GTA3 WinXP-Patch??

[partynation]

I have heard, that you need a spezial WinXP-Patch to play GTA3? Is it true and if yes, where can I get it?? If I start GTA3, every Text is overwritten by a big colored-block!!!

Nation

[GZ187]

Look at your ReadMe on your hard drive
C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\GTAIII\ReadMe\ReadMe.txt

[sandmairlines]

this is the bit from the readme you should be interested in. i had the same square box thing myself, and having installed the patch about 5mins ago and tested GTA3 about 2mins ago, i know this solve the problem. well it does on my 1.1ghz tbird with a 64mb geforce3 ti200 and winxp pro.

Windows XP + nVIDIA based cards (possibly other brands):
We have found a possible problem with Windows XP that manifests itself
as graphical problems both in the game menu and also during game play.
We have traced this problem to be a Windows XP problem.
Technically this problem is solved by the use of a newer version of
d3d8.dll than is shipped on CD with Windows XP. (The version on the
Windows XP CD that has problems is 5.1.26000.0 – versions tested
without error include 5.1.2600.15 and 5.1.2600.29)
Currently the only way we know to update this dll file is to install
the Windows XP Patch: “The Computer Cannot Enter Standby or Hibernate
If a Direct3D-Based Screen Saver Is Running (Q306676)” downloadable
from the following Web Site:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Patch/Q306676/WXP/EN-US/Q306676_WXP_SP1_x86_ENU.exe.
This update may in the future be available as part of an official
Windows XP Service Pack, a Windows XP Compatibility Update, or possibly
a DirectX 8.1 update.

:)