Happy Birthday Tiffany! <12:00 AM CST - schu>
Today is Tiffany's 20th birthday!!!  So why don't you visit Tiffany's Unofficial GTA Shrine or even better, bust out that paint program and whip up a birthday card.  I'll just take a wild guess and say that she would probably appreciate any sort of birthday greetings, card or no card :).

Car Crushing Update <12:00 AM CST - schu>
I added one more entry to the car crushing table.  Nick Mariani informed me that he forgot to put the Big Bug on the list.  One more note on the list, I forgot to credit Alfadog (Z²) as well, I went looking through my emails and found an extensive list from him that I didn't notice until just now.

Even More GTA2 Nuggets of Joy! <12:00 AM CST - schu>
Ok, so the headline is a little old, but with tips like these, who gives a sh*t :)

• Little Don's GTA2 Tips
  Little Don has put all his tips including the full car compactor list into a handy text file for offline viewing.

• GTA2 Made By Lefties?
  I hope noone thinks Alfadog is a leftist after this :):

  I just found out another thing in GTA2, it's the same in Tiberian Sun, and is quite weird.  Anyway, if you look at yourself while punching or holding a gun, you'll notice he does so with his left hand.  Maybe your just a criminal lefty.  Anywho, in Tiberian Sun all the units except for the Medic are left handed also, it's just a little thing I found and it's quite strange, maybe it's easier to draw men using their left arms.

• LL-Hell's GTA2 Tip List
  LL-Hell (TDR2k) send in the following GTA2 demo tips:
   
  
  • Get the bus, then stop at bus stations, people will get on your bus, and even pay you to have the worst ride of their life
  • While you're being chased by 4 cops, you get 2 $$ per minute
  • Weird bug. Just press 'forward' key, and then F6 for pause. Release the forward key, and press F6 again. This works with all the movement keys, and the 'attack' key as well.
  • Get one of the gangs mad at you, and same for the cops. When the gangsters start shooting at u, sometimes the cops start shooting the gangsters and a gun fight breaks out. Usually the cops lose...

I was using the Ms-Dos Edit to get into the E.GXT (you can use NOTEPAD) but I saw something called MULTI-OPTIONS and following after that was COP:ON COPS:OFF does this mean you can have cops in multiplayer we'd all like to know and also for the people who have GTA:London go into the gtadata folder then Uk and there is a TXT file in there called ENGUK.TXT and there is the same thing Police activated/Deactivated and a REAL BIG WOW there is a message saying GOD MODE ACTIVATED so use either DOS EDIT or NOTEPAD to check the E.GXT thing (also tells the multiplayer game modes)

I just thought I'd add that it was mentioned in the GTA2 chat that you will be able to play multiplayer GTA with the cops on...

New GTA Sites <12:00 AM CST - schu>

GTA2 Burnout

 
Site Updates <12:00 AM CST - schu>
I realize that its not the 30th just yet but I'm not sure if I'll have time to do an update tomorrow so this is my cop out way of covering the 30th not to mention it gives you a little advanced warning on Tiffany's birthday so you can make a card :).  A friend of mine picked up some free tickets to see the Chemical Brothers, the only catch is that I have to drive 2 hours to see em.  This will undoubtedly take up most of tomorrow night with the day being dominated by my college radio shift and a bs marketing meeting.  I will be back on Friday of course to post another update.

There have been rumors swirling about that Take2 had plans to acquire DMA Design and its finally happened.  This is very interesting news in and of itself but most of the articles also make mention of future DMA projects called "GTA3D and The Grand Theft Auto Online Crime World."  I'm not sure what it is just yet but I'll do my best to find out ASAP.  The following is an amalgamation of press releases different sites have been posting:

DMA Design plans to develop Grand Theft Auto 3D and Grand Theft Auto Online Crime World after being acquired by Take-Two.

In a move aimed at strengthening its growing internal development organization, Take 2 Interactive announced today that it had acquired DMA Design from Infogrames Entertainment, S.A., for $11 million in cash. According to company officials, Take 2 will also assume certain bank indebtedness, although there was no mention of the actual extent of the liabilities. Furthermore, Take 2 will pay no royalties on Grand Theft Auto products from this date forward. 

