It’s been nearly a month since the release of the GTA Trilogy and I think it entirely fair to say that while prior patches have improved the game, it is still a long way away from being anything reflective of a finished product. Put simply, it was rushed and released far too soon. And the evidence for that is seen throughout even the most casual of playthroughs.
On the plus side though, the reception for the title has been so negative that it does seem to have at least compelled Rockstar Games to do a far better job of fixing it, than, you know, actually making sure it was in a ‘ready for release’ condition. Albeit, the cynic in me says that this level of effort is only being made in the hope of swinging some better than previously expected Christmas sales.
With the release of its latest 1.03 update, therefore, we have another glut of fixes, improvements, and optimisations that should (hopefully) make the gameplay far more tolerable now!
GTA Trilogy – Update 1.03
Now, although this is officially dubbed an ‘update’, I think this is just a bit of creative marketing on the part of Rockstar Games because this is, without a doubt, a patch. An update implies that something new has been brought to the game whereas a patch clearly indicates broken things that needed to be remedied. – So, which is it? Well, take a gander at these ridiculously huge notes and make your own mind up!
General – PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
Stability improvements
Added the cinematic camera, which can be toggled by cycling through the camera modes when in game
Fixed a number of misspellings on texture art/signage
Fixed a number of instances where rain would appear indoors during cutscenes
Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition
Adjusted the rain during the Give Me Liberty intro cutscene so it matches what is visible during gameplay
Improved the resolution of the signs on taxi front doors
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen inside the mansion during the cutscene to the mission Cutting the Grass
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen inside Donald Love’s apartment during the cutscene to the mission Liberator
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen inside Luigi’s Club during the cutscene to the mission Don’t Spank Ma Bitch Up
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen inside Joey’s Garage during the cutscene to the mission Cipriani’s Chauffeur
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen inside during the cutscene to the mission Bomb Da Base: Act I
Fixed an issue where the rain appears under water when falling
Fixed an issue where grass could be seen inside Joey’s garage during the outro of the mission Drive Misty For Me
Fixed an issue where a wall texture near the hospital in Portland appeared incorrectly while driving
Fixed an issue where pink or black textures would appear on the floor of the Turtle Head Fish Co.
Fixed an issue in the audio menu where the Dialog Volume slider did not adjust the sample audio being played
Fixed an issue where UI would overlap the timer when doing taxi or vigilante missions
Fixed an issue with missing object collision on walls below the Callahan Bridge in Chinatown
Fixed an issue where the player was able to stretch a two-seater vehicle using the car crusher
Fixed several camera issues when playing RC missions
Fixed an issue where misaligned text would appear after delivering to the Import Garage
Fixed an issue where the mission title would linger on screen too long at the beginning of any mission
Fixed an issue with texture display on the Staunton Pay ‘n’ Spray sign
Fixed an issue where the wheels were not connected to the vehicle being worked on by Joey
Fixed a spelling error on the Deli and Pizza storefront on Staunton Island
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition
Ad banners added to the sides of the Rumpo, Coach, Benson, and Boxville vehicles
Fixed an issue where the cutscene at the end of the mission Shakedown would hang as it transitioned back to gameplay
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen inside during the cutscene to the mission Publicity Tour
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen inside during the cutscene to the mission Alloy Wheels of Steel
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen inside the limo during the cutscene to the mission Two Bit Hit
Fixed an issue with Tommy’s hands when wearing the Havana Outfit in the mission Shakedown
Fixed an issue in the mission Cop Land where the mission would fail when the café would blow up
Fixed an issue where the Diaz mansion had missing textures during the outro to the mission Rub Out
Fixed a crash at the end of the mission Checkpoint Charlie
Fixed a crash encountered during the Bloodring Arena Event
Fixed an issue where texture corruption could be seen on the roads during extended play sessions
Fixed a 10 second pause when listening to the radio station V-Rock
Fixed a 15 second pause when listening to the radio station Wildstyle Radio
Fixed an issue during the cutscene for Supply and Demand where ambient characters were present during the cutscene
Fixed a hole in the game world near Café Robina
Fixed a spelling error on the Welcome to Vice City billboard near the airport
Fixed an error with the Shaft Hot Dog stand logo
Fixed several texture issues that appeared on island walls
Fixed an issue where crates could not be destroyed during the mission Gun Runner, preventing game progression
Fixed an issue where the flamethrower was damaging items behind Tommy
Fixed a hole in the game world when standing on Tommy’s wardrobe in the Ocean View Hotel
Fixed an issue where the ramped Packer vehicle textures would corrupt while Tommy is standing in close proximity
Fixed an issue where corrupt textures would appear on the road if failing the mission Hog Tied
Fixed an issue where corrupt textures would appear on the road if failing the mission Boomshine Saigon
Fixed an issue where glass particles would appear oversized when shattering the windows of the Gash Store
Fixed several texture corruption issues that appeared on the Enforcer police van
