Contents: 
  Welcome  
  GTA Info   
  Reviews   
  Files   
  Tips & Tricks   
  Q & A   
  Message Board 
  Chat 
  Multiplayer List  
  Links 
  GTA Webring 

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Actual Cars
Lone Ranger's, Actual Cars v 2.6 has been released.  I have placed it in the Miscellaneous Files sub-section, or you can get it from Lone Ranger's site.
Thanks Lone Ranger!

Site Updates
I've been hard at work off-line but the changes won't be uploaded till this weekend.
 

Wednesday - February 4, 1998

New Map 
Ross Grivell has just released his second GTA test map.  This map is based on the San Andreas map. 

New GTA Sites 
http://www.fortunecity.se/kista/spel/68/index.html 

Mouse Pad Winners 
The following is the list of winners for BMG's mouse mat giveaway.  Those on the list who did not receive mouse pads will get a poster. 

Michael Curran, Ireland 
Rupert Day, England 
Brigette Beeks, Netherlands 
Pete Broadhurst, Australia 
Jon Platt, England 
Dave Hand, England 
David Jack, Scotland 
Magnuss Norman, Sweden 
Paul Ashton, England 
Mark Freedman, Canada 
Jeremy Thake, England 
Jack Wallsten, Sweden 
J.M. Bouwman, Netherlands 
R Shade, Scotland 
Lars M.B. Anthonisen, Denmark 
Scott Glenn, Michigan 
Gary Denham, Scotland 
Olivier Mengue, France 
Mark Oldytowski, Florida 
Scott Reese, Ohio 
Chris Johnston, Scotland 
K Lee, Wales 
Kristian John, England 
DPM Nigent, England 
Gary Denham, Scotland 
Tung Mac, England 
John Leitch, Scotland 
AstroCreep, Alabama 
Tim Burnett, England 
Simon Driscoll, Australia 
Edmund Balan, California 
Paul Millunzi, California 
Nick Kaye, Illinois 
Daren Schemanski, New Jersey 
Bill Frank, Massachussets 
Evan Jenkins, California 
Greg Massar, California 
Carl Roberts, Hawaii 
Eric Schumacher, Missouri 
Adam Schaub, England 
Simon Waite, England 
Michael Rallings, England

Site Updates 
A question regarding playing the San Andreas demo level without a 3dfx card has been added to Q&A. 
 

Tuesday - February 3, 1998

GTA/Spray Shop 
Klamy of the GTA/Spray Shop has just posted the complete lyrics to Track 6, which includes the songs DSP and Lagerstar.  He received the lyrics from DMA's own Grant Middleton. 
Thanks Klamy! 

Actual Cars 
Lone Ranger has just released version 2.5 of Actual Cars.  Actual cars is a file that changes the car names in the game to the actual car names. 
Thanks Lone Ranger! 

Site Updates 
Actual Cars v2.5 added to Miscellaneous Files 
Added a link to Gavin Rudd's GTAed in the Project: Hack GTA sub-section. 
Burton's tip on the joy of travel by rail has been posted in Tips & Tricks. 
Mick's Bent Cop Blues, Tank Kill Frenzy tip has been posted in Mission Tips. 
Q&A has been updated with some new questions and answers under General Questions.  
 

Monday - February 2, 1998

Update On US Release 
GTA's current release dates for North America are: 
PC - March 15, 1998 
Playstation - April 1, 1998 
GTA was originally slated for a February release but ASC Games is still working on some tweaks to improve the American version. 

GTA Webring 
I've gone through all the sites waiting to be admitted to the ring.  I removed a lot of sites that submitted a request to be added but never got beyond the construction point for over a month.  One site had been sitting there with "Under Construction" on it since 12/25/97.  I also removed a lot of sites that were not GTA related.  If your site was removed and you plan on updating you can always resubmit it when its done.  There are currently 8 sites in the queue and 42 sites in the ring. 

Moorish's GTA Hood 
Moorish has posted "the definitive guide ta' bein' a homey" on his site. 
Thanks Moorish 

New GTA Sites 
Viper's Grand Theft Auto site 

Site Updates 
A new interesting bug in Possible Bugs.  This one might be worth trying out. 
New question in Q&A regarding saving GTA games by using the RAM dump utility. 
The Bomb Shop has changed its name to VICE CITY, this has been updated on the Links page. 
 