DMA Design, a ten-year-old game production studio based in Dundee and Edinburgh, Scotland, is the creator and developer of Take-Two's best-selling Grand Theft Auto series. The company expects Grand Theft Auto products to account for more than $50 million in net sales for its fiscal year ending Oct. 31, 1999. Prior to the creation of Grand Theft Auto, DMA was best known for the creation of the Lemmings series for Sony Computer Entertainment's Psygnosis subsidiary.  The company plans to utilize the DMA Design team as a high-end source of creatively diverse product for Sony's upcoming PlayStaton 2 platform as well as the PC and the Internet. DMA will continue to develop Grand Theft Auto titles for publication through the company's Rockstar Games division, including GTA3D and The Grand Theft Auto Online Crime World.

As a result of the transaction, Take-Two will publish all Grand Theft Auto products, including the highly anticipated GTA2 (the sequel to Grand Theft Auto, which will ship before the company's fiscal year ending Oct. 31), royalty free on a go forward basis. As a result, the company expects the acquisition to be accretive in both fiscal years 1999 and 2000.

Sam Houser, president of Take-Two subsidiary Rockstar said, "We are thrilled that DMA is officially part of the Take-Two and Rockstar Games family. In particular, the ability to align Rockstar with a development house, such as DMA Design, that is clearly approaching the video game development in a new and exciting manner, makes this a perfect match."

If you want proof, just check out DMA's Site or the following sites:

• FGN Online
• CGO
• Gamecenter
• AVault
• Next Generation
  

And as you can see the domain name GTA3D.com has already been registered by Take2.

Just a few explanations to clear things up a bit.

• ElectroFingers according to LL-HeLL and Little Don will electrocute anyone who comes near you.
• The crane will not accept the bigger vehicles like the Fire Truck, Van, G4 Bank Van, Bus, Ambulance, etc.
• James 'Popcorn' Duffy had an interesting addition about uncrushable vehicles that I'll just quote rather than rewrite:
  

"Bear in mind this *may* be a devious plot to stop us demo-players getting our hands on a horrifically interesting weapon before the final game."

That brings up an interesting point that this list may change for the final version.  If I had to guess Id say that perhaps some of the Uzis will be replaced with a better reward, but I suppose we will have to wait and see to find out for sure.

• Nick Mariani mentioned that there are car compactors in three parts of the city, but the easiest one to find it in the top right hand corner of the city.

Thanks to everyone for sending in all the great tips and their car crushing lists.

Announcements <10:30 PM CST - schu>

• Davehart, web master of GTA2 HQ, is the now a columnist for GTA2 at Barry's World.  Davehart actually already has a few GTA2 updates on his column, take a look.
• Olle has updated GTA Traffic Jam with cars, a new GTA2 section, and much much more.
• GTA Fire Burners is back online at.  You can find London 2001 and more at www.gtafireburner.com
• Valdemar has updated his car site, GTAWorld.  He is still looking for cars so if you have something you'd like to donate, just email it to him.

Project News <10:30 PM CST - schu>

• More On GTA Wave 3.0
  Adrian wrote back with some more details on GTA Wave 3.0's release:

  GTA Wave 3.0 is pretty close to completion, but won't be released until after GTA2 comes out so as to be sure that it works with the full version. The new GTA2 sound file format gives GTA Wave greater control over the sounds, such as pitch modulation range and loop start position.

• The GTA2 Information Center
  Scran created a small program (95k) in VB 5 that has all the information on GTA2.  Here are some pieces of Scran's message:

  Its really stupid but I was bored and I felt like making it so I didn't have to go online to find info on gangs and requirements and what's in the game or screen shots. So I made the "GTA2 Information Center".  Just a note, it really really has no designing technique, but I can make some cool programming interfaces, GUI (Graphical User Interface) but this one just blows. See for yourself, but if you really wanna diss my prog, email me at scraniel@ij.net and all the info about the prog is inside the prog itself.

  The file may require a certain DLL in the windows/system directory.  If you get an error you can pick up the correct DLL here.
  

• GTA - Back To The Future
  Craig is working on a Back to the Future mod for GTA, check it out:

  I just thought I would inform the site that I am currently working on a Grand Theft Auto 'Back to the Future' addon that consists of new weapons, graphics, road textures, levels and missions. It is divided into three time zones; Hill Valley 1955, Hill Valley 1985 and Hill Valley 2015. This will enable me, with the help of some people, to create cars of the past, sort-of-present and concept cars of the future. There will be a Delorian secret on each level (1955 Delorian is Delorian in part 1, 1985 in part 2 with Mr. Fusion and 2015 with hover conversion). With a bit of luck, somebody will help Gallus (Gallus144@hotmail.com) hack a pallette for a Delorean which he has made which will enable sparking effects when the special key is pressed (like the films).
   

