What is SilentPatch?
SilentPatch is a series of unofficial modifications led by me, Silent, aiming to fix bugs and improve compatibility with modern hardware in various PC games. First released in 2013 as modifications for the classic Grand Theft Auto games (GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas), SilentPatch has since expanded into over 25 games and gained a degree of recognition in the PC gaming space by players and developers alike.
What makes a SilentPatch? The released patches adhere to several core values that set it apart from the other, more broadly defined, unofficial patches:
- “Be free for everyone”
- Downloads are never hidden behind a paywall.
- “Stick to a silent installation”
- The setup is hassle-free. With very few exceptions, SilentPatches are installed by just extracting a few files in the game directory.
- “Patch with surgical precision”
- Changes are as non-invasive as possible, and code changes are applied with utmost care. This ensures wide compatibility with different revisions of games, as well as with other modifications installed alongside the patch.
- “Preserve the developers’ vision”
- SilentPatches are designed to be used on either the first or subsequent playthroughs, providing an enhanced gaming experience while maintaining the original gameplay. To achieve this, games’ original design choices are preserved as much as possible. SilentPatch never alters gameplay and/or balancing of the game, unless it is entirely provable that those are a result of a bug. In rare cases where SilentPatch makes changes that cannot be justified as fixes, they are always toggleable from the configuration file.
Supported games
- AquaNox
- Bully: Scholarship Edition BETA
- Colin McRae Rally 2.0
- Colin McRae Rally 3
- Crazy Taxi
- Far Cry
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto Vice City
- Juiced (Demo)
- Mafia II: Definitive Edition
- Mass Effect
- Need for Speed 2: Special Edition
- Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit
- Need for Speed 4: High Stakes
- Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed
- Scarface: The World Is Yours
- The Godfather: The Game
- The Wonderful 101: Remastered
- TOCA 2 Touring Cars
- Yakuza 3 Remastered
- Yakuza 4 Remastered
- Yakuza Kiwami 2
- EA Sports WRC DEPRECATED
- Yakuza 5 Remastered DEPRECATED
More resources
Development timeline
To celebrate a decade of patching, I have created an updated timeline of the SilentPatch history. I highlighted the most important events related to those, mostly focusing on the GTA patches due to their historical significance, but also listing all the other supported games, as well as some other events that directly led to the creation of, or influenced the shape of SilentPatch.
The legend for colours is as follows:
- Blue – SilentPatch events
- Green – miscellaneous events directly related to SilentPatch
- Pink – events related to other modifications, which were relevant for SilentPatch development nonetheless
- Orange – ‘community spotlight’ events
I recommend viewing the timeline fullscreen!
SilentPatch in media
- “Games have bugs and GTA is no exception.” | Obbe Vermeij on X/Twitter
- The GTA Trilogy’s excellent SilentPatch just got a big update and went open-source | PC Gamer
- Mods restore Crazy Taxi’s analog controls, product placement, and more | PC Gamer
- You can now play TOCA 2: Touring Cars on modern PC systems | DSOGaming
- Yakuza Fan Is Out Here Fixing The Series’ PC Versions Again | Kotaku
- Game Dev Patches Mysterious AMD Ryzen ‘Black Blob’ Graphics Bug in Mass Effect | Tom’s Hardware
- SilentPatch for The Wonderful 101: Remastered released, fixes broken frame pacing issues | DSOGaming
- The Wonderful 101: Remastered PC Gets Fan-Made Patch Before Official Release; Frame Pacing Issues Fixed and More | Wccftech
- Scarface The World is Yours Fan Patch fixes graphics glitches, improves performance + Remaster Mod | DSOGaming
- Forget Bully 2 – this patch gets the original Bully running crash-free | PCGamesN
- Fans still polishing up GTA 3, Vice City & San Andreas | Rock Paper Shotgun
Last update: December 29, 2023