Question How do I get GTA 1 (1997) to work on Windows 10?

[akcl4]

So this game is unusually problematic for an old game, whats the simplest easiest way to get it to work?

 

[USAFRet]

So this game is unusually problematic for an old game, whats the simplest easiest way to get it to work?

The easiest way is Steam.

 

[akcl4]

The easiest way is Steam.

wow does that actually make it work on windows 10 tho? are u sure?

 

[USAFRet]

wow does that actually make it work on windows 10 tho? are u sure?

Almost certainly, yes.

I've played Commander Keen and Quake I on a Win 10 platform.

 

[akcl4]

I changed even registry files and it didnt work, I didnt buy the steam version but it seems the steam version would be no different to the free version, infact it may be worse because people have modded it trying to make it easier to install on windows 10 with some free versions.

I followed one of those guides did everything correctly and at the end it just didnt recognize my display options or something

Any help would be appreciated but I think it may just be tough luck, get windows 95 for old games on a separate hard drive, or get a ps1 emulator

 

[kira-faye]

... It was originally a DOS game, so just use DOS Box.

GTA 1 on DOSBox Guide

Updated 30/3/2021 - Rewritten from scratch Required DOSBox - dosbox.com Grand Theft Auto Files - Steam / Original CDs Start by installing the latest version of DOSBox. Now navigate to its installation folder, usually (..but not always, this guide assumes you're running a 64bit build of Windows). ...

gtaforums.com

 

[USAFRet]

I changed even registry files and it didnt work, I didnt buy the steam version but it seems the steam version would be no different to the free version, infact it may be worse because people have modded it trying to make it easier to install on windows 10 with some free versions.

I followed one of those guides did everything correctly and at the end it just didnt recognize my display options or something

Any help would be appreciated but I think it may just be tough luck, get windows 95 for old games on a separate hard drive, or get a ps1 emulator

The Steam version would have all the interconnects with the Steam platform.
They sell it, so it should run.

 

[kira-faye]

The Steam version would have all the interconnects with the Steam platform.
They sell it, so it should run.

Reading the reviews, apparently it doesn't for a lot of people.

 

[akcl4]

Can you install windows

The Steam version would have all the interconnects with the Steam platform.
They sell it, so it should run.

Yea the reviews say otherwise, I think they even took it down for a while because people were buying then unable to play

 

[akcl4]

Does Microsoft intentionally leave out what seems like basic features as some kind of sales tactic, or is it difficult to make an OS?

 

[TerryLaze]

Gta 1 runs fine on win10, well not fine but it does start, you need dgVoodoo2 or a similar wrapper for it to really run fine.
Copy the files found in \MS\x86 to the directory that has the gta exe in it.
If you have the version that has both dos and windows support you have to use the windows version.

 

[Eximo]

I was going to say, glide wrappers. Also the best looking version of the game is to run it in glide mode.

 

[gamerk316]

Almost certainly, yes.

I've played Commander Keen and Quake I on a Win 10 platform.

To be fair, Steam just wraps any DOS title around DOSBOX, an old version at that.

Does Microsoft intentionally leave out what seems like basic features as some kind of sales tactic, or is it difficult to make an OS?

Microsoft is actually extraordinarilly good at maintaining backward compatibility. The problem is the graphical backend of windows has been re-written several times, which results in a lot of issues with older titles.

For situations like these, I generally check pcgamingwiki.com first. From what I can see for GTA, theres a third party fix that addresses most (but not all) of the issues with the game. As the game's HW renderer uses Glide, a Glide wrapper would also help get the game up and running.

Failing that, it looks like the game also came with a DOS executive, so you could try DOSBOX as a last resort.