Community News <10:30 PM CST - schu>

• Tiffany's Unofficial Grand Theft Auto Shrine
  This week & last week, I added cars to the Car Depot, The Junction 25 map editor was sent in by Greg Cahir and added to the Files page, and I updated my Links and GTA FAQ! Oh... and check out my 3 GTA2 Teasers! They require Macromedia Shockwave 7, and will only be on my site until GTA2 is released!
   
• Section 487: Elvis Has Left The Building
  Ok heres the deal.  Nobody ask for the timer crack now.  If there is one I'm sure you'll find out anyway.  It's pissing me off, everyone's asking me for one but to put it simply, a/ I cant do it without the decompiler b/ Even if I could I wouldn't release it due to something DMA have said. c/  I get 30 mails a day about it so I'm very pissed off with the subject.

  JUST STOP ASKING!!!!!!!

Q&A Chat Log Correction <10:30 PM CST - schu>
DMA's Brain Baird was kind enough to clear up the guest list for the chat.  I wasn't quite sure of Gary's title and it turns out that Brian is actually still with DMA and did not transfer to RockStar and Gary Penn is Creative Director.  I've made the appropriate changes to the chat log.  Thanks Brian!

Tosh Ponders The Wonders of GTA2 <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Check out Nice One for Tosh's thoughts on the GTA2 demo.  He covers a great deal and its well worth a read.  While you're at Nice One make sure you take a look at the 10 exclusive GTA2 screen shots that Mugwum snagged recently.  He posted five earlier this weekend and just posted five more yesterday.

More GTA2 Nuggets of Joy! <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Just a few more GTA2 demo tips, hints, and moments sent in by fans.  If you have a good one send it in and I'll post it:

• Kill Frenzies & Specials & Trucks Oh My
  Little Don has been hard at work and found five of the seven Kill Frenzies and six GTA2 specials.  Here is Little Don's message:

  Frenzies

  • when you die, you get placed in AVALON, walk up to find a flame-thrower kill frenzy
  • at the same place as above, but then walk down, across the street, and up the building by the stairs, on the roof you can find an MOLOTOV COCKTAIL Frenzy
  • at the back of the Z! HQ, in an alleyway behind it, there is an rocket launcher hidden, you'll have to walk to the other side of the buildings to find it
  • In the Yakuza area, on the east side of the town, near the river, there is an silenced S-UZI Frenzy
  • also, there is an S-UZI near the Loony HQ, to the far right of it.
    

    Bonuses & Specials
    

  • "medical emergency" by destroying lots of Ambulances and med staff.
  • "cop killa" by destroying lots of cop cars and cops to get this thingy.
  • "Cop puncher" by getting a lot of cops after you,then punching em all over.
  • "Accuracy Bonus" the easiest way is getting 1 or more swat teams after ya,then shooting at em in a straight line,without missing,and the bonus is yours.
  • "Elvis has left the building" run over the entire jogging group.  It's gouranga, but with an different name.
  • and of course the service center thingys, getting an rigged car, getting rigged guns, getting oil dropping cars, and a Articulated truck in a carpark (got this tip from Ryan Mcgrath)

Thanks to Little Don for all the details.  I just wanted to make one addition to the truck tip.  If you look just West of the Loony compound you'll see something parked near one of the buildings (sW mentioned that it was in Sunnyside to be exact).  I wasn't quite sure what to make of it because you couldn't get get inside of it like a car but it blew up when I shot at it enough :).  At the chat one of the developers (either Jeff or Brian I think) explained that it is the trailer for the truck.  Sure enough if you back a truck cab up to it, it will latch on.  You can then release the trailer whenever you want by using the left alt key.

• Car Crushing Tips
  sW reports about making cash from trash:

  In Zarelli, there is a car crusher.  It is to the right of the place where you got to plant explosives in a Loony mission.  You go into the gates and pull up to it.  A crane will swing over and a magnet will pick up your car and drop it in a crusher.  Then another crane brings the crushed car to a conveyor belt 
  and gives you money.
   

