GTA 5 How to Install Mods

  Before we embark on this exciting modding journey, before we start installing anything, a quick overview of what your modded game folder structure will look like. This structure is the starting point, so let's get it right to avoid problems downstream. The screenshot below is what your GTA 5 folder structure will be after your first game install. You will have roughly 44 items (files and folders) in the installation folder . We will also refer to this folder, where GTA5.exe is located, as the root folder or the game folder . Click on the picture below for full size .   If you don't know how to find the GTA 5 folder, which might be called Grand Theft Auto V , you can read this article on our sister site called How to find GTA5.exe . We will start by installing a free program called Open IV . It is likely pronounced Open Four because it was developed originally at the same time as GTA IV but many people call it Open Eye Vee - so call it what you wish, just make s

  You can download OpenIV at their Official Site . Just click the green download now button at the top of the page and then start the installation as you would any Windows software. You can click on any picture on this website to view it full size. 1. Select your language 2. Accept the EULA (End User License Agreement) 3. Select Install the OpenIV to this computer. Note: you can't change the Installation Path. 4. Hit Ok to continue and then launch OpenIV from the shortcut on your desktop. If you don't see a shortcut you can start OpenIV.exe from this location (replacing YourUserName with your User name): C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\New Technology Studio\Apps\OpenIV 5. Once OpenIV has launched, select Grand Theft Auto V and Windows.   6.  From the next dialog, select browse and navigate to your GTA 5 folder. If you don't know where it is consult this article on our sister site: How to find GTA5.exe . 6. Click Continue when prompted, twice, and that's it. You'

  Now that you've installed OpenIV, let's do some basic setup and configuration. 1. Launch OpenIV and hit the Edit button at the top. Select Ok when you get the warning. Another message in blue will appear to install plugin for GTA V. Click on the ASI Manager button to continue. Click on the picture below for full size . 2. When the GTA V - ASI Manager pops up, install all 3 selections: The ASI Loader, OpenIV.asi, and openCamera. Notice the warning about getting banned if you play GTA online with mods. There is very little danger of that happening. Read this article: Online without Ban 3. You will also get a message to create a Mods folder, select yes and accept the defaults. Note that the folder created by OpenIV will be empty. Note: You can go back to the GTA V - ASI Manager above at any time. Just select Tools from the top menu of OpenIV and then ASI Manager . Finally, if we look at our GTA 5 root or game folder we will now see 4 additions: a Mods Folder and the 3 files

  We will now install 3 absolutely essential mods - one that enables us to hook into the GTA 5 game engine known as RAGE and 2 for stability. All 3 of these mods are copied to your root folder where GTA 5.exe is found and where your game was installed. Script Hook V Download Script Hook V from this link only .  Once extracted you will see a folder called bin. Install 2 of the 3 files in the bin folder of the zip archive. The 2 files to install are: ScriptHookV.dll and dinput8.dll. You don't need to install NativeTrainer.asi. Copy these files to your root folder . Note if you installed OpenIV you will already have dinput8.dll installed. ScriptHookV.dll dinput8.dll (also installed by OpenIV as ASI loader) Heap Limit Adjuster This mod which increases heap memory can be downloaded here .  It is packaged with 2 files and will generate a log file. Extract (unzip) and install in the root folder, same as the other files here. HeapAdjuster.asi HeapAdjuster.ini HeapAdjuster.log (generated a

  Our next installation project will be installing a Trainer, probably the best mods ever. Unlike our essential mods, which don't really have any alternatives, there are dozens of excellent trainers you can choose from. We will just discuss two of the most popular, Menyoo and Simple Trainer . They often are both installed and they seem to play and behave well together. You can read more here . Menyoo Download Menyoo from this link only (download lastest release).  Once extracted you will see a folder called menyooStuff and a file called Menyoo.asi. Install both the file and the folder in the root folder. In passing, all files with the  asi extension will be installed in the root folder. Menyoo.asi menyooStuff (folder) menyooLog.txt (log file generated after first run)   Note: Menyoo also has a configuration file, menyooConfig.ini, in the menyooStuff folder. Simple Trainer This trainer mod, which is very popular as well, can be downloaded here .  It is packaged with 2 files. Extra

  With most of the essential files out of the way, let's now look at setting up and configuring the Mods Folder. In passing, you can name it mods or Mods , Windows doesn't care. Why are we creating a Mods folder rather than modding the game directly? We do it for two main reasons.  First it prevents us from damaging, deleting, or corrupting game files. If we did damage the original game files we would need to do a verify integrity or a full reinstall to fix our game - both taking time.  Secondly, it allows us to keep all our mods intact after each Rockstar GTA 5 patch/update. It doesn't guarantee our game will work, but at least none of our mod files will be overwritten or replaced by the update. Finally, we can think of the game folder as a backup for our Mods folder, in case we screw up and we definitely will along the way. Now let's look at what goes into our Mods folder. We will take the minimalist approach for simplicity and to save disk space. Contrary to what

