge of the building.  Once done you can walk almost anywhere in the city, even water!  Cops can't even get you.  You are above the ground.  You can go down almost any flight of stairs to return to normal.  Very useful for avoiding the cops!"

• Gameboy Screens
  Blake sent me a few screens from Gameboy GTA:
  
  

GTA ICQ Activelist <10:00 PM CST - schu>
n4cer sent me this update on an ICQ GTA service he set up:

"If you're using ICQ 99b, then join the GTA ActiveList (if you have the plugin). Set up by me, with Weirdo (David Lees) as my co-host, it's the first time anything like this has been attempted. So, if you're interested, DL the plugin from www.icq.com/plugins and connect to the GTA ActiveList"

ActiveList ID# 55802209

New GTA2 Review <2:00 AM CST - schu>
Also on CGO is a brand new GTA2 review pulling in 4 out of a possible 5.

Site Updates <2:00 AM CST - schu>
I figured I repeat this message again, just to see if I can get some more response on it:
If anyone out there has the latest version of Ishani's GTA2 Saved Game Editor or his Power Manager please email me. I think I have the latest version of Power Manager but I wanna make sure. I'd prefer the original zip files that were available on Ishani's site. Please don't send the file itself, just send me a quick email saying you have either the Saved Game Editor or the Power Manager and what version you have. I'm going to post them on G! since ishani.com still isn't back up. I originally didn't post them because new versions were coming out so often.

Yo!

Its me again.  Okay, so I have been chilling from the GTA scene for a few months now and it has taught me one thing - how much I miss the abuse, time reduction and all the other crap that running the SACI caused.

I have decided that it can only be a good thing to bring the SACI back - but this time I want some help :)  I need someone with good HTML knowledge that I can trust (I really want a well respected member of the community) to help me run the SACI.  I want to expand it with new GTA 2 sections and some other gaff.  I need a dude (or dudette - that would be sweet) to help with the maintainance of the news section (it'll have REAL GTA news in it as well as my ramblings) and to prepare the new car pages and add them to the PinPoint database (yep - I will finish that fucker off too ;)  I will still be scoring and writing reviews - but they could add their comments as well (yeah, that'd be cool).

So, if you really want to be a part of something big and help pick the GTA community of the ground again then do something great today - enroll with the SACI :)

All email to web@valdez.co.uk if you would be so kind.

Cheers
Valdez

www.DMA.co.uk <6:50 PM CST - schu>
Just in case you hadn't realized by now.. DMA's web site is up and running and features a load of GTA2 stuff.  Lots of the GTA2 stuff is well worth a look, especially the high res concept art and the details on two gangs that never made the cut.  Its all at www.dma.co.uk.

GTA2 Movie/CD Thing <6:50 PM CST - schu>
I got some response to the GTA2 movie being banned in the UK, but most of them were in regards to the GTA2/Moving Shadow available for sale.  I have the two cd set but I didn't buy it, Take2 sent it to me :).  The first CD contains selections from various artists on the moving shadow label, it is NOT a direct copy of the GTA2 sound track, although it does have a lot of good stuff on it.  The second CD contains the GTA2 movie and some GTA2 info.  Judging by the fact that it says £1.99 on the front of it I'm guessing that it may only be distributed in the UK, but I'm not positive.  I'll check into it and see if its available in the US or not.  The actual title to the set is "Moving Shadow 99.1"

The GTA2 Commercial <6:50 PM CST - schu>
The GTA2 commercial seems to be spreading... I never did see it the few times I tried to endure MTV, but I did see it on E! late one night and sW saw it over on Fox.

New GTA2 PC Review <6:50 PM CST - schu>
I just noticed that IGN posted their review of the PC version of GTA2.  I've added a link to the GTA2 Reviews section where you can also find some more links to various other reviews.

Plus2's Banner Rotation <6:50 PM CST - schu>
Jordan has resurrected the banner rotation over at Plus2.  According the Jordan the new banner rotation is quite good and will display different text with its assigned banner.  Its a great way for new sites to get some traffic.  Check the banner rotation section over at Plus2 for details on joining.

Today's GTA2 Nugget of Joy <6:50 PM CST - schu>

• The 50th Token
  I got some good responses to Chris' question regarding the 50th token, here are a few of em:

  Grucza
  "To get the 50th token, download the GTA2 trainer. Once it is loaded into memory, run GTA2 and hold down ALT while pressing an arrow key (this will look around as usual). While looking in any direction, press INSERT on the keypad. You will be teleported to the place you were looking at."

Casey
"I got the 50th token by driving a Stretch Limo up to the roof, and over the gap.  It's not easy, but it can be done."
 
Washu Chan
"There is a way to get the 50th token in level 2, or any token or powerup in fact, but it's a form of mild cheating.  You can use a trick from the original GTA to fly in GTA2.  If you have molotovs or grenades, and jump off of a ledge, you can tap the fire button repeatedly to fly over long distances.  It's best to find and jump off a high ledge, and then use other inclines with ledges to gain altitude by climbing up them while flying and continue off the ledge, while tapping the fire button repeatedly. (If you use the debug mode with map coordinates (C button), you will see that it is possible to get up to 7.0 in height.  At least, I've gotten up to 7.0 in height. It may be possible to go higher.)  I have tried this in European version 9.6, and I'm not sure if it works in other versions.  I do believe it will work, because I "think" I received the Teleport bonus this way.  I should have taken a screenshot, but alas..."

Announcements <6:50 PM CST - schu>
The GTA Bomb Center has moved to its new URL at gtabomb.byinter.net.  Please update any links or bookmarks since the old URL just goes to a blank page.

Project News <6:50 PM CST - schu>

• GTA Aus Lives
  I wrote Byron about the current state of GTA Aus and how things on going with the recent problems GTA Aus ran into, here is his response:

  In the end I just copied the map over to a new map... Without the objects. I'm going to redo them, and also the police routes, because I'm adding a LOT of new sections to the map. I've also had to redesign some of the major roads, as I had too many traffic light intersections, hence the new cop routes.

  The map is just about done though, the missions are kinda getting there (I'm not writing the missions though, Zero is), and 99% of the style file is done.

Community News <6:50 PM CST - schu>

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  Tiffany The Gun Runner / Car Dealer
  GTA1 editing is still alive & well! I've added a 9MM Uzi and a Shotgun to the Graphics page, I've added 20+cars to the Car Depot, and I've updated the Special... Thanx page!
   
• gta fire burners
  Updated
  gta fire burners has added some new pages, links are up, and so are the message boards.  There will be a GTA art page as soon as people send in their art.  I will be adding an html editor to my site for the sites I am hosting.  Hosting is still going on just email me.  Lastly there is information on the death of my project london 2001 and the birth of a new project London 2002 for GTA2
  

Site Updates <6:50 PM CST - schu>
Well after we finished all 23 pages of that damn report it was 4am.  I then worked on bs sociology graphs until 6am and by that time I was in no condition to stand up, much less type an update.  Now that its all over, here is the update and shortly I hope to have the Power Manager and the Saved Game Editor posted for download, at least until ishani.com reappears...