Sunday - February 1, 1998

GTA Webring 
The webring servers are currently being upgraded which may cause some problems in using the ring. 

GTA Secrets 
After scouring all of the missions using the porkcharsui cheat Putzmeister has sent me a listing of coordinates for each and every secret in all the missions.  Putzmeister's GTA Secrets file is now available in the Miscellaneous Files sub-section. 

Site Updates 
Added Putzmeister's file to the Files section. 
 

Saturday - January 31, 1998

Late Update 
I apologize for the late update, but due to connection difficulties with the server I was unable to update the site when I wanted to. 

GTA Audio 
Nick Kent sent me his GTA Sound Scheme (100k - zip) for windows.  There are 14 wavs in the zip, each one designated for an event under Windows 95. 
Thanks Nick! 

New GTA Sites 
Do you have a new GTA site? Let me know and I'll post a link in the news. 

• Nathan Weiler's GTA Page
• Bubby's Joint

Homey Of The Month - Take2 
Koyser's GTA Brotherhood is also running their version of Homey of Da Month.  Drop in and vote for your favorite. 

Site Updates 
2 new tips in Tips & Tricks 
New IPX networking question under Technical Questions in Q&A. 
A new Possible Bug has been posted. 
A link to Junction25 has been added to the Links section. 
 

Thursday - January 29, 1998

Junction25 
Junction25, a new windows based GTA map editor, has been released and is now available for download at the Junction25 site.  There are currently plans for a Junction25 site based in the US but I don't have an url for it just yet. 
Thanks to Matt Law and the Junction25 team for this update. 

GTA Test Level 
Ross Grivell has just released a test level that he put together with M1.  Here is the message that Ross sent to me: 

I have created a (sort of) GTA map, its only small and is used just to test some of GTA's map features. Best bits of this map are the tank and the ability to drive the boat around a lake.

The Name : Junction25 
This editor offers the following functions for your enjoyment 
 
• Cut and Paste cube stack drawing, ie copy a cube stack, and then paint away, just like Paint Shop pro.
 
• Full editing of individual cubes, easy rotation of an entire cube, rotation of single textures, ability to define the cubes properties, eg water, pavement, road
 
• Placing of static objects onto the map, eg trees, dustbins etc.
 
• Allows you to save and load from anywhere on your PC, not just to the GTA directories
 
• Traffic placement, and checking to make sure it doesn't fail in GTA
 
• Scrolls the map nicely and smoothly, and performance improves due to caching when the program runs for a while
 
• File optimisation when saving
 
• Everything is a mouse click away.
 
• You can even edit the demo if you want
That's all that is in the first release. Things to come include 
 
• Editing of the mission.ini, and .fxt files to provide a complete GTA editing experience
 
• Export and import pics to use as textures.
We hope to provide a direct draw enhanced 3d view of the map. The view is 2d at the moment. 
The editor hits the net in the next 24 hours.

Da Homey Of Da Month 
Moorish's GTA Hood is now accepting votes for Da Homey Of Da Month. All the people who select the homey that, at the end of February, has the most votes, will have their name and for some, their site mentioned. 
Thanks Moorish 

Help Wanted 
Saul sent this in about needing some help with a GTA map: 

I have m1 v0.9 and am making home-brew maps for some UK towns.  I need an 
artist who knows gtagfx to do me a taxi, cop car, ambulance and fire engine for my english towns

Site Updates 
Nothing much today in the way of online updates, however there are some new additions coming to GOURANGA! that I'm working on.  I realize the Multiplayer List has been fairly stale lately but that should change soon after the new additions and changes are implemented.  I have all of the Multiplayer List submissions saved so there is no need to resubmit if your name has not appeared yet.  It will be added to the new list. 
 

Tuesday - January 27, 1998

GTA Banned? Take 3 
Simon Reilly recently sent an e-mail to DMA concerning the rumors of GTA possibly being banned in the UK and got a reply.  Hopefully this will clear up all the rumors of GTA being banned.  Below is Simon's e-mail to DMA and then DMA's response. 

There have been rumours that GTA will be banned in the U.K.  Are these true and if so what are you going to do to stop them banning it.  Also I found it very difficult to find and I had to buy it from behind the counter. This should not be allowed. I mean they don't put 18 Videos behind counters so why should video games be any different. 