  Nick Mariani brings home the goods with some kick ass tips on which cars to crush:
  

  Try this trick, get the car that has the Z on top (Z-TYPE) and take it to the compactor in the top right hand corner of the screen and you'll get 3 Silenced Uzi's, crushing a police car will get you a COP BRIBE, and I can't remember what car it is that gives you a 30 second invincibility just try it with different cars and see what happens.

  Note: In the last tip, I think its the Loony car with the smiley face on top that gives you the 30 second invincibility.
   

GTA2 Editing <10:30 PM CST - schu>

• SCR Details
  The GTA Jedi has updated the Hacking section at Section 487: Elvis Has Left The Building with new info on GTA2's SCR file format gleaned from the GTA2 developer chat.

• Nick's GTA2 NYC.GCI Tips
  Nick Mariani sent the following update on his car editing quest:
  "I've found a way to edit the cars stats in GTA 2.  Before you begin YOU MUST BACKUP THE FILE NYC.GCI.  Then right click on the NYC.GCI file and select "open with", then select NOTEPAD to open this file.  Now every car in the GTA2 DEMO & FULL are now editable, also when you save it will be converted to NYC.TXT rename the file format part to .GCI to make the cars workable, here is an example:
  
  

  {Cop Car}	[Car Name]
  12 {model}	[Car Model no.]
  1 {turbo}	[if car has turbo power 1:enable 0:disable]
  60 {value}	[carjack, destroy, compact value]
  0 {pad}	[Unknown]
  f14.500 {mass}	[Car Weight]
  f1.000 {front drive bias}	[how the car turn by the front wheels]
  f0.500 {front mass bias}	[weight in the front of the car]
  f2.000 {brake friction}	[how good the brakes are]
  f0.433 {turn in}	[Unknown]
  f0.400 {turn ratio}	[how well the car can turn]
  f1.250 {rear end stability}	[how stable the back end of the car is]
  f0.400 {handbrake slide value}	[how much you will slide when braking]
  f0.150 {thrust}	[the amount of acceleration speed boost]
  f0.415 {max_speed}	[the max speed the car can reach]
  f1.000 {anti strength}	[the cars strength - set to f0.000 for car invincibility]
  f0.115 {skid threshhold}	[Unknown]
  f0.550 {gear1 multiplier}	[the gear's speed boost]
  f0.680 {gear2 multiplier}	[the gear's speed boost]
  f1.000 {gear3 multiplier}	[the gear's speed boost]
  f0.180 {gear2 speed}	[how much extra speed is given in this gear]
  f0.290 {gear3 speed}	[how much extra speed is given in this gear]

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

The GTA Directory

Site Updates <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Sorry about the late update, I got stuck in a group meeting for my Marketing class.

• Formatted Q&A For Easy Viewing
• GTA2 Question Room Log
• GTA2 Answer Room Log
• GTA2 Hidden Room - After Chat Log

Spray Shop GTA Returns!!! <2:30 PM CST - schu>
If you have been over to www.klamy.co.uk you might have noticed that Klamy's sites are all gone, including Spray Shop/GTA, one of the most original GTA sites that ever existed.  Well after I noticed that Spray Shop was down so I offered Klamy some space here on gouranga.com to bring it back online and as you can see he said YES!  You can find SS/GTA at www.gouranga.com/sprayshop and I'll see what I can do about a redirect sometime soon making it easier to find at sprayshop.gouranga.com.  I'd write more but I'm about to fall asleep, suffice to say SS/GTA has kicked ass, kicks ass, and will kick ass for some time to come, especially with highlights like Ram Raiding, the Benzoate Remix, the full listing of lyrics from GTA, the transcription of the GTA/DMA articles from EDGE Magazine, etc, etc, etc.   Check it out now!!!

GTA2 Chat Time Change <6:00 AM CST - schu>
The GTA2 chat will actually be taking place 1 hour after it was originally suppose to start, for most people that is anyway.  It is at 9pm, AEST but in the UK that is 12pm, NOT 11am which means all the US times are screwed up too.

