Speed Demos Archive - Grand Theft Auto III

Grand Theft Auto III is an action game by Rockstar Games released in October 2001. The star of the game, a no-name thug, is betrayed by a woman named Catalina who lets you get thrown in prison after robbing the Liberty City bank. After a series of planned events, you and a fellow inmate named 8-Ball successfully escape police custody and are released upon Liberty City to do missions for crime bosses, odd jobs for a little extra cash, or just cause some all-out mayhem.

Note: Console and PC are considered separate categories due to various gameplay differences (such as aiming).

Welcome to my GTAIII 100% speedrun, my most ambitious project so far. I can't thank Pweisger enough, for making the original topic that I then stole and for making the first set of videos that I took some ideas from and used to find improvements. Without those I probably wouldn't have made this. Also to l2ebel, for his awesome any% run which proved extremely useful for the routes for certain missions (Espresso-2-Go and the route to Catalina's especially). And to Demarest, with an epic GTAIII site at www.tfads.com - a brilliant game guide and an invaluable research resource that made the planning so much easier and whose routes I used for off-road missions. It even has a very nicely made 100% checklist that gave a very clear sense of progression throughout. And I have to thank all the people who supported me throughout this endeavour on the forum. It makes it all worthwhile.

Also to Radix, nate, DJ and Mike. The site has never been better, keep up the good work!

The speedrun: I started running this without having to plan the first few segments myself and I knew most of the city layout from memory, but I hadn't played for years and this was my first time using the PC version with mouse and keyboard. Not being a regular PC user in the first place and playing through all three GTA console games with a controller meant that it took a long time to get used to it, so you'll probably see a noticable improvement in my driving and general playing as the run progresses. There isn't anything I'd be prepared to improve by re-running but it's just so ya know!

It is a very open game, so segments were planned primarily attempting to tie in as many packages, rampages, unique jumps, import/export cars, emergency vehicles and side missions with the main missions. Some missions don't allow collecting either due to time or vehicle restraints, and a few won't allow you to deliver a car to the I/E garage for some reason during the mission. The hardest part was finding something to do between the end of a mission and returning to the hideout, as I wanted to reduce the amount of long distance travelling as much as possible.

The secondary planning was to put the hardest parts of the game at the start of segments, which was difficult to do in segments with many tough rampages and both 'Patriot Playground' and 'Gripped!' ended up at the end of a segment. The level of randomness is obviously huge so making it through without any major mistakes and still alive required a level of patience I didn't know I had (although my Spyro3 run came close). Any spare time given in timed missions was used as much as possible for extra collecting; overall it worked out far better than I could have hoped for and I hope it shows.

Segment Comments: I've put the percentages and things done in each segment cumulatively so you can see how everything comes together over time (if you want to).
M=Missions P=Packages R=Rampages UJ=Unique Jumps I/E=Import/Export cars EV=Emergency Vehicles

