8w Graphics for low-end PCs

[Spiller]

Disclaimer
This can make you wish you were blind.


— What?
I've resized all the textures (except HUD/Radar) in gta3.img to 8x8 / 16x8.

— Why?
A lot of people fail to run the game on a distinguishable resolution. So for a change, I'm here to help instead of mocking them. This mod trades visual appearance for performance. The boost in FPS will be considerable, might even help you push a stable 60.

— Should I install this?
I'll wish it never comes to the point where you have to consider installing this mod. Only install this if this is the last resort, if you don't want to play the game on a very low resolution. Uninstall HUD, particles and any other visual mods first before coming to this.

I'll warn you beforehand, there will be sudden artifacts in the game due to this, some roads textures might go blank on you. Alpha separated objects such as wires and fences will appear completely white, these can be fixed if you have enough free time on your hands to pick those textures - I don't. The game will be more than playable though, as if it just had a baby with the sun.

— Showcase
Imgur Album


— Installation Steps
1. Extract 8w.img and 8w.dir into models folder.

2. Go to the data folder of the game.
    - Right click on gta-vc.dat.
    - Open with.
    - Select Notepad or any text editor.

3. Add the line CDIMAGE MODELS\8W.IMG right after the Object types line.


4. To disable, just add a # before the CDIMAGE line. To enable again, remove the #.


5. Save the file.
If the above 3 steps are too complicated for you, just replace data/gta-vc.dat with the one in archive.

The 'extras' folder contains files from Hanney's Ultimate Potato Graphics that you can directly replace for further visual degradation.
Make sure you back up files before replacing them.

— Download
https://spiller.vcmp.net/8w.zip

— Changelog
- Defaulted to a simpler .IMG version instead of complicated GMI procedure.
- Added files from Hanney's Ultimate Potato Graphics mod.


If someone wants, here's a link to older version. Use GMI, steps in this GIF.
I don't visit this forum often, you can message me on discord (Spiller#5285) if you need help with the mod.

[Hazard]

Hey there Spiller!

First of all, awesome work man. I can't really thank you enough for this kind of hard work, converting each file and that's real hard.

I have a question. Does high-sized gta3.img matters? Does compressing GTA3.img is possible and will it decrease the lag?

There were a few files contained in the Potato Edition mod by Hanney, I'll show you them.



Here are a few files like Misc.txd, generic.txd and others. Do they work the same way, do they decrease the lag?

The img file you provided is larger than the original GTA3.img while Hanney's one is half of the original size, why/how is that?



And is draw distance related to this subject too, if yes is it allowed or not?

Overall, I tried and roamed around and the mod is really good it decreases the lag for sure. I only saw a gate and office floor weren't designed/colorless.

[Spiller]

Hi Hazard! Thank you for trying this out, and I'm glad it helped you.

converting each file and that's real hard.

xD I did not do it that way, I know some tools and automation, barely took 10-20 minutes.

Does high-sized gta3.img matters? Does compressing GTA3.img is possible and will it decrease the lag?

The img file you provided is larger than the original GTA3.img while Hanney's one is half of the original size, why/how is that?

I don't know how Hanney did all this, maybe he had that much time on his hands that he replaced every txd manually. My gta3.img contains both the original and LOD textures. Afaik, the gta3.dir handles the addresses of txds in gta3.img and performance is based upon individual texture size/type/compression/dimensions and not the size of gta3.img archive.

Here are a few files like Misc.txd, generic.txd and others. Do they work the same way, do they decrease the lag?

Yes! You can lower their dimension to reduce lag as well. But I'd not recommend lowering down dimensions of bushes/trees because they will start inflating like a balloon and it would harder to see through them compared to original.

I'll upload those too, in sometime, just want to make sure they do not cause any artifacts.

And is draw distance related to this subject too, if yes is it allowed or not?

Yes and yes. Less draw distance -> less models drawn in FOV -> less lag. And it does not effect the way you hit players or how they hit you. I have not tried messing with that draw distance adjuster but it should be allowed imo, unless it does not draw buildings and you can see players through them, that'd be disallowed in AD gamemodes.

I only saw a gate and office floor weren't designed/colorless.

Well that's gonna happen more or less, as these are not the optimal textures to play the game.

[Niko]

Nice VCMP - Minecraft version!

[TrapHole.]

looks very good bro.
Spiller make one in ultra hd now for my pentium and 2gb ram xD

[X-Men]

Spiller I  followed same steps as you did but don't know why it showed an error for a thing called instalscriptfile.txt, Something wasn't on that list but the file was there so can you explain me what's the error for?

[Spiller]

Spiller I  followed same steps as you did but don't know why it showed an error for a thing called instalscriptfile.txt, Something wasn't on that list but the file was there so can you explain me what's the error for?

I automated the process of writing installscript.txt.
So if you're getting something like "file listed on installscript not found", its totally okay, just keep clicking on "OK" and it should be fine.

[Spiller]

After receiving quite a few help requests regarding this mod, I decided to change to a cleaner version - It doesn't require you to go replacing textures in your gta3.img anymore. I recently came across this method of directly loading IMG files using gta-vc.dat, when I was discussing about winter mod with SpitFire, thanks to him.



I've also added some files from Hanney's Ultimate Potato Graphics mod, he forgot to include gta3.dir in his version which makes it obsolete, but other files work fine. I didn't include particle.txd because it's only good for severing your vision.

Main post has been updated.

[killerkid]

Kya baat! Spiller bhai hum gareebon ka hero!

[Hazard]

Kya baat! Spiller bhai hum gareebon ka hero!

tu b zinda hai kya lodu?

[killerkid]

Zinda hen chlti phirti maiyaten hen
Ps ander lele mujhe