Third-party mods: How to install

[Renatus2]

Hello there.

I've always been a big fan of GTA modding, and the game always felt lackluster without my favourite mods added into it.
I know that some of you are confused out there - not knowing how to install third-party mods in the game.

Fear not, I'm here to help you.

.IMG file interactive mods.

All of the weapon, pedestrian, car, object models are stuffed into an .img file named gta3 which is located in the GTA San Andreas/models/ folder. (The clothes' models are located in player.img)

There are specific tools made to modify these kinds of files (.img files) such as IMGTool, Alci's IMG Editor and Spark IMG Editor. (I personally use Spark since it's the easiest to use.)

Basically, you download the mod files from the internet, open one of these tools listed above, open gta3.img using the specific tool, import the .DFF and/or .TXD files (it MUST be a replacement) and your mod is installed.

For example, I use a LSPD SWAT skin in the game.
This skin's models are named "swat.dff" and "swat.txd" in the gta3.img file.
I download a .rar file containing the replacements for these files, extract the "swat.dff" and "swat.txd" that are downloaded from the internet, then import those files into gta3.img, replacing the original models.

You literally do the same for installing clothes' mods, but you must replace them in player.img, not gta3.img.

HUD, effect, timecyc mods etc.

These mods are significantly easier to install. You don't have to use any tools for these - you can just download the mods and replace them in a specified directory in the GTA San Andreas folder.

If you download a HUD mod, it is supposed to be named "hud.txd" which is supposed to be replaced in GTA San Andreas/models/.

Effect mods are supposed to be named "effects.fxp" AND "effectsPC.txd" which are also supposed to be replaced in GTA San Andreas/models/. Some advanced effect mods such as New Great Effects require even wider work to install, but fortunately, there are instructions as to how to install the mods.

Timecyc mods (this mod changes the way clouds and the sky look) are named "timecyc.dat" which are supposed to be replaced in GTA San Andreas/data/.

Things to note.

- NOT EVERY MOD YOU SEE ON THE INTERNET IS COMPATIBLE WITH MULTI THEFT AUTO. These mods include .ASI files, "superman mod", CLEO mods etc. I may be giving misinformation right now about ASI files since people argued with me, but from my experience, .asi files never worked when I played MTA:SA.
- Be extremely careful. Create backup files if you're worried. Installing mods is a risky move if you make a mistake.
- Some mods can lag. I downloaded some car mods quite a long time ago, their file-sizes were over 10 MB and it made my game lag a lot when the cars were spawned. If you have a low-end PC, I suggest you not to use any car mods which have larger file size than 5 MB.

I must have forgot/missed something here, so let me know what it was.
Feel free to ask questions!

- Renatus2

[blizzard123]

Very nice tutorial for people who want to start modding their game, I have quite some experiences with modding my game and did not find any lack of information. Although it might be better to go a little more in-depth with how you can install the mods.