A Grand Theft Auto modder has combined the entire PlayStation 2 era trilogy into one unusual PC project, allowing GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas to run at the same time inside a single game process.
Created by modder Dryxio, the project places the reverse-engineered re3 and reVC engines inside Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Players can switch between Claude, Tommy Vercetti and Carl Johnson while all three games continue operating independently.
Each title keeps its own missions, settings, save data and game logic. The San Andreas world also continues running in the background while control moves to another protagonist.
The result is more complex than a menu that launches three separate games. It is effectively three active Grand Theft Auto games sharing one host application.
| Feature | Project details |
|---|---|
| Host game | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas |
| Additional engines | re3 and reVC |
| Included games | GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas |
| Playable protagonists | Claude, Tommy Vercetti and CJ |
| Mission progress | Stored separately for each game |
| Save files | Maintained independently |
| World simulation | Continues while switching characters |
| Platform shown | PC |
Each game runs as a separate engine instance
The project uses re3 and reVC, open-source reverse-engineered implementations of the engines behind GTA III and Vice City.
Instead of replacing San Andreas content with maps or characters from the older games, Dryxio reportedly runs the two additional engines inside the active San Andreas process.
This allows every title to maintain its own rules and internal state.
GTA III can continue tracking Claude’s missions, Vice City can preserve Tommy’s progress, and San Andreas can retain CJ’s save information. Settings and other game-specific data are also kept separate.
Players can then move control between the three protagonists without closing the host game or returning to a conventional launcher.
The project demonstrates a deeper level of integration than many trilogy mods, which often port maps, vehicles or missions into one engine.
Switching characters does not stop the other worlds
One of the most interesting parts of the mod is that the host world continues to simulate while another game is active.
This means switching away from CJ does not simply pause or close San Andreas. The game remains loaded and continues operating in the background.
The same independent structure applies to the other engine instances.
Maintaining several game worlds at once creates technical challenges involving memory use, input handling, audio, rendering and save management. Each engine expects to control its own application, so combining them requires careful coordination.
The current demonstration suggests that Dryxio has found a way to keep these systems separate enough to avoid one game overwriting another’s state.
The long-term stability of the project has not been detailed, and no public release information was included in the supplied report.
The mod is different from the Definitive Edition trilogy
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition placed GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas in one retail package, but the games still operate as separate applications.
Dryxio’s project takes a different approach by running all three simultaneously.
The official collection also rebuilt the games using Unreal Engine while preserving much of their original underlying logic. Its launch was criticised for visual problems, performance issues and bugs, although later updates improved parts of the experience.
The modder’s work is not trying to create another remaster. Its main achievement is technical integration.
It shows how three related but separate games can remain active inside one process while preserving their individual progress.
The concept resembles playable games inside larger worlds
The project is similar in spirit to games that include older titles inside their own environments.
The Shenmue and Like a Dragon series allow players to interact with arcade machines and play classic Sega releases without leaving the main game.
Dryxio’s version is more technically unusual because the included titles are complete open-world games rather than small arcade releases.
A player could theoretically move through San Andreas, switch to Vice City, complete an activity, and then return to CJ without restarting either title.
The idea turns the trilogy into one connected software environment even though the stories and cities remain separate.
Adding the original GTA games would make the project even larger
Some viewers have suggested expanding the project to include the first two Grand Theft Auto games.
Those titles use a very different top-down design and older technology, so integrating them would likely require another distinct approach.
Adding them would create a package containing the five main GTA releases that appeared before Grand Theft Auto IV.
There is no confirmation that Dryxio plans to attempt this.
The current trilogy integration is already technically ambitious because GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas have different systems, assets and engine revisions despite sharing a common lineage.
Rockstar is preparing GTA 6 for consoles
The mod arrives while Rockstar Games continues development of Grand Theft Auto VI.
The upcoming game is scheduled to launch for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S in November 2026. A PC version has not yet received a confirmed release date.
GTA 6 is expected to deliver a much larger and more detailed world than the PlayStation 2 entries, but the modding project highlights the continued interest in Rockstar’s older games.
The PS2 trilogy remains popular because each title has a distinct location, atmosphere and cast.
GTA III introduced the series’ modern three-dimensional structure, Vice City developed a stronger narrative identity, and San Andreas expanded the design with several cities, character statistics and broader customisation.
Running them together gives players a new way to experience that period of the franchise without changing the original stories.
A public release could face technical and legal limits
The supplied report does not confirm whether the mod will be made publicly available.
Projects based on reverse-engineered engines can face legal complications, particularly when they interact with copyrighted game code and assets.
Players would likely need legitimate copies of each game for a compliant release, as open-source engine projects generally do not include Rockstar’s original assets.
Technical requirements may also be higher than expected because several engine instances remain loaded simultaneously.
Potential issues could include increased memory use, crashes, conflicting controls and save corruption.
Even if it remains a demonstration, the project is a notable example of what individual developers can achieve with older PC games and reverse-engineered technology.
Dryxio has not simply placed three maps in one title. The mod preserves the separate identity of GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas while allowing all three to operate inside the same running game.
Discussion (0)
Be the first to comment.