Grand Theft Auto IV ISO Modding

Grand Theft Auto ISO Modding
GTA IV Original Version Only


The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce Grand Theft Auto ISO modding to people who are new to it - it will show you how to replace the standard common file within the GTA IV ISO and how to burn it, I will also provide basic tips on designing your own common file however I will not document how to make your own, that's for another tutorial.

Please note, GTA IV has been patched with no current bypass, these mods are for offline use only and you must clear your system cache before use to remove the patch.

Requirements
Hotswappable Xbox 360 (recommended) / Flashed Xbox 360
If you're hotswapping then you will need the original disc.
GTA IV ISO
For this tutorial you will require a Windows operating system, you can do without but for the programs listed you will require this.
Dual Layer DVD media (8.5GB)
UK residents: http://www.scan.co.u...rintable-240min
USA residents: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817130008

DVD Drive capable of burning dual layer media.
ImgBurn (http://www.imgburn.c...hp?act=download)
wx360 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WDZDMWS6)
Download GTA IV Mods (http://www.se7ensins...public-release/)
Quickly grab all these programs and install them and then download the modifications - then we can get started.

The first thing we're going to do is open wx360 and then replace the stardard common file with that of the downloaded mods (common.rpf).

First of all find and open wx360

We want to open the GTA IV ISO with wx360 so go to File > Open and click.


Navigate towards your GTA IV ISO, select it and then click open as illustrated above.


You will now see that wx360 has a list of files and folders contained within the ISO. Right click on "common.rpf" and select "Replace File".


Navigate to the modified common.rpf you downloaded earlier, select it and click "Open" wx360 will now begin the replacement process. If you get an error saying the file is too large to replace with the original common, then please make sure the modified common.rpf file is 16,820kb or lower - if it's not then please see the rebuilding a common file section of this tutorial.


Wait until the "Status" column states that the replacement process is completed, this is indicated by "Done" in the common.rpf row as illustrated above. Once it is finished close wx360.

You have now sucessfully replaced the common.rpf file within the GTA IV ISO. We can now proceed to burn the modified ISO onto a dual layer disc.

Now open ImgBurn, we will be using this program to burn the modified ISO file.


When ImgBurn is opened navigate to Tools > Settings and then left click. We must apply some write settings before burning.


A window will appear as illustrated above. Click on the "Write" tab.


You will come across an array of various settings. Under the "Options" section there is an option labeled "Layer Break (For DL Media)" select "User Specified" and then set "Sectors in L0:" to exactly 1913760 as illustrated above. After you have finished click OK.


When you have closed the window click on "Write image file to disc"


You now have to select the modified GTA IV ISO - to do this click on the "Select File" as illustrated above.


Navigate towards your modified GTA IV ISO, select the .dvd file (if you do not have one then select the ISO) and then click open as illustrated above.


Insert your dual layer disc (you should have bought them). Wait a moment and the Write image file should be enabled and then finally under the "Settings" section set the "Write Speed" to 1x as illustrated above (this will force ImgBurn to burn at the slowest speed possible) also uncheck "Verify".

It's important to ensure your dual layer disc is scratch free before burning and that your DVD Drive can burn dual layer media.


Once you are sure everything is done - press the Write image to file icon as illustrated above. You disc will begin burning, if you have done everything correctly and your drive is currently not in use you should encounter no errors.

Congratulations when this process is complete you will be able to use your disc to play a modified version of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Rebuilding a common.rpf

This is a requirement to be able to make your own modifications for GTA IV. While you can make common.rpf modifications by not rebuilding, it can be alot of hassle and is best done only if you're releasing it to the public. If they are for your private use, the method I'm about to show you is probably the best and easiest way.


Sometimes you'll find that the common.rpf file size is too big to replace the original common.rpf with. This is where rebuilding comes in - it makes the common.rpf file size smaller so you can fit it in the GTA IV ISO.


Requirements
For this tutorial you will require a Windows operating system, you can do without but for the programs listed you will require this.
OpenIV (http://openiv.com/)
gtaiv.exe (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=75OX4GS9)

After you download these programs, extract gtaiv.exe and setup OpenIV


I'm going to show you what happens when you replace a file with a bigger file in the common.rpf and then I'll demostrate how to make the common.rpf smaller by rebuilding.


First of all Open OpenIV

When it is open go to File > Open and left click.



Navigate to the common.rpf file you wish to modify and click "Open" as illustrated above. Take note of the file size - 16820kb (assuming this is an edited common.rpf).


If the dialog box above appears, left click on "Yes".


A list of folders will appear, double click on the "data" folder as illustrated above.



Find the file you wish to replace, for example I have chosen to replace the weaponinfo.xml file. When you have chosen the file, right click on the file and select "Replace" as illustrated above.



Navigate to the file you wish to replace your chosen file with, select and click "Open" as illustrated above. I have selected my modified weaponinfo.xml to replace with the original weaponinfo.xml.



If we navigate back to the common.rpf we have open, after replacing the file we can see that the common.rpf has increased to 16824kb which is too large to fit into the GTA IV ISO, we must now rebuild the common.rpf to make it smaller.


Navigate back to the list of folders by clicking on "common.rpf" and then double click on the "text" folder like above.



A list of files with the names of languages will appear. These are the game language files. Decide which language file you want to delete, do not delete your currently set one - delete one that you do not use for example, I have chosen to delete the Italian language file. Right click your chosen language file and click on "Delete". It should then be removed.



Go to File > Rebuild to begin the rebuilding process as illustrated above.



A dialog box will appear asking you "Do you want to rebuild" click "Yes".



The rebuilding process will now begin. A window will appear giving you feedback on the current status of the rebuild, wait until it is finished as illustrated above.


As you can see above, the file size has dramatically decreased from 16824kb. You can now replace the original common file with this common file, provided you use a fresh ISO. There will usually be no need to rebuild again as 2MB of space is usually more than enough to fit your files into.