GTA2 - Saved Game Editor Util <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Ishani (ishani.com) has created a utility that will let you edit your GTA2 save game files.  So if you happen to be low on guns, ammo, cash, health, armor, lives, multiplier or powerups when you saved your game, you can now add them with this handy utility (26k).

More On The GTA2 Debug Screens <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Zog is working on enabling the GTA2 debug screens and he seems to be making progress.  Here is the message he sent in:

I noticed that a couple of debug screens were found the the GTA2 manager, so I took a look for myself.  I found them, and started messing around with a few things.  After a while I actually got somewhere.  I managed to make the screens appear in the manager menus.  You can load car files and edit all the data etc., change all the values and a whole load of stuff that I don't understand yet.  After messing with the stuff, I loaded the game.  OK, it definitely does something, the game acted all weird and advanced frame by frame, something was really up with the cars.  I kinda trashed the manager a bit, so I'll do a bit more work and fix the probs and see what comes out of it.

GTA2 In Australia <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Just a few reports in from Australia...  Tristan Beard found GTA2 at Harvey Norman in Ballarat, Victoria and SeNorLoCO found GTA2 at Toys r Us in Sydney.

Back To The Crushers <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Since GTA2 came no one has sent in an updated list of car crushing rewards.  James sent in this update that will hopefully inspire the creation of a full list sometime soon:

I' ve done some playing around with GTA2 on Map 2 : Residential area and I've got a list of stuff you get off the conveyer belt when you crush a car (only tried the scientists crusher.)

Arachinio : 30 shotgun
B -Type : invisibility
Big Bug : armour
Bug : 30 machine gun
Eddy : 30 machine gun
Futore GT : fast reload
Hachura : 15 rocket launcher
Maurice : 30 machine gun
Meteor : invulnerability
Morton : get out of jail free card
Panto : 15 grenades
Secret agent car : RESPECT
Spritzer : 15 molotov cocktails
Squad car : Police bribe
Taxi : double damage
Trance Am : 60 flame thrower
T-Rex : 60 electro gun

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy! <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• Questionable, But Not Out Of The Question:
  I'm not sure about this one, but anyway, egg claims that you can get 5 grand from from crate jumping:
  

  In the 2nd level, somewhere in north east dominatrix, there's a crate with a little slope. From that crate to can jump to another, and from that one you can jump to yet another crate, and so on.  When you've done all your jumping, you get to a building with a chicken wire roof and a car in it, with something that looks like a keyhole on top of it.  Step in the car and you get teleported, without car, to a used cars shop (uncle wangs I think it's called), hear a 'yippee' sound, and receive $5000... after that, the car's gone.

• Down With SCIENCE!
  Robbman doesn't like Scientists:
  

  I don't know if this really a tip, but in the second city, go to the Scientists compound and run over all the scientists you can see, most of them have good weapons, and the cops don't care if you kill gang members (they do care if you kill civilians, so be careful).

Site Updates <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Finally.. I'm almost well and I now have the power of PRESCRIPTION DRUGS to help me.  Thanks to everyone who sent in the get well messages :).  Hopefully I'll have this thing kicked by Monday.

Gameboy GTA Release Date <11:30 PM CST - schu>
Pocket.IGN.com just updated their release date listing.  Gameboy GTA currently shows a November release date.  Many online retailers are also showing the same date so hopefully the date is accurate.

Gamespot PC Review <11:30 PM CST - schu>
I think I mentioned the PSX review at Gamespot, but not the PC review.  You can check it out HERE.

GTA2 Unofficial Screensaver <11:30 PM CST - schu>
Tony Sutton has created a GTA2 Screensaver, here is the update he sent in:

I've just finished making my Unofficial GTA2 Screensaver, featuring some of the greatest screen shots of GTA2 in action. With this screensaver, you can change the effects like split, stretch, diamond, random lines and many more.

You can download it from my GTA2 web site at www.hypertony.co.uk/gta2 under the Files section.

Editing GTA2 <11:30 PM CST - schu>
Zog sent in this message on changing the cities around so you can play them in any order without having to complete any missions:

I found a way (dunno if it has been discovered) to change the order in which  you play the cities in GTA2, go into the data folder, open the file "test1" in wordpad or the like, and you will see the first section is like so:

MainOrBonus = MAIN
GMPFile = wil.gmp  ((this is the map)) 
STYFile = wil.sty   ((this is where all textures, cars, etc. are))
SCRFile = wil.scr   ((this contains the missions))
Description = City 1 Map

The third city, as you can see in the test1 file looks like this:

MainOrBonus = MAIN
GMPFile = bil.gmp
STYFile = bil.sty
SCRFile = bil.scr
Description = City 3 Map

So to change from starting in the normal city simply change all the wil. to bil. and so on for other cities.

Today's GTA2 Nugget of Joy <11:30 PM CST - schu>
Kryptic Kiwi sent in this tip on creating your very own cop train:

This is a little trick that I figured out in GTA2. This makes it worth more to you if you get the SWAT Team after you. But before you start, make sure you have a good gang on your side! Also, it helps to be somewhere near the gang's main hideout.

Start shooting to get the cops' attention. The SWAT Team will probably show up... but as soon as they do, start running BACKWARDS in the opposite direction, just holding the PUNCH button down (the shoot button, but not armed). And just run BACKWARDS anywhere you want.

The SWAT Team will eventually go away, and you'll have a train of cops running after you! They can't open fire in a public place, so they won't shoot. And if you keep the punch button down, they can TRY to get near you, but you'll just knock them back to the end of the line. It's hilarious. Then just lead them to your favorite gang's hideout and watch them be murdered!
 

GTA2 In New Zealand & Australia <11:30 PM CST - schu>
I've gotten a couple of emails from people who cant find GTA2 in Australia or New Zealand.  If you live in either one of these countries and you've found GTA2, please email me with a message saying what city and what store you found GTA2 at so I can spread the word.

Announcements <11:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA City will hopefully be opening on Friday after Aonghus Ó hAirt gets the technical difficulties ironed out.
• The GTA Store has been updated with a new design, lots of additions to the download section, and some background sounds.

Project News <11:30 PM CST - schu>

• Criminal Valley Help Needed
  RobertB sent in the following on Criminal Valley:
  

  When I started with Criminal Valley I was very enthusiastic, but now I just think it's boring. GTA1 is history now. Well as you may have noticed by the beta, CV will add a bit GTA2 feeling to GTA1. I only need one thing first: someone that can finish the map for me. It must be in good quality, if more than one guy is interested I'll make a competition. If noone is interested, CV may be released unfinished, which would be a real tragedy after all work I've done to it. Thank you peeps!

Community News <11:30 PM CST - schu>

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  Long time no update, eh? *giggle* Well, for those of us who still enjoy original GTA, come on over to my GTA Shrine!  Rusty sent in new mugshots of Violent Females, Crow, Thrill Kill, Ozzie Osbourne, Coal Chamber, and Jim Morrison.  I've added quite a few new cars to my Car Depot since my last update I've sent to G!, and I've updated my Links and Criminal Prison!  Also, car creator Patrick Russell sent me this: 

  Hi Tiff, I've just made a new car (but not entirely finished) - the marauder evo 3 and I was wondering if you would upload the attached pic for me on your site for about 5 days or so. The pic contains all 3 evos of the car, dunno why, I just felt like doing it. so mail me back with your answer and if yes the URL of the pic. Thanks, you will receive the full version of this car when I've finished. 

  Check out the car on my front page! =-)

• Hackenslash
  Hackenslash's Last Words
  Ok peeps as you may have noticed Hackenslash hasn't been updated for a long while. I will make a last update soon, and probably upload the last cars too. No Hackenslash will not close, if I can grab a copy of GTA2 I will remake it and continue as before. Until then, if noone is interested in taking over, it will not be updated. So car makers don't send any more cars, they will not be posted.
   
• Hughesies Hut
  Hughesies Hut has been updated, Da cop has added some new cars and some news and I myself have also added some news.
   
  2 New members have been added to the HH team - El Bazo and Stig will now be news guys on the site.  Welcome aboard guys.
   
• Unparalleled GTA
  Hello, This is Calisto yet again. My site being up for only 3 days, I've 
  already had one hundred and twenty some people at my site. But now I have a  challenge for all the car designers out there.  Make some cars from GTA2 for normal GTA and send them to me for UGTA's highest reward if you are the best.  Mail me at unparalelled@hotmail.com
   
• The GTA Directory
  The GTA Directory" has launched the first ever GTA2 saved games section, were you can do and download other peoples saved games, its a must visit site!

New GTA Sites <11:30 PM CST - schu>

The GTA London Underground

The GTA2 Head Quarters

Site Updates <11:30 PM CST - schu>

• Sorry for the late update, but I'm still sick and I didn't really feel well enough to type until now.  You wouldn't believe how hard it is to type when your head is spinning.  Just a tip on being sick... Never watch the Pokémon cartoon if you are sick.  I fell asleep shortly after that and my brain created some fu*ked up dream.  Its pretty hard to sleep with that stuff running through your head.
• Does anyone know for sure if GTA2 requires a 3D card?  I used to think that it did, but I get all kinds of mail that makes me unsure.  If anyone out there is running GTA2 without a 3D card, please send me an email.

Rockstar Pager <7:00 PM CST - schu>
Jeh has posted an update over on Xtreme Getaway about a Motorola/Rockstar deal for a free pager, check it out the full story at www.gtaxtreme.net

Mundeep's GTA2 Configuration <7:00 PM CST - schu>
Mundeep is offering his help to anyone who wants to run GTA2 on a slower computer.  Simply send an email to mverdee@hotmail.com and he will see what he can do.

GTA2 T-shirts <7:00 PM CST - schu>
GTA Fire Burner is checking with Take2/Rockstar to see if it would be possible for him to make his own GTA2 t-shirts.  If the plan goes through GTA Fire Burner is considering doing a contest where fans could submit t-shirt designs for both GTA and GTA2.  I'm not really sure what decision Take2/Rockstar will make on this, but most companies are pretty defensive when it comes to stuff like this.  Keep checking the GTA Fire Burners site for details.

More On GOURANGA! <7:00 PM CST - schu>
Aonghus Ó hAirt (GTA City) sent the following message in about the meaning of GOURANGA!:

My brother [who studies Theology] tells me that a Krishna that used to go around a forest chanting was called GOURANGA and started the whole Krishna's Chanting thing. I'm not sure how accurate that is but he did look it up in some big book so I suppose it probably is.

Site Updates <7:00 PM CST - schu>
Grr... I'm sick... One of my roommates brought in the cold/flu equivalent of the ebola virus when he came back from Chicago and now I've got it.  Luckily I was able to crawl the five feet from my bed to my computer so I could do the update.  I tried to respond to most of the email but most of my energy went into the update, this is very much a cut and paste day.  Wouldn't you know the day GTA2 arrives in this sad excuse for a town I'm sick.  Oh well, hopefully loads of drugs will fix the problem.  If no update appears tomorrow its because I overdosed on vitamin C.  I think I need some GOURANGA! Potatoes :).

GTA2 Cheat Correction <9:00 PM CST - schu>

Yesterday I posted a GTA2 cheat, however I fu*ked it up!  It should have been "muchcash" NOT "muchmoney".  I've made the correction to yesterday's update.  Sorry about that and thanks to KAISER SOSE for notifying me of the error.

GTA2 Replay <9:00 PM CST - schu>
David is working on getting the replay files to work.  If he is successful you will be able to record and playback your best GTA2 action sequences.  You can check on David's progress at Section 487.

GTA2 Reviews <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Jeh has posted three new GTA2 reviews over at Xtreme Getaway.  Get over to www.gtaxtreme.net for the latest.  Speaking of GTA2 reviews, Mugwum just informed me that he has finished his review and it should be up on Gamespy.com in roughly six hours time, keep an eye out for it.

GTA Palette Hacking, Car Crushing & Tanks <9:00 PM CST - schu>
JH4C sent in this update on his new site along with some information in finding the car crushers in the GTA2 demo and the tanks in the 1st level of GTA2:

"I now have my own site (website.lineone.net/~jh4c or i.am/jh4c)with tutorials on how to hack stripes, numbers, etc. onto GTA cars, and as soon as a car editor is out for GTA2 I'll see if it works in that too.