GTA2 Movie Banned In The UK <11:59 PM CST - schu>
Apparently the GTA2 film was going to appear in a few different cinemas around the UK but the movie was banned before it could appear.  I'm not sure why really, the short movie isn't any worse than your standard action flick.  Thank to TJC who wrote in about this and also did this great write-up on the banning:

"I do know if you have already been informed of this but the preview movie for GTA2 to give a taster of what to expect from the game has been BANNED from UK cinema's which it was set to be shown at! The reason given for the ban was that the video was TOO SICK! The main reasons probably being the brutal (And quite frankly hilarious!) beating of the guy in the basement, the pill munching in the car and the shooting of the driver and then proceeding to spit on his dead body. The fully uncut version of the movie lasts a whopping 8m 25sec compared to the piffling version of about 2 minutes which is on the 18 rated PSX version. I'm sure allot of you will have downloaded the video (A massive 159meg!) however if you have not or even if you have save time and money, Rockstar in conjunction with 'Cutting edge' artists and labels have made it available on a Drum 'n' Bass double CD entitled the moving shadow compilation 99.1, the CD is only £1.99 and not only contains the full uncut version of the video but also around 1hr 30mins of music mixed by Timecode, featuring various artists including Ez Rollers (Some of the tunes feature in the game). The amazing thing is the PSX version is 18 rated and the video has been cut down considerably (I do not know if this is the case on the PC version) yet the music CD version has a practically impossible to read (It's so small) Parental Advisory logo imprinted on the cover and is openly available for anyone to purchase. This is a bit strange considering the over the top outcry of the content of the video, I guess music videos must be exempt from classification. I would also like to say does anyone else out there feel that GTA 2 has been toned down considerably from it's previous incarnations? e.g. No bloody tire tracks, no blood splats from dead bodies etc. Is this the case with the US copy? Is it possible that the BBFC were aiming for a lower age rating this time round (15) ?"

Gameboy GTA On Nintendo.com <11:59 PM CST - schu>
Lots of people have been checking out nintendo.com apparently and a few of em let me know that a Gameboy GTA page has been added to their game listing there.  Check it out fo yo bad self.  Thanks to Sam, Hell Barto, sW, and Dan for sending me email on this.

Devastation <11:59 PM CST - schu>
Addict has created a sort of neo-mission for GTA2.  Its not really a mission but rather a parking lot packed with vehicles of destruction.  To try it you first have to download this file (14k), read the instructions contained in the readme file, install it, and then have fun.  Pay special attention to the fact that you have to start on Level 3 which for some people will require the use of a cheat code.  You then follow the instructions in the file to a parking lot packed with 9 tanks, 3 armed Land Roamers, 2 regular Land Roamers, and 2 Pacifiers.  Thanks to Addict for this file.

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <11:59 PM CST - schu>

• Cranes 'N' Cops
  SW sent in this tip on a crane tactic:
  

Here's a tip....When you are by the cranes with cops after you drive up to them and make them get out of their car.  The crane will pick it up and give the points to you.  Its pretty cool....

I actually meant to post this tip awhile back... So far one of the best tactics around if you want to get the cops off your ass.  No only do you get police bribes for each of the cop cars that gets dropped into the crusher, but you also get protection from the gang running the crane if you have a good level of respect.

• Gimme Dat!
  This is sort of a neo-nugget of joy.. Its not really a tip so much as a cry for help.  Chris is having a bit of trouble getting to the 50th token, if you have a reply to this, send it on in and Ill post it:

  HELP!!!

  My buddy managed to get 48/50 tokens on Level 2, and I managed to track down the 49th, and we can *SEE* the 50th!!  We've both spent hours trying to get it.

  The token is located on top of a building which is just 'east' of the Redneck-end of the catwalk between Zaibatsu and Rednecks.  There is a U-turn in the catwalk, just before it starts going uphill.  There is a ramp on the right of it, which jumps you straight into another building.  The next block east has a large building on it, and there is the GTA2 token right there, one more block over.

  Following the railroad tracks a bit brings me to a pathway over the tops of a few buildings, to a Moltov Cocktail Kill Frenzy.  There is a jump that is about twice as far as I can jump, which would put me right at the token.

  We've tried from every angle!  Could you post this on your site and see if anyone has any advice?  We're going crazy.

Site Updates <11:59 PM CST - schu>
Lets all pretend it was Wednesday when I posted this...  I didn't get out of the marketing thing until 12:30am and then I was forced to screw around until 3:30, which means I probably won't finish this update until 4:30 or so.  This probably shouldn't be a huge deal since Thursday's update will also be running super late since its the day before my case report is due and since its not done yet.  I'd guess Thursday's update will happen right around the same time since our third team member isn't showing up in the computer lab until 11:30 PM to help us wrap it up.

To use the PC cheats, first change you name to GOURANGA, then change your name to one of the cheats below.  After entering the cheat you can then change your name to another cheat (to enable multiple cheats) or you change your name back whatever you like, that way your high scores list has your name on it instead of a cheat.

Gameboy GTA Info <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Stanley sent in some information on the Gameboy version of GTA.  He also mentioned that he is working on a GTA guide that will cover all the different formats with details on all the missions, secrets, tips, and information:

"The first two levels contain all the missions that are in the PSX version of GTA...

The other two in San Andreas contains only 8 missions each and you only need 100000 and to get Mission Failed/Complete on all the first telephones.  But each telephone gives you a very long mission.  I haven't cleared level four so Vice City is left to look at.  

There are no Kill Frenzys and I haven't found the Flamethrower but all the other items are in the game.  All the cars are in the game but they appear less often."

Announcements <8:30 PM CST - schu>
chriZ informed me that GTA Zone is up and running at www.gtazone.de.  GTA Zone is an excellent German based GTA site.  chriZ also mentioned that they are currently working on an English version of their GTA2 trainer.  If you speak German you can grab the German version right now from their download section.

Community News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Burnout
  Many of you may have noticed that GTA2 Burnout has not been updated for quite a while. I have made the decision to leave the GTA scene altogether, as school is becoming too important, and updating, archiving and uploading is taking up much of the time that could be spent working. GTA2 Burnout has been the most successful site I have ever created, with the visitor count nearly reaching 40,000 people. Thanks for your support and I wish you all luck in your endeavours, especially to those of you who are beginning to edit GTA2 on PC. Once again, thanks. Note: The site will remain for a while until I remove it, and if anyone wants to adapt it, please feel free to get in touch.

• First GTA2 Car In The Showroom
  Azz haz modified his AR6 taxi and imported it into GTA2.  You can grab some GTA2 shotz of the car in action over at Get That Azzhole.  Currently the car doezn't have any deltaz becauze everything hazn't been worked out yet in the delta department.  Itz pretty imprezzive to see the break neck pace the GTA2 editing scene is moving at, but I guezz it helpz that this is a sequel that sharez more than a few commonalitiez with its predecezzor.

• Exc0r5 Opens Up Shop
  Exc0r5 has opened up a GTA2 site on palette hacking among other things.  You can find it at www.zaynar.demon.co.uk/gta2
   
• Map Decoding In Progress... Please Wait...
  Sam Jessup, creator of the first GTA map editor, is not just sitting on his hands while all this palette news is flying around.  Sam has been studying the latest on the palettes and is working to decode the GTA2 maps, which of course may lead to a GTA2 map editor, assuming everything goes well.  Sam also sent me this screenshot (145k) of some of the style file contents.  Sam used a small program he knocked together in order to test out viewing the style files.
   
• GTA2Mods DS Released
  Nick Jones sent the latest on the GTA2Mods Development Suite.  You can download GTA2Mods DS and get the latest news on it over at GTA2Mods:

  "Development Suite V1.0 is out!
  