01 - 3%
M - 3/73; Paramedic
The first few missions put you right next to the hospital so doing the Paramedic mission as soon as possible to get infinite sprint makes sense. Paramedic was of consistent standard as far as I could tell with some really close calls and an 'oh shi... huh?' moment with one patient, but I got seriously lucky with the pickup places and the time for this is extremely fast. Finishing such a long tedious mission makes me slightly erratic grabbing a taxi, but not much time was lost.
02 - 11%
Taxi Driver (all 100); I/E - 10/32
By far the most (/only?) boring segment of the run. It's easy to fall into a rhythm but you need to snap out of it when you spot a rareish car for the garage. Finding a new taxi is easy, but just in case I didn't I headed from the garage to the nearest spot where I know a certain vehicle always spawns. I tried this with the Rumpo but I rolled it over (mostly the cars fault...) which is the biggest mistake of the segment and probably the run. It went fine for the rest and you aren't required to watch it to make sure. Plenty of cars collected which is a huge help in later segments and I finished at the car showroom which is incredibly lucky since I needed to get the Banshee. You'll notice I hadn't practised with the Banshee much before recording...
3 - 15%
P - 9/100; R - 4/20; UJ - 7/20
A few segments need to be dedicated to side-stuff since they're just too difficult or out of the way for any other time, and the Banshee speeds everything up. I can't do most of the unique jumps without something of its calibre so I may as well get packages and kill people in the process. I didn't want to use the Pay 'n' Spray at all but I just barely couldn't survive till the end of the segment so I relented. It's still quite close by the end.
The first rampage is very hard firstly because you can't kill them close-up and they cause lots of damage, and mainly because there is almost always police interference which hurts and causes fewer Diablos to appear, so running out of time is possible. Didn't happen this time though. The second rampage is a good example of how annoying the police can be.
After that the unique jumps are risky but it has to be done!
04 - 19%
M - 6/73; P - 22/100; R - 6/20; I/E - 12/32; Firefighter - 20/60
A special note on the following two segments: I decided to start playing my own music since I thought it'd be more interesting for both the viewer and myself (hearing the same station play through 20 times over hundreds of attempts is not fun!). After I was persuaded not to I kept the music in and didn't change to it, so the possibility was there and I tried to refrain from changing station throughout the rest of the run.
There is a glitch on the PC version where turning 'replay' on and off with the 'F1' key completes firefighter objectives, so that should explain what happens there. Other than that, plenty of opportunity for messing around in this segment and it's mostly easy until the grenade rampage which went very well (police intervention is good this time!) but is very easy to blow yourself up on. Then it continues to 'Patriot Playground' where I take a route adapted from Demarest's site to make it slightly easier and to collect a package. I finish by getting a police car although I was hoping to find one on the road; the parked ones are often locked.
05 - 26%
Vigilante - 20/60; M - 15/73; P - 25/100; EV - 3/7
Vigilante is very easy in Portland, no complaints here (again if you didn't know, pausing and unpausing on any version causes the criminal to exit their vehicle). When picking up Misty getting out the car causes her to run rather than crawl (thanks l2ebel!). I had some time to burn before the phone missions (something I'd want to improve if I'd planned these things better, but with time it's hard), so I got some emergency vehicles and set things up nicely for the missions. The missions themselves are simple, but need to be done extra fast before it becomes too late to start them again.
06 - 35%
M - 27/73; I/E - 14/32; P - 26/100
I get a police car since they're far more durable and will allow me to do 'Van Heist' without switching vehicles. I take this opportunity with the Securicar (since cars of the same type spawn more regularly if you're driving one) to find one for the garage. This was immensely random and this is by far the fastest I've ever found one. It takes me a while shooting the second fish van, I find it hard to drive-by shoot to the left since my hands don't work that way! 'Dead Skunk In The Trunk' without taking out the 'Forelli brothers' requires some luck since the car is so crap. Most of the missions in the game are easy if you have good tactics, so I do as many as possible (with 'The Getaway' being done after 'Cutting The Grass' since you're guaranteed to have a 4-seater at that point).
07 - 42%
M - 35/73; P - 35/100; I/E - 15/32;
Incorporating the massive shortcut in 'Big 'N' Veiny' requires practice and luck with traffic (and the roly-poly-rumpo), this one went much better than most. I don't get the package in the long tunnel during 'Blow Fish' since I need to go through here later and you usually take damage trying to get out the other side. I hadn't planned when I'd need the molotovs from the tramps but they turned out to be very useful for the end of the segment. 'Bomb Da Base' is one of the times I wish l2ebel didn't have such a great tactic that I'd have to replicate; the sniping needs to be very fast and I'm not very good, leading to plenty of frustrating restarts.