Also, seeing about crushers and tanks, I've found 3 different crushers in GTA2 Demo and first level full game, and 2 tanks on the first level of the full game too.

Each crusher seems to be gang-operated, and the gang's cars themselves seem to give the best rewards, the Z-Type for example giving the silenced Uzi.

Tanks I found were the 2 you appear to have news on already, I wrote down the game areas. Top-left tank is in is Funabashi, right at the edge of the map - as you drive along you'll see a turning to take you ever-so-slightly further west, go in and south and it's there, you have to kill 35 cars in 60 seconds.....

Second is in the bottom-right corner in the Flotsam "Docks". Go into the crusher yard, south to the bottom wall, then follow all the way to the left and it's parked there - kill 60 peds in 60 seconds.

While in KF mode, the tanks have unlimited ammo, then after the frenzy you have a standard ammo counter appear under the "cannon" logo.

Best way to use the tanks seems to be aim behind you and drive over everything - they're MUCH tougher than the regular GTA tanks..... However, if you're going up a slope and something gets in your way the added angle of climbing a car/van AND a hill stops the tank dead "in it's tracks" as it were."

GTA2 Saved Games <9:00 PM CST - schu>
The GTA Directory has opened a GTA2 saved games section where you can download other people GTA2 saved games.  You can find The GTA Directory at www.olliesplace.com.

GTA2 On A P133 <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Smarties wrote in to say that he is running GTA2 on a P133, 80MB, a Voodoo1 card, under Win95 and GTA2 runs fine.  I think the key is the Voodoo1 card.  Despite its age an old Voodoo card can make all the difference.  I was able to pick up a Voodoo2 card, brand new, for $60 after rebate awhile back so I'd imagine a used Voodoo1 wouldn't cost much.  

Another email came in from Mundeep who said he noticed GTA2 ran faster using Win95 on his machine than it did running Win98.  I can't confirm this, but I have heard that older computers tend to run a little faster using Win95 (without IE4/IE5/Active BS installed) than with Win98.  Personally I wouldn't go installing Win95 to up your framerate.

Hungry for GOURANGA!? <9:00 PM CST - schu>

I was registering G! with a few different search engines when I came across two rather interesting references to the word, GOURANGA!.  The first is a Krishna recipe for GOURANGA! Potatoes and the second is an explanation of the word GOURANGA!.  The explanation pretty much mirrors the quote that DMA's Brian Baird gave me a long while back.  You can find that quote in the about section.  Wooo!  How many other sites have their own recipe for potatoes?  I'd wager absolutely none!  I just hope they taste good...

Announcements <9:00 PM CST - schu>

• K@in has opened up a German GTA2 site at www.gta-2.de.  The site is in German but he plans on creating an English mirror when he finds time.  Regardless of whether you speak German or not the site look very nice and is definitely worth a look.
• Lingster's Automobiles is going to be moving to a new address soon.  Its currently at home.rochester.rr.com/lingster/gta, but it will be moving to more spacious accommodations at website.lineone.net/~lingster.
• GTA2 Burnout has started a GTA2 Cheatmail service.  If you join the service you will receive the GTA2 cheats as soon as they are known.  You can sign up at users2.50megs.com/tobe
• David's Section 487 went under the knife and now has a new appearance.
• The Tuckman has made some modifications to his site, Grand Tuckman Association that should make is a little easier to navigate.

Project News <9:00 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Add-On
  KT is looking for help on a new GTA2 mod:
  

  I am looking for help on a new modification for GTA 2 , work will begin the day gta2 editors begin to be released. The setting will be Y2K Salt Lake City, Utah. Your name: Michael Myers , for those of you wondering, who the hell is that ? Michael Myers is from the long running series of Halloween Movies.  You will be out on a killing spree , the date is October 31.  Halloween 2000, all of the Halloween movies take place on ,yep you guessed it, Halloween.  Your mission, kill as many people as possible, you will have few  missions except running from the cops. In this Modification of gta2 there will be many different ways to kill. Since Michael Myers doesn't know how to use guns you do not either. You will have to kill with weird, psychotic, planned out deaths,  traps, etc.  No modifications to the cars, or buildings but pretty much everything else. Also, no more gangs.  The meters will represent, Publics Fear, Public Awareness, and killings. Visit www.gtaplus.net for more info.

• Millennium Studios Returns
  They where around for awhile, and then the disappeared, and now they are back with the following update:

  I am not really sure if you remember us, but we were working on GTA Revenge.  Well, just before summer our company was sold to someone else.  Now we have a new management.  Those guys decided to cancel old projects and start new ones. Well, what can we do!  So, now we are working on a new project GTA Extreme Gamer.  It will include information, printable maps, car info, and all other stuff about GTA. Soon it will be released.  So... here is a little update of what we are doing! And you can post this update (LOOK BELOW) on your web site!  Millennium Studios is back. Now our developers are trying hard to bring you GTA Extreme Gamer. It will include all information about GTA, printable maps, car info, cheats, hints and tips, and mission walkthroughs. It is coming out soon. Keep visiting  www.grandtheftauto.com and gouranga.com for more information! Millennium Studios web site coming REALLY SOON!

Community News <9:00 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Mainframe / Vice City Docks
  The GTA2 Mainframe has been slow for the last few days but now its back again with lots of news.  Finally the release of GTA2 has come and you can all run down to the shops to get your copy.  I have been sent hundreds of options on GTA2 already most of which are saying that the game is excellent and then some say that the graphics aren't that much different and the game hasn't changed. I did notice that on the back cover the images do seem to be very blur???
   
  Anyway get down to the mainframe www.gta-2.freeserve.co.uk
  And send any new to me at jordan@fenetre.co.uk
  
  The vice city docks after many long and hard months has closed down. I had to close because too much work on with different sites and setting up a company wasn't easy. The site is still attracting visitors and I don't know whether to hand it over or not. Already 20 people have asked for it.
   
• Unparalleled GTA
  This is Calisto. I've just awakened from my GTA vacation with a totally new GTA home. Come to Unparalleled GTA for TCs, Mods, Cars, and more. Submit your cars and mods to get awards monthly. We need some TCs and cars for people. If you have a favorite, or one of your own, send it in. The new address is www.geocities.com/troy_meyer
   

New GTA Sites <9:00 PM CST - schu>

GTA-2.de

GTA2 4 U

In the US and Canada it looks like we are waiting another day or so.  My local EB is saying that it will be in tomorrow sometime, and I've heard similar stories from people all over the US and Canada.  By Wednesday at the latest you should be able to find GTA2 just about anywhere, except Walmart because they don't have the balls to put it on the shelf.  You might want to check tonight but I'm guessing most cities will have it by tomorrow, October 26th.

Australia and New Zealand look to be in the same boat as North America.  GTA2 should be available there tomorrow hopefully and at the latest on Wednesday.  This isn't a guarantee but it seems to be the consensus of all the emails I've been getting.

Off the rails... <Part 2> <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Klamy is at it again and has added part two to his "Off the rails" project.  You may, or may not, recall that "Off the rails" is Klamy's story version of the GTA2 developer chat that took place about a month ago, check out part one if you haven't already.  While you're over that way visiting Spray Shop / GTA, make sure you take a look at the Updates section to see what else Klamy has been up to, namely, the Bubby Mosaic that is made up of various Spray Shop Game entries.

Nice-One Updates <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Mugwum has a whole bevy of great updates over at Nice-One, including a file that enables blood in the German version of GTA2, loads of screen shots, and scans of the GTA2 maps.

GTA2 Files <8:30 PM CST - schu>
All of these files are completely untested since I still don't have any way of testing them (Yes, I still don't have GTA2 :) ).  In other words, use these files with caution:

• Registry Files:
  ThaMan found these two files floating around the web the FIRST FILE (2.5k) enables all areas including bonus areas and contains some info on setting different options in the registry.  The SECOND FILE (1.8k) is a registry cheat that turns the blood on, makes you invulnerable, and allows you adjust some other options.  All the details on these files are contained in the NFO files, just open em up with notepad or something.  Nick Mariani also noted that the second file is also available at www.xcheater.com.

• GTA2 Trainer:
  Next up is a GTA2 Trainer (60k) that Respray and FoxHunter tracked down (BIOS Systems actually did up the trainer).

Car Stat Editor Released <8:30 PM CST - schu>
GTA2Mods sent in the following announcement regarding the GTA2 Car Stat Editor:

"GTA2Mods has released the car stat editor for GTA2. Features include

Full editing for all 80+ cars in all 22 areas!
Statistics, showing the fastest car, the heaviest car etc., plus file info
Auto un-write protect
Revert to last save

and much more.  Pop over to GTA2Mods and download your copy NOW!"

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <8:30 PM CST - schu>
Now that some fortunate people out there are playing the full version of GTA2 I can start posting some tips for the full version.  Also, a quick warning, there may be some GTA2 spoilers contained in the following, so if you want to find out everything for yourself you should NOT read the following!!!

• MO MONEY!!! (Cheat Code)
  Both Joe and KAISER SOSE were poking around the EXE file and found a GTA2 cheat that can be used in typical GTA fashion (change your character's name to the cheat you want to use).  Apparently if you change your name to "muchcash" you'll get about $500,000 in starting cash.

• Registry/Debug Cheats
  While we are the subject of cheats I thought I should mention that registry based cheats can be had at Section 487: EHLTB and also at The Room.  Alastair Grant has been hard at work and has finished GTA2!  He has also tested out some of the registry cheats, check out The Room for all his findings.  Here is a short report from Alastair:

  "After completing GTA2 I have had a look at the cheats and stuff.  GTA Jedi has a full list of them, but I am making a list of tested ones as he hasn't got round to testing them yet.

  My present list is at The Room.  There is also a nice little thing called Teleport allowing people to jump from place to place.  I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else on the net, so it may be new to people."
   

• Where's The Tank?
  I got some tank finding tips in from Tobias, Nasha Phreaker, and CHRAA. Nasha Phreaker and Tobias sent in similar messages on the first tank sighting, but Nasha had a little more info:

  "In GTA2 whilst cruising in the train I came past the south-east cranes and I saw a TANK, grab a car and drive the route you would to get to the cranes go as far left as you can and viola there it is just waiting for you to kill 30 people in 60 seconds after that you still have 20 ammo to fire at police or any other law enforcement."

  CHRAA sent in the following on a redneck tank and a screen shot to aid you in finding it:

  "The tank is hidden in area #2 left end in the top I have send you some screen shots [shot1 (356k)/ shot2 (383k)] to help to find the tank."

• DEATH TO ICE CREAM VANS!!! / Redneck Tank
  LL-HeLL sent in the following on an Ice Cream Van bonus and another note on finding the Redneck tank mentioned above:

  "Hi there just wanted to say (and you can quote me on that) the GTA2 KICKS ASS!!  Now, I have two very nice nuggets of joy,
  

  1- in the 2nd level, below the car crusher (far left) of the rednecks, there's a tank KF, under a tree.
  

  2- in the ice-cream vans bonus, you get nothing for killing all 12 vans!!! except for getting into 1st place. and, well, the joy of killing all these vans ;)"

• The Car Crusher Ramp
  sW found a way to drive up the ramp to the car crusher conveyor belt:

  "I noticed a while ago you can't drive a car up the car crusher ramp.  A few days ago I noticed you can.  You have to hold in space bar (or the brake).  Its kinda cool because you could fall off the edge of the ramp into a building."

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

UNPARALLELED GTA

Site Updates <8:30 PM CST - schu>
I'll be archiving some of the news in a short while, sorry for the long load time...

GTA2 Availability <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Judging by the emails I'm getting, GTA2 should be readily available in the UK and Germany right now, and I'd suspect that that is the case for most of Europe.  So far I haven't gotten too much of a reply from anyone in the US so I'm guessing that it will be more readily available here in the states early next week.  I've gotten a few reports from Canada and most of them indicate Monday or Tuesday, but it definitely wouldn't hurt calling your local software store on Saturday just to make sure :).  I haven't heard anything from Australia yet.