Dear Simon, 

Thanks for your letter.  Don't worry about GTA being banned.  We complied with all of the BBFC requirements once we were certified 18.  We even went further and stuck a 'Parental Advisory' sticker on there - just to make sure.  The problems arise from the fact that Lord Campbell of Croy says this aint keeping the blummin' thing out of the sticky little toffee covered mitts of our proud Nation's youth - or something (and I may have paraphrased him slightly there).  Frankly, this is the government's problem.  Kids are buying alcohol and tobacco too and y'don't see them rushing about in small circles gibbering madly, trying to keep THOSE (highly taxed) bits n' pieces away from under age children. 

They can't ban GTA.  We'll fight them every last inch of the way.  It's nice to know you care though.  We're touched... 

Also, the behind the counter thing is something that individual retailers are doing.  Not much we can do about it.  HMV & Virgin are stocking it on the shelves, I understand that Electronics Boutique are using individual manager's discretion about stocking GTA (yes/no/behind the counter - whatever).  Then there's places like Woolworths and Toys R Us which wont stock it at all. 

Our response would have to be - bollocks to 'em! 

Hope you like GTA.  Thanks for writing.

GTA In The LA Times 
The LA Times featured an article yesterday entitled, Making A Killing.  The article centers on Grand Theft Auto and discusses the ever expanding trend of violence in video games. 

Site Updates 
A technical plea has been posted in Q&A under Technical Questions. 
 

Monday - January 26, 1998

Spray Shop/GTA 
Spray Shop/Grand Theft Auto now has a new look.  In addition to the new look the lyrics to 'Automatic Transmission' and 'Let It Out' have been posted. 
Thanks Klamy! 

Vote For GTA 
Grand Theft Auto is now number 20 on the Internet PC Games - Top 100. It has been in the charts for 11 weeks now.  If you haven't already, go vote for GTA.  You can also vote for the playstation version which is not currently in the Internet Video Games - Top 100. 

Site Updates 
Tips & Tricks has been updated with a tip on keeping your record clean while stealing squad cars. 
 

Sunday - January 25, 1998

M1 
Sam Jessup has just released the newest version of M1, his GTA map editor.  Here's the info Sam sent in about v0.9 of M1. 

The newest version of M1 is still user-unfriendly, but you can now create complete new maps (with a little luck and a lot of patience!).

IPX On The Zone 
I've received word from Matt Bennett that GTA IPX multiplayer games over Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone do not improve the speed at all. 
Thanks Matt 

Site Updates 
3 new General Tips have been added to Tips & Tricks. 
Putzmeister sent in the coordinates to the locations of all the secrets in Liberty City.  They have been posted in the Mission Tips sub-section of Tips & Tricks. 
A link to Jack's GTA World has been added to the Links section. 
A few new sites have been added to the Webring. 
 

Saturday - January 24, 1998

30,000 Hits! 
GOURANGA! has received 30,000 hits from java enabled browsers since its inception on November 28, 1997.  Thanks again for your support! 

GTA Map Locator 
I've just received the newest version of Pierre Ingmansson's GTA Map Locator.  The new version uses the larger GTA maps from DMA's site and is really handy for adding crates and things to the maps.  The map locator is now available in the Miscellaneous Files area in the Files section. 
Thanks Pierre! 

Actual Cars 
Lone Ranger sent in his take on the actual car names in GTA.  His file, Actual Cars, will change all of the car names to the actual names.  There are a few ways to add the new names in but the easiest is the batch file that he has included which does all the work for you.  Also included is a zip of the city maps and a list of the cheats.  Actual Cars is now available in the Miscellaneous Files area in the Files section. 
Thanks Lone Ranger! 

Site Updates 
Q&A has been updated. 
 

Friday - January 23, 1998

GTA Preview 
I was over at Gamespot and saw that they have a new GTA preview up.  Its a pretty good preview and has some screenshots as well.  My favorite of course of the squashed Hari Krishnas.  The preview mentions a US release date of March, however I've heard its going to be out in February.  I'll send something to ASC Games and see if I can get an update on the release info. 

GTA In The News 
There is a fairly new news article at MSN News which talks about the debates over GTA in the UK. 

XpLicItmEsSagEs 
Nathan Weiler sent in his newest GTA file called XpLicItmEsSagEs.  Nathan's file changes the messages in GTA to more explicit messages.  He has included 2 files in the zip, one that adds the new messages and another that puts the old messages back in if you get tired of the new messages. 
Thanks Nathan! 

