Making our own Grand Theft Auto: The GOOD Edition

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Making our own Grand Theft Auto: The GOOD Edition

Original Guide Written By: Chitan



    Grand Theft Auto is a legendary franchise, but make no mistake, "The Definitive Edition" is anything but. So, this is how we make our own Definitive Edition on the Steam Deck.

    Disclaimer: The hardest part about this tutorial is procuring a legal copy of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy. The original releases have been delisted from Steam unfortunately. Maybe you were as smart as I was and bought the games before they were delisted? Alternatively, you could deal with the Rockstar Launcher, but I would rather not.

Required for all games:

  • GE-Proton: In our testing, there seems to be an issue with the Steam’s default proton in which the audio sample rate is significantly reduced. GE-Proton does not have this issue.
  • Knowledge of default installation folders for Steam Deck.
    • On your SSD: this can be found in /deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common
    • On your SD card: Your entire SD card can be found in Dolphin towards the bottom of the leftmost menu, labeled "primary". In there you will see a "steamapps" folder. Inside that folder is the "common" folder, where you'll find game folders for whatever games installed on your SD card. 

Grand Theft Auto III

You will need the following...

Before we install the mods, we need to uninstall the game and make sure the GTA III folder “common” folder is completely empty. If the game has never been installed for the lifetime of the Steam Deck, the user may skip this step.

  1. Switch to desktop mode to get to the desktop version of Steam. Open steam and navigate to the game. Right click the game icon, click “Manage”, and then click “Browse local files”. Keep the window open.
  2. Now uninstall the game. Right click on the game, navigate to “Manage” again, then click “Uninstall.”
  3. Once the game is uninstalled, Move back to the file manager window. If the folder is empty, you may continue to the next step, otherwise, select all the files in the GTA III folder and delete them.
  4. Reinstall the game like normal.

Now that you have a clean install of GTA III, you can proceed with ensuring compatibility. 

  1. Once installed, right click the game and select “Properties…”. We need to add some Launch options to the game in order for the fixes to work. By default, Proton will not see the DLL files required to make the fixes work. Add this to the launch options: WINEDLLOVERRIDES=”d3d8,dinput8,ddraw=n,b” %command%



  2. Move to the compatibility tab, Check the box on “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool”, then choose the latest version of Proton GE.




    We are now ready to install the fixes! Many of these mods come with their own readme files and guides on how to install them, but in case you need instructions from us, here you go.

  1. Start by opening the Ultimate ASI Loader ZIP file in Ark (Just double click). Drag the “dinput8.dll” file into the game’s main directory. Inside the game folder, create a new folder called in the game’s main directory named “scripts”. All the ASI files will be put inside this directory.

  2. Now that the ASI loader is installed, open the SilentPatch ZIP file in Ark, and drag both the “SilentPatchIII.asi” and “SilentPatchIII.ini” files to the “scripts” directory. Next, drag the SilentPatch “models” folder into the game’s main directory. Once a window pops up, click “Apply to All” then click “Overwrite”.

  3. Next, open the DDraw component ZIP file and extract ddraw.dll to the game’s main directory. Silentpatch should now be installed.

  4. We can now install Ginput for native Xinput controls! Open the GInputIII Zip file in Ark. Copy both “GInputIII.asi” and “GinputIII.ini” into the “scripts” folder. Copy the “models” folder to the game’s main directory. The “GInputAPI” and “docs” folders do not need to be copied.

  5. Next we need to add the Widescreen Patch. Not using this results in the game working but with a black screen. Open the ZIP file in Ark. Drop both the d3d8.dll file and the “scripts” folder into the game’s main directory.

  6. Last thing we need to do is install the no intro mod. Simply open the Movies RAR file in Ark. Copy both the “GTAtitles.mpg” and “Logo.mpg” files into the “movies” directory. Once a window pops up, click “Apply to All” then click “Overwrite”.

  7. Without closing the Dolphin windows, click the icon to return to game mode. You should now be able to start the game and test it. (Starting the game in desktop mode might prevent Xinput controls from working.) After a few seconds you should see the main GTA III menu. You can tell if the widescreen mod is working if the background image is in a 4:3 aspect ratio.

  8. It’s recommended to go into Options > Controller Setup, then set Controls to “Classic”. This will mimic the PlayStation 2 version’s camera.

  9. The game should be fully playable on the Steam Deck! You can even turn the TDP and GPU clocks all the way down for about 6 hours of gameplay at a locked 30FPS!
You should NOW have a perfectly playable copy of GTA III. That said there are some additional tweaks that are optional, but recommended, down below. 



