A graphics overhaul for GTA: Vice City

Vice City, on a modern renderer.

The original game from 2002 - same executable, same map, same missions - drawn through DirectX 11 with real light, real shadows, a simulated sea and a living sky.

Get the Full version Try Lite for free

In active development. Not a final release - features are still being improved and added.

DirectX 11replaces the game's DirectX 8 renderer

Game files untouchednothing original is overwritten, remove it any time

Nothing bakedcomputed live from the game's own data

F11 paneltune or switch off every effect while you play

Mod off / mod on

The same place, the same game

Drag the line. On the left, Vice City as it has looked since 2002. On the right, the same game drawn by ImmersiveVC.

Ocean Drive by day

Original game ImmersiveVC

Ocean Drive at night

Original game ImmersiveVC

The beach

Original game ImmersiveVC

Each pair is recorded from the same spot. The right side shows the Full version: the light, sky, shadows and ocean are in Lite too, while the 3D vegetation, new textures and reworked cars come with Full.

In Lite and Full

A new renderer for a 2002 game

HDR pipeline, tone mapping, bloom and colour grading. Everything on this part of the page is in the free Lite edition too.

Light and shadow

Sun and moon light the whole world and cast real shadows: buildings, palms, cars, people, lamp posts
Soft shadow edges that widen with distance - long and soft at sunrise and sunset
Ambient occlusion by day and night, and fine contact shadows
Street lamps read from the map itself; every lamp is a real light, with its own brightness slider
Head and tail lights on every vehicle, police light bars that light the street
Volumetric light shafts and beams from headlights, lamps and the Ocean Beach lighthouse
Night shadows from street lamps several lamps + moon: Full

Sky and weather

Modern sky: a physically based atmosphere - the colour of the sky comes from where the sun is
Golden hour: gold and peach around the low sun, violet on the far side of the sky
Volumetric clouds you can fly through, storm decks, lightning, plane contrails
Sun rays, moon with phases, stars
Height fog that takes its colour from the sky
Instant weather change from the trainer
The classic Vice City sky is still there if you prefer it

Water

A simulated ocean instead of a flat sheet: real waves, foam, wakes
Boats ride the waves you see - the physics use the same sea
Mirror reflections of the city, and of every lamp on the shore at night
Caustics on the seabed and in the pools, refraction, underwater light

Reflections and rain

Car paint reflects the real surroundings, captured around your car every frame
Metallic flake under a clear coat, chrome and glass as their own materials
Wet roads and puddles that mirror the neon
Rain that exists in the world, not on the screen: streets get wet, puddles form, water beads and runs on car bodywork
Drops on the lens that really refract the picture behind them

F11 panel

Every effect can be tuned or switched off while you play
Trainer, Graphics and Scripts tabs, with a search box
A one-click default on every setting

Performance

SMAA anti-aliasing and FSR 1 upscaling
Clouds and light shafts drawn at reduced cost; cloud quality setting
A stutter fix for the game's own model loading

Lamp glare

Drawn by a shader instead of the old star sprite
One style in Lite, nine in Full

Extras

PlayStation 2 colour filter - the console look on top of the new lighting
Real-time clock: one game minute lasts one real minute
Clock and weather control, free-fly camera, vehicle spawner

Only in Full

The content made for the renderer

Lite shows what the renderer does. Full adds the textures, the vegetation, the cars, the gameplay scripts and the heavier features built to use it.

Road and pavement with the game's original textures

Original Texture pack

Texture pack

Hundreds of world textures redone in high resolution: roads, pavements, sand, rock, concrete, back alleys, walls, hotel windows and doors
Relief, roughness and metal maps on every one - the renderer knows what a surface is made of
Parallax depth and self-shadowing on the ground, with adjustable distance
Worn, polished wheel ruts on the roads that catch the street lamps at night

3D vegetation and grass

Every palm, tree and bush is a real 3D model instead of a flat card - plus potted plants and ivy on buildings
They sway in the wind, cast shadows (also from outside the view) and reflect in the sea
Levels of detail: palms stay visible across the whole city
Over a million blades and tufts of 3D grass on lawns, the golf course, the dunes and the green strips between roads
Optional extra planting along Ocean Drive, four colour levels from vivid to muted

Ocean Drive

Hotel signs rebuilt as 3D letters with metal sides
Neon tubes and sign artwork redone in high resolution, more neon on the buildings
Smoother beach and lighthouse terrain
New street lamp models

Vanilla Revamp: the original cars, reworked

82 of the game's own cars: same shapes, same handling, same names
Paint, chrome, glass and rubber as real materials; 3D rims and tyres
Lamps that light up on the lens, working indicators, sirens, taxi signs
Number plates with their own text on every car

Ragdolls Experimental

Ragdolls on a real physics engine
The bodies of pedestrians and Tommy react to gunshots, being hit by a car and fistfights
An experimental script in its first version - and it already looks great

Swimming and climbing Experimental

Tommy can finally swim instead of drowning
Dive under the surface, into the light of the simulated ocean
Climbing, from the same script

More gameplay scripts

Denser traffic and parked cars, seen from further away
Car damage: dents and crumpling bodywork
Vehicle and on-foot camera options
All in one file, all set from F11 → Scripts while you play

Also in Full

Shadows cast by headlights - yours and the traffic's
Night shadows from several lamps at once, and from the moon
Nine lamp glare styles
Frame generation
Every update: on release day at $10 a month, one month later at $5

Get the Full version

Both editions use the same settings file, so moving from Lite to Full keeps your settings.

Full version and Lite

ImmersiveVC Lite is the free edition: the renderer and its effects, as a preview of what the mod does. ImmersiveVC Full adds the content made for it, the gameplay scripts and the heavier features, and gets every update.