Here are a few places online that have GTA2 pre-orders:

• EBWorld - PC $34.99 (Free Audio CD) / PSX $39.99 (Free T-shirt)
• GameDealer - PSX $35.95
• FuncoLand - PC $38.95 / PSX $44.95
• Chips & Bits - PC $44.99 / PSX $39.99
• Outpost.com - PC $39.95 / PSX $39.95
• CheckOut.com - PC $40.49 / PSX $38.39
• Buy.com - PSX $35.61
• Shopping.com - PSX $39.99

The CD mentioned in the EBWorld give away isn't the full GTA2 sound track, at least I don't think it is.  I've got it, its a two CD set, the first CD is a selection of tracks from artists on the Moving Shadow label (mostly some good drum and bass), and the second CD is a CD-ROM with the GTA2 film and some GTA2 information on it.

GTA Gameboy Censorship <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Just figured I'd do a follow-up to yesterday's mention of the GTA's censorship problems in the UK.  Currently they want to give Gameboy GTA a 15 certificate because of the word "dealer" appearing throughout the game.  Rockstar is going for an 11-14 age range and actually met all of Nintendo's requirements for the age range.  I suppose we will have to wait and see what will happen with this.  Check out the full story over at Gamespot UK.

GTA2 Registry Hack <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Adrian Grucza (GTA Wave) sent in the following tidbit on speeding up the GTA2 demo on slower machines by lowering the resolution in the registry:

In an effort to speed up the GTA2 demo on my computer, I found that you can edit the full_height and full_width values in the registry with RegEdit, under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DMA Design Ltd\GTA2\Screen. They must be changed so that the aspect ratio is still correct, so 320 x 200 won't work but 320 x 240 will. I though this might be a valuable tip for a lot of people who find the game runs too slow.

Age Rating for GameBoy GTA <8:00 PM CST - schu>
Ringo sent in this on the age rating for GameBoy GTA:

"Little bit I got from barrysworld, which was ripped straight from CTW

GTA age rating - The VSC is set to make changes to its voluntary age ratings system following the dispute with Take 2 Interactive over the Game Boy Color version of Grand Theft Auto. The DMA-developed game was given a 15+ rating by VSC executives, mainly because it felt the content, despite being toned down significantly in order to gain a 11-14 rating from the body."
 

GTA2 Game Guide <8:00 PM CST - schu>
Gavin Ripley is planning on releasing a GTA2 guide/walkthrough to accompany the GTA and GTA London guides that are already featured on his site, PSX GTA.  Keep checking PSX GTA for more details on the development of the GTA2 guide.

GTA2 Network Screen <8:00 PM CST - schu>
Vinny was digging around the GTA Manager and took a screen shot of the network interface screen.

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <8:00 PM CST - schu>

• More On The Stairs:
  Madman sent in the following on one of yesterday's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy:
  

"For the "up the stairs" comment, when you go up the stairs at the start to get guns, the SWAT vans follow you up and into the little space. I've also had a police car follow me up the stairs to a train station."

• More On The "Other" Car Crusher:
  Madman went on to add in some details on finding the other, non-Zaibatsu, car crusher:
  

"For the car crusher, you go down to the bottom of the map and drive along the highway at the bottom over to the far right side. Then it's in a fenced area. It's on neutral grounds, but in the full version, it's owned by one of the other gangs."

Project Updates <8:00 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2Mode Car Stat Editor
  Nick Jones sent in the latest on the GTA2 Car Stat Editor:

  "GTA2Mods Car Stat editor is very nearly finished, so I need three or four people to beta test it for me. They can either email me or visit the site at www.gta2mods.co.uk. I have upload some more news and a new screenshot."

• Miracle Maker 1.4
  There was a slight problem with upload of version 1.4 of Miracle Maker, but the problem should be cleared up now.  Here are details from <miracle maker>.

  "Big mess-up on my part I'm afraid. I uploaded the wrong version of Miracle Maker, which is why any downloads will read version 1.39 rather than 1.40 and half the stuff I've meant to have done isn't right. I've uploaded the correct version now. You have my apologies."

• Australian V8 Supercars
  Ryan is looking for some feedback on a possible project he'd like to work on:
  

  "Hey everyone, I'm interested in knowing how many (if any) of you are interested in helping with a project I've been wanting to do for a while now. Australian V8 Supercars. I need 2 car makers, 2 texture editors, one sound editor, and one/two mission.ini editors. Also a person to give a bit of help with the maps would be good."

• GTA2: SWAT
  Jake YoMaNdA Mayfield is starting work on a new GTA2 mod called, GTA2: SWAT.  The mod will be a "kind of terrorist / counter-terrorist modification with lots of mission and scenarios."  The current proposal includes new levels, cars, weapons, sounds, etc.  If you're interested you can contact Jake at gepety99@hotmail.com.

Community News <8:00 PM CST - schu>

• GTA Fire Burners
  "GTA Fire Burners is now hosting web sites for free if you feel interested.  Just go to my site, www.gtafireburner.com, for all the info.  Your site address will look like the following [www.gtafireburner.com/name]"
   
• GTA City
  "Thanks to some server error, GTA City will not be able to launch on Friday as expected. The server doesn't seem to want to run my CGI scripts [even though they've been working all week!], and as CGI basically holds the whole site together, I won't be able to launch without them. I will investigate more and launch as soon as possible. [It would take a miracle, but, there is a slim chance I might open at the weekend]"

1 Grand Prize winner will score:

• 2 (two) Motorola Two Way Talk Radios
• A GTA2 branded Club (to protect their own car from being stolen!)
• An enhanced CD featuring DJ mixes and a short film inspired by the game, courtesy of the world's premier drum and bass label, Moving Shadow
• A limited-edition GTA2 t-shirt
• 60 stickers
• An exclusive GTA2 poster
• A GTA2 game of their choice (PC or PlayStation)

6 Second Prize winners (3 PC/3 PlayStation winners) will take home: 

• A GTA2 game of their choice (PC or PlayStation)
• A GTA2 branded Club
• An enhanced CD featuring DJ mixes and a short film inspired by the game, courtesy of the world's premier drum and bass label, Moving Shadow
• 60 stickers
• An exclusive GTA2 poster

6 Third Prize winners (broken down by 3 PC/3 PlayStation winners) will grab:

• A GTA2 game of their choice
• An enhanced CD featuring DJ mixes and a short film inspired by the game, courtesy of the world's premier drum and bass label, Moving Shadow
• An exclusive GTA2 poster
• 60 stickers

Daily Radar's Top 20 PSX Titles <8:40 PM CST - schu>
Next Generations new gaming news site, Daily Radar has put together a top 20 must see titles for the Playstation and GTA2 made the list.  Not much else to say, although I'm not quite sure what I think of Next Gen's latest site.  I guess I'll adopt a "wait and see" attitude.

The Debug Debate / Editing GTA2 <8:40 PM CST - schu>

• Debug Noted In Registry
  This discovery in the registry comes in from Nathan West (FAQWorld)
  

  I was cleaning out the registry and noticed the following key -

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\DMA Design Ltd\GTA2\Debug

  This is nothing there yet, except the default. So it seems the debug screen might be real after all!

• Network Support in The Demo?
  I wouldn't get your hopes up too high, but Tony Sutton sent in the following on his excursion into the GTA2 Demo Manager:
  

  After reading your news on the GTA2 Debug Manager, I decided to use the DOS Edit program to look inside there. And I found something!

  If you scroll down to the bottom of the page of GTA2Manager.exe and then scroll up a little bit more, you should see something like;

  D o w n   A r r o w     P a g e   D o w n I n s e r t D e l e t e .
  (
  M o d e m   N a m e T e l e p h o n e   N u m b e r V o l u m e
  S F X   V o l u m e     C D   V o l u m e
  C D   M u s i c   T y p e R a d
  C o n t i n u o u s 1 4   4 0 0   B a u d 1 9   2 0 0   B a u d 3 8
  4

  Hold on! Modem? Baud rate? And Telephone number?

  That tells me that GTA2 Manager.exe has network support inside it, but they disabled it for the Demo.

 
More GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <8:40 PM CST - schu>

• Cruise Control
  Webmaster sent in this bug/feature that will allow let you rest that acceleration key on those long police chases:
  

  I think I found a bug which lets you use "cruise control" on your cars in the GTA2 demo, but I don't know if it only works on my PC or not. I found it by accident and this is how it seems to work:
  
  Press the accelerate key when in a car and hold it down while you press F6 (pause). Release the key while in pause mode, and then unpause. Your car should be moving forward on its own accord - I find this particularly useful when trying to outrun cops, as if you crash you can accelerate again instantaneously. Its also good if you are just lazy and cant be bothered to hold down the accelerate key 95% of the time you are playing the game.

• Up The Stairs
  This one should be pretty apparent to any who has been playing the demo for any degree of time, but just in case RogueKnight sent this in:

I don't know if anyone noticed but most vehicles in the demo can drive up stairs. I say most because I haven't tried all the vehicles but I have yet to fail with a vehicle. Plus the cops won't try it. Drive into the starting point for instance, grab a weapon and waste some pigs!

From what I've seen, all the vehicles can drive up and down stairs...

• Car Crusher
  Rhys found another car crusher that he thinks might be in the right bottom corner or the middle bottom area of the GTA2 demo map.  He also noted that it doesn't seem to be owned by any specific gang.

Announcements <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• TB GTA has been renamed to TB GTA2 Info and can now be found at its new URL: tbgta2info.8m.com
• GTA Conversions has moved to its new URL at gtatc.cjb.net.
• Tobe has returned from camp and GTA2 Burnout is being updated once again.

Project News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• SWGTA - THE ORIGINAL!
  AHH THE GLORY OF CAPS!  Sorry about that.. The pre-game movie for the original Star Wars GTA is now available at www.swgta.freeserve.co.uk.  The movie weighs in at  12.6MB.  Asante also sent in the following on another SWGTA out there that is not associated with the original:

  "I'd like to clarify that the Episode 1 TC masquerading under the title SWGTA is not part of our thing. The reason for me doing this is because when I read it I got confused, and I don't doubt some others are as well."

• Miracle Maker Update
  Miracle Maker v1.39 has already come and gone because v1.40 was released today.  The latest version includes map properties editing, improved object properties editing, reduced file size, and lots of bug fixes.  Any problems downloading v1.39 should be cured with the release of 1.40.  You can find Miracle Maker at the old URL or the new redirect at www.miraclemaker.tsx.org.
   
• GTA2 Map Loader Toolkit
  Dave over at NightFire Software has released a beta of the GTA2 Map Loader's toolkit.  It has beta versions of the .GMI creator, fileset creator, and .GM2 editor.  Dave says the loader's development is on track and appears to be going to plan, if everything goes well a beta will be released right around November 5th.

• ILLEGALWORKS' Mission Creation Service
  ILLEGALWORKS' is still looking for 3 more members for the service, read on if you have the skills:

  "I have been looking for 5 members for the Mission Creation team and I now have 2. Their names are:

  Kelvyn Bartlett and zog

  I still need 3 more members for the team though because this service really has taken off now!! So, please e-mail me if you can help!"

• Character Portraits By Adam 262
  Adam sent me the following on his character creation service:

"If you want GTA characters made send a picture of someone or something (and tell which character you want it to replace) to Aiozzino@aol.com and he will have your GTA character made and sent to you in less than 24 hours."  
 

Community News <8:30 PM CST - schu>

• @cidBurn's GTA Kill Frenzy
  "The GTA Killfrenzy is BACK!!!!  New design on the page will make it easier to get all the info you need on GTA and GTA 2!!! The new site is located at: gtakillfrenzy.8m.com and on the new site there will be everything you will ever need to know about GTA and GTA 2, such as....cheats, hacks, cracks, tips and tricks, awesome links, editors, patches and anything else we can find to make your GTA experience better so plz stop by the site, and also if you are willing to give us a hand with the site that would be great. Plz send all questions and comments to: webmaster@gtakillfrenzy.8m.com "

• GTA City
  "On Friday the 22nd of October, the new design at GTA City
  [http://gtacity.findhere.com] will launch. Apart from a facelift, GTA City will have brand new content and lots of new features. The news will be updated a lot more often than in the past and I will start posting cars as well. The newsletter will go out that weekend and will also be improved."