Optional extra fixes

  • GTA III V1.0 Executable: The 1.0 version of the executable IS most compatible with mods. Unfortunately to get a v1.0 EXE, it involves downloading a cracked copy of it online. Links cannot be provided. You need to Google it yourself. All the required mods above work just fine with the default Steam EXE however. 
    • Once a copy of the EXE is obtained, simply replace the old one.
  • AAP’s SkyGFX: The SkyGFX mod restores some graphics effects that were exclusive to the PlayStation 2 release. 
    • For this to work, you will NEED the v1.0 EXE. https://gtaforums.com/topic/750681-skygfx-ps2-xbox-and-mobile-graphics-for-pc/
    • To install SkyGFX, open the SkyGFX ZIP file in Ark. Copy the files “d3d8.dll” and “rwd3d9.dll” to the game’s main directory. Copy the “skygfx.asi” file to the “scripts” folder. In Ark, expand the “III” folder. Copy the “skygfx.ini” into the “scripts” folder, then copy the “neo” folder to the game’s main directory.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

The process is practically identical to the GTA III process, except you download Vice City specific versions of mods. 

You will need the following...

Before we install the mods, we need to uninstall the game and make sure the GTA VC folder “common” folder is completely empty. If the game has never been installed for the lifetime of the Steam Deck, the user may skip this step.


  1. Switch to desktop mode to get to the desktop version of Steam. Open steam and navigate to the game. Right click the game icon, click “Manage”, and then click “Browse local files”. Keep the window open.
  2. Now uninstall the game. Right click on the game, navigate to “Manage” again, then click “Uninstall.”
  3. Once the game is uninstalled, Move back to the file manager window. If the folder is empty, you may continue to the next step, otherwise, select all the files in the GTA VC folder and delete them.
  4. Reinstall the game like normal.

Now that you have a clean install of GTA VC, you can proceed with ensuring compatibility. 

  1. Once installed, right click the game and select “Properties…”. We need to add some Launch options to the game in order for the fixes to work. By default, Proton will not see the DLL files required to make the fixes work. Add this to the launch options: WINEDLLOVERRIDES=”d3d8,dinput8,ddraw=n,b” %command%



  2. Move to the compatibility tab, Check the box on “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool”, then choose the latest version of Proton GE.

We are now ready to install the fixes! Many of these mods come with their own readme files and guides on how to install them, but in case you need instructions from us, here you go.

  1. Start by opening the Ultimate ASI Loader ZIP file in Ark (Just double click). Drag the “dinput8.dll” file into the game’s main directory. Inside the game folder, create a new folder called in the game’s main directory named “scripts”. All the ASI files will be put inside this directory.
  2. Now that the ASI loader is installed, open the SilentPatch ZIP file in Ark, and drag both the “SilentPatchVC.asi” and SilentPatchVC.ini” files to the “scripts” directory. Next, drag the SilentPatch “data” folder into the game’s main directory. Once a window pops up, click “Apply to All” then click “Overwrite”.
  3. Next, open the DDraw component ZIP file and extract ddraw.dll to the game’s main directory. Silentpatch should now be installed.
  4. We can now install Ginput for native Xinput controls! Open the GInputVC Zip file in Ark. Copy both “GInputVC.asi” and “GinputVC.ini” into the “scripts” folder. Copy the “models” folder to the game’s main directory. The “GInputAPI” and “docs” folders do not need to be copied.
  5. Next we need to add the Widescreen Patch. Not using this results in the game working but with a black screen. Open the ZIP file in Ark. Drop both the d3d8.dll file and the “scripts” folder into the game’s main directory.
  6. Last thing we need to do is install the no intro mod. Simply open the Movies RAR file in Ark. Copy both the “GTAtitles.mpg” and “Logo.mpg” files into the “movies” directory. Once a window pops up, click “Apply to All” then click “Overwrite”.
  7. Return to game mode. You should now be able to start the game and test it. (Starting the game in desktop mode might prevent Xinput controls from working.) You may see a strange white and yellow box on the top left of the screen, but after a few seconds you should see the main GTA VC menu.
  8. It’s recommended to go into Options > Controller Setup, then set Controls to “Classic Controls”. This will mimic the PlayStation 2 version’s camera.
  9. The game should be fully playable on the Steam Deck! You can even turn the TDP and GPU clocks all the way down for about 6 hours of gameplay at a locked 30FPS!

Now you have a fully playable copy of Vice City, with controller support! Just like GTA III, there are some optional fixes you can also employ, but aren't strictly necessary for the mods that we JUST installed.



Optional extra fixes

  • GTA VC V1.0 Executable: The 1.0 version of the executable IS most compatible with mods. Unfortunately to get a v1.0 EXE, it involves downloading a cracked copy of it online. Links cannot be provided. You need to Google it yourself. All the required mods above work just fine with the default Steam EXE however. 
    • Once a copy of the EXE is obtained, simply replace the old one.
  • AAP’s SkyGFX: The SkyGFX mod restores some graphics effects that were exclusive to the PlayStation 2 release. 
    • For this to work, you will NEED the v1.0 EXE. https://gtaforums.com/topic/750681-skygfx-ps2-xbox-and-mobile-graphics-for-pc/
    • To install SkyGFX, open the SkyGFX ZIP file in Ark. Copy the files “d3d8.dll” and “rwd3d9.dll” to the game’s main directory. Copy the “skygfx.asi” file to the “scripts” folder. In Ark, expand the “VC” folder. Copy the “skygfx.ini” into the “scripts” folder, then copy the “neo” folder to the game’s main directory.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas


The installation & fixing of San Andreas is a more involved process, and with the currently available tools, a major part of this tutorial cannot be completed on SteamOS.

