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

7/19/2026 at 9:27:41 PM

> 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 are awesome.

by joenot443

7/19/2026 at 9:36:31 PM

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.

by samxli

7/19/2026 at 8:57:05 PM

Up there with Morrowind: Pipboy Edition[1], which as a tangentially hope will support running Morrowind in the Elden Ring engine[2] when that mod is more mature.

[1] https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/104456

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed6kKLd3Fso

by marginalia_nu

7/19/2026 at 11:12:25 PM

The orobus of GTA, it mentioned having GTA vice city running inside GTA 3 that's running inside GTA San Andreas.

by johndear223

7/20/2026 at 12:29:59 AM

The video mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_w6fo4KVy0

by rideontime

7/20/2026 at 7:10:57 AM

> GTA SA, GTA III and Vice City are all running live inside the same process. VC renders into a GTA III texture, and GTA III renders into a GTA SA texture. Every layer is playable in real time. Built using modified re3/reVC and librw.

> THIS ISN’T A VIDEO PLAYING ON A TEXTURE. THE FULL GAMES ARE RUNNING LIVE INSIDE GTA SA, IN THE SAME PROCESS, NOTHING IS STREAMED FROM ANOTHER PROGRAM.

That's badass.

by randomtoast

7/19/2026 at 8:21:22 PM

That is wild lol. I used to play GTA:SA a lot, especially online, through GTA:SA-MP and was always amazed at what modders managed to get out of this game.

by ciefa

7/19/2026 at 9:15:17 PM

Writing custom scripts in PAWN and then later mods, hacks and cheats for CLEO was my personal gateway into coding. Most RP servers were so nepotistic, so that was my way of getting back and fighting the "system". Fun times, do not miss it tho.

by zahrc

7/20/2026 at 3:19:51 PM

Hahaha I'm right with you on pretty much everything you said :D

by ciefa

7/19/2026 at 8:36:10 PM

"Why did you create it?"

"Because I can."

by AviationAtom

7/19/2026 at 10:40:13 PM

One of us, one of us, one of us

by Spoiled_toast

7/19/2026 at 10:15:44 PM

Yo dawg..

by Griffinsauce

7/19/2026 at 8:45:16 PM

GTA 3 + GTA 3 = GTA 6!

by cadamsdotcom

7/19/2026 at 9:06:40 PM

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

by doublerabbit

7/19/2026 at 11:47:35 PM

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.

by jamesfinlayson

7/19/2026 at 11:05:31 PM

Everything is contained in other things. Its very Leibnizian

by DiscourseFan

7/20/2026 at 8:59:34 AM

Doing the lords work

by pharos92

7/19/2026 at 9:10:00 PM

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

by newsomix9xl

7/19/2026 at 9:34:27 PM

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.

by MYEUHD

7/20/2026 at 12:15:41 PM

It is listed as unsupported bro.

by newsomix9xl

7/20/2026 at 12:37:01 PM

Users who played it on the steam deck disagree

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561199644291769/recomm...

by MYEUHD

7/21/2026 at 2:20:36 AM

Played past tense bro.

I own a steam deck. I played it until it stopped working.

It is now, as of today, listed as unsupported.

If it wasn't I'd be playing it now instead of convincing you of a simple fact.

by newsomix9xl

7/19/2026 at 11:10:43 PM

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.

by striking

7/20/2026 at 12:16:29 PM

It is broken due to some anticheat incomparability

by newsomix9xl

7/20/2026 at 12:33:54 PM

That's GTA online.

The single player mode is playable under Linux without anticheat.

by MYEUHD

7/21/2026 at 2:22:05 AM

Yes, you are right. GTA V online.

But the tiny studio behind Arc Raiders somehow manages to make their online game run on the Deck.

Yet RS cannot with its billions.

by newsomix9xl

7/19/2026 at 8:40:47 PM

[dead]

by animanoir