ThirteenAG Releases Ultimate ASI Loader v9.7.1 for GTA Modding

If your ASI mods went silent after a Rockstar update or a fresh Script Hook V install, the fix is usually one file. ThirteenAG, the open-source modder known to the community as Sergey P., published Ultimate ASI Loader v9.7.1 on April 3, arriving roughly 11 weeks after v9.7.0 dropped on January 16 and continuing the project's steady bi-monthly maintenance cadence through the 9.x series.

The core problem the loader addresses is a naming-conflict ecosystem that has grown messier as GTA V's toolchain has split across Legacy and Enhanced builds. Script Hook V ships its own dinput8.dll ASI loader and explicitly instructs users to delete any conflicting loader before installing. OpenRPF, the OpenIV.asi replacement for GTA V Enhanced, loads through dsound.dll. With two major tools occupying two of the most common loader slots, players adding a third mod to the stack frequently end up with ASI plugins that simply never fire.

Ultimate ASI Loader sidesteps that conflict by supporting 17 proxy DLL names across x86 and x64 architectures, including d3d9.dll, d3d11.dll, d3d12.dll, dinput8.dll, dsound.dll, version.dll, winhttp.dll, winmm.dll, wininet.dll, and several others. For GTA V specifically, version.dll is the recommended deployment name. It sits outside the slots both Script Hook V and OpenRPF claim, making it the cleanest drop-in option for most single-player mod stacks covering both Legacy and Enhanced.

To verify the installation is working: confirm the loader DLL is present in the game's root directory, then check that your .asi files are in the root, scripts, plugins, or update subfolder. If the game won't launch after placing the DLL, a conflicting copy is likely active in the same directory. Check whether Script Hook V's dinput8.dll is already serving as an ASI loader and rename the Ultimate ASI Loader copy to a different supported name such as version.dll. If Script Hook V loads but ASI plugins produce no effect, the .asi files are in the wrong location or the loader DLL name is colliding with an existing hook. If antivirus software quarantines the file entirely, that is a standard false positive for DLL hooking tools; add a whitelist exception and restore from the quarantine folder. For binkw32.dll and vorbisFile.dll installations specifically, no renaming step is required and the original DLL can simply be replaced. For every other supported name where a game DLL already exists, rename the original to the format dllnameHooked.dll, for example d3d12Hooked.dll, before dropping in the loader, and keep a backup before making any swap.

The project sits at approximately 1,800 GitHub stars and 138 forks across its 35-plus tagged releases, published under the MIT license with CI/CD automated through GitHub Actions. ThirteenAG maintains a broader portfolio that includes Widescreen Fixes Pack, Fusion Fix for GTA IV: The Complete Edition, Project2DFX covering GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, GTA IV: The Complete Edition, Liberty City Stories, and Vice City Stories, and the III.VC.SA.LimitAdjuster. The loader is distributed through the GitHub releases page and on Nexus Mods, where the listing explicitly confirms support for both GTA Legacy and Enhanced, and notes it is not a replacement for Script Hook V.

With v9.7.1 now the current build, mod authors packaging .asi-based trainers or enhancements for either GTA V variant should update their compatibility notes to reference this version number directly, cutting off the "missing .asi" troubleshooting loop before it starts.