• Hughesies Hut
  "Hughesies Hut has been updated.  Da Cop has now added another car page to the site and I have updated the links and news sections.
   
  I also need a bit of help - I am about to install a news CGI script for the site and I would like any volunteers to start adding news to the site. Any volunteers please E-Mail me at:
  newsguyorgal@hughesieshut.freeserve.co.uk "

• GTAFiles
  "I need help with my site GTAFiles. I need a few people who can help me gather the latest files for GTA and GTA2. Also if you would like to provide up to date news for GTA2 that would be a great help. Mail me at ccom3@aol.com for details."

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

GTA Hellraiser

The DMV

Site Updates <8:30 PM CST - schu>
I just wanted to mention something Aonghus Ó hAirt noticed on the whole Billy thing.  If you take a look at the default high scores for GTA, Billy is in the list :).

GTA2 Hidden Chat - Spray Shop Style <6:45 PM CST - schu>
Klamy just can't stand a bland old chat log and decided to pep up the GTA2 developer chat log from a few weeks ago.  You can check out part 1 of 2 of Klamy's work in progress RIGHT HERE!  Definitely worth a look, especially if you were there.

GTA2 Debug Debate <6:45 PM CST - schu>
Looking through the email I can see the subjects lined up on this topic... 

GTA Jedi - "real"
Rhys - "fake"
Nick Mariani - "real"
GiantLeap - "fake"
ChrisB - "real"

fake, real, fake, etc...  After reading them all I'm now under the impression that Black Assassin's discovery is actually REAL.  The thing that threw most people off was the fact that the shots were taken right out of Borland Resource Workshop.  So far ChrisB, Nick, and GTA Jedi have opened up the exe and its definitely in there.  If you have no clue as to what I'm talking about then you should take a look at Friday's update on this, otherwise, here are a few of the messages supporting its existence:

• ChrisB (CBHOG):
  "Following the location of those "secret screens" in the demo manager, I opened the exe in visual studio... and sure enough they are there. I will take a look at some of the code later to see if there is any way to enable it."
   
• The GTA Jedi (Section: 487 EHLTB):
  "After reading your thing about the debug screen hidden in GTA2 manager I decided to have a look around the code and low and behold I found hex code for all of the options listed in the images.  If you run the  GTA Manager.exe with the parameter -debug it launches straight into the game (also happened with parameter -car)  Maybe this mean something?"

• Nick Mariani:
  "Black Assassin is right about the car editor and the Debug menu but I'm not sure that's what they look like, always I'm trying to edit the game or get that little bit more out of the demo so if you still don't believe about this then go into MS-DOS then type in the directory that the demo is in if 
  you don't know how to its. (Using the way I do it)

  cd progra~1\gta2de~1 {hit enter}
  edit gta2ma~1.exe {hit enter}

  then use the page down key to scroll quickly and then you should come across the commands that were on the jpg file and there's your proof.  I've tried to see if I could read it in an easier format but if you use a windows word or like word programs it puts heaps of square O's around and you will have to get rid of each one to read what it says so use the DOS editor ALSO while were on the subject or the debug/car editor you should post up a message unless you have Black Assassin's Email Address ask him to send you a copy of HIS GTA2 manager.exe then test it and if it works on your game then post it on your site you be the first site with a actual GTA2 car editor and a Cheat/Trainer like object (But still give credit to Black Assassin just so he don't get angry) also in the GTA2 cars editor I sent in earlier note there is a car called GT-A1 = GTA1also People trying to make a trainer would be at a nearly impossible task because if you try to freeze a certain set of moving numbers it will crash the game."
   

Black Assassin On E.GXT <6:45 PM CST - schu>
While everyone has been debating the debug screen Black Assassin has been working on the E.GXT file.  Download (89k) his GXT translation and check below for what he has found out so far:

"Hello again I'm writing this time to tell about the 'gxt' file the one just like the 'fxt' of the previous but much more easier to understand but first about the debug and car-edit screens, if you want to see them for yourself use the 'Borland Resource Workshop' and I have given up trying to make it work so ask  on your site for someone else more experienced to have a go!
 
Anyway about the gxt file I removed every other square to find out what was said I found more than I expected to go through it from the top:
 
Vehicles
Credits (most of it removed)
Areas
Name of gangs
Weapons(did you mention grenades?)
Vehicle add-ons (very interesting!)
Pick-up bonuses (including instant gang!?!)
Deaths
Results (this will be seen at the end of a level telling you of your bad deeds)
On-screen bonuses (for doing certain things)
Multiplayer
Gangs talk (some good lines)
'Be strong, Grasshopper! Remember that iron bars do not a prison make... But they cause great pain when wielded by angry Cops.'
 
I learned from this what the gangs name you:
 
Loony - Jumbo             lines start  n
Yakuza-Kosai               lines start  1
Zaibutsu - Gecko          lines start  y
Redneck - Rooster         lines start 'blank'
Scientist - THC-303       lines start  'blank'
Krishna - Grasshopper     lines start  k
Russian- Comrade           lines start  m
 
Also numbers at top of file correspond to lines at bottom if you want I'll send a graphic to illustrate and numbers and letters beside these change the position and colour of writing any programmer out there should be able to create a 'gxt2txt' progrom for mod purposes.
 
After that is the INTRODUCTION which is easily changed next I plan to leave the rest of the gxt file so my hair can grow back."
 

Site Updates <6:45 PM CST - schu>
I've actually still got some email to sift through, but most of those updates will appear tomorrow, so if your update didn't appear today, don't wig out, its just that my brain is the consistency of tapioca pudding and I'm lucky I can even type.  Currently I've been up for well over 24 hours after I pulled an all nighter to study for my Social Psych essay exam.  You'd be amazed at what super charged Kool-Aid mixed with Mountain Dew will do to someone's sleeping patterns.  Now if I can just get Milgram's obedience studies and Asch's demonstration of the principal of construal out of my head I'll be able to return to my semi-normal life.

GTA2 Demo Debug Screen? <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Black Assassin claims to have found two debug screens hidden in the GTA2 manager.  I can't confirm this because I only have screen shots of it and I haven't seen it myself, but some of the names mentioned in the screens are the names of guys at DMA, and the possibility isn't entirely out of the question.  Here is Black Assassin's email and the screens he sent:

This e-mail includes a zip file containing a debug screen and a car editor screen I found in the GTA2 demo manager this must not have been included because of problems or otherwise but what is the extra banner pics found at the bottom of the screen.  Also I think these screens may be activated by a cheat I'm working on it now to find out.

• Debug Shot
• Car Editor Shot

For now I'm going to wait for more proof, until then I look forward to seeing Black Assassin's findings.

LiTtLeThUg's Rant <Part 2> <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Yesterday's rant got some attention and LiTtLeThUg asked that I post this quick follow-up to clear up some things:

All I was trying to say is you cant just believe whatever Rockstar/DMA say you have to look at other things to come to a conclusion. I did this cause I say allot of people on the net being really gullible by believing Rockstar/DMA just cause they have been good to the community. I just wanted to have these people WAKE UP. I also said the thing about you cant believe any features but you should believe with the evidence being should that GTA3D is there. I just wanted to show another side to the story and the side I believe to be true.
 

GTAplace Closes <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Matt is closing GTAplace, here is his announcement:

After continuous problems with the site and a lack of interest anymore GTAplace is not going to be updated anymore but will be left up for resource and for the files available on it. 

http://grandtheft.hypermart.net
 
-: Thanks Matt Inglis

I just wanted to wish Matt good luck on all his future endeavors...

Announcements <11:00 PM CST - schu>

• I finally got Klamy's redirect up and running. You can now use the sprayshop.gouranga.com URL to get to Sprayshop / GTA. If you've never been to sprayshop you're missing out on one the most original GTA sites to ever grace the scene, definitely worth a click.
• GTA2: Seek And Destroy has had a major update.  Get over to www.gta2sad.cjb.net for the latest from H|nGTA.
• KT is now an updater at GTAPLUS.net, go take a look at his first two updates.

LiTtLeThUg's Rant + GTA3D 2B or Not 2B <8:40 PM CST - schu>
I'm not sure what LiTtLeThUg is on about, but he asked that I post his
GTA2 DC/GTA3D rant.  Personally I agree with some, but not all, of what he is saying.  I've posted my own follow-up to his rant at the bottom of this segment:

<rant>
"We all have heard the statement many times, when asking about GTA2 on any other systems especially on Dreamcast and we have got the same answer, "we are just working on the PC and PSX but we are thinking on others but nothing done on any other systems."  GET REAL!!!!  You must understand they might love the fans but this is a gaming company they will always have to lie about rumors until it is ready to be released.  It says GTA2 on the Dreamcast is going to be released a little later then GTA2 on PC or PSX. So since this is true so is this, you cant believe all those statements a couple of months ago and recently at the chat at playnow.com that GTA2 is currently only being developed on PC and PSX. That's a load of shit and they will always say that till they can release it to the public. You guys are bad by believing everything they say. DON'T BE SO GULLIBLE. All the times that we asked about GTA2 on other systems they lied, because they had to, they were in development then and now we know because the big man said OK you can release the info. That brings me to the most important part. DON'T BELIEVE SHIT ABOUT WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT GTA3D NOT IN DEVELOPMENT. They have to say that now its early in development and too early to release the truth (see how long it took for the truth to come out on GTA2 for the Dreamcast or other systems *cough* *cough*)  but when its in its later stage we will get more information. 

Some facts
1. Early rumors on the game. Of course rumors don't mean shit but like the first rumors of Quake 3, they could easily be fact because after the success of 1 and 2 you know 3 is on the way. Don't believe the features and shit along with the rumor but be sure a successful series like Quake will get later installments and most likely development is in work when the rumor hits us.  The same goes for a game like GTA.  GTA was popular, GTA2 will be too, and they will milk the bottle dry and were still getting the first sips.

2. The web site www.gta3d.com was registered. But that's not the big thing when was is registered Jan 4th 1999?!?!?!.  NO COMPANY WASTES MONEY ON WWW.COM SITES UNLESS THEY PLAN ON USING IT.  No matter how cheap it is for a million dollar company they are greedy and won't waste a dime. OK so Jan 4th they had early thoughts about the game and enough to get the go on registering the site. I don't believe that it was begin worked on that early but I would say the last month or two of GTA2 development they would start work on it. Yes I'm saying they are working on GTA2 and GTA3D at the same time.

3. Yes they will say that nothing is in development yet but please look at evidence, GTA2 ON DREAMCAST *cough* *cough*

4. PLEASE I BEG OF YOU. Don't be immature, getting mad at Rockstar and DMA because they lie, that's what every gaming company does, it is smart business.  DON'T BE IMMATURE AND GET MAD UNDERSTAND THEY'RE DOING WHAT EVERYONE OTHER SUCCESSFUL GAMING COMPANY. Another thing, don't e-mail Rockstar and DMA about GTA3D and stuff they should do, you are wasting valuable time, and just think that you get gta3d but you see a feature that would be cool not there, maybe if you didn't clutter them with shit while they were working they might have had time to put that feature in."
</rant>

Whether GTA3D is in development or not is only speculation at this point.  Since I don't know for sure that it is in development I'm holding off on posting my opinion on it.  It seems rather pointless to speculate as to whether GTA3D exists.  Even if it is in development, chances are we won't hear about it for some time to come.  The best analogy I can cite is Warcraft 3.  Its been in development for well over a year now and it was just recently announced that it even existed, but it makes sense for a game company to use this sort of strategy.  Things change all the time early in a game's development so it seems rather pointless to give a feature list that may not even be valid a month later, its better to build up anticipation and release a solid feature list late in development rather than get everyone worked up about a game that is still on the drawing board, not to mention the fact that releasing information early on alerts your competitors to your next move.  Some may say that GTA3 is definitely going to be released since the GTA name has such a strong backing, but I can't see Rockstar or DMA releasing a sequel just because they know it will sell well.  I for one trust them to only release a sequel if they know it will be a great game that's fun to play.  It just doesn't make sense to produce a half ass sequel and tarnish the image of future GTA products.  Everything I've said here is my own opinion and is not necessarily the opinion of DMA Design, Rockstar Games, your mom, or anyone else for that matter.