  GTA2Mods DS is acts as a front end for all editing in GTA2. The main purpose for DS was to create a program to launch other registered GTA2Mods programs from a handy menu, and launch GTA2 from it.  Since that first idea, DS has grown in to a much larger program, consisting of many features to help editing of GTA2 files. Full list of features include"

• Recognition and running of all GTA2Mods programs
• ToDo Lists
• Plugins Menu (up to 15 programs)
• Run various Windows programs
• Run loads of websites in your chosen web browser
• Shrink/Expand menu
• Integrated FAQ"
   
  
• Style Shots on Plus2
  Jordan just informed me that Plus2 has some nifty shots of the Style file, all zipped up and ready for download.  He scoured all the Style files and tried to post the most interesting stuff.

GTA2 FAQ & Rockstar Winamp Skin <11:59 PM CST - schu>
Nathan has updated his popular GTA2 FAQ and he has released an updated version of the Rockstar Winamp skin.  The latest release of the skin now includes the playlist editor.  You can find it all at FAQWorld.

Email Questions <11:59 PM CST - schu>
I just though I'd address a few of the email questions that I seem to get more frequently:

• GTA2 - To 3D or not 3D?
  From what I understand from the emails I've been getting and from the requirements on the box, GTA2 requires a 3D card, but it doesn't necessarily have to be at 3Dfx based card.  As long as it supports Direct3D it should work, and 99.9% of all 3D accelerators support Direct3D.  I've gotten emails from people who claim to have run GTA2 on machines without any Direct3D support, but this seems to be a very limited amount of people and I'd suspect that most of them have video cards that support Direct3D and they just don't realize it.  Either way, I wouldn't risk it if you don't have a 3D card, or try the demo out before you buy.  A simple, cheap, 3d card solution would be a Voodoo1 or Voodoo2 based add-on card or a Banshee based 2d/3d card.  By now most of those cards should be pretty cheap, and even cheaper if you pick up an OEM version off the web somewhere.  On a random search on shopper.com and pricewatch.com I found a Creative Labs Banshee Blaster for about $50 and a Voodoo2 based card for about $60.  Personally I would go with a name brand so you get some type of driver support, and if you really want to get into it you should check out some reviews to be sure you'll be happy with your purchase.

• GTA2 Maps
  I've also been getting some mail on finding scanned versions of the GTA2 maps on the web, I guess that's a sign that I should scan em in and add them to the site, but until that time you should check out Nice-One or GTA2 More Extreme for the maps.

Today's GTA2 Nugget of Joy <11:59 PM CST - schu>
More meat than a Chicken McNugget, but then again, what doesn't have more meat than a Chicken McNugget?

• Multiplier Mayhem
  Keith sent in the following on working the save game system to your advantage:
  

  "On the second map, every time you start off, grab the multiplier on top of the clocktower in the mall where the scientists are.  If you have enough cash, get the multiplier save, quit, start, get multiplier....so on.  This should help get the target score much quicker."

Site Updates <11:59 PM CST - schu>
I got a few different emails with claims of new GTA2 cheats but I'm going to test em out before I post anything.  Currently most of them look bogus but I'll at least give em a try.  One quick tip when submitting bogus cheats... At least make them the correct length.

GTA2 Editing - STYLE Breakthrough <7:45 PM CST - schu>
I just noticed over on Azz'z board that Exc0r5 posted some images from the STYLE files.  If that interests you then you should check out Exc0r5's earlier post on the topic.

Site Updates <7:45 PM CST - schu>

• Its been a very slow GTA news day today, but I'm guessing you can probably see that for yourself.
• Just a few links of interest.  The first I saw over on Azz'z board, its an article about BT's plans to reduce Internet phone calls.  The second one is a total bs article about how the Brazilian police are trying to link some guy going nuts in a theater to the fact that Duke Nukem 3D had a theater in it.  Sound ridiculous?  At the end of the article they also happen to mention the fact that they guy was on drugs at the time and was mentally ill.  Its like saying, "Well, Duke Nukem 3D had a gun in it, and this guy has a computer and killed people with a gun, therefore Duke3D made him do it.  He also was on drugs and was mentally ill, but we don't think that that had anything to do with it"  If I ever get killed in a car wreak will someone please inform the authorities that I drove like a maniac well before I ever played GTA.   

GODOFGTA (all weapons and max ammo)
RSJABBER (invulnerable to bullets etc)

You can find the other GTA2 cheats for Playstation, Gameshark, and PC in the GTA2 Tips & Cheats section.  Thanks again to Dan for the cheats.

Editing GTA2 <10:00 PM CST - schu>
Nick joined in on the Style file editing and sent in his findings along with a screen shot:

I kinda caught the `RAW files piece in the middle of it all, but I renamed the bil.sty file bil.raw opened the file using the numbers posted on G! and I thought Id send a pic showing a little of what it shows, seeing as none have been posted yet.  So here it is, with the church tiles showing.
 
For those of you that haven't tried it , you might be interested to know that the text used in the game is included in this file, unlike the original GTA.

Community News <10:00 PM CST - schu>

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  A few days ago, I was told that GTA2 can be played without a 3DFX card. I borrowed & installed GTA2, and after it was fully installed, I ran the GTA2 manager, and sure enough, it said sumthin' like, "You don't have the proper graphics software". You can't always believe what you read. Anywayz, until I go out & get a 3DFX card, GTA1 stuff will be the only stuff going up on my site. Speaking of which, for those of us still playing GTA1, new cars, new mugshots and new files are up on my site!
   
• JH4C
  Well, after consultation with other web masters, a few frantic emails, and a huge stroke of luck, I have now moved!  I assume my new address will be a long-held and permanent one, so link directly if you'd like to jh4c.niteshade.net - if you'd rather play safe and be prepared for future updates and movements link to i.am/jh4c

  The hacking guide is still running well, and although overall the hits have dropped since the first week after I posted the hacking guide, I'm hoping that with the new sections I will now be able to complete, coupled with all the new features I'll be able to include with the server toys now at my disposal, I'll be able to get myself back into the 50-a-day bracket again!

• GTA Place
  Due to the response from the announcement that I am shutting down GTAplace I have decided to re-open the site. The new site is only just designed and I would appreciate any response from people about the new look. The new site will be completely new and because of that if anyone has any new info or files please send them to me at  files@theGTAplace.co.uk.  The new sites address is www.theGtaPlace.co.uk  I will hopefully have the site finished within the next few weeks so please bear with me!

• Fingal's Cave
  Hey, this is Fingal's Cave. In case you hadn't noticed, the Tournament was a monumental flop. I just didn't have the time to put into it. But Simpsons GTA is still going, and I have started a small site for my thoughts on GTA2. I've moved them to my new URL at www.fingalscave.co.uk.
   

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

Aza's GTA Underworld

GTA2 Vids <6:00 PM CST - schu>
I thought I'd give a quick mention about something I recently posted over at BBZilla.  The intro movies from GTA2 can be played directly off the cd using the Bink tool.  The Bink tool will also allow you to play Smaker videos which a lot of games use, including GTA.  You can get the util from RAD Game Tools at www.radgametools.com.

GTA Gameboy Shot <6:00 PM CST - schu>
Turns out that shot I posted yesterday was touched up a bit :).  Blake sent me the original (36k) and the following message on what he changed in the shot I posted yesterday:

I checked out G! and GOURANGA! today and noticed that you posted the GTA GameBoy pic I sent in. Well, I don't know if I forgot to tell you, but the pic is not an actual gameplay shot. I made it on my Paint program by combining all the GTA GB screens. I added the blood, tire tracks, took away the star symbol from the pager, and totally made up the text that appears on the pager. The pic enclosed is the pic I got the background from, and the other pics can be found @ pocket.ign.com. The Gouranga group is just 7 copies of the guy in white, the cars are copied, etc.