Site Updates 
New Technical and Mission questions in Q&A. 
Files updated with Nathan Weiler's XpLicItmEsSagEs. 
Gamespot's GTA preview and MSN's article added to the Reviews section. 
 

Thursday - January 22, 1998

Rampage!!! 
Spyder has created a new mission for the San Andreas demo.  I apologize for not posting it earlier but I've been quite busy lately.  The new mission is now available in the Files section under GTA Cheat Files.  Here is a description of the mission from the readme. 

A new mission for the 3DFX demo of San Andreas. Ok, sort of a new mission.  You have no goal, just go on a rampage around town - nice stress release! You get all this... 

• Tank AND Monster Bug as starting vehicles
• Disabled timer
• A new cell phone call... check it out!
• Correct car names... verified by a certified mechanic
• All weapon powerups at the start
• About 30 powerups spread thoughout the map in case you die

GTA Easter Egg? 
DaErck sent this in about a something odd he saw in San Andreas. 

I've found something I don't know if it's a trick, a secret or maybe a secret level entrance or just nothin'.  In Northeast Richman on the San Andreas Level 1 there is one of the openings in a building which looks like a passage but there is a wall.  If you shoot against it and drive in and out for a while there will be a message on your Pager which says "Hello T!". I couldn't find out what it means or what it is for. Perhaps some of the GTA Fans who are visiting your page can find out. 

I went ahead and tried it and sure enough if you just get out of your car a wait a few seconds the "Hello T!" message pops up on your beeper.  DaErck sent me a shot of the area but I went ahead and took a new screenshot with the message as well.  But ya know, when you start to play GTA you just cant stop playing, so I zoomed the camera out and went for a drive and low and behold I ran into the Tank Kill Frenzy.  Here are some zoomed out screenshots of the aftermath.  The main disadvantage of driving the tank, zoomed out, and in a 800x600x32 resolution is that it runs incredibly slow, so I didn't quite cause all the mayhem I would have liked to.  These are pretty large screenshots so you might just want to let them open up in their separate windows while you browse around. 

Kill Frenzy!!! 
If you wanna cross the bridge you gotta pay the toll 
Demolition 
Explosion

Everyone complains about slow multiplayer GTA speed when played over the Internet. I think that your gta game computes one frame and then exchanges data with your partner; 
only when these have arrived, the next frame is computed. 

The advantage is that both PCs are perfectly in Sync; in other games e.g. descent you can see a missile hit your partner when in fact he made a fast, unexpected move and escaped unharmed because these games compute some frames ahead. This is not feasible in gta because the number of objects that would have to exchanged for the game to be in sync again after a wrong compute-ahead is too great; a retransmission of all object states would cause the game to freeze a while. 

The disadvantage is that the time between the starts of two frames gets longer; you have to add the time to compute a frame and the time to exchange data over the net to get the time that elapses during one frame. 

This means: 
a) If you have a machine that takes a long time to compute 
   a frame in the game, all PCs will take that long from  
   frame to frame since they all are in sync. 
b) If you have a partner that it takes a long time to send 
   a packet of data to, the game will run slow. This time 
   is almost independent of line speed (in bit/s); a T1  
   line will not make the game go faster!  

You can roughly calculate the framerate you can achieve by measuring the time it takes for a transmission between your machine and your partner's (and back) to be completed.  If your partner's IP number is 100.101.102.103, open a MSDOS prompt under Win95 and type "ping 100.101.102.103" ; you will get four times expressed in ms, for example 387 ms, 356 ms, 364 ms and 401 ms.  A rough average of this would be 370 ms.  Now assume both PCs have a gta frame rate of 17fps when playing single player, that is 1/17s = 60 ms per frame.  We add 370 ms + 60 ms = 430 ms and get a frame rate of about 1/430 ms = about 2.5 fps. 

The gist of it is this: if you want to get your Internet game faster, look for a partner with a low ping time. Your prospects are good if your partner uses the same provider as you, e.g. you are both on demon.co.uk or both connected to a university in the same country as these are liable to be connected by a fast backbone. Go to the Win95 DOS prompt and use the "ping u.v.w.x" or "ping host.domain.xx" command on your partners machine. [If you are using ICQ, you can find "u.v.w.x" by looking at the "Info" about your partner; on IRC use "/whois" to find partner@host.domain.xx (unless he has edited that).]  Games with ping times around 150 ms I find bearable;  less is even better! 