Ocean Beach in ImmersiveVC Lite: the new lighting, sky and shadows on the game's own palm trees, grass and textures — The same place in both editions. Lite draws the game's own palms, grass and textures with the new light, sky and shadows. Full adds the 3D vegetation, the 3D grass and the texture pack.

The same view in ImmersiveVC Full: 3D palm trees, 3D grass and the texture pack — The same place in both editions. Lite draws the game's own palms, grass and textures with the new light, sky and shadows. Full adds the 3D vegetation, the 3D grass and the texture pack.

Feature	Litefree	Fullfrom $5 / month
Renderer
DirectX 11 renderer, HDR, bloom, colour grading	Yes	Yes
Settings panel (F11), clock and weather control	Yes	Yes
Quick start (shaders included)	Yes	Yes
Light and shadow
Sun and moon shadows on the whole world	Yes	Yes
Ambient occlusion and contact shadows	Yes	Yes
Street lamps, vehicle lights, volumetric beams	Yes	Yes
Night shadows from street lamps	One lamp	Several lamps + moon
Shadows from headlights (yours and traffic)	No	Yes
Lamp glare styles	1	9
Sky and weather
Modern sky with golden hour	Yes	Yes
Volumetric clouds, storms, lightning	Yes	Yes
Fog, rain, puddles, lens drops	Yes	Yes
Water and reflections
Simulated ocean, foam, boat physics	Yes	Yes
Mirror reflections on water and wet roads	Yes	Yes
Real-surroundings reflections on car paint	Yes	Yes
Content
PBR texture pack (hundreds of textures, relief, parallax)	No	Yes
3D vegetation with levels of detail	No	Yes
3D grass	No	Yes
Ocean Drive: 3D hotel signs, neons, smoother terrain	No	Yes
Vanilla Revamp: 82 original cars reworked	No	Yes
Gameplay
Gameplay scripts: traffic, swimming and climbing, ragdolls, car damage	No	Yes
Performance
SMAA, FSR 1 upscaling	Yes	Yes
Frame generation	No	Yes
Extras
PlayStation 2 colour filter	Yes	Yes
Real-time clock	Yes	Yes
Release
Updates	Less often	Every update: day one at $10, a month later at $5
Download size	about 30 MB	about 1.2 GB
	Get Lite	Get Full

Requires GTA: Vice City version 1.0 and the Vice City Essentials Pack. Both editions are in active development.

In active development

This is only the beginning

ImmersiveVC keeps growing. Supporters get every update of the Full edition, and their feedback shapes what is built next.

Remastered playerplanned
More remastered models and PBR texturesplanned
More parallax interiorsplanned
Better cutscenes planned
Better rain and wet roadsplanned
And a lot moreto come

These are plans, not promises: the order and the details can change.

Get ImmersiveVC

Join a community of 2,600+ players on Patreon and Ko-fi. It is the same mod on both - pick the platform you already use.

Free

ImmersiveVC Lite

The renderer and its effects, as a preview of what the mod does.

DirectX 11 renderer with shadows, sky, clouds, ocean, reflections and rain
F11 settings panel, quick start
About 30 MB
Updated less often

Lite on Patreon Lite on Ko-fi

From $5 / month

ImmersiveVC Full

Everything in Lite, plus the content made for the renderer and the heavier features.

PBR texture pack: hundreds of textures with relief and parallax
3D vegetation and over a million blades of 3D grass
Vanilla Revamp: 82 reworked cars
Ocean Drive: 3D hotel signs, redone neons, smoother terrain
Gameplay scripts: traffic, swimming and climbing, ragdolls, car damage
Headlight shadows, multi-lamp night shadows, nine glare styles
Frame generation
About 1.2 GB

Full on Patreon Full on Ko-fi

Same tiers on Patreon and Ko-fi. Moving from Lite to Full keeps your settings.

Installing takes a minute

Classic GTA: Vice CityThe 2002 PC game, for example from Steam or the Rockstar Games Launcher.
Vice City Essentials PackDownload it and drag and drop it into the game folder. It brings the version 1.0 executable the mod needs.
ImmersiveVCDrag and drop it into the game folder too. Nothing original is overwritten.
PlayStart the game and press F11 to open the settings.

Questions

Which version of the game do I need?

The classic GTA: Vice City for PC, at version 1.0. You do not need to find an old copy: the Vice City Essentials Pack includes the 1.0 executable, so a copy from Steam or the Rockstar Games Launcher works once the pack is installed. If the game does not start, try running it as administrator.

Does it work with the Definitive Edition?

No. ImmersiveVC is made only for the classic Vice City.

Is it compatible with other mods?

The tested setup is Vice City, the Essentials Pack and ImmersiveVC. Other mods have not been tested yet, so they may or may not work alongside it. Compatibility with Vice City Extended Features is planned. If you find a mod that does not work with ImmersiveVC, report it on Patreon or Ko-fi and it will be looked into.

Can I remove it?

Yes. Nothing original is overwritten. The readme that comes with the mod has a "Removing it" part in its "Installing" section that lists the files to delete.

What is the difference between the $5 and $10 tiers?

Only timing. Both give you the complete Full version. At $10 you get every update on the day it is released; at $5 you get each update one month later. The tiers are the same on Patreon and Ko-fi.

What happens if I cancel my membership?

Everything you have downloaded stays yours and keeps working. You simply stop supporting the development and no longer get new updates.

Is Lite really free?

Yes, for good. It is not a trial and has no time limit. It is updated less often than Full.

Does it work in missions and cutscenes?

The mod runs throughout the game, missions and cutscenes included. Missions have not all been tested one by one yet, and cutscenes have not had their own graphics pass, so some effects may not show up there. If something looks or works wrong in a mission, please report it.

Where do I report a bug or ask a question?

Send a message on Patreon or Ko-fi.