GTA2 Editing <6:00 PM CST - schu>
Ok, here is that shot I wasn't able to post yesterday.  This should give you an idea of what settings Respray is using in his quest to edit the style files.  For more info, see yesterday's update.  You might also want to check the latest talk on this topic on the message board at Get That Azzhole, and once you're done there you might as well hit BBZilla :).

Today's GTA2 Nugget of Joy <6:00 PM CST - schu>

• Wang Warning:
  Brian English sent in the following about being busted after finding all of Wang's cars:
  

  Just a tidbit I learned the hard way playing GTA2... I got all eight Wang's cars, and saved my game right before I went on a very satisfactory tank rampage.  Due to getting busted without a get outta jail free card in my possession, I restarted rather than lose my 8x multiplier.  When I went back to Wang's, all eight cars were gone.  The numbers were still lit up, and when I went to where I had found car #8, it wasn't there... so, enjoy those cars while they last. :(

Site Updates <6:00 PM CST - schu>
That's all the updates for now... I pulled an all nighter to study for an essay test last night so I think I'm pretty much done for the day... 30+ hours without sleep = nap time...

GTA2 Editing <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• More on the style file RAW topic:
  Respray is still working on viewing the style files, here are the latest developments.  Grr.. Never hit the Empty Trash button until you really mean it.. I just trashed the shot respray sent me.  Hopefully I'll have it by tomorrow so I can post it.  Its nothing major but it should help a little.:

  "A few days ago I sent in the information about opening the GTA2 style files as .raw files. Everyone (almost everyone) on the Get That Azzhole message board is working on getting it to display properly, and we're making progress...

  We can now view the image, with everything in the right size, right place, etc.  But we need to get the colour palette and header size.  THEN we can try our hand at editing.  I've attached a file with the option to use when opening the wil.raw, to view it, you need PSP 6 - as Paint Shop Pro 5 can't handle files over 16000 (roughly that) pixels high.

  So, yeah, we've got size figured out (quite amazing - I'm surprised we managed without any help from DMA or Rockstar or whoever made the damn things)

  Anyone who want to help with palette or header LOG OFF NOW AND GO TRY IT. Please. Hehe."

Announcements <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Frenzy is a nice new site that just recently went online.  It has lots of GTA2 information with visual aids to boot.  Get over to www.bud.co.il/gta2 and take a look.
• Will is starting a new GTA site called Northern Ireland GTA.  The site is still under construction but he hopes to have the cars page up by this weekend.  Will is also going to be starting work on a Northern Ireland based map.  You can find the new site at grandtheftauto.nireland.co.uk.
• Jman is still looking for cars to post on his site.  Check out Jman's GTA Page for donation information.
• Andrew set up a multiplayer GTA2 chat room and forum on his site.
• gta fire burners' mailing list is going to be sending out daily updates with news and possibly files.  Get over to their site to sign up.

Project News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Saved Gamed Editor Update:
  Ishani has made a few more fixes to his popular GTA2 util.  The only problem is that I can't seem to get to Ishani's site today.  I'm guessing this just a temporary problem, so if you cant get there today, try again tomorrow:
  

"There is a small update to SVGE (to 1.1c) on www.ishani.com/gta

There was a problem occurring on some machines (mainly win95 I believe) that would get the user to the splash screen but clicking on either 'continue' buttons would just quit the program. I've fixed and tested this version on a couple of peoples' machines and that bug is now fixed. If you were having that problem, please download the new version."

• GTA International:
  Ryan Graham is looking for some help with a project he is working on:
  

  "I am looking for someone to help me with a game that I am creating. It is called GTA International, you can play levels from different countries etc. and lots of stuff. But I'm finding it a bit of a task doing this with only a few people helping. I would be grateful if anyone would design & create a map in 'The Games Factory' and please send it to me. Remember to include the name of the country!"

Community News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTASVT2
  "The GTASVT2 has reopened yet again.  We now are a complete site with over 7! updaters. There are seven updater at our site this meaning that there are bi-daily updates.  There are also 5 exclusive cars made by GtaThug over there so get over there and check them out. Also feel free to submit your cars."

• GTA2 More Extreme
  "I've posted a GTA2 Commercial that's been seen on the TV a couple of days ago, since I was too lazy to send schu an e-mail about it. But anyway I've converted the Commercial in Real Audio format so you can download it, its only 600kb so its worth the download. You can download the movie on the Movie Info section. I've also added a few new sections too last week, there's now a GTA2 cheats section which has got cheats for every console, I've added a Maps section where you can view the maps of the city's which you got when you bought the game. They are in very high quality so you can zoom in pretty deep to see all those streets. Another thing I've added to the site is a brand new intro which is pretty cool, its got music from Moving Shadow and sounds from GTA2. Teknics will make me a message board for those who have Problems, Questions, hints, cheats etc. but for now you can e-mail me with your problems at: nofear@niteshade.net thanks for visiting and sending me comments that GTA2 More Extreme kicks ass :)  "
   
• GTA City
  "The new design has been launched at GTA City! The site has undergone a big update on content, design and features. The news is now updated a lot more often and will, hopefully, become a popular news source. The old gtacity.findhere.com address might not work for roughly one month, but GTA City can be accessed from gtacity.hypermart.net - please change all links and bookmarks! All the problems I had that stopped me launching two weeks ago have now been fixed and everything is working perfectly. So go and check out the new design now!!"

 
New GTA Sites <8:30 PM CST - schu>

GTA2 Frenzy

Northern Ireland GTA

 
Site Updates <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• I just realized that GOURANGA!'s birthday is rapidly approaching. GOURANGA! debuted on November 28th, 1997. Yow... That would mean I've been doing GTA updates for almost two years now.
• I've begun archiving the news on a more regular basis to keep the load time of the news page down.  I will typically be leaving only two days worth or news up here before it gets shuffled over to the Old News section.  This should alleviate any page load time headaches some of you have been experiencing.  If the load time is still too long, please let me know and I'll consider dropping it to one large update or two small updates.

Win GTA2 <7:15 PM CST - schu>
Gamespot UK is giving away copies of GTA2, get over to the contest entry page for details and to enter the contest.

New Forums @ BBZilla <7:15 PM CST - schu>
mouse has added two new forums to BBZilla.  The first is a GTA2 Multiplayer Forum where you can meet others interested in setting up a game of GTA2 and the other is a GTA2 Tech Forum where you can post questions and answers to technical problems and such.  mouse is notifying Rockstar and DMA about the tech forum in an effort to spur interest on their part.

GTA2 Quick Loader Beta <7:15 PM CST - schu>
Just a quick announcement that Rhys has enough testers for his quick loader beta test, no more applications will be accepted.