When you think about it, you will not get gta to run any faster if you play IPX over the internet using kali or whatever because the time it takes to send data from me to you still remains; in fact, connecting to a server may make it slower because the packets cannot take the most direct route between your PCs. The exception to this rule is when you use a server network connected by fast proprietary lines; if you have a short stretch of Internet to the server, then a fast line to the other server and then a short stretch to your partner, you may make good on it. To check, you can both ping the server each of you will connect to; add these times and add some estimated time between the servers to replace the single ping result in the framerate calculation above. 

Why is LAN play slow if there's a 486 or 4 players in the game?  Well, if the 486 is not using a low resolution with sound turned off, the framerate is low, and since all PCs are in sync, all 
framerates are low. I think each PC sends the sync data to all the other PCs; that makes 6 transmissions in a 3-player game and 12 transmissions in a 4-player game that try to go on at the same time and collide on the ethernet, thus leading to timeouts and longer times to complete them.

Webring  
I've added some more sites to the GTA Webring bringing the grand total up to 33 sites.  If you are still waiting to be added let me know and I'll look into it.  There are still about 10 sites awaiting admission but they have been put in a holding pattern for one reason or another.  The main reasons for being put in this holding pattern are 

1. Your site consists of a page that is nothing more than the title of your site with no other content.  

2. The majority of your site consists of page(s) that contain nothing more that the phrase "Under Construction" or "Coming Soon."  

3. Your site has only one GTA related section, and that section is "Under Construction."  

4. 90-100% of your site has been copied WORD FOR WORD from someone else's site with no credit to them at all. 

Spray Shop/GTA  
The latest update to the Spray Shop/GTA includes the full complete lyrics to '4 Letter Love'. Also new at the Spray Shop are the scans of the UK GTA box art. 
Thanks Klamy! 

Site Updates  
A link has been added to Dr. Death's GTA Garage in the Links section. 
Fish's Mission Tip on the San Andrea's impound lot has been posted in Tips & Tricks. 
 

Tuesday - January 20, 1998

GTA Banned? 
I have received numerous messages from people in the UK and France that are saying that GTA has NOT been banned, however I still have no official word on a possible future banning. 
Thanks Gary, sadman, and Mark! 

IPX Over The Internet. 
There is a free service offered at Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone called ZoneLAN that allows you to set up IPX games over the internet.  In order to use The Zone you will need to running the newest revision of Internet Explorer 3.0 or Internet Explorer 4.0.  The Zone does not currently support Netscape but they are "working" on it. 

Also if you have been gaming for any amount of time you have probably heard about Kali.  Kali allows practically any game with network capability to be run over the Internet.  It is a shareware program but it only costs $20 for a full lifetime of upgrades. 

I have not tried to run GTA over any such service but it might be worth a try.  If you want to try it out Matthew Bennett has informed me that he will be at ZoneLAN on Thursday night at 9pm (GMT), and also maybe Saturday and Sunday at 9pm (GMT). 
Thanks to Gangsta and Matthew Bennett! 

Site Updates 
A link to a Felony has been added to the Links section. 
Fletch has sent in some answers regarding the Technical Question on GTA flickering under Windows and the General Question regarding cars blowing up in Vice City.  They have been posted in Q&A. 
There is a new tip on turning in Tips & Tricks. 
 

Monday - January 19, 1998

GTA Banned? 
I've been hearing rumors that GTA has been banned in the UK and France.  I haven't read any official press releases to this effect nor have I heard anything from BMG or DMA about it.  When I get the official word I'll be sure to post something about it. 

Spray Shop/GTA 
More updates from Spray Shop/GTA.  Klamy has added the GTA preview,  
`GUNS, DRUGS 'N' FAST MOTORS`, transcripted from Edge 50.  Also new on Spray Shop/GTA are the full lyrics to `Lagerstar` and `The Ballad of Chapped Lip Calquhoun`.  Both of them were sent to him by Grant Middleton. 

GTA (UK Style!) 
GTA (UK Style!) is no more.  I think GTA (UK Style!) was the first english language GTA fan site but I'm not positive.  We here at GOURANGA! wish Ian at GTA (UK Style!) the best of luck with his new site, Managers Dugout, which specializes in news and info about Championship Manager 97/98 and CM2 information. 