We've attempted to use practically every tool like Bottles or Lutris or even running it in proton directly and version of proton / wine possible and the downgrader doesn't play nicely with any of them. 

Maybe in the future, they'll make a version of the downgrade tool that works on Linux based OSes. 

Why downgrade?


Version 1.0 of San Andreas provides the most compatibility with mods, and restores some of the old removed content. 

We need to use a downgrader program to downgrade the game to version 1.0. This time, you aren't actually downloading any game files, but instead, the tool changes files byte by byte to match their version 1.0 equivalent!

You'll need the following...

Downgrading San Andreas: You will need to use Windows for this.

  1. Install San Andreas on your Windows PC.
  2. Download and run the "Full Package" version of the downgrader.
    1. If you installed San Andreas via Steam, the Full Package version should automatically find your San Andreas installation location, regardless of whether or not you set a different directory for install.
  3. Press Downgrade
    1. The tool will ask if you want to make a copy of your entire San Andreas install and downgrade that copy instead. You can do so if you want though it isn't necessary.
  4. Once finished you can proceed!
This part is a little more variable as you can choose WHEN to install the mods. For simplicity's sake, since we already did the downgrading process on Windows, we may as well apply all of the mods via Windows.. That said, to ensure nothing goes wrong, ALSO INSTALL SAN ANDREAS ON YOUR STEAM DECK. 

Install a clean version of San Andreas on Steam Deck and prep the game. Now that you have a clean install of GTA SA, you can proceed with ensuring compatibility. 

  1. Once installed, right click the game and select “Properties…”. We need to add some Launch options to the game in order for the fixes to work. By default, Proton will not see the DLL files required to make the fixes work. Add this to the launch options: WINEDLLOVERRIDES=”vorbisFile=n,b” %command%



  2. Move to the compatibility tab, Check the box on “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool”, then choose the latest version of Proton GE.

We are now ready to install the fixes! Many of these mods come with their own readme files and guides on how to install them, but in case you need instructions from us, here you go.

  1. Open the GTA San Andreas Widescreen Fix ZIP file and extract both the "scripts" folder and the "vorbisFile.dll" into the game's root directory. The ASI loader is included in this ZIP as "vorbisFile.dll".

  2. Now that the ASI loader is installed, open the SilentPatch ZIP file, and drag both the “SilentPatchSA.asi” and “SilentPatchSA.ini” files to the “scripts” directory.

  3. We can now install Ginput for native Xinput controls! Open the GInputSA ZIP file. Copy both “GInputSA.asi” and “GinputIII.ini” into the “scripts” folder. Copy the “models” folder to the game’s main directory. The “GInputAPI” and “docs” folders do not need to be copied.

  4. We need to install SkyGFX now! 
    1. Inside the SkyGFX zip file, within the SkyGFX folder you should see a "models" and "neo" folder. Extract both into your San Andreas directory. Overwrite if needed. 
    2. You should see "skygfx.asi", "skygfx1.ini", "skygfx2.ini", "skygfx3.ini", and "stream.ini". Extract these files into the "scripts" folder. Ignore "skygfx.dll".

  5. Last thing we need to do is install the no intro mod. Simply open the Movies RAR file in Ark. Copy both the “GTAtitles.mpg” and “Logo.mpg” files into the “movies” directory. Once a window pops up, click “Apply to All” then click “Overwrite”.

Copying San Andreas back to Steam Deck

You have multiple different ways to do this. USB drive, DeckMTP, FTP, the choice is yours. I personally have a NAS so I used that. 




BE SURE TO OVERWRITE ALL FILES IF PROMPTED. 

  1. Return to game mode. You should now be able to start the game and test it. (Starting the game in desktop mode might prevent Xinput controls from working.) You may see a strange white and yellow box on the top left of the screen, but after a few seconds you should see the main GTA VC menu.
  2. It’s recommended to go into Options > Controller Setup, then set Controls to “Classic Controls”. This will mimic the PlayStation 2 version’s camera.
  3. The game should be fully playable on the Steam Deck! You can even turn the TDP and GPU clocks all the way down for about 6 hours of gameplay at a locked 30FPS!
You now have a fully playable copy of San Andreas! Unlike GTA III or VC, there are no optional fixes recommended! You already have SkyGFX and a 1.0 executable ready to go!


One thing we didn't cover was support for OTHER mods and whatnot, but maybe that'll come in the future!

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