Gameboy GTA Feedback <7:15 PM CST - schu>
I got a few replies for GameBoy GTA owners.  Steve wrote in and mentioned that the controls are pretty bad, and Lex Brown wrote in wrote in with a full review.  Apparently Lex is pretty happy with the port to GameBoy:

It's a great game a LOT like the PC Version with the same missions. The looks are great for the Gameboy and the only things wrong with it is that it isn't busy enough. There aren't enough cars or pedestrians and there isn't enough variety in the cars but apart form that it's a laugh. Killing people is a bit too hard on the little screen but the weapons are all in there (although I'm yet to find a rocket launcher). It slows down slightly when a few dealers suddenly go to shoot you (Gangsta Bang the Angels mission) but just like the PC Version there are some brilliant moments. There's enough secrets and missions to keep you going for ages as well as just shooting everything in site.
 
Graphics : 10/10 Great for the Gameboy Color.
Sound : 8/10 Obviously no speech but the tracks aren't bad.
Gameplay : 10/10 Shooting, Driving its GTA!
 
Overall : 9/10 One of the best none RPG games for the Gameboy. Could be busier but it has been faithfully recreated brilliantly from the PC and PSX.

GTA2 Editing <7:15 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2Mods Development Suite:
  This came in from Nick over at www.gta2mods.co.uk
  

  "If anyone has been keeping an eye on the site, they will have heard of a program I have been creating called GTA2Mods Development Suite (DS). The idea is that it acts as a front end to all editing, packaging and installing of modifications for GTA2. This will make it easy for everyone to get involved in the GTA community.

  For this to be a success, I need backing from the community, especially people who are developing or think of developing an editing program for GTA2, because I want DS to support it. Please get in contact with me - my email is nickjones@eidosnet.co.uk, or check out my new software site at

  www.gta2mods.co.uk/software. The program's beta release will be on the 12th of this month, so please get back to me ASAP."

• GTA2 Registry Toolkit:
  Devil has created a reg toolkit for GTA2:
  

  "I've made a new program called GTA 2 Registry Toolkit which is designed to help people with using the GTA 2 debug commands. It features a easy to use GUI system, it can run GTA2 for you so you can try your changes out right away and it can remove all the cheats for you so you don't have to go fiddling with the GTA2 Manager (It's also a useful feature if you have cracked the GTA2 Manager so it doesn't mess with the debug registry key). If your interested in this program you can download from Section 487 which is the host site of GTA2 Registry Toolkit as you probably know it's hosted by my good friend GTA Jedi who also co-produced GTA2 Registry Toolkit!"
   

Today's GTA2 Nuggets Of Joy <7:15 PM CST - schu>

• Burn Em Up:
  This was a famous GTA tactic that cHoZeN! has modified for use with GTA2:

  "I know a great way to kill a lot of cops.

  • Make sure you have a flamethrower
  • Get a car, and park it before an alley.
  • Blow your car up.
  • Kill and destroy around until the cops come.
  • Take your position in the alley close to your car.
  • The cops start running to you, but before they jump over your car use the flamethrower to burn them.

  
  The cops will never get you !!!"

• Ramp Tip:
  sW sent in this on driving up ramps that are usually inaccessible:

  "I don't know if anyone else noticed this but some ramps you can't drive up, I have found a way you can.  All you do is hold in space bar until you reach the top of the place the ramp leads to.  Very useful if you want to explore places using a car.  I saw there was an area named Cop HQ....There is no way to get in through the front door...but there is from a ramp on the west of it.  There are tons of cops....some armed and some not...just like a gang.  I don't know if anyone else knows anything about them but I thought it was worth it to share."

• I added a GTA2 cheat section
• I updated the GTA and GTA London cheat sections
• I added Game Shark codes to all the cheat sections
• I finally got around to adding the Playstation cheats for GTA London
• The GTA2 cheat section has a full listing of Playstation, Game Shark, and PC cheats along with a few of the cheat files that are out there.  Currently there are only 4 known cheats for the PC version of GTA2, but I'm working on getting some more.
• I updated a few aspects of the GTA2 info section (mainly the info on weapons and requirements with a few other tweaks here and there)
• I finally added a GTA2 link on the nav bar under Reviews.  The GTA2 reviews section features GTA2 previews, reviews, and articles.
• I sort of updated the GTA2 FAQ, mainly I modified it, although Im debating whether I should nuke the FAQs or not since I cover most of it in the Info sections.
• I added a BBZilla link to the message board section since there is a recent movement to make BBZilla the main GTA scene board and because I have no idea when or if Ill get around to putting a message board up.
• I still haven't gotten around to archiving the GTA2 Nuggets of Joy, but I will eventually get to that.
• I also plan on getting the Links section back into shape and I plan on getting the Chat section up and running.  I finally found what I was looking for, although I'm not 100% sure how it will work out.
• Now I'm going to bed since it just hit 8am, be sure to check out Friday's update if you haven't already.

GameBoy GTA <8:20 PM CST - schu>
While perusing the new Rockstar web site I noticed an event on their November calendar.  According to the calendar, the release date for GTA on Color Gameboy is November 15th.  From what I've heard its already available in the UK, so I'm guessing that release date applies to the rest of us.

GTA2 On TV <8:20 PM CST - schu>
Both KT and Malkavian saw the new GTA2 ad on MTV.  I guess I'll have to force myself to watch MTV to see the ad.  Malkavian said he saw the the ad a total of 5 times in 20 minutes.  The ad shows a few scenes from the GTA2 movie and some flashes of gameplay.

GTA2 In London <8:20 PM CST - schu>
Spip sent in this bit about finding GTA2 stickers stuck around London.  I've also heard similar reports from NYC:

"I was recently in London, and all over the bins and lamp posts on the Totenham court road, there are small stickers which say:

Steal this Game - GTA2"

It appears as if Rockstar is defacing public property all over the world :).

GTA2 New Years? / GTA2 Competition? <8:20 PM CST - schu>
Tristan Beard was poking around the new Rockstar site and found the following two announcements that have been mysteriously removed:

GTA2 new year's present:
For PC players, we will be giving away a free mini-level and multiplayer map from this site early in the New Year.
 
Competition:
Expect details of a very special GTA2 competition to appear very soon.

Tristan sent along a screen shot of the news, but the update in question seems to have been removed in the mean time.  I'm not sure if either of these things will happen or not, but its something to keep a look out for.

Gameshark / PSX Cheat Codes <8:20 PM CST - schu>
Jesee Klint sent in a list of the Playstation and Gameshark cheat codes.  I've seen both of them around the web, but I suppose they are worth a repost.  If you are looking for PC cheats, check out yesterday's update: 

Playstation Codes:
 

Cheat Code	Effect
ITSALLUP	Level Select
LIVELONG	Unlimited Energy
NAVARONE	ALL of the Weapons (Max. Ammo)
HIGHFIVE	5x Multiplier
BIGSCORE	10 million Points
NOFRILLS	Debug Mode
LOSEFEDS	No Cops
DESIRES	Max. Wanted Level
MUCHCASH	Money

Gameshark:
 

Cheat Code	Effect
30026348 0001	Invincible
30026349 0001	All Levels
D0024F1C 0000	All Bonus Levels5x Multiplier 10 million Points
80024F1C 0001
80024F28 0009
3002634A 0001	No Cops
3002634B 0001	5x Multiplier
3002634E 0001	All Weapons
3002634F 0001	Max. Wanted Level

GTA2 Review <8:20 PM CST - schu>
Gamecenter has posted their GTA2 review.