ILLEGALWORKS' Mission Service <8:40 PM CST - schu>
Check it out, the ILLEGALWORKS' ini service is up and running, but he could use some help with it:

The mission creation service is really starting to take off but, because this is my GCSE year, I have had to put a limit on the amount of missions I will make per mission.ini file. The limit is 5 and will stay the same until someone can help me.

If you can help me then PLEASE E-Mail me or go over to my site

the address is:
www.crosswinds.net/~illegalworks/illegalworks.htm

my E-mail is:
illegalworks@hotmail.com
 

Announcements <8:40 PM CST - schu>

• Crazy Bob's House Of Guns is being updated once again!  Get over to gta.telefragged.com and check out the latest.
• Simon informed me that Liberty City Graveyard will be updating soon.  Prepare to receive the transmission at www.gtaxtreme.net/lcg

Community News <8:40 PM CST - schu>

• Hughesie Hut
  Hughesie hut has now been updated.  Da cop is now on board as part of
  the HH team and he will be updating all the cars from now on. Can people
  carry on sending cars to him please.  He has updated the cars page and
  there are now 50 or so new cars added. The URL is: hughesieshut.niteshade.net

• GTA Traffic Jam
  I redesigned the whole Traffic Jam. The GTA and GTA2 section are combined and with a new look.  The reason? the previous page was to slow (loading time) It's quicker now so everybody can visit it.
   
  Please pay a visit spread the news (if possible).

Billy Speaks <Part 2> <1:20 AM CST - schu>
Ok, I finally got the attachment I mentioned yesterday.  Its a zip file with screen shots and an explanation of how you get Billy's name to appear in Bent Cop Blues.  The screen shots are all in TGA format, so I've converted them into JPG to reduce file size and because I could only get the TGA's to open in Paint Shop Pro, nothing else seemed to like em.  If for some reason you really really want the TGA's, just let me know.  Billy actually mentioned that Sam Jessup found this cheat awhile back when he was working on M1.  Either way, here is the zip and some screen shots:

• billycheat.zip (683k)
• YEEEHAAA! (170k)
• Billy 800x600 (222k)
• Billy 640x480 (146k)

GTA2 Map Loader Update <1:20 AM CST - schu>
Dave has posted some screen shots of the GTA2 Map Loader over at the NightFire Software site.  He also sent along the following update/progress report/screen shot description thing:
 

Development is well on the way and I hope to have an alpha by the end of the month, pity though as there won't be any maps to play on it...

I'm going to release a filespec for the .gmi initialisation files also,
but this is subject to change as I've not even got the framework 100%
complete yet.

Here is a list of the new filetypes that the GTA2 Map Loader will require:

  .gl2 - Map Loader Fileset files
  .gm2 - Map Information files
  .gmi - Map Loader initialisation files

They are all pretty easy to understand, the .gmi is just basically a renamed .ini file with a little more info on board. The .gm2 is a RTF file, much like the old .mfo's and the .gl2 is the default filetype of the GTA2 Map Loader Fileset Creator.

 
The five lights saga (as seen in the screenshots)...

In left-to-right order, the five LED's show what the program is doing, and if it has completed the operation successfully. They are:

 1: Loading the .gl2 file (the compressed fileset)
 2: Inflating the .gl2 file (to get to the files)
 3: Decoding the .gmi file (for map information, CRC checking etc.)
 4: Checking for a previously loaded map that has not been cleaned up
 5: Loading GTA 2

I have loading/inflating/decoding 65% working, and as I don't have a computer that can run GTA 2, I'll probably need to enlist the help of someone that can run it, to test the program and no, don't go sending me offers - I've already got one or two people lined up (but they don't know that yet!)
 

As for the screenshots, ignore the set of buttons above the five LED's, they are at the moment, for debug purposes only, and will probably not see the final release.
 

If the screenshots look cluttered, remember that this is the product of two hours coding, beginning to now (2:11AM) and considering that I started with a blank form, I think it's quite an achievement to have any framework at all!

If this is a bit rambling, it's because it's bedtime and I'm knackered... I'll probably forget what I'm doing tomorrow :)

Schedule for now:

• Get loading gl2's, inflating gl2's and decoding gmi's 100% by 20/10/99
• Get the file locations sussed out by 1 week after the big day (29/10/99)
• Get the loading and cleanup sussed and working by 15/11/99
• Prepare misc. utilities (Fileset Creator, GMI Creator, GM2 Editor) for release
• Release The GTA 2 Toolkit by 01/12/99 (Fileset & GMI Creator, GM2 Editor, Map Loader)
   

Site Updates <8:40 PM CST - schu>
Ok, the second update for today is done, but I'm guessing you already figured that out :).  C ya tomorrow...

Billy Speaks <9:10 PM CST - schu>
Yesterday I posted an update about a GTA Easter egg that <miracle maker> found while working on his ini editor.  Today, the guy who signed the Vice City map "billy" wrote in :).  Here is what he had to say:

"I was reading through your site when I noticed that somebody had found my little cheat for GTA, anyway it was something I put in at the end of the project. It was basically my way of signing the map, and so I could show off to my mates. I have attached a zip file that should explain everything about it."

The zip file he mentioned didn't make it through email for some reason but I asked him to resend it.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post that.  Thanks to Billy Thomson of DMA Design for writing in.  Its always nice to know that people from DMA and Rockstar are checking out G! :)

GTA2 Chat With Colin Macdonald Tomorrow <9:10 PM CST - schu>
GTAPlus has scored a chat session with Colin Macdonald, producer at DMA Design, and one of the main people behind both GTA and GTA2.  The chat will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, October 13.  The time and place are a little foggy right now but rest assured that you'll be able to find all the latest chat details on GTA Plus as soon as everything is worked out.  The current prediction is that the chat will take place on IRC, irc.gameslink.net, #gta2 to be exact, at 3pm BST, but this may all change.

NightFire Software Online <9:10 PM CST - schu>
Dave McCullough, the man behind Criminal Software has launched his new, one man, GTA2 software group, NightFire Software.  Check out the NightFire site for the latest details on Dave's first two GTA2 creations, The GTA2 Map Loader and The GTA 2 Map Loader Fileset Generator.  The site includes screen shots and you can even download a beta version of the fileset creator, all this from a guy who cant even run the GTA2 demo, now that's dedication :).

Announcements <9:10 PM CST - schu>

• GTA World is updating on a fairly regular basis but they need a little help with their car section.  Mainly they need more cars for their car section, so if you'd like to make a donation just contact them from their web site at www.drive.to/gtaworld or just email em.
• DJ Slam who was working on Slam City for while has moved on to a new, non-GTA site.  He also mentioned that he might restart Slam City.
• Low-Rider's non-GTA site has been been expanded to cover some GTA topics along with all kinds of other stuff.  You can find his GTA site at lowgta.cjb.net and his non-GTA site at lowrider4u.cjb.net

Project News <9:10 PM CST - schu>

• GTA Vancouver Completed - Get It Now!
  GTA-V includes 2 chapters, approximately 28 missions, and loads of kill frenzies.  Get over to Turbo King's GTA Rage Page! to download GTA Vancouver.
   
• Beta Test Star Wars GTA!
  Check it out:

"DO YOU WANT TO BE A STAR WARS GTA BETA TESTER?!
If you do head on down to GTA Arena @ www.gta-arena.8m.com

You can also find out all sorts of information about the mod at the arena.
 
Star Wars Episode 1 GTA is looking a bit less simple now. It is about 20% complete, and I am putting a lot of energy into it now.  The arena has also been given a bit of a polish. I have added a few more graphics and neatened things up. I will be working on the downloads next."

• GTA2 Mods, GTA Wave Coverage
  GTA2 Mods has added a load of new details on GTA Wave 3.0, including a GTA Wave 3.0 review and screen shot  Consequently their sound editing section has also been updated with new information.

• GTA Aus Update
  Byron sent in the latest on his Australian GTA mod, GTA Aus:

  "GTA AUS is yet again in a state of disorder... 3 times both the maps and style files have corrupted, I've been able to recover most stuff, but it's a major pain to do so.

  All of my work is done except the cars (I have to redo all the car stats as they were imbalanced), the mission.ini is still being written by Zero1001, and the map's government buildings are being finalised by Respray...

  Things are really going nuts here, hopefully the project should be done soon... =)"

• GTA International Does GTA2
  Respray has decided to do GTA International for GTA2 instead of GTA.  This basically means that the release of GTA-I won't happen until some GTA2 editors are released so work can continue.

• Wild Wild GTA
  X-Mail wrote in to announce that he is working on a Wild Wild West mod for GTA.  The project will include a cowboy character, new weapon sprites, new sounds, new cars, and new textures.

Community News <9:10 PM CST - schu>

• The Scrapyard
  SpannaHeed Closes The Scrapyard
  Hey there, it's SpannaHeed from the GTA Scrapyard. I thought I'd say that next week I'm closing the site, as basically I've lost interest in the whole GTA site thing. There are loads of sites that are better than mine too, and I'm way behind in the updating. Anyway, I just want to say thanks to everyone who has looked at the site since February, and to all the contributors. I'll probably have a new web page up & running soon, but I don't think it'll be GTA related (or a games site to be honest!). If you want to mail me, whether it be for just waving me good-bye, for web page advice, sending a car (I still look at 'em!), etc., my address is SpannaHeed@Hotmail.com

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  "I'm not leaving the scene"
  Oops! I seem to have given a wrong impression...
  When I said, "I'm gonna take it easy for a while", I got people saying, "I'll miss you in the GTA scene".  What I meant by what I said was that my site will seem a little less "fresh" as I'll only be doing a GTA site, not GTA2, since my computer can't handle it and I'll never be able to play it. Who knows, if I get a new computer/upgrades/etc. I may make a GTA2 site.

  In a nutshell, I'm not leaving the scene. =-)

• GTA Canada
  GTA Canada Returns
  GTA-Canada.Com is now back after being hacked. GTA-Canada.Com has got a face lift for the Millennium. We also have a new GTA Giveaway. We are giving away www.gta2000.net for the millennium. Details can be found at www.gta-canada.com.
   
  Also if anyone wants to create Ottawa for the GTAC Project please email me at mstanley@idirect.ca with a sample of your work.
   
  Also Turbo_King has decided to pull away from the GTA Scene so I would like to thank him for all his help on Creating Vancouver for the GTAC Project.

• ILLEGALWORKS
  Back In Action!
  Well I am back!  My site needs a little bit of work still but it shouldn't take to long. I really do need some help though!

  I have started a new mission creation service which I will also need help with if it takes off. There are details of it on my site.

  The address for the site is:
  www2.crosswinds.net/~illegalworks/illegalworks.htm

  That's all I have to say except:

  PLEASE if you can help then e-mail me at ILLEGALWORKS@Hotmail.com
   

New GTA Sites <9:10 PM CST - schu>

Grand Theft Auto Conversions
The site (will soon) contain conversions, utils, etc...

Terry "GOURANGA!" Donovan - Professional Krishna (285k)

GTA2 Setting <9:00 PM CST - schu>
I've noticed a little confusion on how far into the future GTA2 is suppose to take place.  I think a quote from Dan Houser is in order:

"It's in the immediate future - three weeks to be precise, which is why the gta2.com website offers you the choice of three weeks into the future for the immersive bit or today's date for the behind the scene bit - that's a key point to the way the game is styled."

GTA Map Secrets? <9:00 PM CST - schu>
<miracle maker> was working the next version of the Miracle Maker GTA ini editor and came across a sort of GTA Easter egg, sort of thing:

"Schu, I was messing about with the maps for GTA, working on the read cmp function of Miracle Maker (which, by the way, is coming along nicely) when I saw the word 'Billy' (see attached screen shot) hidden in one of the roads in Miami - I think it's hidden in the cube properties, which is why you can't see it in J25, I came across it by pure fluke, and there could be others that I haven't picked up on."

