Grand Theft Auto 3 - Cheats and Hints

Grand Theft Auto 3 was the biggest step forward Rockstar has taken in its existence. The possibility of free roaming in a huge 3D environment combined with the total lack of moral constraints made the game an instant hit. It sparked debates and lawsuits more than any other game in history and in the same time, started a genre of its own. Many of the recent titles have been deemed clones just because the developers chose to use the same principles. Even so, Grand Theft Auto 3 is a great experience six years later.

Enter one of the following codes during game play to activate the corresponding cheat function. The message "Cheat Activated" will appear to confirm correct code entry.
The codes can also be activated at the menu screen (press [Esc] during game play) to avoid having your character moving around while they are being entered.

Note: Codes can be entered multiple times. For example, keep typing gunsgunsguns etc. to have more ammunition as well as all guns. The giveusatank code can only be activated four times.

All weapons - gunsgunsguns
Extra money - ifiwerearichman
Full health - gesundheit
Higher wanted level - morepoliceplease
Lower wanted level - nopoliceplease
Tank (Rhino) - giveusatank
Destroy all cars - bangbangbang
Change costume - ilikedressingup
Crazy pedestrians - itsallgoingmaaad
All pedestrians attack you - nobodylikesme
Pedestrians fighting each other - weaponsforall
Disable pedestrians fighting each other - noweaponsforall
Time advances quicker - timeflieswhenyou
Toggle very fast game clock - madweather
Faster game play - boooooring
100% armor (unpatched version) - turtoise
100% armor (patched version) - tortoise
Clear weather - skincancerforme
Cloudy weather - ilikescotland
Rainy weather - ilovescotland
Foggy weather - peasoup
Invisible cars; wheels only - anicesetofwheels
Disable invisible cars - notanicesetofwheels
Flying car - chittychittybb
Improved car handling; press [Shift] to jump - cornerslikemad
Gore mode - nastylimbscheat

Change car attributes
Note: This procedure involves editing a game file; create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "handling.cfg" file in the "ockstar gamesgta3data" folder. You can change the various attributes (speed, weight, etc.) of any car. Read the text in the "handling.cfg" file for an explanation of what can be changed.

Change weapon attributes
Note: This procedure involves editing a game file; create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "weapon.cfg" file in the "data" sub-folder in the game directory. You can change the various attributes (reload time, ammunition, damage, etc.) of any weapon. Read the text in the "weapon.cfg" file for an explanation of what can be changed.

Increase car acceleration
Note: This procedure involves editing a game file; create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "handling.cfg" file in the "data" sub-folder in the game directory. When you open that file, you will see a table which has vehicle names in rows (Such as LANDSTAL, IDAHO, STINGER, etc.) and alphabetic characters in columns. For example, to increase the maximum speed and acceleration of the Rhino tank, choose column N, Row "RHINO" and change its value to "200.0". This will set the Rhino tank's maximum speed to 200K mph. Select column O in the same row and change its value to "33.0" ,which will make its acceleration higher. This method can be tricky, but if done correctly, your tank can fly. Note: Enable the cornerslikemad code to increase the handling of the tank.

Listen to radio stations at any time
If you have sufficient hard drive space, you can listen to the radio stations at any desired time. Insert the "Play" disc then click on "My Computer" and click on your CD drive. Enter the "Audio" folder to access a group of .WAV and .MP3 files. You can listen to any mission, radio station, or event. Copy them to your hard drive for smoother playback. You can hear everything (pedestrians, crashes, horns, etc) with a file on your hard drive in the "audio" folder in the game directory. There is a file called "sfx.raw" that can be opened in a .WAV file editor. Change the sampling rate to a lower setting and there will be a very long audio clip of everything there is to be heard in the game.

Custom music
Copy some of your favorite MP3 files into the "mp3" folder in the game folder. Start the game and you will have a new radio station titled "mp3 player". Choose it to hear your own selections.

Instead of copying your MP3 files to the "mp3" folder, just create shortcuts using Windows Explorer to the files inside your existing folder with MP3 files. The game will play all MP3 files the shortcuts are pointing to. This is very useful if you have large libraries of MP3s on CD and do not have the hard drive space for them.

Custom skin
Open the "skin" folder in the main game folder. Copy the skin "playa2.bmp" into any desired folder, then rename it "playa3.bmp". Open the "playa3.bmp", into MS Paint, Adobe Photo Shop, or another graphics program. Re-color and customize it as desired, then copy it back into the "skin" folder in the main game folder. Start the game, go into "Player Options", and choose your new skin.

Regain health with prostitute
Car jack any vehicle and drive up to a prostitute walking the streets. Stop and let her approach the car, after a few seconds of talking, she will get in. Drive to a remote area where there are not any cops around (a good place is in your hideout). Stop the car, but do not get out. After about two seconds, the car will start rocking back and forth. You will recover approximately 40 to 50 points of health. When it is over, she will exit the car and walk away, but not before she charges you a fee. At this point, you can beat her up and take back the money you just paid her. Note: The prostitute will fight back when you try to take your money back. If for any reason you both have to exit the car before it starts rocking, you will still be charged a fee (beat her up to take it back). You cannot do this with the same prostitute twice in one night -- you can however, pick up another prostitute and recover more health. Even though the maximum amount of health points is 100 when you start the game, it increases to 125 after the encounter and remains that way.

