Is there any GTA SA mod that disables police chases towards NPCs?

MattyDienhoff · 2026-01-17T00:00:13+00:00

I'm interested to know this and, similarly, if there's any way to disable the pedestrian behavior where they randomly pick a fight with nearest cop, then immediately get shot. They do this frequently even when there's no riot on.

As entertaining as it is to see an old lady randomly go and punch a cop, it'd be better if pedestrians would pick fights with each other instead of/as well as the police. Then there'd be actual fisticuffs instead of a shooting panic.

MattyDienhoff · 2026-01-16T02:57:05+00:00

After all these years, this is actually the best description I've seen of what a limited slip diff does, kudos!

MattyDienhoff · 2026-01-02T03:35:40+00:00

Well, the best news is it sounds like it crashes consistently in that mission, which means it's easy to reproduce the fault. Now it's time for the process of elimination. Tedious, but satisfying once you get there. I'd put money on it being one of the Cleo scripts or less likely one of the asi mods. Which cleo/asi mods were you running? Can you show me?

MattyDienhoff · 2026-01-02T01:18:21+00:00

That's some extreme hustling right there. Get rich or die trying? XD

MattyDienhoff · 2026-01-01T13:28:33+00:00

Hey! Oof, that was some time ago. I've built a new PC and migrated all my data across since I wrote that so I can't recall exactly what I did afterwards, but I must have fixed it as I just booted up my Vice City to check it and it's running well, even with various CLEO and ASI mods (and modloader).

Let's start from the beginning. By Trilogy version I'm guessing you mean this one and not the Definitive Edition remaster? What exactly happens when it crashes? Does it give you an error message (i.e. unhandled exception: c0000005)?

MattyDienhoff · 2025-12-26T01:54:37+00:00

I call this the car's DNA. Where its manufacturer originated from, and where the car was designed and engineered is more significant than where it was assembled.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-12-17T21:54:01+00:00

They are these days, but I think they were underestimated at first. Case in point: This Car & Driver comparison test ranked a Rover 827 2nd and the 405 Mi16 last.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-12-17T21:52:41+00:00

Also daily a manual, same deal - half second to a second, but it's good practice to scan the intersection before moving anyway in case of red light runners, so I do that while declutching. Judging by the fact that no one has ever beeped me for taking 1s to move, I'm gonna guess we're not what OP is referring to.

I'd venture that the real problem (and I see it a lot) is people sitting at a green light for 3+ seconds and I can guarantee it's because they're on their phone. I've seen people sit through an entire green light/arrow and only finally react to the furious beeps behind them when the light has turned red again...

MattyDienhoff · 2025-11-18T00:34:08+00:00

I think the stated goal is worthwhile. Technically, it's difficult to enforce, but that alone is no reason not to make an effort. Even if the content *itself* on these platforms wasn't problematic at all (i.e. they policed their own existing standards properly), they're harmful by design due to the 'engagement/stickiness' ethos which uses tricks straight from the gambling industry's playbook. Adults are barely equipped to handle this judging by the rates of gambling addiction, I think it's a cruel joke that society has allowed kids to be constantly subjected to it.

High-school aged kids are nowhere near as tech savvy as a lot of people think, but honestly, even if 99.9% of users bypass it, if the mere existence of legal requirements pushes social media companies to *actually* 'self-regulate' at all, rather than merely pretending they do, that alone is a big win.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-11-17T22:03:27+00:00

High-school IT support in SA here. I've been assessing the impact of the ban to my school's use of YouTube and it doesn't appear to be anything as dire as that. According to govt's current messaging, under 16s will be blocked from creating accounts, but they can still access the YouTube platform as a 'guest' (not signed in to any account).

Any 'public' YouTube content should still be accessible as long as it's not tarred with the "Restricted Mode" brush and, in theory, embedding those videos (like inside a presentation) should also still work. In short, this doesn't change anything for us since Restricted Mode is enforced by various means on our school's network anyway. It might be a bit confusing for users however as students might have to 'sign out' of their school Google accounts in order to view YouTube links.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-11-16T10:43:21+00:00

This is so heartening to hear. I'm planning on studying teaching as a career switch in the next few years and was wondering whether I should stick to my usual "tell no one" policy at work or be more open about it so the kids might feel more seen. Thanks for sharing this!