Here is a step by step installation guide, done manually so you can familiarize yourself with the file and folder structure. Step 1. We create a sub folder called Update inside the Mods folder. It will look, depending on your own installation, something like this: Grand Theft Auto V\Mods\update Step 2. We now create a sub folder called x64 inside the Update folder. It will look, depending on your own installation, something like this: Grand Theft Auto V\Mods\update\x64\ Step 3. We create a sub folder called dlcpacks inside the x64 folder. It will look, depending on your own installation, something like this: Grand Theft Auto V\Mods\update\x64\dlcpacks Step 4. We go back to our folder called Update inside the Mods folder. There we are going to copy update.rpf from the game to our Update sub folder. It will look, depending on your own installation, that we are copying from this folder: Grand Theft Auto V\update\update.rpf To this folder: Grand Theft Auto V\Mods\update.rpf 

Before we go any further, let's do a quick review of what essential mods we've installed and what our GTA 5 root folder will look like at this point in our journey. Some permit modding in the first place, others are to keep our modded game stable, and the Trainers are to facilitate the magic of mods (modifications). Remember you can click on any picture to get the full size view. Our Installation Progress ScriptHookV.dll which will have its own log file called ScriptHookV.log From OpenIV, or the ScriptHookV package, we installed dinput8.dll which is the as iloader. It also has its own log file called asiloader.log. Asi mods are just compiled programs. With OpenIV, we installed from its ASI Manager, OpenIV.asi which will load our addons. With OpenIV, we also installed from its ASI Manager, openCameraV.asi which is optional but useful if you play with the Rockstar Video Editor. For stability, we installed the Heap Limit Adjuster, HeapAdjuster.asi and HeapAdjuster.ini Also for sta

Before we go any further, let's do a quick review of what essential mods we've installed and what our GTA 5 root folder will look like at this point in our journey. Some permit modding in the first place, others are to keep our modded game stable, and the Trainers are to facilitate the magic of mods (modifications). Remember you can click on any picture to get the full size view. Our Installation Progress ScriptHookV.dll which will have its own log file called ScriptHookV.log From OpenIV, or the ScriptHookV package, we installed dinput8.dll which is the as iloader. It also has its own log file called asiloader.log. Asi mods are just compiled programs. With OpenIV, we installed from its ASI Manager, OpenIV.asi which will load our addons. With OpenIV, we also installed from its ASI Manager, openCameraV.asi which is optional but useful if you play with the Rockstar Video Editor. For stability, we installed the Heap Limit Adjuster, HeapAdjuster.asi and HeapAdjuster.ini Also for sta

To ensure your GTA 5 game runs well, without crashing, without loading infinitely, you need to have what we call the GTA 5 Stability Trinity . This unholy alliance is comprised of 3 mods. The first two are the Heap and Packfile limit adjusters which we've already and installed. The third mod, to be discussed here, is gameconfig.xml and it is absolutely critical for a modded GTA 5. There are several important difference between the gameconfig and all the other mods we've covered so far. First, unlike all the other mods discussed, the gameconfig can't be installed with Windows Explorer. It can only be installed with OpenIV (or another program called CodeWalker RPF Explorer ) because it is located in the package called update.rpf which is encrypted. Secondly, gameconfig.xml is actually a modified version of an existing game file.  Finally, it is a text file whereas the asi and dll files we installed previously are all binary files. Being plain text, this file can be easil

To ensure your GTA 5 game runs well, without crashing, without loading infinitely, you need to have what we call the GTA 5 Stability Trinity . This unholy alliance is comprised of 3 mods. The first two are the Heap and Packfile limit adjusters which we've already and installed. The third mod, to be discussed here, is gameconfig.xml and it is absolutely critical for a modded GTA 5. There are several important difference between the gameconfig and all the other mods we've covered so far. First, unlike all the other mods discussed, the gameconfig can't be installed with Windows Explorer. It can only be installed with OpenIV (or another program called CodeWalker RPF Explorer ) because it is located in the package called update.rpf which is encrypted. Secondly, gameconfig.xml is actually a modified version of an existing game file.  Finally, it is a text file whereas the asi and dll files we installed previously are all binary files. Being plain text, this file can be easil

  The dlclist.xml also has a few differences with the other mod files we've covered so far. First, unlike all the other mods discussed except the gameconfig.xml, the dlclist.xml can't be installed with Windows Explorer. It can only be installed with OpenIV (or CodeWalker RPF Explorer ) because it is located in the package called update.rpf which is encrypted. Secondly, like the gameconfig.xml, dlclist.xml is also just a modified version of an existing game file.  Similarly, it is again a plain text file and it will certainly be the file you edit the most . This is the first file we discuss that isn't downloaded because it's already part of your game and unlike gameconfig.xml which is also exists as a game file, you'll be responsible for all the edits to dlclist.xml. These edits will be adding entries for mod addons such as vehicles and maps, informing the game to load these dlc addons. You don't need to do anything at this point because the dlclist.xml cre

  The dlclist.xml also has a few differences with the other mod files we've covered so far. First, unlike all the other mods discussed except the gameconfig.xml, the dlclist.xml can't be installed with Windows Explorer. It can only be installed with OpenIV (or CodeWalker RPF Explorer ) because it is located in the package called update.rpf which is encrypted. Secondly, like the gameconfig.xml, dlclist.xml is also just a modified version of an existing game file.  Similarly, it is again a plain text file and it will certainly be the file you edit the most . This is the first file we discuss that isn't downloaded because it's already part of your game and unlike gameconfig.xml which is also exists as a game file, you'll be responsible for all the edits to dlclist.xml. These edits will be adding entries for mod addons such as vehicles and maps, informing the game to load these dlc addons. You don't need to do anything at this point because the dlclist.xml cre