Anyway here is when I think the chat will start:

• Time:
  AUSTRALIA - NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania  9.00pm
  AUSTRALIA - Northern Territory, South Australia  8.30pm
  AUSTRALIA - Western Australia  7.00pm

EUROPE - Western  1:00pm
EUROPE - Central  2.00pm
EUROPE - Eastern  3.00pm

New Zealand  11.00pm

United Kingdom  12.00pm

USA - Eastern  7.00am
USA - Central  6.00am
USA - Mountain 5:00am
USA - Pacific  4.00am

I'm in there now but it wont start for another hour...  Oh well, who needs sleep anyway :)

By the way... If you want to join the chat using mIRC or another IRC chat client you can join that way as well, here are the details:

irc.playnow.com.au
port: 6667
#GTA2_Answers
#GTA2_Questions

You have to join both channels for it to work, obviously one is for questions, the other for answers :)

• Guests:
  Dan Houser, Rockstar Minister of Information - UK
  Sam Houser, President of Rockstar Games (the man, the legend!) - US
  Jeff Castaneda, Rockstar Public Relations Manager - US
  James Ellingford, Managing Director and Marketing Mgr of Directsoft - AU
  Colin Macdonald, Producer of DMA Design - UK
  

• Date:
  Sunday, September 26th 1999

• Time:
  AUSTRALIA - NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania  9.00pm
  AUSTRALIA - Northern Territory, South Australia  8.30pm
  AUSTRALIA - Western Australia  7.00pm

EUROPE - Western  12:00pm
EUROPE - Central  1.00pm
EUROPE - Eastern  2.00pm

New Zealand  11.00pm

United Kingdom  11.00am

USA - Eastern  6.00am
USA - Central  5.00am
USA - Mountain 4:00am
USA - Pacific  3.00am

• Prizes:
  Before you get too excited about prizes, I just read at PlayNOW! that the prizes are only open to residents of Australia.  If you live in Australia then its no big deal, but if you don't then I wouldnt plan on getting yourself fitted for that GTA2 t-shirt just yet.

  The prizes include:

  • 1 Autographed copy of GTA2
  • 20 GTA2 Prize Packs including a GTA2 t-shirt, GTA2 bumper sticker, GTA2 tattoo and a GTA2 poster.  The winners will be announced at the end of the chat session so you'll have to stay for the full hour if you want to win.

 
GTA2 Editing <12:00 AM CST - schu>

• Sam Houser On GTA2 Editing
  David 'The GTA Jedi' Whitney got an email from Sam Houser on supporting the GTA community's editing scene.  Check it out at Section 487: Elvis Has Left The Building.  While your there check out the Hacking/Editing section for the latest advances in GTA2 hacking information.
   
• NYC.GCI Interpretations
  Nick Mariani was poking around the NYC.GCI file in the demo's DATA folder and sent me some of his interpretations of some of the settings.  You can open the file with notepad and as always, make sure you backup the file before editing it:
  
  

  {Cop Car}	[Car Name]
  12 {model}	[Model no.]
  1 {turbo}	[if car has turbo power 1:enable 0:disable]
  60 {value}	[Destroy Value]
  0 {pad}	[Unknown]
  f14.500 {mass}	[Weight of car]
  f1.000 {front drive bias}	[Unknown]
  f0.500 {front mass bias}	[weight in the front part of the car]
  f2.000 {brake friction}	[how good the brake is]
  f0.433 {turn in}	[Unknown]
  f0.400 {turn ratio}	[how good the car can turn]
  f1.250 {rear end stability}	[how stable the back of the car is]
  f0.400 {handbrake slide value}	[how much you will slide]
  f0.150 {thrust}	[how much thrust goes into acceleration]
  f0.415 {max_speed}	[the max speed the car can reach]
  f1.000 {anti strength}	[the cars strength, set to f0.000 for car invincibility]
  f0.115 {skid threshhold}	[how much the car skids]
  f0.550 {gear1 multiplier}	[Unknown]
  f0.680 {gear2 multiplier}	[Unknown]
  f1.000 {gear3 multiplier}	[Unknown]
  f0.180 {gear2 speed}	[how much speed extra is given in this gear]
  f0.290 {gear3 speed}	[how much speed extra is given in this gear]

More Nuggets of GTA2 Joy <12:00 AM CST - schu>

• Fire Truck Fun:
  Shyam & Dennis mentioned that you can fire the water cannon on the Fire Truck just like you could fire the tank in GTA... Hold down the TAB key and hit the arrows to rotate the turret and then hit fire to shoot water at any unlucky bastard who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
   
• Taxi Cab Fares:
  Jordan & Shyam wrote in about earning fares with taxi cabs.  You just steal a taxi and pick up passengers that yell out "TAXI!".  You will then get $1 per second  as long as they stay in the cab.  For some reason they will leave the cab if you hit anyone or anything, I cant imagine why :).
   