The Future of Headline Heaven (Help Wanted) <8:20 PM CST - schu>
Teknics sent in the following update on the new direction Headline Heaven will be taking:

"Headline Heaven which does magic tricks of appearing and then disappearing will be replaced soon by a new site which will cover GTA, GTA2, and one of my faves KingPin. It will mainly be on editing and I hope to host tournaments of Kingpin and GTA2. Right now I don't want to let go too many details and only a select few have seen this site so far. I have been changing it and renovating it a lot since Headline Heaven's all Flash site sort of died off. This site will be replacing www.niteshade.net which currently hosts over 15 GTA/GTA2 based sites. All these sites won't be kicked out though and in fact we are hoping for more people to come sign up. But for right now I am just looking for maybe 4 or 5 people who are interested in updating on a site based on GTA/GTA2 and Kingpin if anyone is interested email me at webmaster@niteshade.net . All the updating is done through a cgi script so only HTML knowledge (and a slight bit at that) is needed."

Editing GTA2 <8:20 PM CST - schu>

• J25 For GTA2?
  mouse tipped me off about a message on BBZilla from Jim Purbrick, one of the original Junction 25 authors.  Apparently Jim is going to investigate the possibility of modifying the Junction 25 map editor to work with GTA2.  You can find the original message HERE.
   
• GTA2 Style Files = RAW
  Respray sent in this update on his findings:
  

  "THE GTA2 STYLE FILES ARE PLAIN RAW GRAPHICS FILES!

  I can display the graphics, but they're joined together and interweaved, but I'm messing around with sizing, the file FSTYLE, as I guessed, is definitely FONT or FRONT.  I will try to work out it's size first - it is only 700 kilobytes.  It's mainly letters, but there are other things in there, so I'm pretty sure it's the frontend's style file.

  The file wil.sty is DEFINITELY for the in-game graphics.  One of the things that stick out most is the explosion graphics, but I can also make out some definite tiles and cars other things.

  The one problem, is that it may use a set 16-bit palette, and that throws Paint shop pro colours off, because this palette may be stored in another file.

  I'm pretty sure that the image width should be 256, but psp doesn't support a high enough image height, which is why it will weave the images together.

  I'm also looking in the GTA2.exe file with a hex editor - seeing if the dimensions are defined in there.

  AND the hotdog van graphics are in there ! And this is the demo style file."
   

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <8:20 PM CST - schu>

• Mission Complete
  Tristan Beard sent in this helpful guide on each levels requirements, this also seems to explain the GTA2 tag questions:

  "I saw the GTa2 Nugget Of Joy from Sparky633 over at Gouranga! - and I thought I'd help you along.  Here is a list of what you get when you complete various aspects of GTa2."
   
  Down Town Sector
  $1000000 - Bonus Level A
  20 Kill Frenzies - Bonus Level B
  50 GTa2 Tags - Bonus Level C
   
  Residential Sector
  $3000000 - Bonus Level D
  20 Kill Frenzies - Bonus Level E
  50 GTa2 Tags - Bonus Level F
   
  Industrial Sector
  $5000000 - Bonus Level G
  20 Kill Frenzies - Bonus Level H
  50 GTa2 Tags - Bonus Level I

• More On Map Mis-Prints
  Teknics sent in the following on some more map mis-prints he found:
  

  "Just read G! and saw about map misprinting I noticed that Xenoton/Zenoton thing as well. But there is a much larger map misprint. On level 2 a whole entire city is not named on the paper map but it is named in the game. This city is Tabasco. I decided to map out tabasco and it is actually about half of what is marked as Redemption on the paper map. This might help out people who get lost easily."

• Wang's #2
  I got a few different replies to Addicts question regarding Wang's #2 car.  A few people sent in the same methods and Stephen found a slightly different means of getting the car.  Here is Stephen's explanation, another explanation from Charles, and a map from Tristan Beard.  Thanks also go out to Mark and Moondog who sent in messages that were very similar to Charles explanation:

  Stephen:
  "Concerning Wang car #2, if you go to the Rednecks portion of the map and go all the way to the upper left-hand corner of their turf, there's a bridge the goes up. From there, follow the terrain to the right, over another small bridge, then off a jump. You should land on a small patch of ground. Parked there is car #2. Also, getting them all in numerical order has no effect on the cars you get."

  Charles:
  "To get to wang car #2 go to the red phone in redneck territory (nw corner of map) and continue to follow the path that led you to the phone east till you reach the jump at the waters edge take the jump with a med. fast? car and slam on the brakes the second you land...... (be VERY careful it is very easy to knock the Wang car into the water rendering it gone for good)"

  Tristan:
  "At the very top right corner of Mobile RV Park, there is a bridge.  Cross it and you will end up on a rectangular island.  There should find a few shacks, the Redneck red telephone, some powerups and a jump at the very right.  Jump off it and you will end up on an island, with car #2.
   
  I also made directions of how to find the Wang Car #2 as a file - "wangcar2.jpg".  It is 54.7 kb."

• Special Agents & TV Vans
  Stephen sent in two tips, one of which has been previously posted.  The TV Van satellite dish tip was posted awhile back, but it bears repeating as it is a very convenient way to find the church/save location:

  "I noticed that when the Special Agents follow you they will always try to pass you on your right. They'll first pull up behind you, then wait a second, and then make a move to your right. They'll do this even if there's no room to pass. Once they do pass, they pull out in front of you, stop, and exit the vehicle. The only time they don't pass on the right is when the road make a right turn, in which case they are inclined to pass on the left."

  "The antenna atop the TV Vans always points to the place where you go to save your game."

First, change your name to GOURANGA and then type in:

GOREFEST for maximum carnage
EATSOUP for free shopping

I also noticed that Mugwum nabbed a few of these from Sam Houser so you might want to get over to Nice One to see the cheats he was sent.  Hopefully I'll have a few more of these soon.

Dreamcast GTA2 Official Release Date! <10:30 PM CST - schu>
GTA2 will be coming to Dreamcast in April!  Finally, a definitive release date.  Thanks to Dan for that worldwide exclusive...

Project News <10:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Quick Loader Beta
  Rhys is looking for beta testers for his new GTA2 util:

I need about 2-4 people to test GTA2 Quick Loader. By test as in test, not fill up hdd space with or disperse a few copies around. Email me if you are interested - rhys@alphalink.com.au

• Millennium Studios
  The Millennium Studios web site is now open:
  

Millennium Studios web site is up and running, of course there will be some improvements! But for now its just fine! Check it out at ms.webhostme.com and when you get the ad just minimize it and it will never come out again. Do not close it! GTA Millennium Studios web site coming at the end of November!

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <10:30 PM CST - schu>

• Collect EM All!
  Sparky633 found all but 2 of the GTA2 tags/tokens in the downtown sector, anyone found em all?
  

  I'm Sparky633 and I recently bought GTA2. Everywhere on the map I found GTA2-tags. When I hit "pause" (F6), I saw that there were 50 on the whole map, so I downloaded the scanned ones, and added the points where the tags are with a yellow dot. I found 48 of the 50. I'm trying really hard to find the other ones, and once I found them all, I'm gonna add to each point a small description (like how to get there, it's on top of a building, etc.) I don't know if the other maps have these points, cos' I didn't play those maps yet. I'm also wondering what happens if you get them all. Maybe something like the "Wang Car Bonus" -thingy. I'll resend the piccy if I've found the other ones. If someone else finds them, please mail me. Of course I'll give credit to the person who found it.
  
  GTA2 Downtown Tags Map

• Waaaaaaaaang!
  Addict sent in this nifty list of Wang locations:
  

  Car #1:
  In southeast Dominatrix on the east side of the freeway there is a crate with a stair on it. Go onto it and jump from crate to crate till you can go up a stair again. Go up that stair and walk a bit further till you're inside a building besides car #1.

