Grand Theft Auto III
Purple Nines Glitch FAQ
By gtafreak420
I. Introduction
II. Important Information for New Players (Spoiler-Free)
III. The Purple Nines Glitch
1. Who exactly are the Purple Nines?
2. What exactly is the Purple Nines glitch?
3. Who can be affected by the glitch, and how does
it occur?
4. What can I do if I already have the glitch?
5. Is there any way to see if I have the glitch
early in the game?
IV. Conclusion
_______________
I. Introduction
_______________
I was one of the first people to start complaining of the
Nines in my game to be missing back when this game first
came out. I haven't played in awhile, but upon reading
about GTA3 again I see a lot of people have been plagued by
the same glitch that cursed me to playing through the game
two extra times. This is my attempt to make their lives
easier. This is geared both towards the beginning player
and the experienced player, and fully explains the glitch
as far as I have been able to understand it, and how to
avoid it or deal with it if you already have it. This is
based mostly on my own experiences, as well as some of the
posts by dozens of users on Gamefaqs who have had this
problem. If you have any new information for the FAQ or
find any of the information to be in error please email me
at
[email protected].
For the purposes of this FAQ, a save "file" means an
individual game saved into one of the 8 slots within the
pause menu of GTA3. A save "block" means the entire entry
for GTA3 on your memory card, accessible through the
browser menu of your PS2.
________________________________________________________
II. IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NEW PLAYERS (SPOILER-FREE)
________________________________________________________
Right off the bat, if you are a new player and haven't got
a GTA3 block on your card yet, start a new game, finish the
initial mission ("Luigi's Girls") and save your game to
slot 8. This file should be a clean new game now, with the
Nines intact. Do not ever save over top of it. If you ever
want to start a new game, load this file instead of
choosing "New Game" from the pause menu. This will prevent
you from getting the Purple Nines glitch at any point.
Enjoy the game.
If you really want to make sure that the Purple Nines
glitch has not affected your block, explicit instructions
will be provided near the end of this FAQ that will allow
even completely novice players to verify this.
-- SPOILERS BELOW --
____________________________
III. THE PURPLE NINES GLITCH
____________________________
1. Who exactly are the Purple Nines?
Essentially, there are two separate gangs in the Witchita
Gardens area of Shoreside Vale; the Nines and the Red
Jacks. Both wear a hockey jersey-style shirt with black
shoulders, a white stripe, and then a solid colour - red
for Red Jacks, purple for Nines. There is some confusion to
newer players about this, since on the map provided with
the game this territory is marked "Southside Hoods". Both
the Nines and the Jacks make up the Hoods together, and
although at war, will for some reason come to each other's
aid when attacked. Both also drive the same vehicle.
2. What exactly is the Purple Nines glitch?
The Purple Nines are missing from the game, and instead,
only Red Jacks can be found on the street. This makes the
initial D-Ice mission, "Uzi Money", impossible to do, since
it involves cruising the streets and gunning down Nines.
This makes it impossible to get any further telephone
missions from D-Ice and get 100% completion in the game.
3. Who can be affected by the glitch, and how does it
occur?
This glitch only seems to affect people who have completed
the telephone missions for D-Ice of the Red Jacks at some
point, and then saved the game. Some people have claimed to
suffer from the glitch without completing the D-Ice
missions, but I'm not sure if their information is
reliable.
Essentially, once successfully completing the final D-Ice
mission, the Jacks have won the turf war and the Nines are
no longer to be found on the streets any further during the
game. This is when the glitch occurs; once you have saved
after completing this mission, selecting "New Game" from
the pause menu will create a new game in which the Nines
are already exterminated. However, any existing save files
from before the final D-Ice mission was completed will
still have the Nines. This is why creating the save file of
a fresh game in slot 8 when you first create the GTA3 save
block and starting new games by loading it avoids the
problem.
4. What can I do if I already have the glitch?
There is absolutely no way to get the Purple Nines back in
your current game, unfortunately. You might be able to
create a new game within the same save block that does have
the Nines in it, but information is unreliable on this. The
only sure-fire way to get rid of the glitch that I know of
is to delete the GTA3 save block off of the card and start
right from scratch again, making sure to save that slot 8
file for starting future new games.
Some people have reported successfully starting a new game
with the Nines present by removing their memory card
entirely, resetting the machine and starting a new game.
When it gets to the point that you can save, re-insert your
memory card and save your game to your existing save block.