• New Controls:
  Jordan noticed that you can use the directional arrows on the number pad to move the screen around while driving in the car.  Ive also noticed you can use the Left ALT key along with the arrows to move the screen around while you are out of the car on foot.

Demo Links <12:00 AM CST - schu>
Jeh informed me that Xtreme Getaway has posted the full GTA2 demo so I've added the Xtreme Getaway link to the list of demo links I posted yesterday.

GTA2 Tech Support <12:00 AM CST - schu>
Yow... Lots of email on this one :)  Im trying to keep up with it all and Ive been reading every message that comes in.  I am then taking the information and combining them into separate problem descriptions that I send to Rockstar.  I can't guarantee a fix but it will at least make them aware of the problem.  The more information you send in on the problem and on your system configuration the better.  The most popular problem so far is keyboard incomptibility issue.  I've gotten numerous emails on this and most, but not all, of the emails are from Nordic countries.  I will also gladly accept emails from anyone who had a problem and solved it, that way I can repost possible solutions in the news so other people can try em.

Possible Demo Workarounds <12:00 AM CST - schu>
These are two possible workarounds you might want to try if you are having troubles with the GTA2 demo.  If you have a workaround the demo please send it in.

• Demo Won't Run:
  First, if you cant get GTA2 to run by using the GTA2 Demo icon on your start menu, try running it directly from the demo directory.  Run the GTA2.exe file rather than the GTA Manager and see if it works.  The downside to this approach is that you cant adjust anything in the game.  When you run GTA2 from the start menu it actually runs the GTA2 manager first so you can set up the options

• Keyboard Problems:
  This won't work for everyone but its worth a shot.  If you are getting some sort of keyboard related error you might wanna try changing your keyboard settings to English.  You should be able to do this from the Keyboard menu in the Control Panels.
   

New GTA Sites <12:00 AM CST - schu>

Tony's GTA Page

Site Update <12:00 AM CST - schu>
Goku!!!  Why Aren't You Here???  Sorry, I just watched DBZ and I just couldn't resist.

Nice One, 3dActionPlanet's premiere Grand Theft Auto hosted site, has posted a huge GTA2 Demo Review, along with 34 screen shots taken from the demo and a shed-load of information on what's included and what fun there is to be had!
 
Links:
Demo Review
Screen shots

GTA2 Demo Tech Support <2:00 AM CST - schu>
If you are having trouble with the GTA2 demo, feel free to send in a description of your problem.  I don't think I can solve all the problems, or even most of the problems, but if I get a lot of mail that indicates a similar trend I'll send it on to RockStar and see if I can get some recommendations.  The more information on your system and the problem the better.

GTA2 Demo Feedback <2:00 AM CST - schu>

• GTA2 Demo Hacking
  GTA Jedi has analyzed some of the GTA2 files and has posted his findings on his new GTA2 site, Section 487: Elvis Has Left The Building.  Check it out...
  

  C1 also wrote in with some hacking information, here is the message he sent in:

  I have found that you can easily edit the FXT Or GXT " Thanks GTA Jedi " With a simple hex editor. Unlike the old FXT Files which were encrypted, you can plainly see the text in the game through a hex editor.  I have found that e.gxt has the mission text, phone messages, etc. and Bob_e.gxt has all the text for options like the controls and the modem speeds etc.  So far I have not tested an edited GXT file I made because I don't have a good enough computer to even play the game :(.  But tt should work fine, if anyone can try this and see if it works it would be cool.

• GTA2 On A P120?
  Madman wrote in to urge GTA fans with slower computers not to give up on the GTA2 demo.  Apparently he is running it on his P120 with 32MB of RAM and he says that, "GTA2 runs like a charm."  I would imagine that results will vary depending what video card you have but its definitely worth a shot.

• Ice Cream Anyone?
  Alfadog (Z²) wrote in and mentioned that if you get the ice cream truck you should try holding down the TAB key.  Instead of a horn it plays an ice cream truck tune.  Although I've found that not many people buy ice cream if you are running them down with the truck...  I wonder why?