Harvey Norman's GTA2 Giveaways <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Nick Mariani sent in an update for Australian GTA2 fans about a GTA2 offer going on at Harvey Norman Computer Super Stores:

"I just read in a catalog that HARVEY NORMAN COMPUTER SUPER STORE is taking Orders for GTA 2 and are giving away a FREE GTA 2 Poster, Sticker with a GTA 2 T-Shirt with the game Gex 2 for FREE and Ordering is available for DRIVER (Not sure what deal or free stuff that comes with)"

Nathan's GTA2 FAQ <9:00 PM CST - schu>
The GTA2 FAQ at Nathan's site, FAQ World, has been updated.  You can find it at www.rocknet.net.au/~nwest/.

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <9:00 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Power Ups
  Tristan's site, TB GTA2, has a full listing of all the powerups, screen shots of them and their description.  Head over to gta2site.8m.com for full details.
   
• Rocket Launcher
  Raptor came across the regular (non-kill frenzy) rocket launcher in the demo:
  

"While I was playing the demo the other day I ran across something interesting.  I found the rocket launcher (not the kill frenzy one, but the real deal) sitting out in the open! I discovered it along the south of the map in J-lab (I believe that was the lab... I know it was one of the labs). After going up a ton of stairs that led across the facility, I came to some armor. Then saw an unusual looking gun sitting on a crate. I had to jump down onto one crate, and across to another, but when I got the gun, it was the rocket launcher. The best part is the fact that it would respawn! Hope this helps add some more fun to the demo."

• Bouncing Heads
  Frantic Jack's question about the bouncing cop heads was answered by numerous people.  Here a few of the interpretations.  Pezbomb says that "when the heads are bouncing the cops are chasing you.  When the heads are just sitting there they are looking for you."  Davehart on the other hand thinks that the heads bounce "when the SWAT team is after you."  Finally, LL-Hell has a slightly different take on the subject, "the cop heads bounce when cops are on your screen. If you are being chased, but there are no cops on the screen, the heads don't bounce."  So which one is correct?  Well I did a quick experiment and found that Pezbomb came the closest.  Anytime the cops are on foot chasing you the heads bob up and down.  They will not bob if they are in a car chasing you and it is not dependent on wanted level.  Even if you have just one cop head it will bounce if a cop is chasing you on foot, on or off screen.
   
• Cops Betrayed By Their Own Cars
  Jason is killing cops with their own cars:
  

"I found that if you run over a cop with some other cop's car, you can get some massive bonus (around 10,000).   This was with no multipliers, either... imagine the possibilities.  Actually, I rammed a cop car with my car (not a cop car), which pushed a second cop car onto the pig that got out of it."

Site Updates <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Check back tomorrow for Community News, Project News, and whatever else comes in.

There are two new GTA2 teasers available at the Jack of all Games site.

GTA Beta Maps <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Here are two new maps for GTA that never quite made it.  Both projects have been canceled but the authors wanted to make them available anyway.

• Havana (2.41MB)
  Road Kill's map, Havana, made it to beta but no further.  I haven't tried it out yet so I'm not positive if everything is in place, however he did mention that it doesn't have a functional hospital.  That basically means the game will crash if you die.  Originally Havana was going to have a 60's look to it but it never quite happened.  Roadkill said it would be alright if someone would like to add a hospital to the map, but he did not specifically say if the map could be completed by someone else.  I'd be willing to guess that it would be alright so long as he is mentioned in the map's credits.
   
• Metro City: Downtown Disaster (2.85MB)
  K.P., creator of Metro City, is leaving the GTA scene but before he goes he wanted to give people a chance to try out 56% of Metro City.  It is fully playable and anyone who wishes to improve upon it can, but they must include K.P. in the credits.
   

GTA2 Demo Train Schedule <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Apparently Simi has a lot of time on his hands.  He has created timetables for the GTA2 demo trains.  The timetable should be pretty accurate, all arrival times are based on the timer in the top left of the screen.  Download (23.5k) it in MS Word DOC format or check out Simi's message and the table below:

Here are the timetables for the GTA2 train system. The times that the trains arrive are the number of minutes and seconds you have till you blow up, the times are what it says on your beeper when the trains arrive to the stations. The names of the station have been taken from what city you are in and the text that appears in the top box as you are about to arrive at the station. Avalon Station is, what I consider, main station because it has a connection between both of the train lines; the train that is on the left that starts off going South (from main station), is the train that is labeled as Southbound, and the one on the right that starts off going north (from main station), is the train labeled as the Northbound train. The times are pretty accurate, but the times in parentheses are the times of which the trains should be there, but I have not seen them and you probably won't be able to catch. You probably won't need this, but you could print this out and use it sometimes when you are teasing the cops and SWAT comes, and you might run out of ammo, and you are near a station, so you know when the next train comes.

GTA Wave's Adrian Grucza Interviewed <9:00 PM CST - schu>
GTA2 Mods has interview GTA Wave's Adrian Grucza.  Highlights include info on the GTA2 sound files and the upcoming GTA Wave 3.  Also at GTA2 Mods are details on a Nick Jones/mouse partnership, check it out at www.gta2mods.co.uk

GTA2 File Formats <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Rhys has made some preliminary interpretations of the GTA2 file formats.  Download (1k)the report in txt format or check below:

GTA2 File Info:

• Main Directory
  

Few .dlls

• Player

Player Information

•  Test

  Error logs

• Data

  bob_e.gxt  Text
  e.gxt  Text
  fstyle  Style file for unknown
  nyc.gci  Car information
  test1.scq Map configuration File
  Wil.sty  Style file for city?
  Wildemo.gmp Map
  Wildemo.scr Mission info?

• Audio

  Bil.lst  Sound configuration
  bil.raw  Sound pack
  bil.sdt  Unknown
  dmaudio.dma DirectSound Config
  fstyle.lst Sound Configuration
  fstyle.sdt unknown

• Vocals

  Empty

• Frontend

  Numerous TGA files for graphics

• Keyboard

  Numerous Keyboard config files

• Wildemo

  Numerous mission files, 2 per gang.

File info:

.scr - Encoded mission file
.tga - Front end graphics file
.dma - Sound card config file
.raw - Sound file pack
.lst - Sound pack config
.sdt - Unknown
.gxt - Mission and frontend text
.sty - Graphics files
.scq - Map configuration file
 
This is my interpretation of the GTA2 demo files. 
Rhys - rhys@theoffspring.net
rhys.homepage.com

Today's GTA2 Nuggets of Joy <9:00 PM CST - schu>

• Get The Cops Off Your Ass
  Simi uses the jump key to get clear of the cops:
  

I have found that sometimes when cops are really close behind you so you don't really have enough time to turn around and shoot their asses, press jump a couple of times and he will leap forward and then you can turn around and kill.

• Cop Heads
  Frantic Jack has been observing the cops in their native habitat:
  

Cops will NOT leave you alone after you have two heads on the top of your screen. Cops seem to only go after you and gang members. They wont bother the guy in the green shirt jacking a car or the red shirt thug, but they will go after you. Don't even shoot anyone or jack a car near them or they will get you. And don't run into their cars either, They get unhappy if you dent their ride. I'm just not sure about what it means when the heads are bouncing on top of your screen, sometimes they just see them sit there

• Viper
• The Roadblock
• Tank Meets The Roadblock
• Nifty Lights
• Even More Nifty Lights

Just in case you haven't seen the original SSGTA, here are some screenshots from it, so you can compare the two.

• Ambulance1
• Ambulance2
• Beam
• Cops
• GOURANGA!
• Juggernaut
• Powerup
• Train

ILLSPIRIT also mentions in the readme that he may make a new mission file if he can spare the time.  All in all its well worth the download; why do you think the update was late tonight?

GTA2 Giveaway
The GTA Fire Burners site is holding a contest to give away a copy of GTA2.  Check out www.gtafireburner.com for more details on the contest.

Mailing List For GTA2 Editors <11:30 PM CST - schu>
David 'The GTA Jedi' Whitney has set up a mailing list about GTA2 editing, You can join up at Section 487: Elvis Has Left The Building.  David is currently looking for any info on GTA2 editing to include on the list.  If you have anything you'd like to contribute you can email him with the details.

Criminal Software? <11:30 PM CST - schu>
I've been in contact with Dave McCullough and he has informed me that he is currently working on a GTA2 project.  I can't release any details at this point and he hasn't mentioned if Criminal Software will return.  I'll work on getting some information on this mystery project, but I'm guessing they he will stay quiet about it until GTA2 is released.

NYC.GCI <11:30 PM CST - schu>
Oliver Smith sent in his NYC.GCI (3k) creation.  He has adjusted many of the vehicles attributes in the demo.  Here is the message he sent along with his GCI file.

Seems the good programmers at Rockstar have left us an added treat in the GTA2 demo.  The game apparently derives its car statistics from a file in the 'GTA2 DEMO/data' directory called 'nyc.gci'.  Within the file is a listing of each car and its respective acceleration, value, gear ratios, mass, etc...  Modify these values and much fun is to be had for all.  Kind of a preliminary to when the real game comes out and car editors are developed, I suppose.  Anyway, I included my copy of the file.  Back up your old one and copy this in. Head to the nearest bus stop to observe the effects...heh heh.  Also, for a sneak preview of what the tank will feel like, grab a taxi.  I was hoping that the actual cars might be taken from the file, but no such luck...  we'll have to wait to see those hot dog vans in action.  The cop cars are handled elsewhere, also.  They just go as fast as whatever you're driving.  Geez, I love this game...

Today's GTA2 Nuggets Of Joy <11:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Area Names
  Scran is trying to track down all the area names in GTA2, here is what he has found out so far:

  I just recorded all, or all that I could find, of the area names in the GTA2 demo city. What I mean by area name is like the name that appears on the top of the screen in a cream-colored box. In GTA, for example, when you went into Central Hackenslash, it would say "Central Hackenslash" on the top in a green box. Well, here is a list of all the names that I could find:

  • Altamount
  • Avalon
  • Flotsam
  • Fruitbat
  • Funabashi
  • J-Lab
  • Looney HQ (Now, I'm guessing this one and Yakuza HQ because Zaibatsu has their own, no proof they're there though)
  • Omnitron
  • Shiroto
  • Sunnyside
  • TrainingMission (Yes, its one word, the fenced-in area where the church is, where the satellite on the TV Van always points to)
  • Ukita
  • University
  • Yakuza HQ (Now, I'm guessing this one and Looney HQ because Zaibatsu has their own, no proof they're there though)
  • Zaibatsu HQ
  • Zarelli

    If there are any more that I haven't found, please e-mail me at scraniel@ij.net and notify me to where they are. Thanks! Enjoy!
     

• Timer Tip & GENOCIDE Bonus
  Tino sent in his timer tip and something about a Genocide bonus:
  

  If your being chased by the police with about 10-15 secs left, let them arrest you with around about 6-8secs left on the clock, then, as your about to be thrown out of the moving police car, you'll blow up. Ahh, revenge is sweet :)
   
  Another thing I noticed was that the feds don't give a rats ass what you do to the gang members. Once I ran over about 100 or so members, and not one fed chased me. Oh yeah, that reminds me, after running over loads of gang members, I got a 'genocide' message on the screen, can't remember if I got a bonus, but I probably did

• Underground
  Simi wasn't content with just running around the town, so he found a way underground.
  

I have found a way to get underground in GTA2demo, if you go to the main train station  (the one with 2 trains, one goes up, the other goes downward), take the train that goes downward the map, and get off at the next stop! Grab a vehicle and go up to the train station and go down the rail, it is actually possible to travel on the train tracks at this station, I don't know why (bug?). so speed down the rail and soon you will be flying through the underground! You might get an insane stunt bonus, but you will then be underground! - You can move by jumping around and you can blow things up above ground with the cocktail, the police get really confused and it is pretty funny!
 
Also, when the police catch you, and they're about to throw you out of the car, you can simply press enter and walk out!
 