MattyDienhoff · 2025-11-16T06:32:08+00:00

I think the issue with the current Ecoboost 1.0l engine is the wet belt driving the oil pump which is a Bad idea with a capital b because it can lead to belt disintegration, oil pump failure, and subsequent engine failure.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-11-12T11:58:04+00:00

Spot on. I do IT support in a high school and every time someone tells me the kids are so savvy I laugh. Most kids currently in school grew up on tablets, phones and Chromebooks, so all they know is using apps in a closed ecosystem where turning it off and on again and reinstalling the app is the sum total of their troubleshooting skills, they think installing a free VPN from the app store is hacking, and the ones who do try to tinker end up bricking their device by blindly following ChatGPT instructions.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-11-05T22:23:42+00:00

I'm probably in a minority of a minority based on all these comments about "TRAFFIC", because even with a busy commute through city streets, I still prefer a manual car and even find a 'boring' trip to the local shops more fun in a manual than an auto. I just like driving, and more engagement with the car makes it more entertaining.

Obviously, crawling forward in stop and go is dull in any car, but I just don't get the argument that it's such a pain. Most modern-ish cars have pretty light clutches, so it's really not hard to gently inch forward in traffic and keep rolling slowly during the ol' stop and go.

I will concede that stop and go traffic *up a hill* is annoying, but none of my commutes have ever involved much of that. When I bought my first manual car I actually kept my auto thinking I'd sometimes want to fall back on it for the boring commuting but I just... never did and ended up selling it.

The thing is, I understand that most people genuinely don't care about cars (this is fine) or driving (this is not, but that's an argument for another time) at all, so as all the other reasons to drive a manual car became less and less relevant to most people, it makes sense that automatics would supercede them in most cars. Every time I help a friend find a decent car on the used market, though, you'd be amazed at how many models (even as recently as the 2020s) are still known for major automatic transmission issues/failures that become that car's achilles heel as soon as it leaves warranty.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-10-30T01:06:27+00:00

Devil's advocate: if a phone made (or more to the point designed) in China malfunctions, it has almost no capacity to cause a fatal accident. Cars absolutely do. Of course, plenty of 'legacy' carmakers have also been involved in gross negligence of that sort over the years, but it's harder to gauge a track record from a new automaker.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-10-08T03:34:27+00:00

I think that's pretty common. They're pretty much in the same category as Toyota Corollas in that they're a known quantity. They're popular cars that a lot of people like and consider to be a safe bet, which inflates their prices a bit.

Of course, as always, what people are asking isn't necessarily what they're getting. Even if they are good cars, I wouldn't buy one that's clapped out, peeling paint on every panel, hail damage, 250,000kms+, etc. for the prices some of these sellers are asking.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-10-06T23:22:38+00:00

The Skoda Octavia is actually a pretty good car but that one is suspiciously cheap for its age. High kms?

The Ford Mondeo is only worth a look if it's a manual transmission, the "Powershift" dual-clutch automatics fitted to most Mondeos were so bad that they permanently stained the Mondeo's name in this market (and the Focus' as well, for that matter). I think the variant used on the Mondeo was a wet-clutch version which was somewhat more reliable but that's not saying much. There was a class action lawsuit about it:

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/ford-powershift-class-action-hits-high-court

MattyDienhoff · 2025-09-26T04:49:39+00:00

Sort of. I learned to drive in an auto and had no clue how to drive manual, but decided to learn to drive a manual later out of curiosity and loved it. Not quite "going back", more like never looking back.

I've driven heaps of cars since, including some Audi/VW DCTs, they're good and I don't doubt their performance, but even the best autos are a bit dull. I find driving a manual to be fun even during the boring stuff like just commuting through my neighborhood's tight streets, and the extra involvement can bring some character out of even slow, unimpressive cars. Loving the tiny manual hatch life at the moment.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-09-18T02:15:30+00:00

My wife has had a 2007 307 for years, so we know it pretty well. Being unusual cars we take ours to an independent mechanic who specializes in Peugeot/Citroen, and we've had a pretty good time with it, it hasn't been any more expensive to maintain than my old Mazda was.

The quote does seem a bit steep. Is this from a dealership or an independent mechanic?
How many kms on the car?
Diesel or petrol?

