Modders set to recreate GTA San Andreas using GTA 4's RAGE engine

If you've wanted to play GTA San Andreas in a more modern engine, and you weren't satisfied with the Definitive Edition Trilogy, there's a mod you might be interested in. This attempts to bring over the entire 3D Universe San Andreas map to GTA 4, using the advancements of the RAGE engine. In the past, modders have tried to do this with the other games as well, like Vice City.

However, before the Definitive Edition remasters were announced, these mods were taken down by Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, who began sending DMCA notices to modders.

Here's what you need to know about this GTA 4 mod for GTA San Andreas.

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Experience GTA San Andreas map in GTA 4 with work-in-progress mod

The Grand Theft Auto IV: San Andreas mod (download here) is a total conversion of GTA 4 that replaces the HD Universe Liberty City with the 3D Universe GTA San Andreas map. However, the mod does more than that, as it attempts to bring over almost every feature of GTA San Andreas. If you're a keen follower of the modding scene for Grand Theft Auto, you may have noticed this mod surface almost a decade ago.

However, all downloads were removed, and the mod was taken down after Take-Two went against the fan community before releasing the widely panned Definitive Edition Trilogy. They issued DMCA notices to many popular Grand Theft Auto mods, possibly including this one. Another similar mod that ports over the Vice City map in Grand Theft Auto 4 was also taken down.

Grand Theft Auto IV: San Andreas is currently in the Beta stage, just like it was almost a decade ago. The last build was Beta 3, codenamed "World enhancement," originally released in August 2012. The reupload was made on May 2024. This version claims to have multiplayer as one of its features, along with races, gang wars, and so on.

Several gameplay videos have showcased the various features of this mod. For instance, it captures the original skybox of GTA San Andreas, like the orange/yellowish Los Santos daytime hue and the blue/purple nighttime color. The textures are taken from the original game, so weapons and items will look quite blurry by modern standards.

Many of the vehicles seem to be redone, making them look quite impressive. Most of the original weapons are there, as well as the vehicles. However, since GTA 4 doesn't have any planes, this mod doesn't seem to have them either. Some placeholder airplanes were seen in the gameplay videos, though they didn't seem usable.

You can fly many of the helicopters, however, and the funniest addition is the BMX. Since GTA 4 doesn't have bicycles either, the modders have simply made a custom motorcycle that appears as a bicycle instead. As expected, there aren't any pedaling animations.

The Beta 3 version of the mod claims to have interiors, though we're not sure how this would work. Grand Theft Auto 4 has an open, fully accessible world, while GTA San Andreas has a separate hidden universe for transitioning between the open world and the interiors.

In any case, mods like these prove how talented the modding community is, and how much love they have for these age-old Grand Theft Auto games.