  Car #3:
  Go down to the prison till you're at the raised bridge. Then go west till you reach the water side, then go north till you see a jump on your left. Jump it and there's car #3.

  Car #4:
  Go to the SRS Research Center and drive west on the freeway till you can drive into the drainage channel. Now drive west through that till you reach the first slope of the freeway above you. Now turn south and there should be hole in the side of the channel. Go through it and there's car #4.

  Car #5:
  Go to the mall and drive up the stairs till you can drive onto a metal crosswalk that leads out of the mall (high above the ground). Follow it and keep follow those metal crosswalk over the rooftops till there are none left. On that rooftop should be car #5.

  Car #6:
  Get onto the road that goes above the mobile RV camp. When you're near the start of it in Redemption, you should be driving between buildings. In a certain building on the upper side there's a way through (I think it's near a railroad track). Go through that to get to car #6.

  Car #7:
  Get once again on the road described for car #6. Go once again to the start of it. There should be a 180° degree turn in the road at a certain time.  From there on follow the road a bit upwards and you'll see a ramp. Now jump that with a medium speed car and you should land on the rooftops on the other side of the street. Now go west till you see a metal crosswalk. Cross it and there is car #7.

  Car #8:
  Get onto the freeway near Wang's Used Cars. Now go a bit north and there should be a passage way in the elevated part of the road on your left side.  Go through it to find car #8.

  Like you can see I only need car #2. So if anyone knows where it is, please let me know.
   

• Barricades, Oil Slicks, and Killing Sprees
  Scott sent in three new tips:
  

  I've newly discovered more tips that I think most will find helpful.

  In the 3rd level when you've really pissed off the armed forces their tanks 
  will shoot at you and so will the men so here's a tip so you don't get wasted okay what you do is steel some garbage trucks or limo's or any long car and put them in a box formation now quickly blow the cars up and jump in the middle then the blown up cars stop you from gettin killed by the tank rockets and for the army guys as soon ass they jump in the square gun their asses down.

  Something fun to do is go buy some oil slicks and place them on a busy road  preferably a road with three lanes then what you do is put an oil slick in each lane then watch the other cars drive over them and nail each other and innocent bystanders it may not give you alot of points but its funny.

  Instead of doing missions for cash go for the fun stuff, like those little elvis people kill all of them you'll know when you see the "Elvis has left the building" you did it right and then I suggest you use the hand gun or s-uzi machine gun for this but just go around gunning gang members you hate or just the average pedestrian, make sure you have good aim or you're screwed anyways just you a minimal amount of bullets and get the accuracy bonus another is when you kill mass amounts of people you can get the medical bonus each of em give around 35,000 to 45,000 bucks so get all three and they're ya go 115,000 bucks.

New GTA Sites <10:30 PM CST - schu>

Warlock's GTA Paradise

GTA2 FAQ Update <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Nathan has updated his awesome GTA2 FAQ and he has added an online version for your viewing pleasure.  Previously the FAQ was only available in TXT format.  You can check out the update over at FAQWorld.

GTA2 Saved Game Editor <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Ishani has made another update to the saved game editor.  The latest release adds two new functions:

• You can now enable an infinite Invisible powerup
• You can now set how many GTA2 tokens you've collected

This release also fixes a bug when setting respect levels to negative values.  Ishani has rewritten all the respect editing code so it should all be ok now.  You can get version 1.1b of the saved game editor utility and Ishani's excellent GTA2 Power Manager at www.ishani.com/gta/.

Today's GTA2 Nuggets Of Joy <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• More Wang For Your Buck!
  How many "Wang" sub-titles can any one person come up with?  I guess we are gonna find out really soon...  Anyway, Josh sent this one in on the Wang topic:
  

  I've found an interesting way to get the wang car bonus.  I found Cars #1 and #3 and entered them and got teleported to the empty lot.  A little while later I saved my game and quit for a while(I'm having a LOT of trouble beating those missions.) When I loaded the games later I drove down to where the #1 car is found, and lo and behold it was back again!  I got in the car and was taken to the empty lot, but this time I got the Wang car bonus!!  only 1 and 3 were highlighted on the garage doors, but I had all the cars, fire truck and tank!!

• Wang's #1
  This set of instructions to find Wang's Car #1 was sent in by one of The Murhphey's:

  Hello again, I found car #1 in North Dominatrix.  There are a bunch of crates that you have to jump across, then you walk across a catwalk and into a room and there's the car.

Site Updates <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Ahh Wednesdays, possibly the slowest of the GTA news days...  Oh well, at least I'm not sick anymore...

GTA2 DC Release Date <8:30 PM CST - schu>
DC.IGN.com just updated their release date list and GTA2 is on the list, but no solid date is given.  Currently it is just showing a 1999 - To Be Announced date.  I've seen both 1999 and 2000 release dates around at different online retailers.

Ishani's GTA2 Utils <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Ishani is at it again... He has released one new GTA2 util and an update for his GTA2 Saved Game Editor.  The update fixes a few minor bugs and adds the ability to edit the respect levels in the save game.  The new util from Ishani sounds pretty awesome, here are some of the details from his email:

There is a new loader for GTA2, which enables powerful new features in the GTA2 Manager application

When you boot using the Power Manager, the GTA2 Manager application's UI is extended to include editing of the following:

• all debug settings, including all the GTA2 cheats plus about 30 new ones
• start on any map with any car
• all of the car physics and performance using the in-built car editor!!

You can get the update and the GTA2 Power Manager at Ishani's new GTA2 section at www.ishani.com/gta/index.html.  Here are two screen shots of the two tabs that are added: Debug - Physics.

Road-Killers Rendez-Vous Returns <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Olivier Mengué is back, well sort of... Olivier used to update a great GTA hacking site called Road-Killers Rendezvous  The site disappeared and reappeared and now its at a new URL www.multimania.com/dolmen/gta/.  Olivier also mentioned that he has no plans on doing anything more with the site, but he just picked up GTA2 so that may change.

GTA News In Your Inbox <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Just wanted to do a quick plug for a GTA newsletter Sven sends out called GTA News.  The newsletter has been going for awhile now and it will have its own site soon.  Until then you can sign up by simply sending an email to subtogn@svenlat.screaming.net with your email address in the body.  If you're already on the list you can submit an article to the newsletter by sending your submission to emails@svenlat.screaming.net.  Currently the newsletter is on issue 12 and it includes GTA, GTA2 and GTA London news.

Today's GTA2 Nuggets Of Joy <8:30 PM CST - schu>
The information contained in this section of the news is chock full of GTA2 spoilers, so if you want to discover everything on your own you'd better just skip it.  

I'm going to try and compile all the past, present and future GTA2 Nuggets of Joy into a pseudo-tips section as soon as I find the time, but for now, here are today's Nuggets Of Joy.

• Respect + Kill Em Then Kill Em Again!
  Scott sent in two GTA2 tips, the first explains the flashing Respect O Meter and the second is a great tip on getting more ammo from the recently deceased:
  

  In the second level go to the scientists base and start killing them when your respect for them is flashing - they will start to use their best weapons (machine gun & flamer) the same for all the other gangs.