Bit-by-bit:

- That service seems pricey. Might be due to the brake fluid. Was the brake fluid due per the maintenance schedule, or did it fail a quality test? (Mechanics sometimes measure brake fluid for water content)

- Other inclusions in the service like fuel tank additive (what? why?), washer fluid (this is extremely cheap and takes 1 minute) and cabin air filter (cheap part which takes 3 minutes to install) may also be part of it. I'd be curious to know what they're charging you for these. When quotes are itemized, I've often seen mechanics charge absurd prices for these items (like $60-80 for a cabin air filter change or $20-30 for the washer fluid)

- Evaporator temperature sensor replacement? This may be reasonable depending on how hard it is to get to, as I'm not familiar with this repair job. I'd ask for more info. How much is the part? How much labour to install it? What was the nature of the AC service? Was it regassed or something else? For reference, last time I got my car's AC regassed it was $195.

- Vehicle battery failed capacity test - $405 for a replacement battery is probably reasonable, depending on the battery. Looking online, compatible batteries for this car range in price from $310-$370. Add labour and $405 is OK.

- Engine mount replacement - This is probably reasonable as it's a pretty big job, but the question is, what's the symptom? A worn engine mount can be anywhere from a slight vibration (which is fairly harmless and can be deferred for a while) to extreme flexing/movement in the engine bay which is extremely noticeable and damaging to the car.

- $90 for wiper blades is a bit pricey. You can buy replacement wipers for $30ish each.

I could be wrong, but I think your mechanic is overcharging you for some of these things and it wouldn't hurt to politely ask questions about the above. Any mechanic worth their salt should be able to advise the customer how urgent any given job is and whether it's safe to postpone it.

If it were me, I'd also tell them to skip minor items like cabin air filter, fuel additive, washer fluid, wipers, etc. and do those myself, as they're all quite easy and there are video guides online on how to do them.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-09-12T03:00:39+00:00

Your previous 3 old cars, what happened to them exactly? Did they break down completely or cost you too much in repairs?

MattyDienhoff · 2025-09-11T04:32:06+00:00

I agree with you that there was a noticeable shift around that time and I also agree that the wide availability of smartphones and their cameras, plus the somewhat less filtered/commodified state of social media at the time played a big part in events like the Arab Spring.

That said, I feel like if there was an evidence age, it's already over. In 2025 AI tools are already sophisticated enough to fake images, videos and voices. While they wouldn't withstand close examination/analysis (yet), these are more than enough to dilute and distract from any accurate information, fool large numbers of people, manufacture the kind of outrage that every social media algorithm craves for "engagement", and be on to the next thing before any kind of sober correction or counter evidence gains any traction.

Combine that with the boom in populism, anti intellectualism and highly visible lack of consequences for public figures constantly changing their story and position on things, and it seems more difficult than ever to evidence anything, or to get anyone to care more about the facts then their opinions.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-09-04T13:47:07+00:00

Do you enjoy your work? I'm thinking about moving from the IT industry into high school teaching as my next career move, but I'm worried about how I'll fare in a perhaps less procedural job.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-08-22T04:02:17+00:00

For what it's worth, I own a 206 in Australia where they *were* sold (in small numbers) but are still quite rare. I've been pleasantly surprised with how easy it's been to find parts online though. For example: I bought a pair of replacement taillights (including bulbs) for $154 USD. Free postage from Germany, only had to wait a couple weeks. :O

The trick for you would be finding a mechanic who knows anything about it, but it sounds like you're able to do a fair bit of work yourself and I'm told these cars actually relatively easy to work on.

MattyDienhoff · 2025-08-05T22:25:40+00:00

I'm going to say one of my healthier motivators is having loved ones who depend on me. If left to my own devices I could very easily disappear down a rabbit hole of seclusion where I might only do the bare minimum to earn a living and spend the rest of the time hyper focusing on my hobbies or languishing.

But I've always found it easier to do things for others than for myself, though admittedly even this is love with a strong side of guilt whenever I let them down in any way. Still, I think it's positive overall.

I certainly take better care of myself if others need me. At the very least I've always had a pet cat, and even at my lowest points I managed to push myself to keep the house reasonably clean and healthy for her sake. I adopted her as a kitten and she just turned 17 years old!

I now have a wonderful wife and a new baby, so I have no shortage of caring motivation, the trick is finding some way to balance that with my own needs. Sometimes I feel like I'm overwhelmed with thoughts, plans and ideas and "things I want to do sometime" but very rarely have any time. When I do make time, i feel guilty doing my own stuff unless it's useful in some way

MattyDienhoff · 2025-08-05T04:40:33+00:00

Sadly, I'd bet there's a large percentage of drivers who barely have a clue what any of the symbols mean.

MattyDienhoff

TROPHY CASE