Got a nugget of GTA2 joy you want to share with the group?  Send it on in and I'll post it in the news.

GTA2 Developer Chat This Weekend <2:00 AM CST - schu>
Just a reminder that the GTA2 developer chat @ PlayNOW! is this weekend.  PlayNOW! has also expanded the prize list for the chat, but they don't mention if you have to be a resident of Australia in order to win.  You may recall that they are already giving away a signed copy of GTA2 to one lucky fan and now they have expanded the prize list to include 20 GTA2 prize packs.  The prize packs include a t-shirt, poster, tattoo, and bumper stickers.  Check out the last update for date and time details.

New GTA2 Preview @ GamesDomain <2:00 AM CST - schu>
GamesDomain has posted their GTA2 ECTS preview.  Its pretty much the same rehashed details with five screenshots, but I figured it was worth a mention.

GTA2 Demo Links <2:00 AM CST - schu>
The following is a repost that has been updated with new download sites:

Having trouble downloading the demo? I've collected a few of the demo download locations that I've spotted around and posted the links below. If you know of any other GTA2 demo file mirrors, please send me the URL and I'll add them to the list.  The Gigex download is a self contained download manager that will download the demo for you, its only 87.7k, or if you want, you can download the full demo at 12.3MB.  If you don't wanna use Gigex and need a download manager, you might wanna check out GetRight or NetVampire.

Demo Requirements:

• Pentium P200 or above
• DirectX 6.1
• Any Direct3D compatible video card (at least 4MB) (support Voodoo cards aswell)
• Any DirectSound compatible sound card
• 40Mb free drive space

Download Sites:

>AVault:

• Gigex Downloader:http://gigex1.com/M0057200001/GTA2demo.exe
• Full:ftp://ftp.avault.com/demos/GTA2DEMO.exe

>AGN3D:

• Full:
  ftp://ftp.agnfiles.com/game_demos/grand_theft_auto_2/gta2demo.exe

>FilePlanet:

• Full:
  http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?file=23532

>G!:

• Gigex Downloader: http://www.gouranga.com/files/demo/gigex/GTA2demo.exe

>GameSpot:

• Full:
  ftp://ftp.zdnet.com/gs/driving/gta2/gta2demo.exe

>GTA2.com:

• Gigex Downloader: http://gigex1.com/M0057200001/GTA2demo.exe
• Full:http://gigex1.com/F0057200001/GTAdemo.htm

>PC.IGN.com:

• Full:
  http://west4.download.won.net/ign/detail/index,64,MTY3NA==.html

>PlayNOW!:

• Full:
  http://www.playnow.com.au/gamestuff/G/gta2/GTA2DEMO.exe
  

>Xtreme Getaway:

• Full:
  http://www.gtaxtreme.net/files/demos/gta2demo.exe
  

 
Announcements <2:00 AM CST - schu>

Jman's GTA Page is looking for cars.  Check out his site for contribution details.

Community News <2:00 AM CST - schu>

• GTA2 More Extreme
  Hi everyone, if you've never heard of the GTA2 site called GTA2 More Extreme you really missed a lot of things.  This site is pretty new, its been open for about 4 weeks now and its got so many things to offer about GTA2, you wouldn't even want another GTA2 site that's why I've made a little list of what GTA2 More Extreme offers these days:
   
  
  • All the latest GTA2 news with DAILY updates and lots of exclusive news not found on other GTA2 sites.
• GTA2 Greeting cards, send a nice digital GTA2 card to someone you like/love/hate
• Latest GTA2 downloads, including exclusive backgrounds and other files
• Movie Info, photo's, info about the making of the GTA2 Promotion movie
• Steal Movies, the newest promo movies sent to us in a special section to be viewed online or downloaded at this moment there are 3 movies out of 10 +2 bonus movies. (new section)
• A list of all the GTA2 previews
• All the screenshots that have been shown to public
• Images of most of the cars that are in GTA2
• Info and high resolution images about the Characters/gangs in GTA2
• All the latest features GTA2 will have in the full version
• Facts about the game

This site is especially based on the GTA2 news, come back every day to read the latest about GTA2. At this moment I'm proud to say this should be the best GTA2 on the Net. So if you have any GTA2 news, you can send it to me and it will be posted on the news. Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you daily at GTA2 More Extreme

Site Updates <2:00 AM CST - schu>

• As you can see I didn't do a second update yesterday as I expected.  I had to do my radio shift followed by a bunch of school crap, followed by a bunch of BS which pretty much too up the rest of the day.
• I'm considering reinstalling my system this weekend because I can feel a Win98 full blown crash coming on any day now and I'd rather backup and reinstall before that happens.  Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my weekend but it may be necessary.