Site Updates 
A new question regarding IPX network play has been posted in Technical Questions. 
There is a new bug report in Possible Bugs. 
Two new General Tips in Tips & Tricks. 
 

Sunday - January 18, 1998

No Update 
I went home for the weekend and had some trouble getting to the server and my email from there so there will be no update today.  I will however be posting tomorrow's update in a matter of hours. 
 

Saturday - January 17, 1998

Secrets Of GOURANGA! 
I just thought I might take some time to mention some things on GOURANGA! that you might not have noticed before because there are no direct links to these resources on the side bar, rather they are linked within different sections. 

Multiplayer Game Setup Help 

City Maps and Vehicles 

Playstation and PC Cheat Codes 

GTA Webring Setup Information 

These are the 4 main pages/sections that usually get overlooked and I get mail on saying, why don't you have "blank" on your site.  Each section of GOURANGA! usually has a few subsections which in some cases should probably have their own page but I chose instead not to do this to limit the size of the side bar and in most cases make it a little easier to get around. 

The GTA Story 
Quickstrike at Grand Theft Auto Bomb Shop has posted his story about Bubby's first GTA adventure. 

Site Updates 
Fletch's Canonball Tips have been added to Tips & Tricks, along with Stealth's trick on getting your boat into the water. 
A new General Question and a few new Mission Questions have been added to Q&A 
 

Friday - January 16, 1998

GTAed 
Ringo's GTAed version 0.3 has just been released and is now available on his site.  Here is some information off of Ringo's site about Version 0.3. 

Version 0.3 is now available, with new features of a dialog box for opening mission.ini files, the ability to add new cars, and new powerups, and should fix some installation problems.

Spray Shop/GTA Update 
Klamy's Spray Shop/GTA now has the lyrics to 'Grand Theft Auto' posted.  Also newly posted are 2 more scans.  The first is another German magazine advertisement with full english translation provided by Michael Mendelsohn.  The other scan is of the German GTA cd art. 
Thanks Klamy! 

Site Updates 
New General Tip and a new Vice City Mission Tip in Tips & Tricks. 
New Playstation question in Q&A. 
Don't ask me why I didn't have a link to Klamy's site in the Links section because I don't know why, but anyway there's one there now :).  If I overlooked anyone else please let me know. 
 

Thursday - January 15, 1998

GTA On The Radio And In The News 
Ian Hardingham said he heard on UK radio that "The house of lords have been discussing GTA !!!" and Steve sent this article in that he saw on the BBC News web site. 

UK - Race games safety warning 

Harmless or harmful? Driving games face safety warnings 

Britain is considering slapping warnings on car race computer games, 
telling motorists to calm down when they get behind the wheel in real 
life.  

Proposals are being considered as a controversial game featuring 
car-hijacks hits the market.  

Grand Theft Auto is one of the games expected to be among this year's big sellers. 

It has attracted criticism for its violent content but after several 
months of delay it has been officially classified as suitable for 
18-year-olds and over.  

However, under proposals being considered by the Home Office, all car 
racing games would have to include a safety warning on the screen at the start.  

The idea came from a member of the public who wrote a letter which was 
passed to the Home Secretary, Jack Straw. It said video games encouraged dangerous driving and that a warning might be a deterrent.  

The games industry opposes the plan saying there is no evidence games 
encourage dangerous driving.  

Grand Theft Auto's manufacturer, BMG Interactive, says a warning would be pointless.  

Spokesman Simon Butler added: "By the time someone has bought a game 
they've made the decision that they want to play it and enjoy it.  

"Grand Theft Auto has an 18 certificate which means if you're under 18 
you shouldn't be buying it or playing it."  

But some pressure groups believe a warning is not enough.  

Jonathan Bartley, from the Movement for Christian Democracy, said: 
"We're in the very early stages of development of video games and we will have to see the effects fully assessed.  

"But every indication is that violence needs to be controlled and we need to have restrictions and guidelines for parents and those using the games."

GTA Servers? 
I've gotten a fair amount of email about the possibility of putting together a GTA server but I have not heard from anyone with a connection good enough for such a venture.  I suppose what is really needed is the ability to set up a GTA dedicated server that would just accept connections and run games automatically (kind of like Quake).  Maybe I'll write DMA and see what input they have on that. I would try and set one up here at GOURANGA! but I don't have a T1 or even a cable modem for that matter. If you are interested in setting one up or know someone who might be interested then please read the following message.   