The package I get from the rocks on the boat may have been faster to get later but at the time I wasn't prepared to play through half the game to find out, it wouldn't save much time though, a minor detour. The one on the docks is the same as I end up going there later in segment 12, another few seconds. Since I'm going back anyway I get a Blista for the garage, but it has a tendency to disappear when in the subway (grr!), and I use up the time till Salvatore appears quite nicely. If I still have the Blista by now the mafia can blow it up with a shotgun, so I circumvent the hazard areas and nearly get destroyed by other road-users anyway, typical. I want a Banshee for the next segment so may as well do 'Under Surveillance' now, and 'Casino Calamity' is a nice way to end a difficult segment.
08 - 45%
P - 55/100; R - 13/20; UJ - 9/20
But not as difficult as this one! I didn't know you could do a unique jump while doing a rampage till I saw that it would work really well with my route and had a go, but that road is hard to navigate and the jump usually tips me over. If I get a wanted level during the sniper rampage I may as well start over; unfortunately being exposed also seemed to be the fastest method. The rest is just trying to live up to my route planning; it may look good on paper but actually pulling it off is another story. Especially got lucky finding a Banshee just after the shotgun rampage, keeping it all the way to the end was more than I could have hoped for. Ahh, but it was damned close with that last one... Funny how I do every rampage on the island and only get 3 more percent...
09 - 50%
M - 42/73; P - 61/100; UJ - 10/20
If I get to the payphone a second later the checkpoints change position to a much slower route, mehh. The time they take to complete the rest of the mission for me is variable and they were quite slow this time, but it was a pretty smooth mission transfer in all. Taking the Banshee down to the docks in 'Paparazzi Purge' doesn't save much time and is dangerous, but for me it disappears every time otherwise. 'Silence The Sneak'... so awful... bit I survived!! I let it go because I was resolved to screwing up 'Ride In The Park'. The Landstalker feels like driving on a constant oil slick with a lump of slowly melting butter on wheels. Check out the perpendicular skidding!
I only got one set of rockets after 'Arms Shortage' which was only just enough for the game (not planned), but getting more may have saved some time... but probably not. While I'm in the area I get a BULLETPROOF! Barracks OL and store it away for a some later missions where it's very useful.
10 - 55%
M - 49/73; P - 63/100; EV - 4/7
Starting off by luck manipulating a police car and rigging it with a bomb for later, I make use of the rockets in a mission I left for now since it puts me next to Kenji. humdeedum... oh, 'Evidence Dash' went very well since it needs a lot of luck to stop him dragging you all over the city. 'Grand Theft Auto' is not easy, but I only had to pay 'n' spray the last car (and even then initially only because of a pedestrian) so I'm very happy with it. 'Deal Steal' puts you in close proximity to an ambulance, which makes it easy to quickly get an Enforcer (for the EV garage) and then the following mission 'Shima' sends you to Portland to hand it in. Perfect! It even puts you next to the BF Injection (spiiinnnnyyyyy) so I take it back and store it away for the Shoreside I/E Garage, after a final mission 'Crackdown' that's easy as long as you don't get blown up of course.
11 - 59%
M - 52/73; P - 65/100; UJ - 11/20; Vigilante - 40/60
More missions, this time from Donald Love who is far too far away. Found a Cartel Cruiser for 'Liberator' nice and quickly and the oriental gentleman was in the first garage I looked in to boot! Again one of l2ebel's strategies is used for 'Waka-Gashira Wipeout', it isn't easy either. It has less purpose since I have to go to the top anyway for a jump, but my car will most likely be destroyed if I do go up and it skips a cutscene. The rest is fine with a good route to take to when I have 5 stars on 'A Drop In The Ocean' to avoid the cops. Then more vigilanting. Staunton is a complete pain because there are intersecting roads where you can't tell where the criminal is till you've gone the wrong way, and some of my routes were cringeworthy but there were far more good than bad decisions in my opinion.
12 - 62%
UJ - 12/20; EV - 6/7; M - 57/73; P - 66/100
That first jump is very difficult, flying straight and ending up on your wheels is rarely the outcome. While I am near the area I get a Diablo gangcar for 'Gangcar Round-up'. I don't know why you can run over rather than shoot people in 'Uzi Rider'... but you can. 'Gone Fishing' uses my last rocket but allows me to get a Mafia gangcar for the following mission.
'Plaster Blaster' is where my Barracks first comes in useful with its extreme ramming capabilities, but it is primarily for 'Marked Man' where it can cross to Shoreside by the main bridge straight through the heavy Mafia gunfire, which saves a lot of detour time. I wasn't sure whether driving off the bridge to get the package was a good idea. It wasn't but it worked so I can't really complain. It's served its purpose so I can just stick it in the EV crane.
13 - 75%
I/E - 28/32; M - 60/73; P - 68/100
Messing up in the BF Injection was my biggest restart reason, it's just so easy to crash. I don't have much time to waste later on so I just put cars in the I/E garage if I see them nearby. Flying the Dodo is very difficult and I could never do it before I tried to speedrun with it. A crash is as good as a land in my book but that actually wasn't too bad.