Use a prostitute multiple times
Pick up a prostitute then go into a Pay 'N' Spray. Immediately before you are done with her, back out and go back in. You will start doing her again and get another repaint. You will still get life, and the paint is still free.

Police bribe in hideout
Get into any police vehicle and enter vigilante mode. After killing enough criminals (about ten to fifteen), your beeper will tell you that you have a police bribe in your hideout. Note: This works best if you use the police truck behind the police station on Staunton Island.

Hidden Packages
Drive into the water and keep enabling the gesundheit code to stay alive. Keep repeating this until your beeper stops displaying information. You will now have 100 Hidden Packages.

BF Injection
Complete El Burro's missions for the Diablos, and a new off-road buggy called the ''BF Injection'' will appear in the little block by the building by the phone.

FBI car
The only way to get the FBI car is to have five stars on the wanted meter. The FBI will come after you in purple FBI cars. It is a modified Kuruma.

Mafia Sentinel
The Mafia Sentinel can be found in Saint Mark's at Portland Island or the Mafia hideout. It is a modified Sentinel.

Red Jacks Hoods Rumbo XL
The Hoods Rumpo XL can be found in Shoreside Vale (not the airport). It is a modified Rumpo.

Flying a Tank
Enable the chittychittybb code then turn the cannon so it faces the back of the tank. As you drive, start to shoot behind you. This will gain acceleration and make the tank fly.

Portland: Get to Staunton Island early
In the "Last Request" mission, it is possible to "maroon" the Japanese girl. To do this, look for the closest "island" when you pick her and Maria up. Get to the island and back the boat up a slope. You will hear crunching sounds. Experiment, and sooner or later she will drop off the boat and onto the island. From there, get to Staunton Island. You can cruise around and do everything else except take up any missions or side jobs. Kill Maria or the Japanese girl and the mission will end.

Find a very fast car, such as the Banshee in the shop at 8-Balls. Drive to the bridge and stop at the beginning. Enable the chittychittybb code. Accelerate, and if you are lucky, you will fly over the gap and land on the other side. It will take some practice before you succeed. Test it with different distances before the edge.

Cutting The Grass mission: Easy completion
To complete Salvatore's "Cutting the Grass" mission easily, instead of having to trail the snitch for the whole time, go straight to the Portland docks. When you get there, drive to the boat with the ramp leading up it. There is a staircase attached to the outside of the nearest building. Climb this and stop where you can see the ramp easily. This allows you to completely avoid the risk of spooking the snitch and gives you a good angle to shoot him from.

Taxi missions in other cars
Get into a taxi and hold [Caps Lock]. Get out while still holding the key and walk to another car. Release [Caps Lock] when in the car. You can now do taxi missions in that new car.

You can also do this trick in the Paramedic, Fire, and Vigilante missions. You could also be a limo driver if you get in the Stretch during a taxi mission.

Police suicides
At any island, get a car and drive as close as you can to a cliff. Get out and get behind the car. Run it into the water. Jump on top of the car after it explodes and get your wanted level up to any desired level. The cops will jump into the water in an attempt to get to you. Cars will also fly off the cliff and kill themselves.

Flashback radio station
On the Flashback radio station, all the songs that are played are in the movie Scarface.

Car identifications
Each car in the game is modeled after a real car with some differences.

Ambulance: Ford Econoling 350 Ambulance
Banshee: Dodge Viper/Shelby Cobra
Barraks OL: Jeep brand army truck
BF Injection: mostly fictional VW Dune Hopper
Bobcat: Ford Ranger/Dodge Ram
Borgnine Cabbie: Same as Checker Cab, only decked out.
Bus: International Bus
Cartel Cruiser: Decked out Dodge/Chevy truck
Checker Cab: 57' Chevrolet Bel Air
Cheetah: Ferrari Testarossa
Coach: Airstream Motorcoach
Diablo Stallion: Decked out Mustang with blowers, headers, flame paint
Dodo: Alaskan Bushplane
Enforcer: International Swat Vehicle
Esparanto: 72' Cadillac Eldorado
FBI Car: Superfast Karuma (souped-up Dodge Intrepid)
Fire Truck: International Fire Truck
Infernus: Lamborghini Diablo/Jaguar XJ220?
Karuma: Dodge Intrepid
Landstalker: Mitsubishi Montero Sport
Linerunner: International Semi Cab
Mafia Sentinel: Decked out version of BMW sedan
Manana: Buick Regal
Moonbeam: Chevy Van
Mr. Whoopee: Toyota van equipped with optional ice cream feature.
Mule: Ford Econoline Truck
Patriot: Hummer H1 Civillian
Police car: Ford Crown Victoria High-Speed Pursuit Package
Pony: Ford Van
Predator: Police boat with machine guns
Reefer: Boat
Rumpo: Dodge Winnebego Van
Securicar: International brand armored van
Sentinal: Speedy BMW luxury sedan
Speeder: Fictional speed boat
Stinger: Porsche Boxter S
Stretch: Lincoln Continental Limousine
Taxi: Ford Crown Victoria
Toyz Van: Ford Econoline 350
Traid Fish Van: Ford Econoline
Trashmaster: Leech/International Garbage Truck
Yakuza Stinger: The Yakuza's Stinga'
Yardie Lobo: Chevrolet Impala or Chevelle

Change size of moon
Use a sniper rifle and aim at the moon. Shoot the moon and it will get bigger. When you shoot it again, it will get smaller.