Multi Theft Auto

Multi Theft Auto
Mtalogo.png
Developer(s)	MTA Team
Platform(s)	PC
Release	MTA 0.5 (GTA3 and VC) : January 31 2005 MTA:SA R1.1.1 : March 18 2006 MTA:SA DM 1.0dp2 : January 9 2008
Genre(s)	Third party Add-on
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Multi Theft Auto (MTA) is a mod ("modification") for the PC version of Rockstar North games Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that adds an otherwise absent online multi-player component.

Summary

A screenshot of one of the earlier closed MTA:SA Deathmatch (alpha version).

Although often referred to as a modification, Multi Theft Auto is based on the trainer and code injection methods of manipulating the game through its own memory, and does not alter any original files supplied with the game itself.

Multi Theft Auto was once ranked as one of CSports.net's top online games, with statistics showing peaks of roughly one thousand players playing different versions of the mod on-line simultaneously.

The project has also been the subject in multiple articles in different media. The most prominent being a coverage on G4TV and an exclusive release for Fileplanet with coverage on its frontpage.

MTA: San Andreas

The newest release of MTA is for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and is built upon a new core codenamed "Blue" which has been in development for two and a half years. This represents a major shift in the team's focus because they will be providing users with all the tools they need to create their own game modes and leaving much of the game mode creation to third parties. It will not work with version 2.0. They supply a patch to downgrade to 1.1, but it is suggested that you back up all files, including CD files before doing this.

According to their official wiki entry, MTA:SA was unveiled on 1 June 2005. On 22 January 2006 the first playable content (Race Mod) was released. This mod featured vehicle racing and a map editor that allows users to create custom environments and races. On 15 March 2006 the first patch for race (1.1) was released. Some major issues were in the patch, causing the second and final patch (1.1.1) to be released 3 days later on 18 March 2006.

After race patch, the production of "Death Match" began. The developing time has continued from 18 March 2006 to present day. Many attribute the delay to a lack of focus by the development team. Many new features were constantly being introduced, but the continuous introduction of new features delayed a stable, releasable version. This was acknowledged by the team itself as a factor preventing release of the modification.

Weekly scripting tutorials were announced on 14 January 2007 to show examples of how to create Multi Theft Auto scripts with Lua. These weekly scripts were created and displayed by the Quality Assurance team. They included a script and a video to show the script in use. The QA team could not meet the weekly demand and the tutorials ceased to exist over time. The tutorials were abandoned so the QA team could spend more time preparing the "Death Match" release.

Over 2007 there have been various blog posts, including videos. However, the blog posts have become less frequent over time, leading many to believe that the progress of "Death Match" was slow or had ceased. Due to this mounting pressure, on 14 August 2007, the MTA team created a "changelog monitor". It illustrated any notable updates to the progress of the modification.

Multi Theft Auto San Andreas: Deathmatch 1.0dp1 (Developer Preview 1) was released on 2nd of January 2008. It's fully playable, although it has some minor bugs.

Multi Theft Auto San Andreas: Deathmatch 1.0dp2 (Developer Preview 2) was released on 9th of January 2008, merely 7 days after the initial release.

It was noted in a news post on the 4th February 2008 on the main site that due to server movement, the entire system was to be brought down, including serial generation. This caused any new players attempting to install the game to obtain errors when attempting to generate a serial code, thus preventing them from playing on servers. On the 8th February, after 4 days of being down, the server move was complete.

Feature summary

File:Mtasamenu.png

The "Page Crazy Eddie GUI".

• It was announced on 27th December 2006 that MTA:SA 'Deathmatch' will make use of its own scripting system powered by Lua, as of last update 373 functions were available.
• Optimized netcode which results in less lag and better accuracy.
• Uses the freeware CEGUI system, which replaces the original GTA GUI and allows control from any gamemode running on the server. This allows MTA to draw its own windows and widgets for any in-game user interaction such as the server-browser.
• MTA:SA uses a modular platform and loads several of its module DLL's (e.g. core, net, gui, deathmatch) into the game instead of injecting code into its memory process. This improves stability, speed and allows a better file management.
• Fewer glitches. This is achieved by synchronizing every animation, implementing a custom pause menu so that people can't pause to escape death, forcing the frame limiter on so that everyone's game runs at the same maximum speed, and a controlled memory management through the Blue platform.
• Greater synchronization means that all native elements such as animations, explosions, particles, skins, weapons, vehicles, objects, players, etc. as well as new elements such as custom 3d models are available and controllable.
• Modification support through, but not limited to, C++ means that complex gamemodes can be created. This may include any tools needed in the process. For example, combined with a powerful map editor, this would allow all kinds of custom modifications in totally new maps taking place in completely new scenarios to be created.

The advanced nature of the Blue core has allowed them to place a sophisticated WYSIWYG editor into MTA:SA for adding checkpoints, spawn points and power-ups. It also allows users to place extra models into the game such as ramps, roads, trees and exploding barrels.

The Gangs of Multi Theft Auto

Since the release of 0.1, gangs (commonly referred to as clans) have emerged to become the best in MTA. They operate very similarly to clans in other games, usually having their own servers and websites, advanced leadership and recruitment systems, and gang wars, or clan matches, with other gangs regularly.

See also

• Grand Theft Auto
• Multiplayer game
• Lua
• Third-person shooter

References

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• True Crime - Streets of L.A. review
• GTA San Andreas PC Hands-On
• Saints Row preview
• Multi Theft Auto: Hacking Multi-Player Into Grand Theft Auto With Open Source

External links

• Official Multi Theft Auto Site
• Official Multi Theft Auto YouTube Channel a youtube channel run by the MTA QA Team
• Multi Theft Auto wiki a documentation Wiki set up for Multi Theft Auto
• Multi Theft Auto forums
• Multi Theft Auto Community site for downloading of resource packs (DM+)
• MTA Center site for downloading user-created maps