GTA Online Got the Patch Based on Fan-made Loading Time Fix
The promised update for Grand Theft Auto Online has been released, improving load times based on solutions developed for a fan-made mod. Unfortunately, the patch simultaneously broke GTA Online on Xbox One.
In recent weeks there has been a lot of buzz about a fan known as t0st, who figured out how to dramatically reduce load times in Grand Theft Auto Online. Rockstar Games has announced that the method he invented will soon be implemented in an official update. The promised patch has just been released .
The patch is available on PC as well as Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles, but the loading improvements only apply to the PC version. In a note attached to the update, the developers thanked t0st for inventing a method that made it possible to greatly reduce loading times. As a reward he received 10 thousand dollars and he deserved such a gift, because the web is filled with reports about the effectiveness of the patch.
The editors of PCGamer report a significant reduction of loading times. One of them used to need 3 minutes and 15 seconds from the moment GTA Online launched to loading his o character's suite. After installing the update, it only takes two minutes. On Reddit, players are reporting even bigger differences. User Ontyyy reports loading time decreased from 7 minutes to less than two, and for Silentprototipe, it went from 4-5 minutes to just 82 seconds.
The patch also introduces improvements to the server connection system. There are, however, some thorns to this rose as update 1.53 seems to be causing quite a few problems on consoles. On PS4, some people can't install it, and on Xbox One, many players report that the patch causes the game to crash and so far no way has been devised to work around this bug. Users of Microsoft's platform must therefore arm themselves with patience and wait until Rockstar releases the patch.
Gearbox could learn a lot from Rockstar Games
Long loading times in GTA Online were caused by flaws in the game's code that were surprisingly easy to fix. This is not the first such case. A few years ago there was a lot of talk about similar problems with Aliens: Colonial Marines. Modder Templar GFX discovered that the game's broken enemy AI was the result of a typo in a config file. However, Gearbox never released an official update to fix the issue.
This isn't the only major bug found in the game by this modder. He also figured out how to fix the aiming and these changes were also not implemented in official patches. Even today, those wishing to play Aliens: Colonial Marines should install the TemplarGFX's ACM Overhaul mod. In addition to fixing these two aspects of gameplay, the project also brings many other gameplay and graphical improvements, transforming this FPS into a pretty decent shooter. It's just sad that Gearbox didn't bother to implement these improvements, even when a fan did most of the work for the developers.