It is weird that the police shoot at gang members shooting their guns, but never when you use your guns, it is kind of strange. They only shoot at you when you are in a vehicle!

• Public Transportation Up In Flames
  LL-Hell sent in an observation about the flames in GTA2:

Get a machine gun, then stand in a train station and wait till the train comes, shoot it for a while, then get inside it. When it reaches the next station, get out and fire it again. Now get back in. do it till the train get caught on fire. Now get in the train and while the train goes underground, the flames are still visible.. Pretty funny....
 

Announcements <11:30 PM CST - schu>

• Vice City Docks has closed so Ad can concentrate on his GTA2 site, GTA2 Mainframe.
• UG2 has reopened at www.ug2.co.uk.  Make sure you look UG2 on Saturday, October 9th for "something special."
• Check out the ultra professional birthday card I sent to Tiffany over at her GTA Shine.
• ILLEGALWORKS may be making a comeback sometime soon.  A friend of the web master said that he MAY be back to regular updates sometime soon and MIGHT be starting a mission.ini making service for GTA and GTA2.  Check out the site at flameon.tsx.org, and if you'd like to help out you should send your inquiries to illegalworks@hotmail.com.

Project News <11:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Car Stat Editor
  Nick Jones has uploaded information about his GTA2 Car Stat Editor to his site, GTA2 Mods.  Get over to www.gta2mods.co.uk for full details.
   
• GTA2 Mod Loader
  Rhys is going to start work on a GTA2 Mod Loader sometime soon.  He is currently planning on using his Mod Loader Deluxe interface with support for the new filenames but until he gets into the demo a little more he won't know for sure.  Keep an eye on rhys.homepage.com for details.
   
• GTA World
  Seiman and the GTA World team are working on a new GTA mod entitled, you guessed it, GTA World.  Here is Seiman's update:

  Hi, my name is seiman, me and my team who are:

  Robert Pokorney - Map designer1+ Car designer
  Joshua Elliott - Map designer2 + Graphic designer
  Sei Nakazato(me) - Audio designer + Fxt editor + Mission.ini editor

  are making the new addon-pack for GTA - The "GTA WORLD"  In this there will be 6 new levels, all new cars, new sounds, new missions, and new graphics.

  The levels will be:

  England - set in Cambridge and London
  France - set in La Rochelle and French swearing
  Desert - loads of pyramids and gold mine cart
  Japan - set in Osaka and Tokyo Japanese swearing will be included, because I'm Japanese its very helpful
   
  The guns will include a shotgun? a bazooka and loads more

  Some ideas-
  In the desert level, if you hijack the gold mine carts(conversion of the train) you get wanted level of 4 and get LOADS of points.  So far the bazooka is made, graphics on England and France is done.
  About 2% done, a lot to do!!!!!
   
  It will be released before the millennium.

Community News <11:30 PM CST - schu>

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  Boy... the announcement of my taking it easy couldn't have come at a better time! Tiffany's Unofficial Grand Theft Auto Shrine just received its 50,000th hit! If I were to completely close down the site, this is still a pretty big number to go out on! =-)

  Anywho, thanx to everyone who's supported me, wished me birthday greetz, and just visited my little ole site in general. This is one happy hippie. =-)

  Speaking of closing down sites, I wanna bid a fond farewell and good luck to Valdez, a true pillar in the GTA community. Valdez' San Andreas Car Impound was the BEST car showroom in my humble opinion, and probably will remain so forever. =-)

• GTA2: Seek And Destroy
  I have started up a new site for GTA2 called GTA Seek And Destroy. It can be found at gta2sad.cjb.net . Please visit it and post me news about GTA2 if you have any. I need it!!! . Even though my computer is too shit to run GTA 2 I am still going to have a site about it because it is the main interest amongst the GTA community at the moment.

  P.S If anyone knows why some of the images on my page (e.g The menu buttons) won't load please mail me at hingta@gta2sad.cjb.net. Thanx!

  H|nGTA
  GTA: Come Massacre Cops! : http://gtacmc.cjb.net
  GTA2: Seek And Destroy : http://gta2sad.cjb.net

• Yakuza2
  Yakuza2 is almost finished , just the finishing touches need to be added. My site will be part of a THREE site merger , Yakuza2 , Zaibatsu2 , and GTA Underground, I just noticed as I am typing this e-mail that both of these names , Zaibatsu2 and GTA Underground were considered along time ago to be the title of my GTA2 site. Cool. Well , Keep waiting my people . I should be home earlier tomorrow after a fight tomorrow at school. If I don't get in trouble Yakuza2 will be finished tomorrow evening to open up on Friday night. My goal is to get over 2000 hits by the year 2000. Help me out folks!!

 
 >click it<

GTA2 Car Info Editor BETA <9:00 PM CST - schu>
David Lees is currently beta testing his GTA2 Demo Car Info Editor, available exclusively on the alt.binaries.games.grand-theft-auto news group.  Below is write-up David sent along with the beta version he sent me.  Keep in mind David wants the beta only available on the news group while its being tested, so please respect his wishes and don't post it on any web sites.  He is making changes on a weekly basis and until the beta test is over the editor will only be available on the news group.  Here is a screen shot of the editor and his write-up:

I would like you to take a look at a program I have been working on for the last few days.  Its basically a program that will edit the nyc.gci file in the GTA2 demo.  As you probably know the nyc.gci file contains the information about the cars and by using GTA2 Demo Car Info Editor you can edit the file to change the way the cars behave in the game.  At the moment you can only change the speed, the value and the Thrust (acceleration) of the cars.

Valdez'z Next Big Thing? <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Valdez sent in this rather cryptic message on his possible future return, although I guess you can't call it a return since he will still be active in the GTA scene:

"Don't worry, I will stay with the scene - infact, I even have an excellent idea for a new site that will bring the GTA community closer than ever - but you will all have to wait and see"

Ice Cream Truck From HELL!!! <9:00 PM CST - schu>
Bob LaBine was kind enough to send me his UFOIceCream Truck (4k) mod for the GTA2 demo.  It only changes the physics of the ice cream truck, but its lots of fun.  The damn thing goes so fast that the camera cant even keep up with it.  Luckily the truck's armor has been increased so its basically indestructible which is a good thing.  I plowed into a pile of cars that blew up one by one... I then proceeded to do hyperdrive donuts blowing up everything in sight.  The only problem is that I think there is only one truck in the city, but once you find it, look out.  Oh, also you might wanna be careful with the speed.  I took off at light speed and flew from one end of the map to the other in about one second, to say the least the camera went into orbit.  Luckily my machine didn't bog down, but those of you on slower machines might wanna be careful...  Installation is simple enough, just copy the new NYC.GCI file to the /data subdirectory, and make sure you back up your original first.  Once again,thanks to Bob LaBine for this mod.
 

I Want More Money! <9:00 PM CST - schu>
That's what Scran said just before he found a way to jack up his points in the GTA2 demo using a little program called Cheat O Matic.  It rather simple really, you just load up the GTA2 demo and get some points, you then alt+tab out of the demo and use cheat o matic to search for the point value.  It then tells you to change the value so you go back into the game get some more points and search for the new point value, after doing this a few times it will find the correct value and let you set the value to something else.  I used Scran's suggestion of 99999999 and it worked.  The obvious thing to do was to drive directly to the shops and rig the car with every thing.  One side effect was that almost every mugger in the city seemed very interested in me and my new found wealth, ah well, nothing a silenced uzi cant remedy :).
 

New GTA2 Nuggets Of Joy! <9:00 PM CST - schu>

• Timer Fun!
  So the timer is running down, should you just give up?  Hell no!  Before the timer runs out get out of your car and search for a big group of people.  Then run around in circles like a maniac until the timer runs out, then see how many bodies you can launch into the air as you blow up.

• Long Range Cocktail Anyone?
  Anonymous sent in this bartending tip:
  

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but when you are running and you throw a cocktail, it flies very far, but if your standing still, it only goes a little way. Press and hold the Ctrl (fire) button to make the cocktail go farther. The longer you hold the attack (ctrl) button, the farther the  cocktail will go when you release it. This is very helpful when throwing cocktails off a building. People have probably already figured this out though, so this is probably a pointless tip.

• Gangs vs Muggers
  Here is another one from Anonymous:
  

Gang members attack the muggers and carjackers if they try anything on a gang member. I think if (I'm not sure though) you kill a mugger or carjacker while a gang is attacking him, you can earn some respect from that gang.

• Police IQ Shocker
  The AGGTA Foreign Minister, Alastair Grant, write in with this sorta buggy type info nugget:
  

I have have this happening to me a couple of times.  Whilst on the usual escape from the Police, bombing it up the local main road, I sometimes pass Cop cars on the other side, reversing up the road.  They are facing the correct way for the traffic, but instead of turning around and making chase, they just reverse.

Bug? Or are the police just stupid, I don't know what you think.

• Down In The Underground
  Dusty fell through the map and sent this one in:
  

  I found a rather interesting glitch while playing gta2 similar to the
  black hole thing in gta. I was in a B-Type with the cops all over me, and I was right beside a respray shop. So I took the logical route and tried to drive in. I tried to drive in at an angle, but I got stuck about halfway through the door. The cops were running toward my car so I tried to get out. When I got out, I was underground!  I could rotate and fire guns, but I could not move forward. The only way to move was to jump. I could shoot and people would run, but I could not kill or see my shots.  I could walk under buildings and I couldn't be injured or caught, but that was about it. Useless, but kinda cool

600,000 GTA2 Demo Downloads <9:30 PM CST - schu>
NGO and CGO are reporting that in just two short weeks the GTA2 demo has been downloaded by an estimated 600,000 users.  That is just after two weeks, imagine what it will be up to by the time GTA2 ships.

Another GTA2 Developer Chat <9:30 PM CST - schu>
No Fear (GTA2 More Extreme) tracked down another GTA2 chat, this time its at UPC, and as Tosh (Nice-One) noted, this chat might be a little more accessible to GTA2 fans in the US since it wont be at some ungodly time in the morning.  The chat will take place between 6 & 8PM GMT on October 21st, the day before GTA2 hits the streets.  Here is a little time zone run down to give you a better idea of when the chat will be taking place in your area.  I'm not 100% positive on the time zones so if you see a discrepancy, please let me know and I'll make the appropriate corrections.

United Kingdom  6.00pm

EUROPE - Western  7:00pm
EUROPE - Central  8.00pm
EUROPE - Eastern  9.00pm

USA - Eastern   1.00pm
USA - Central  12.00pm
USA - Mountain 11:00am
USA - Pacific  10.00am

AUSTRALIA - NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania  4.00am
AUSTRALIA - Northern Territory, South Australia  3.30am
AUSTRALIA - Western Australia  2.00am 

New Zealand  6.00am

Interviews <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• A Chat With Valdez
  Henrik has posted a new interview with Valdez on his site, The Liberty City Graveyard.

• Sam Jessup Speaks
  GTA2 Mods has an exclusive interview with the Sam Jessup, the creator of M1.  You may recall that Sam is currently developing a GTA2 map editor.  Get on over to www.gta2mods.co.uk for the interview.

GTA2 Winamp Skin <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Nick made a GTA2 skin (49k) for Winamp, here is a shot of the skin:

Announcements <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• mouse is working on Squish Developments/Workshop, check out the placer page at Squish.
• I made a slight error when I mentioned that The SHiZniT GTA Top25. It turns out that Daz, and NOT Banana Joe created the listing and that its actually associated with Daz'z site, The SHiZniT GTA Page.  Banana Joe just wanted to get the listing some exposure so more people participate.
• Kelvyn was checking out the Junction25 site and noticed that it moved to www.bigfoot.com/~Purbrick/junction25/
• KT is still out there and will be releasing his new site, Yakuza2 or Y2 sometime in the near future.  Keep and eye out for it.

