The classic GTA trilogy is about to get a whole lot better, thanks to SilentPatch becoming an open source project.
As Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas celebrated its 20th anniversary last month, another milestone was also being celebrated within the GTA community: the incredible journey of a modder known simply as 'Silent,' who has spent the last decade fixing hundreds of bugs across the classic GTA trilogy, and whose gargantuan work has just gone open source.
What started as a passion project in 2013 quickly evolved into something of a phenomenon in the PC gaming world. SilentPatch, a series of unofficial modifications from the modder, has somewhat become the gold standard for how game fixes should be implemented.
When it comes to GTA, Silent has already created 67 fixes for GTA III, 66 for Vice City, and 165 for San Andreas. Also, as a tribute to San Andreas' 20th anniversary, Silent released their biggest update yet, making the entire project open source under the MIT license.
This latest release was the culmination of 10 months of intensive development and testing, featuring not only new fixes but also improvements to existing ones. However, these fixes will not work for GTA's embattled and controversial "The Definitive Edition".
That said, the update does tackle some of the trilogy's most notorious issues. San Andreas players will notice that CJ's clothes now properly react to wind physics while riding motorcycles, and his animations perfectly sync with quad bike handlebars. Vehicle enthusiasts will also appreciate the refined headlight behavior during different weather conditions and the elimination of the infamous multiple explosion glitch that would cause cars to explode repeatedly.
Even seemingly minor but annoying issues haven't escaped Silent's attention. Mission completion texts now display properly based on your screen resolution, and the ending credits scale correctly. They may seem like small details, but fixing them goes a long way in making the GTA PC gaming experience feel more polished.
At the end of the day, what makes SilentPatch truly remarkable is not just the number of bugs fixed, but the methodical, respectful approach the modder takes towards preserving a game. All fixes are implemented with careful consideration, ensuring that the original game experience remains authentic.
Making SilentPatch open source invites other talented developers to contribute to this legacy of game preservation. While the code analysis might not be as easy as it sounds as it involves working with assembly code, it opens up new possibilities for collaboration and improvement.
For players looking to experience these classic titles in their best possible form, SilentPatch has become less of an optional mod and more of an essential to fans of the original trilogy. It proves how a passionate community can keep a game going, even decades after its release.
Ever since Caleb discovered GTA 3, he has taken it upon himself to learn everything there is to know about the fictional worlds created by Rockstar Games. His obsession with Red Dead Redemption earned him the nickname John Marston. Thankfully, GTA V was released a few years later, and he found a new game to fixate on. Now, he simply crawls the web like a bot, searching for every bit of information that might give him a headstart on GTA 6. It's just a matter of time before he succeeds.