Fixed an issue where the barrel of the minigun did not spin when fired
Fixed an issue where the main rotor speed of helicopters did not match the rear rotor speed
Fixed an issue on the mini map where the swimming pool shaped like the Rockstar Games logo was incorrectly reflected on the mini map for Starfish Island
Fixed a texture corruption issue on traffic lights and foliage when raining on the mainland
Fixed an issue where the sign was not properly animating on Hyman Memorial Stadium
Fixed a spelling error on the Mavis Bookstore window
Fixed a spelling error when the player is busted during the Paramedic missions
Fixed an issue where Tommy appears small while standing in front of buildings in Little Havana
Fixed an issue where Lance would be duplicated after restarting the mission Copland
Fixed an issue where the open graves behind Funeraria Romero were not visible
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition
Introduced cloud cover at high altitude
Added alternate walking and running animations when CJ is at Max Fat or Max Muscle
Fixed several issues with grass textures that did not display properly
Fixed a white outline in Cesar’s hairline during the cutscene to the mission King in Exile
Fixed an issue with CJ’s body in the cutscene to the mission The Meat Business
Fixed an issue with CJ’s body during the opening cutscene to the mission Supply Lines
Fixed an issue with Cesar’s fingers during the end scene of the mission Cesar Vialpando
Fixed an issue with Cesar’s fingers during the end scene of the mission Wu Zi Mu
Fixed a save game issue at the end of the mission Blood Bowl
Fixed a crash that occurred during the mission Dam and Blast
Fixed a texture corruption issue that occurred after prolonged gameplay
Fixed an issue where CJ and Big Smoke would get stuck near the end of the mission Just Business
Fixed a crash that occurred when drowning near the Ocean Beach end of South Bridge
Fixed an issue where CJ’s face would obscure the camera when looking behind him while riding a quad bike
Fixed an issue where CJ’s face would obscure the camera when looking behind him while piloting the Hydra in first person view
Fixed a crash experienced when retrying a checkpoint during the mission Ice Cold Killa
Fixed a spelling error on a Mexican food advertisement
Fixed a spelling error on a guitar store shop front
Fixed an issue where players were able to purchase cornrows at the barbershop without sufficient funds
Fixed a missing bridge in the Shady Creeks section of the map
Fixed a bug where the burger on the Burger Shot sign was not spinning
Fixed a spelling error on the FleischBerg factory sign
Fixed multiple issues in cutscenes where CJ’s arms clip through his body while at Max Fat
Fixed a lighting issue in the Rockshore West Safehouse
Fixed an issue where the Wasted or Busted screen could be seen when loading an autosave file
Fixed graphical corruption on CJ’s head and body during the motel sequence of the mission Reuniting the Families
Fixed an issue where window panes are translucent at the Dillmore gas station during the mission Tanker Commander
Fixed an issue where tattoos would project out of CJ’s lower arm when he has a muscular body type
Fixed an issue where rain drops did not appear on the water surface
Fixed an issue where various map icons, such as mission blips, would pop in and out of the radar while panning and rotating the camera
Fixed an issue where NPC’s who wear numbered jerseys no longer had a random number overlapping the number 7
Fixed an issue where the rain was not displayed corrected when flying during rainy or stormy weather conditions
Fixed an issue with the audio not playing properly when using the changing room at any of CJ’s properties
Fixed an issue where CJ’s forklift would not act as intended during the mission Robbing Uncle Sam
Fixed an issue with the shape of the Donut and Nut props at the Tuff Nuts donut shop
Fixed a spelling error with the storefront Sayonara
Fixed an issue where the Dodo plane had an inverted nose cone
Fixed an issue where boat propellers did not spin properly
Fixed an issue where the minigun barrel did not spin when fired
Fixed an issue where the incorrect police station sign did not appear in Las Venturas
Fixed an issue where the wrong prices were appearing on the Burger Shot’s outside menu
Fixed an issue where CJ appeared too dark when in the 69 Cent store
Fixed an issue where haircuts would be swapped out with the Caesar haircut anytime CJ wore a hat
Fixed an issue where the radar would disappear after getting caught in the mission Home Invasion
Fixed an issue where police cars could clip through the ground
Fixed an issue where the UFO prop did not rotate at the Lil’ Probe Inn
Xbox One – All Titles
Fixed an issue where the game would not respond for several seconds after exiting certain interiors
Fixed an issue where the player was unable to unlock achievements that other users on other accounts (linked to the same Social Club account) had previously unlocked
PC – All Titles
Fixed a bug where players were unable to highlight or select Cancel or Confirm using a controller on the Mission Failed! screen
Fixed a bug where players with special characters in the PC account name were unable to save gameplay progress
Fixed the in game layout when playing with an ultra-wide screen monitor
Fixed an issue where options were not being properly highlighted when hovering a mouse over them
Fixed an issue where clicking sections in the game menus too quickly would prevent those menu options from being displayed
Fixed an issue where the player was unable to select a UI element with a controller if the mouse cursor is already hovering over it
Fixed an issue where, when in Fullscreen, changing the Resolution setting would briefly show the old resolution value
Fixed an issue where graphics settings were not saving after restarting the game
What Do We Think?
So, yeah, this is a patch. And a bloody big one too. Well, in terms of the overall fixes at least. (The file size is about 30GB in total for all three games). – All going well though, this should now hopefully take the title in a big step forward to, you know, actually being something representative of a so-called ‘Definitive Edition’.