This new game MIGHT have the Nines in it, but some people
have reported it not working. You can immediately verify it
with the below instructions.
5. Is there any way to see if I have the glitch early in
the game?
Yes, there is. It's far too frustrating (and believe me,
since I went through it) to play all the way until you
unlock Shoreside Vale only to discover that you can never
complete all of the missions or get 100% - and it's worth
noting that D-Ice's missions are some of the most fun in
the game.
These step-by-step instructions will get you to the proper
area to verify if the Nines are present even if you're very
new at the game.
First and foremost, load the file that you want to verify
off the card. You need to use cheat codes to verify if the
Nines are there, so if you're worried about corrupting your
file, feel free to remove your memory card at this point.
You won't need to save after you verify that the Nines are
there anyway.
Pick up a half-decent car at least. A taxi is perfect, as
it's relatively easy to control, even for newbies. You can
find your own way to the Callahan Bridge (the bridge which
gets blown up during the opening sequence when you escape),
which will be barricaded with orange barriers preventing
you from driving across it now.
Back up so that your back is to the buildings behind you
and you are directly facing the orange barriers. Enter the
"Good Handling" cheat code (R1, L1, R2, L1, Left, R1, R1,
Triangle). You should see "Cheat Activated" appear on your
screen. Get back in your car since entering the code will
make you step out, and gun it straight at the orange
barriers. Just before you get to them, press the L3 button
(the stick). Your car should hop over the orange barriers -
if you didn't make it, just back up and try a couple more
times, it's not hard.
Now enter the "Car Can Fly" cheat code (Right, R2, Circle,
R1, L2, Down, L1, R1). You should see the "Cheat Activated"
message again if it worked. Back up so you're facing
straight ahead on the bridge, with the barriers behind you.
Punch on the accelerator. The car might get a little
unstable as it starts to lift off, but just try to keep it
pointed straight. When you get to the point where the
bridge is broken, haul back (towards you) on your control
stick and coast across the gap. You can try pressing L3 as
you reach the edge as well to get a hop, but usually you'll
leave the ground too soon. If you miss, you'll die in the
water. Just try again, it's not as hard as it sounds.
Once you land on the other side and see the "Welcome to
Staunton Island" sign, stop and take the "Car Can Fly"
cheat off by entering it again. It's too difficult to drive
on the streets with it turned on. You can leave the
handling cheat on if you like, or enter it again to turn it
off as well.
Now, for those of you who know where you're going, the
tunnel to Shoreside Vale will not be blocked yet and you
can head over and verify. If you don't know where you're
going, these directions will get you straight to Witchita
Gardens.
Drive down the bridge, and take the first right-hand turn
you can when you get off of it. Follow this road (it will
make a slight turn to the left) past a construction site
(don't stop for long, there's a gang here who hates you)
until it ends at a T-intersection. Turn to the left. Follow
this road until it stops at a T-intersection as well, and
turn right. Turn right again at the next T-intersection
onto the road that follows the cliffs. Your next right-hand
turn should be the entrance to the tunnel - don't speed
past it, it sneaks up on you.
Take the tunnel down to the T-intersection and turn left.
There won't be any other cars in the tunnel with you yet,
as it technically isn't supposed to be active. Follow the
tunnel all the way to the end - you'll pass a turn-off to
the left which leads to the airport, at which point there
will be traffic in the tunnel. Drive carefully, it can be
very tricky to navigate the tunnel with other cars.
Once you exit the tunnel, turn left. Follow this road as it
curves around the shore. You'll pass a road to your left
eventually, and then the next left turn should be a bridge
that slopes gently upwards. The area around the base of
this bridge, and the area at the top of it are Hoods
territory. You should see dark-skinned guys wearing both
red shirts and purple shirts. If you don't see any purple
shirts, only red shirts, you have the glitch.
At this point, you can just reset and load your game again.
If you have the glitch and you tried the above technique of
starting without your memory card in, it's not working for
you, and you'll have to delete your save block.
______________
IV. CONCLUSION
______________
I hope this saves at least a few people out there from the
hassles I had to go through, and helps everyone understand
just how this glitch occurs and how to avoid it. Thanks go
to gamefaqs.com and all the message board posters who have
talked about this frustrating bug and helped us all
understand it. Happy hunting!
This FAQ is Copyright (c) 2002 by gtafreak420. All rights
reserved. Any re-use, transmission, duplication or
distribution without the express written permission of the
author is prohibited.