  In the third level when your wanted level is maxed wait for the secret agents to get out of their car and then hit them with your car they then will drop a shot gun and a silenced s-uzi machine gun then wait for the ambulance people to help them then kill them again until you get 99 bullets

• Map Misprint?
  ReNZoR made an interesting observation about the differences between the paper map and the real map:

  I have been playing GTA 2 for over a week now, but have only just 2 days ago got to level 2 (well, city 2 - Residential Sector), and I have found a small mistake between the city and the paper printed map, that comes with the UK version of the game.
   
  If you look at the map and to the Zaibatsu section and look at 'Zenoton', you'll see that on the map it states 'Zenoton' - whereas in the game when you enter that area its spelt 'Xenoton', spelling mistake maybe on the map??

• Who Want's Some Wang?
  Sorry, I couldn't resist that Shadow Warrior line... No map yet, but I did get really nice screen shot and Wang update from Asante (SWGTA) and a short one liner from Andrew on finding car #3:
  

  Asante:
  

  I believe I have more information in regards to the Wang cars teleport thing on the second level of GTA2.
   
  I have found eight cars (so far), sequentially numbered from one to eight. As is already known if you get in one you hear a "yippee", and are teleported to Wang cars. However, entering four cars (not all at the same time obviously) brings up a "Wang Car Bonus" message, and gives you a load of cars, as is shown in the screenshot. This was my second message (having entered all eight cars) as the first one caught me by surprise, and as a result there are more cars (tanks, jeeps, etc) out of shot. Since each of the GT-A cars (as is their name) has a number on the roof, I am intrigued as to what happens when the cars are entered in the right order (I intend to find out).
   
  One other thing the machine from which the shot was taken has problems with transparencies, so just ignore the hatching on the screenshot.  

Andrew:

I found Car #3 In Southwest Belmont. You have to drive on a ramp over the water, right above the prison.
 

Announcements <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA Plus is back online!  You may have noticed in your any recent trips to GTA Plus that it all but disappeared.  Well, its reappeared at a new host, Stomped.  The new URL is gta.stomped.com.  Jordan also said to expect some additions in the near future and possibly a new design.
• Davehart's GTA2HQ has two great new features over at gta2.driverhq.com.
• Last Thursday RobertB announced that he was going to do one final update to Hackenslash.  Devin saw that that update and contacted Robert about taking over the site.  To make a short story even shorter, Devin and Jamie are now co-webmasters of Hackenslash so it appears as if the site is going to be updated once again.
• The GTA Directory has launched a GTA2 webring, you can sign up HERE.
• The GTA London Underground is being redesigned and Daz would like some help feedback from you.  Mainly Daz is trying to figure out what direction to take the site.  Take a look at the site and send an email to Dan on what you think.

Project News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA Aus In Peril
  Byron is looking for some expert advice on a problem that he has encountered.  If you think you might have the answer, please contact Byron as soon as possible:

  "Hi everyone. I'm still having big problems with the GTA AUS map...  They're so bad the DOS version crashes a lot of the time when I start the game frontend, and the Windows version either freezes or simply closes itself... I've discovered where the problem is (I have exact co-ords), it's a rectangular or square shape *about* 8 x 8 squares.  I've tried copying and pasting water over it, but it still crashes. When I did a fresh install of GTA and GTA London and simply copied the files in, it said it couldn't find the (001area000) tag in the FXT file, which was odd. I remembered that in the NYC CMP file at the bottom there were suburb names. I copied these in (using a hex editor), thinking it could be that it couldn't properly tag suburbs to the map which was why it was crashing. No effect. I add the (001area000) tag, and also another couple of 'missing' areas in the FXT file, basically filling in the gaps. Still no effect. Then I copied and pasted the (001areaxxx) tag 50 times, which actually seems to make the problem area about 8 x 8 (it was originally about triple the size)... I tried it another 50, but it didn't seem to do anything that time. I still haven't came across the answer to this! I have a version of the map which works *FINE* in 8 bit GTA for DOS, but it still does the crashy things in Windows (it never used to quit, only freeze, which is a vid. card problem, or was)... It happened on Resprays computer as well when we tested it, so I have no idea what's wrong and it's really starting to piss me off. Btw, I'd prefer not to copy the map across to a new one, as all trees, objects and police routes have been finished. I'm also thinking about making an 8 bit and 24 bit version of the map, here the problem area and it's surrounds have been nuked and where it's all there and working... Sorry for the long announcement, I'm just desperate here for A_N_Y_O_N_E who can help me fix this!"
  

Community News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA Nation
  Just a short note to tell you that the Team Alpha and SVT merger site, GTA Nation, is open at www.gtanation.com or alternatively at gunther.niteshade.net/w23.

  The site contains news, information on how to edit the original game, GTA2 news, cars by Gunther, GTAThug and Rudigrobin, the future hosting of GTA Sideswipe as well as much more. Drop in and send us your files please.

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  Short & sweet for you GTA1 fans: New mugshots, new cars & I've updated my Criminal Prison and Older Car Depot!  I've also fixed the problem people had seeing multiple banners on my site.

• GTA Plus
  I got a new mail address of Jordan@gtaplus.net and GTA + will be getting a new UBB soon. The move to gta.stomped.com was a great move because I get WAY more hits (more than niteshade.net/gta/ which was about 400 a day). I will also be getting an updater script from GTA Thug which will help out a lot. Me and Disaster are just extremely motivated to make the site the best we can, so expect some major changes :)

It is SUPPOSED to have a 15 rating on it (bbfc age rating) BUT due to an error it only shows an 11+ ELSPA rating on the side.  

GTA for the Gameboy is basically an EXACT replica of the original minus a lot of cars (Gameboy can't handle many) also it has lost a lot of pedestrians.  The cops have a tendency of trying to run you off of the road and if you keep trying to move their door will keep on opening and closing but they won't get out.  Thanks to this it is sometimes possible to reverse the cop back a little, turn and drive away escaping.

GTA Wave 3.0 Released <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Adrian informed me that GTA Wave 3.0 is out.  You can get it from the GTA Wave site at gta.telefragged.com/gtawave.

GXTed Released <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Gavin Rudd of Gain Software has released a GXT editor for GTA2.  The GXT files contain all of the messages you see in GTA2.  Not only can you edit the GXT's with GXTed, but you can also adjust the type face to match a particular gang.  You can download it from the Gain Software site under the STUFF section.

GTA2 Debugging Toolkit <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Dave has a new debugging toolkit available over at Section 487.  The toolkit was written by Devil and basically allows you to turn the debug options on and off in a easy to use menu, rather than having to dig around in the Windows registry.

Car Crushing List <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Archmage has compiled a list of items you can get by crushing cars on the first two maps:
 

Car	Item
Arachinio	30 shotgun
B -Type	Invulnerability
Benson	Electrofingers
Big Bug	Armor
Bug	30 machine gun
Eddy	30 machine gun
Futore GT	Double damage
Hachura	15 rocket launcher
Loony	Invisibility
Maurice	30 machine gun
Meteor	Invulnerability
Michelli roadster	30 machine gun
Minx	Electrofingers
Morton	Get out of jail free card
Panto	15 grenades
Rednecks Pickup	Health
Romero	Armor
Schmidt	Health
Secret agent car	Respect
Shark	15 Molotov cocktails
Spritzer	15 Molotov cocktails
Sportster	30 Machine gun
Squad car	Police bribe
Taxi	Double damage
Trance Am	30 Flame thrower
T-Rex	60 Electro gun
U-Jerk truck	30 Machine gun
Wellard	30 Machine gun
Yakuza	Rocket launcher
Z-Type	30 Silenced machine gun