openrw: OpenRW "Open ReWrite" is an un-official open source recreation of the class

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OpenRW is an unofficial open source recreation of the classic RenderWare era GTA engine, aimed at GTA III. It runs with the original game data, so you still need to own the game. For fans of the classics this is one of the most interesting preservation projects around.

What is openrw?
OpenRW "Open ReWrite" is an un-official open source recreation of the classic Grand Theft Auto III game executable

OpenRW is a cross-platform, open source re-implementation of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto III, a classic 3D action game first published in 2001. OpenRW has been ported to Linux, macOS, Windows, and several variants of BSD. A legitimate copy of the original PC game is required to run OpenRW. Without This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License FFmpeg is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 2.1 or later Bullet Physics is licensed under the zlib license http://bulletphysics.org/mediawiki-1.5.8...hp/LICENSE SDL 2.0 is licensed under the zlib license

The facts, straight from GitHub

• Repository: rwengine/openrw
  
• 2,205 stars and 197 forks, with 117 open issues
  
• Written mainly in C++
  
• Licensed under GPL-3.0
  
• Started in 2015, last updated 2025-06-18
  

Getting started
Grab it with: git clone https://github.com/rwengine/openrw.git
You will need a C++ toolchain (Visual Studio on Windows or gcc/clang elsewhere) plus CMake if the project uses it. Check the README for exact build steps.

Frequently asked questions

Is openrw free to use?
It is released under the GPL-3.0 license, so it is free to use. Read the license text for the exact terms before you ship anything based on it.

Is the project still maintained?
Development has slowed down: the last push was on 2025-06-18. The code is still valuable as reference, and forks may carry the work forward.

What do I need to know before diving in?
The project is written mainly in C++, so some familiarity there helps a lot. Start with the README, then browse the open issues to see what the rough edges are. That is usually the fastest way to understand the real state of any repository.

Where do I get help if I am stuck?
Open an issue on the GitHub issue tracker, check existing discussions, and of course post right here in this topic. Someone in the GTA community has probably hit the same wall before you.

Over to you
Have you tried openrw? Are you running it, forking it, or did you rage quit halfway through the setup? Reply below with your experience, your questions or your own favorite alternative. If there is enough interest we can put together a community guide for it.