Project News <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• Nickle City On The Move
  Rory Brosnan wrote in with the latest on Nickle City's new home page and a request for some help with the project:
  

  Nickle City will be done soon. We have moved to members.tripod.com/rbrosnan/ncity so check out the new site. We need a level designer to finish off the level, I am too busy at the moment and this is the only way we can release it in October. If you're interested visit the site or e-mail me at rbrosnan@hotmail.com

• Miracle Maker Update
  Version 1.38 of the Miracle Maker mission.ini editor has been released.  This version includes bomb shop insertion and improvements to spray shop insertion.  You can get the latest details on MM and download it at www.angelfire.com/yt/gta/.
   

Community News <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• GTA2 HQ
  I have lined up a new host.
   
  None other than www.barrysworld.co.uk 
   
  The new address for the site can be found at:
   
  http://hosted.barrysworld/gta2hq/ or
  http://clans.barrysworld/gta2hq/ 
   
  I should have everything uploaded by Thursday at the most so check it out then.

  Also I have updated my barrysworld column with some multiplayer comments and some comments from Dan Houser.

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  Since everyone's so into GTA2, this would be a good time to announce that I'll be taking it easy 4 a while. This will always be my GTA Shrine, not GTA2, so all I'm gonna have posted 4 GTA2 are the teasers for 2 reasons: first, my computer can't handle GTA2's demo, let alone the game, and second, the free space on my site isn't enuff 2 support both GTA and GTA2 4 the amount of content I post. Sure, my site won't be getting as many hits since it's only for GTA, but darn it, as I've always said, I'm doing this 4 fun, not popularity. =-)
   
• GTA2 Burnout
  I've just updated the site, with new links and news for the Aussies among us at my news (main) page. In the next few days I will be uploading the rest of the pages I have not yet finished, so be sure to visit regularly!

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

GTAFiles

Site Updates <9:30 PM CST - schu>
As you can see, I archived a lot of news... Sorry for the delay on that, hopefully the news page load time should decrease a little.

GTA2 Demo #1 Download <11:00 PM CST - schu>
The GTA2 demo is the #1 download this week at GameSpot beating out loads of other demos, check it out.  Can ya tell I'm stretching for news here?  Ah well, the GTA fanatics out there will appreciate the effort :).

Rockstar Games Winamp Skin <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Nathan West created a nifty Rockstar skin for Winamp and released it over at his site, FAQWorld.  The skin is still being tested and currently only the main player is skinned.  Here is a screen shot of the skin, you can download it from FAQWorld which also houses a nifty GTA2 FAQ you should check out.  You will of course need Winamp to use the skin :).

 
GTA SideSwipe Returns! <11:00 PM CST - schu>
You can add GTA Sideswipe to the long list of GTA sites returning to the scene.  Andrew has opened the second incarnation of GTASS, creatively titled GTA Sideswipe II.  You can find it at gtaswipe.gibbed.com.  Welcome back Andrew!

Map Makers Forum Returns!! <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Do you see a trend forming here?  Rather than repeat the original announcement that was sent to me I'll paste it like a lazy bastard:

Just writing to tell you that I have completed the newest incarnation of the Map Makers Forum, the oh-so originally titled Map Makers Forum 2! It is located at mapform.gibbed.com and will contain all the latest editing info and tutorials, and of course daily updated editing news. And yes, that exclamation mark is part of the title. The old, weary, tired Map Makers Forum is still viewable and visitable, just visit the Archives section of the site.

Its nice to see the GTA2 editing scene off to such a strong start.

GTA2 Nuggets of Joy Overload!!! <11:00 PM CST - schu>
Ya cant ever have enough exclamation points!  Loads of new tips for ya... I haven't been able to confirm all of these just yet because I've been busy most of the day, so if any of them are not legit I'll be sure and post something about it tomorrow.

• GOD's Satellite:
  Authiodionitistic decided to find out where the satellite dish on top of the TV Van was pointing:

  I was playing the GTA2 demo and I decided to hop into a TV Van and see where that satellite dish was pointing to.  After a bit of driving and running over people, I found that it points to the save point of the city, the church!

• ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!:
  Benjamin Mulder sent in this screen shot, just in case you didn't know what happened when you run down the row of Elvis impersonators.

• More Tips From Ted:
  Ted continues building his list of GTA2 tips with the following new additions:

  The Cops in GTA 2 won't chase you forever.
  They grow tired of chasing your deviant [butt] all over the city, and give up eventually if you stay out of their sight for long enough.  If you have cops after you, hop on a train and you're as good as cleared.
  

  The Fire Truck's hose can be used to put out fires and kill pedestrians.
  

  You can take the same assignment over until you get it right.

• GTA2's HMO Plan & Hijacking:
  This one comes in from Alfadog (Z²)... Apparently the paramedics in GTA2 are quite effective when you aren't busy mowing them down with an UZI:

  First off, if you flame people with the flame-thrower (duh) and wait until a Medi Car comes and those green dudes get out, you'll see that they can revive a pile of ash totally in about 5 seconds!! This is quite funny.. If you think about it.

  Also, has anyone found out how to hijack a train? I've tried but I can't seem to do it. Any suggestions?

• New GTA2 Demo Bug Or Something:
  Darth Matte found a nifty bug in the GTA2 demo that sounds pretty similar to Quake's rocket jumping:

  I have discovered a bug or something in the GTA2 demo!!! When you have the Molotov cocktails, and you make a jump, press Ctrl(the fire button), and now you will kinda' "fly", you will "fly" until you stop pressing the fire button! This can be really useful sometimes, you can for example make a huge jump over the cops, and they will get really confused!!!

• GTA2 - Surgeon General Warning:
  This has been sent in by numerous people but I keep forgetting to post it... Luckily Matty B sent it in again so here it is:

  In GTA2, just make your bloke stand still for 20 seconds.  If you do nothing, he'll light up a cigarette and start smoking!

  You can see the red of the end of his cigarette, then he blows out smoke!

  Useless, but cool!

• Green Shirts & Red Shirts
  This tip comes directly from WEBCONTROL and might just give you some new targets to add to your list:

  People in light green shirts are car jackers, so when you see them running toward your car, drive away! After they a Car Jack, they also have no problem running over you when you get in there way, so watch out.

  People in red and white shirts are muggers, so don't let them get near you, or you will get robbed. If you punch them out, they will usually stay away from you, also.

Crash 'N' Burn "GTA Style" <11:00 PM CST - schu>
More fun with Cut & Paste:

I've finally got my ass into gear and started to make another web site :0) you may know of Crash N Burn which has been featured in PC Zone UK mag the site all about the carmageddon series well we are designing a NEW Gta site called Hack N Slash www.btinternet.com/~dire/ that's not our final URL address. Take a look and see what you think?

CNB is currently looking for help in the following areas:

• Co-Webmaster
• News Updater
• Downloads section manager

New GTA Sites <11:00 PM CST - schu>

GTA: Underground

GTA House Of Fun

Ben's Grand Theft Auto Haven

Site Updates <11:00 PM CST - schu>

• Another late update...  Damn marketing meetings are sucking up my update time... I should be able to update on a more timely basis after we finish the BS case study, grr...
• I'm archiving the news as you read this, so please don't bitch just yet :).  I was suppose to do it on Friday but GTA2 news overloaded my brain and I'm recovering just now.
• If you are an Evil Dead fan you might wanna check out the Bruce Campbell interview over at IGN.

GTA2 Mini-Preview <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Gamecenter posted a sort of GTA2 mini-preview with eight screen shots in their Fall Harvest '99 special.  Nothing really new but I figured I'd give it a mention.

GTA2 Map Editor In Development <9:30 PM CST - schu>
Sam Jessup, the creator of the very first GTA map editor M1, is currently working on a GTA2 map editor.  I asked him how things were going and he sent back the following:

I'm horribly stuck!  I can't work out the colours for the graphics; and whats worse I just *know* it's really simple.  I'm still plodding on trying different things...

Hopefully Sam will make a break through some time soon :)

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

• How To Get Your Car Crushing Reward
  Earlier this week I posted a table of the rewards you get for crushing certain cars and I got some email from people who weren't sure how to about collecting the reward.  Its rather simple actually... There are two cranes, one picks the car up and drops in in the crusher and the other picks up the scrap from the crusher and drops it on a conveyor belt.  If you follow the conveyor belt around it goes through a building and comes out on the other side where you can collect your reward.  Just go up the ramp and nab the weapons as they come out one by one.
   
• Ted's Tips
  Ted probably submitted more tips to GOURANGA! in the early days than anyone else and now he is back with some a new GTA2 tip and a bug:

  
  GTA2 Demo Bug?:
  Do -NOT-, under any circumstances, detonate a car bomb while driving a truck with an articulated trailer attached.  It doesn't matter if you got the bomb before you attached the trailer or drove through the Bomb Shop with it already attached.  I think it has to do with the fact that the CTRL key is used to both disconnect the trailer and detonate the bomb.

  However, an articulated trailer will explode normally by any other means, including parking on railroad tracks.

  Taxi Cab Operation:
  This is one of the "legit" jobs you can have...after you steal the Cab, that is.  Just steal a cab (if it has an occupant as indicated by the sign on top,they'll get out when the driver's thrown out), and ride around.  Pretty soon, you'll hear "Hey, Taxi!" and someone will run toward your cab, and get in, and you'll start getting one dollar per second as long as the rider's in the cab.  The rider will ride until you:

  a) Get out
  b) Smash up the car enough and slow down enough for him to hop out
  c) Stop the car for several seconds

  It's just a pity that there isn't a mission/destination arrow for cab riders.  That'd be cool.

• Cop Car Jacking
  El_Diablo noted that you can get a cop car even if their are cops in it, just quickly open the door several times and you might get lucky.  I haven't tried this myself so I can't confirm it but I might be worth a shot.
   
• Friendly Gangs
  LL-HeLL sent in the following on getting the most out of friendly gangs:

  Get one of the gangs very fond of you (so the respect-o-meter is full), and then get the cops on your back. Go to a place full of friendly gangsters, and they'll kill the cops for you. Very fun! ;)

• Correction
  LL-HeLL also made this small addendum to the tip he sent in earlier.  He originally said "While you're being chased by 4 cops, you get 2 $$ per minute."  That should be PER SECOND not per minute

Announcements <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• The Room has a brand new GTA2 section, check it out at www.aggta.co.uk/room.
  
• Banana Joe has set up a GTA top 25 sites listing called The SHiZniT GTA Top 25.  You can sign up here.
• jmans GTA Page is still looking for cars, you can either send em here or check out his site.

Project News <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• Metro City (Help Wanted)
  The Metro City Team is back from summer vacation and is looking for some mission.ini editors. If you are interested in helping out send an email to em @ mediaara@kodu.ee.  The map is 95% finished and cars and textures are at 50%.
   

Community News <9:30 PM CST - schu>

• Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine
  Bartman sent in Yasmine Bleeth, Val Kilmer and Mariah Carey mugshots, a Miami Map has been added to the Maps page, and I added 15 cars to the Car Depot!

  I just want to say thanx to the people who sent me birthday greetz, and I now have a gifts page for the gifts people sent. =-)
  
  ------

  I go to G! and what do I see?
  Happy Birthday, Tiffany!
  In big blue letters he wrote,
  Topping off the little sidenote. =-)

• GTA2 More Extreme
  Yesterday evening I was messing around with some audio programs, and I have this program where you can listen to ANY file, it doesn't matter what file, if you open a IMAGE file you get to hear some squicky CODE sounds. So I listened to some of the files in the GTA2 Audio folder and when I opened the file called: BIL.RAW which was used a graphic file in GTA, I heard some weird sounds and some familiar sounds but they were speeded. So I converted the RAW file to WAV and I had to delay it a little and edit it a bit and VIOLA, I heard all the sounds that are used in the GTA2 Demo. I never thought the RAW file was an AUDIO file. Anyway I edited the WAV file a bit more and converted the WAV file to Real Audio. So now you can download the file which is only 383KB, have fun with it. You can download it at gtaextreme.niteshade.net/extreme2/files/gta2sounds.rm

• GTA2 HQ
  The GTA 2 HQ is getting a full on new look. That's why the lack of updates.  The new design and style should be finished and ready for launch next week.  I am looking for a few people to do some columns of GTA 2 for a section of the new look site. If you are interested in doing one or know someone who is. Give me a bell.
   

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

GTA2 Mods