Free ‘GTA’ Mod Revives ‘San Andreas’ Adventure

Rockstar Games has often been reluctant to officially bring their classics to virtual reality, leaving fans yearning for immersive experiences in their iconic worlds. But today, there’s good news for VR enthusiasts, thanks to a talented modder known as ‘Holydh’. This creative individual has crafted a UEVR plugin specifically for the PC version of GTA: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition (2021). This means that now, this revamped classic from 2004 can be experienced through PC VR headsets.

The ingenious mod, named the ‘GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition – 6DoF UEVR Plugin’, is designed to offer a full first-person VR experience complete with 6DOF motion controls, but there’s a catch: this enhancement is only compatible with the Steam version of the game. Unfortunately, if you’re using either the Epic Games Store or Rockstar launcher versions, you’re out of luck.

This innovation builds upon the groundwork of the Unreal Engine VR (UEVR) plugin by ‘praydog’, but it brings fresh features that the original UEVR lacks. Without Holydh’s additions, the game’s camera tends to automatically swivel to keep up with CJ’s actions.

But that’s not all. It also introduces functionality for all on-foot movements, including crouching, along with the thrills of vehicle adventures—and yes, even the jetpack! The mod adjusts camera settings for cutscenes for optimal comfort and offers motion controller-supported weapon use. It even ensures sniper scopes work seamlessly, enabling an uninterrupted VR journey from the game’s beginning to its grand finale.

For a glimpse of this mod in motion, Holydh has shared a demonstration that showcases these enhancements in action. Enthusiasts can head over to Nexus Mods to download this mod for free. You’ll need to go through a few steps to get it up and running with the Steam version, and you’ll also need to grab Praydog’s UEVR Nightly 01042 build, conveniently linked on the Nexus Mods page.

In terms of hardware, users have mentioned that an NVIDIA RTX 2080 graphics card proves quite effective, although the mod has various graphical settings to tweak for those running on older equipment.

Despite its open-source nature and availability for copying or modifying on GitHub, there’s still a need to tread carefully. Take-Two, Rockstar Games’ parent company, has a reputation for aggressively challenging similar mods in the past. Only last year, they targeted a number of Luke Ross’ popular Rockstar mods, such as the VR mods for GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Mafia Definitive Edition, though the takedowns were directed at Patreon, where those mods were offered behind a paywall. Fortunately, Holydh’s plugin for UEVR is free, which could mean it stands a better chance of survival for those eager to explore San Andreas in VR over the long haul.

For those hoping to see GTA: San Andreas on the Quest platform, patience will be key as its release has been put on hold indefinitely, leaving this modding route as perhaps the best avenue for immersive exploration in the near future.