'Anyone with good connection preferably T-1, who would like to be a server for Grand Theft Auto, give me an email. 
Contact Gangsta - nugget01@globalnet.co.uk or Scott - philipspittle@msn.com

Dear "schu",

We recently stumbled across a news article regarding our review of "Grand Theft Auto".  Just to clear things up, it *was* in fact the demo version, according to the reviewer. 

We apologize for not letting you know when we informed you of the review.  We now realize that on your links page you had a section for "Reviews of Demo Version" and "Reviews of Full Version".  Once again, we apologize for the confusion. 

And, just to let you and your readers know, we'd never review a game using an "early cracked copy" of a game.   

1) It's just plain wrong.  =) 
2) these programs would be buggy, so they'd be classified a "preview" and not a "review". 

- Power Surge Online

UK Charts 
GTA is in the UK charts at : 

Number 3 - All formats chart 
Number 3 - PSX chart 
Number 5 - PC chart 

GTA Artwork 
Klamy's Spray Shop/GTA now has scans of the German GTA packaging.  A scan of a new German advertisement has also been posted.  Along with those scans Spray Shop/GTA also has scans of the UK packaging, poster art, and 2 UK advertisements. 
Thanks Klamy! 

Map Service 
a Felony now has a new map service which allows you to hold your mouse over the spray shops, bomb shops, and other points of interest and, a screenshot of the local area will pop up to help you pin-point these locations and make the maps a little more accurate.  Here is the message Joakim from a Felony sent me about it... 

I've created a slow, but very useful map service on my site. 
Now you don't have to search the entire area after spray shops, 
if you use my maps just hold the cursor over the spray shop (or bomb 
shop, or docks), you will get a small picture in the right corner. It shows were the shop is located inside the game! It's best viewed with 1024x768 and only works with Netscape 3+ or IE4. You can also download a zip file of the maps, so you can use it, when you are offline! 
Thanks Joakim!

PSO Review 
I have received word from 2 highly reputable sources that the GTA review at Power Surge Online (PSO) was based either on the demo or possibly an early cracked copy of the game.  Suspicious comments from the review such as, "One of the saddest features of Grand Theft Auto is the lack of Multiplayer support" reinforce this accusation.  I don't know for sure if the reviewer simply overlooked the mulitplayer support or if the version he had did not have multiplayer support.  If I am contacted by PSO I'll be sure to post their response to this accusation. 

GTA Editors 
New versions of GTAGFX and M1 are now out.  Paul Ashton's GTAGFX is a program that is used to view graphic files from GTA and Sam Jessup's M1 is a GTA map editor. 

GTA Map Locator 
Pierre Ingmansson sent in the newest version of  his GTA Map Locator.  It has also been placed in the Miscellaneous area in the Files section. 
Thanks Pierre! 

Hello 
After getting numerous mails addressed to "hey you" I began to realize that my name is almost nowhere to be found on the site.  My real name appears just once on the whole site, but for email purposes my nick name "schu" will do just fine.  I am the creator of GOURANGA! however I also receive a lot of input about the site from my friends, that's why there are so many references in the Welcome section that say "we here at GOURANGA!." 

Site Updates 
Moved a ton of news to the Old News section which should result in a faster load time. 
Added a link to Road-Killers Rendez-Vous in the Links section. 
A solution to a bug has been posted in the Possible Bugs area in Q&A. 
There is a new Technical Question on modem games in Q&A. 
 

Monday - January 12, 1998

Webring  
I've just added a number of new sites to the GTA Webring bringing the grand total to 29 sites.  

Save Your Game  
Magnus Norrman sent in a little utility that will let you save your game.  I has not been tested here at GOURANGA! and I cannot provide any technical support for it.  Here email Magnus sent in about it.  

Here's a little nifty program that lets you save your game in GTA (And other games too for that matter...) It takes a dump of your RAM, so the more RAM,  the bigger Save-Game file.  It has many other utilities also for that matter.  I will not help anyone with how it works, but it DOES  work!  If your graphics screws up when you switch back to the game, just press F11 and then ENTER.  It may not work if you have EMM386.EXE loaded.

