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Modder Runs GTA III Inside GTA: San Andreas on an In-Game TV

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Re: Modder Runs GTA III Inside GTA: San Andreas on an In-Game TV

#11

Now if only Rockstar Games could mod GTA V to run on the steam deck.

GTA V already runs on the steam deck. Even the enhanced edition does https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtKjHSn9a5U

Your comment surprised me given GTA V can run on Intel HD 4000 at 40fps with tweaked settings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo2qGdXnabk Which is not so surprising given GTA V is over a decade old at this point.

Re: Modder Runs GTA III Inside GTA: San Andreas on an In-Game TV

#12

> The demonstration builds on Dryxio’s earlier mod that ports GTA III and GTA: Vice City into GTA: San Andreas. That version was released in February 2026 and runs each game as an independent engine inside the San Andreas process > with both games sharing the same Direct3D device. GTA III renders directly into the television’s live GPU texture. That's the basic plumbing, for anyone curious. Cool project, game modders…

The shared D3D device part is actually the real magic here. Getting two render loops to cooperate on the same GPU context without stepping on each other is not trivial at all, especially with games that were never designed with that in mind. The fact that both worlds stay simulated simultaneously is pretty wild too, it's not just rendering one and pausing the other. GTA modders have been carrying the entire franchise's innovation on their backs for like a decade now lol.

Re: Modder Runs GTA III Inside GTA: San Andreas on an In-Game TV

#16

Now if only Rockstar Games could mod GTA V to run on the steam deck.

I've played through the whole of story mode with no more than a few rare world streaming issues and that was a couple years ago. You could give it another shot, I recommend binding the gyro to one of the back grip buttons for precise aim.

Better yet, get the original release of GTA: San Andreas. It holds up to several replays in a way that GTA V does not imo.

Re: Modder Runs GTA III Inside GTA: San Andreas on an In-Game TV

#18

GTA 3 + GTA 3 = GTA 6!

So, is that how we unlock HL3? Play HL1 in HL2..

I'm not sure if it is possible in either game... GoldSource had a VGUI surface system (like a flat in-game surface that could have OpenGL-like commands run on it but apparently it wasn't fully implemented), and I'm not sure about Source, but newer versions have more advanced UI frameworks that might make it possible, though none which are available to modders.
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