• Shockwave Plugin (required for viewing)
  
• Teaser #1
• Teaser #2
• Teaser #3

GTA2 Demo Links <3:00 AM CST - schu>
Having trouble downloading the demo? I've collected a few of the demo download locations that I've spotted around and posted the links below. If you know of any other GTA2 demo file mirrors, please send me the URL and I'll add them to the list.  The Gigex download is a self contained download manager that will download the demo for you, its only 87.7k, or if you want, you can download the full demo at 12.3MB.  If you don't wanna use Gigex and need a download manager, you might wanna check out GetRight or NetVampire.

Demo Requirements:

• Pentium P200 or above
• DirectX 6.1
• Any Direct3D compatible video card (at least 4MB) (support Voodoo cards aswell)
• Any DirectSound compatible sound card
• 40Mb free drive space

Download Sites:

>AVault:

• Gigex Downloader:http://gigex1.com/M0057200001/GTA2demo.exe
• Full:ftp://ftp.avault.com/demos/GTA2DEMO.exe

>AGN3D:

• Full:
  ftp://ftp.agnfiles.com/game_demos/grand_theft_auto_2/gta2demo.exe

>FilePlanet:

• Full:
  ftp://ftp1.gamespy.com/pub/fileplanet/gamedemos/action/GTA2DEMO.exe

>G!:

• Gigex Downloader: http://www.gouranga.com/files/demo/gigex/GTA2demo.exe

>GTA2.com:

• Gigex Downloader: http://gigex1.com/M0057200001/GTA2demo.exe
• Full:http://gigex1.com/F0057200001/GTAdemo.htm

GTA2 Audio! <3:00 AM CST - schu>
Damn...  If you haven't downloaded the GTA2 Audio Preview (3.53MB) you should definitely check it out.  There are small bits of music on it, but for the most part the MP3 sample is a collage of the radio samples you will hear in the game.  The DJ bits have been expanded greatly in GTA2 with the addition of commercials and judging from the sample, the voice acting will be top notch.  I really cant wait to hear the full version of "Taxi Drivers Must DIE!"  When I spoke with Dan the other day he also mentioned that some of the music heard in the GTA2 film will appear in the game, so that might give you a general idea of what to expect, but he also said that many different musical genres will be represented, much like the original GTA.
 

GTA2 Preview @ Nice One <3:00 AM CST - schu>
Mugwum has completed his GTA2 preview over at Nice One, check out the details on the preview and the upcoming GTA2 demo review at 3DAP!:

Well, you know, everyone else has one, so I thought I ought to have one. It's got lots of info and I feel it's worth a read. Tomorrow or Friday, 3dAP will have a GTA2 demo review in association with Nice-One (in other words I'm writing it) and that'll be good. As you may have read at GTA2 More Extreme, there should be lots of GTA2 stuff going on up until the release, and then we'll bring you a review on 3dAP and here pretty quickly. Oh, and there're some screenshots up to go with the preview. Enjoy.
 
URLs...
 
Preview:
http://www.3dactionplanet.com/gta/gta.asp?file=articles/gta2_preview

Screenshots: http://www.3dactionplanet.com/gta/gta.asp?file=articles/gta2_eyecandy

Announcements <3:00 AM CST - schu>

• David 'The GTA Jedi' Whitney has posted his comments on the GTA2 demo over @ Section 487.  He also made some comments on the new GTA2 file formats, namely the fact that GXT=FXT, STY=GRY/G24, and that the GCI format replaces the old CMPs from GTA.
• Check out Henrik's Liberty City Graveyard @ http://www.gtaxtreme.net/lcg/
• FLuBBeR has opened up the GTA Spanish Sites @ http://members.xoom.com/gtass.  The page is still under construction so this is more a preview than anything.  The site will contain files, cities, cars, tips, hints, and small GTA2 preview with screenshots.