'Escort Service' doesn't require you to follow the Securicar; in fact if you leave it alone no Columbians will attack it until it gets to the Shoreside tunnel. So this is a good time to take the Dodo across for the last Portland I/E vehicle, you can't tell how badly damaged the Dodo is but I'm guessing it wasn't feeling too well. While I'm in a car collecting mood I manage to get all but four of the Shoreside garage vehicles, extremely lucky and another huge help for later segments.
I love the photo-finish on 'Decoy', it couldn't have been better if I'd have actually planned it.
14 - 79%
M - 62/73; P - 79/100; R - 17/20; UJ - 14/20; I/E - 31/32
'Bait' is the essence of perfect, the Mafia can screw that up for you quite easily. The Columbians sometimes get clustered just beneath you on the sniper rampage, effectively making it impossible. The unique jump just after is almost impossible to land, making this the hardest segment by far in terms of sheer number of restarts. After handing in the Cheetah I can't progress with much until I either find a car capable of doing the next jump or get all the cars for the garage, so I spend a while looking around before finding my Banshee.
During the flamethrower rampage a Columbian gets stuck protected behind a sign and takes off huge portions of health. But I just keep going! I'll leave the rest to you; what's a run without a decent dose of near-death excitement through stupidity?
15 - 82%
M - 66/73; P - 81/100
'Uzi Money', oh god why, it got quite stressful after a while. But I have something to show for it, I made it out with the same car as when I started which has never happened before and is very good! Lots of luck with the Securicar placements in 'Toyminator'. Shortly after it's 'Rigged To Blow', the reason why this is my shortest segment. Twice through the tunnel without a scratch is very hard and requires care above all else as cars will sometimes change lanes with little warning, but I tried to be risky if I thought I could get away with it. I even had a little bump that didn't register so I was very lucky in this segment overall.
16 - 92%
M - 68/73; P - 90/100; R - 19/20; UJ - 18/20; Firefighter - 60/60; EV - 7/7
'Bullion Run' is prone to substancial police interference (especially if you get all 30 pickups in one go) and this was one of very few occassions when they didn't do much. I used my Infernus to destroy a car through a fence during my 'destroy vehicles (by drive-by...) rampage. Then the used another thankfully unlocked Infernus to brave the multitude of airport ramps; I find it hard to centre on them but everything went very well. I took the Fire Truck across to Staunton, but if I go any further than where I stop on the bridge then the objectives will appear in Staunton and the game will get confused. This was the first time I've managed to make it across the bridge before it went up, so this is a relatively impressive segment methinks.
Now I get a Rhino, since the only other way is to complete the game and the credits are unskippable so I undergo the very hard task and stir things up a bit until I get one. I'll let you see for yourself how hard it is to make it across the city during 'Kingdom Come' in a tank with 6 stars. Well the segment was going so well it would have been a crime to fail. Then I take it across to the crane, but take some time to notice that no message comes up when I've handed it in. This will have reprecussions later...
17 - 98%
M - 71/73; P - 95/100; R - 20/20; Vigilante - 60/60; UJ - 20/20
Not much to say for a change. Everything was nice until the hard Vigilante part. I can't go over to the other side of the city because the roads make it impossible to do anything quickly, and I don't chase them if I think they're in the tunnels by the airport because it's a straight line and they go very far, so it isn't worth the time to get them. The final criminal was wasted in superb fashion and right next to my jump (that old luck thing creeping in again). Then we continue to 'Gripped!' which isn't too bad when you know what to do, but it was a bit dark which makes things slightly scarier, and the few times it started slipping away were recovered nicely. I was a bit worried about that last unique jump because cars can get in the way and I thought I might land in the river... but it wasn't meant to be!
18 - 95%... wait, what?
M - 73/73; P - 100/100
Finally got that bridge package, unfortunately 'S.A.M.' doesn't give you time to get any packages at the airport. More Dodo flying now, ranking the difficulty up a notch (...thanks l2ebel...). A hell of a lot of practice went into that especially the turning to gain speed/height, but I didn't fly to the dam partly because I wouldn't have been able to get the package up the stairs there, and partly because my plane was embedded in the wall. It finished without a hitch... so lets explain my confusing finishing percentage.
It does actually go down when I complete the final mission. After my initial bouts of panicing that you'd expect, I went searching for the cause of this discrepancy and found it at the EV crane. Remember my Rhino delivery didn't leave a message? Well it's because the game has screwed itself up and sort of half-awarded it me before then took it away when I completed the game, possibly linked to the credits or something, I just don't know. I clearly show at the end that all I need to do is drive there and it sorts itself out, and I don't think it's added to my time. It better not, since my route to the crane was horrible! I suppose I hadn't been to Portland properly for a while...
100%

Thanks very much for watching and/or reading!! It's been a pleasure to make and share with you and I really hope you enjoyed it. Vice City should be just around the corner, until then, bye for now!