San Andrea's Secrets  
Friday sent me his San Andreas Chapter 1 Secrets File Ver 0.1b.  Here is the intro from the file to give you an idea what its about.  

This is the start of my attempt to list every crate, special car, and kill frenzy in SA.  I'm starting with San Andreas because its the first city only available in the registered game, which not many people will have (until at least February in America) and so less people will know its secrets, making the info in this file much more useful. Capeche? :)

Spray Shop/ GTA  
Klamy's Spray Shop/ GTA now has posted another article from Edge magazine.  This article is an interview with David Jones from DMA Design.  Spray Shop/ GTA also features lyrics from the GTA soundtrack. Klamy also just received the official lyrics to 'Poontang Shebang' straight from Colin Anderson who wrote and produced a number of the songs on the GTA soundtrack.  
Thanks Klamy!  

GOURANGA!  
Mouse sent a question to DMA regarding the word gouranga and got the following response.  

Apparently, Gouranga means "be happy", but we're not prepared to join  
the religion to find out exactly!  

Best Wishes,  

Colin Macdonald  
Producer  
DMA Design Ltd.

Site Updates  
New Mission Tip and General Tip in Tips & Tricks  
New sites in the newly reorganized Links section.  The listing is now in alphabetical order.  
Added a new Mission Question and a Possible Bug in Q&A  
 

Sunday - January 11, 1998

Small Update 
Well I've gone through about 75 emails now and I'm about to pass out.  I am reworking the Multiplayer List and was only able to do a small update to it, however I was able to add a bunch of new tips and some new questions and answers in Q&A.  If I wasn't so tired I would do some more, but typing is becoming a problem so I think its time to go to sleep hehe.  I've gotten some new files in and some links to interviews so hopefully I'll fit it into tomorrow's update. 

Message Fun 
Satan sent in a tip on how to change the in game messages.  This has not been tested here at GOURANGA! so I would highly suggest backing up any files that you will be altering.  

You know those messages that come up to tell you what to do in a mission etc., well I have found a hidden file that changes what comes up to a much harsher version, all you have to do is go into GTAdata and swap the english.fxt with the special.fxt.  To do this, rename english.fxt 2 english1.fxt then rename special.fxt to english.fxt, simple

Site Updates: 
Updated General Questions, Mission Questions, Technical Questions, and Possible Bugs. 
Tips & Tricks has been updated with new General and Full Version Mission Tips. 
Small update to Multiplayer List. 
 

Saturday - January 10, 1998

Technical Difficulties 
Almost there, I've got a little bit further to go with the Windows 95 reinstall and then I'll be able to update once again. 
 

Friday - January 9, 1998

Technical Difficulties  
Due to technical difficulties GOURANGA! will not be updated today.  Windows 95 decided to take a 
nose dive late last night so I was not able to update.  Thankfully my webpage archive was unaffected.  
Hopefully I will get the page updated and all the email answered by tomorrow evening.  Send all of your 
complaints to Bill Gates c/o Microsoft.  
 

Thursday - January 8, 1998

New GTA Review 
There is a new GTA review at Power Surge Online.  A link has also been posted in the Reviews section. 

Patch Ideas 
I am now taking submissions for GTA patch ideas.  If there is anything you think needs to be patched then please submit it.  Please put the phrase "Patch Idea" in the subject line.  Here are some things that I have already been contacted about by numerous people. 

• 3Dfx support under Win95
• Wider range of modem support under DOS
• Better internet play
• Different save game option

GAMESPOTTING  
DMA was interviewed in issue 41 of Edge magazine.  Klamy from Spray Shop/GTA was kind enough to spend an evening transcribing the article into html and posting it.  
Thanks Klamy  

GTA In Sunday Times  
There was a reference to GTA in on the front page of the Sunday Times.  There is an excerpt from the article on GTA Web.  
Thanks to Hugh of GTA Web for posting the article.    

GTAGFX  
Paul Ashton informed me that his GTA Hacks Page has been updated and so has GTAGFX.  GTAGFX is a program that allows you to view the graphic files from GTA.  
Thanks Paul  

Site Updates  
A new GTA Playstation Review has been posted in the Reviews section 
Q&A has been updated.  
GTA Hacks Page has been added to the Links page. 
Lots of new tips added to the Tips & Tricks section. 
The Multiplayer List has been updated. 
The Project: Hack GTA area has been updated.