Beta Releases in GTA Vice City

Before the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, there were features that were removed from the final product. These changes range from deleted vehicles and player skins to the removal of entire characters and mission strands.

Characters

 * A character called Mr. Moffat was removed from the game.
 * Tommy Vercetti originally wore a dark blue Hawaiian shirt.
 * Ricardo Diaz's original name was Fernando Diaz.
 * Cam Jones' original name was Mike Jones.
 * BJ Smith's original name was BJ Jones.
 * Pastor Richards, like Donald Love, originally had a bigger role in the game.
 * Lance Vance originally wore a purple suit and a black undershirt according to artwork.
 * Kent Paul originally had a totally different model according to leftover files.
 * Ken Rosenberg originally wore a light pink suit and a yellow undershirt according to leftover files.
 * Sonny Forelli originally wore a light pink suit and a black undershirt as seen from the artwork.

Missions

 * A mission involving the removed character Mr. Moffat was cut.
 * A mission involving an unknown removed character, questioning BJ Smith's absence over the phone, was cut.
 * An additional mission for the film studio asset, given by Steve Scott over the phone, was cut.
 * A mission for Apartment 3c, given by Sonny Forelli over the phone, was cut.
 * An additional mission for Avery Carrington, given by him over the phone, was cut.
 * Missions for Pastor Richards were cut.
 * Many missions for Mercedes Cortez were cut, for unknown reasons.
 * Side missions involving the Trashmaster, based on the Firefighter side missions, were cut.

City

 * Escobar International Airport originally was larger; replacing Fort Baxter Air Base with a extended runway, which also included an air traffic control tower, and an unidentified building alongside.
 * In the intro of the game, a plane can be seen landing on the curved runway, realistically, it is not possible to land like that, possibly hinting that a straight runway was present in the beta.
 * There was no stadium in the beta.
 * The northeast part of the beach was a lot smaller and the beach on the Mainland didn't exist.
 * There originally was a swampy area in the city.
 * Phil's Place originally had a small bridge leading to the site.
 * Viceport originally had a waterway and a different road layout.
 * The Ocean View Hotel was originally called the "Clevelander", a reference to a real-life hotel in Florida.
 * Many locations in Vice City were originally accessible after 100% Completion, such as the V-Rock Recording Studio, the Hotel Harrison, the The Greasy Chopper, and the Printworks.
 * Howlin' Petes Biker Emporium was originally accessible, and has a hidden interior that can be seen using the "look through walls" trick with the Rocket Launcher.
 * There were originally more shacks in the sea, but some of them were removed from the game.
 * Some roads didn't exist in the beta version.
 * Starfish Island was originally called "Star Island", a reference to a real-life island in Florida. Tommy still refers to it as "Star Island" in the mission Death Row.
 * The facade of the Vercetti Estate was different, with square glass windows, yellow dye and without marble arches.
 * The lighthouse was absent, and there were no rocks or docks around that point.
 * A road in Little Haiti, and another in Little Havana were absent in the beta map.
 * A road next to the Avery Construction Site was removed.
 * Ocean Drive had less roads leading out of it.
 * The Links Bridge had a bend near the Mainland end and only connected Bayshore Avenue, and not the surrounding roads.
 * Apartment 3c used to be visible from the outside. It was also originally intended to be a safehouse.
 * The Ocean View Medical Foundation buildings had a bluer exterior.
 * There were bus shelters around the city. The bus shelter model, bustopm.dff, is still inside Vice City's files.
 * The long road from the police station going to the Ammunation is absent in the beta map. Instead of it, there was a removed road in Downtown.
 * The deli across from the Little Havana Police Station had its large Exploder billboard replaced with a different, smaller one.
 * The North Point Mall wasn't in the beta version, there were only some buildings there.

Weapons

 * The MAC-10 was supposed to have a silencer.
 * A shorter version of the MP5, the MP5-K, was cut.
 * The Land Mine was cut.
 * The AK-47 was cut.
 * The Grenade Launcher was cut.
 * The Tazer was cut.
 * The Steyr Aug was cut.
 * When standing still Tommy was able to hold the Chainsaw with one hand.
 * The Ruger had a wooden skin (kept only on the original PS2 version)
 * The Pump Action Shotgun from Grand Theft Auto III was cut.
 * The Micro Uzi from Grand Theft Auto III was cut.
 * The Sniper Rifle was going to have an ammo clip.
 * The Combat Shotgun had a longer barrel.
 * The Silenced 9mm was cut.
 * The Silver Colt 1911 was cut.

Peds

 * The SWAT team would have a bright blue uniform instead of dark blue.
 * The Haitian gangster who wears the blue shirt used to have a picture on the shirt instead of the word "Relax".
 * There were several unused ped models. One man wearing a blue suit, one woman carrying a basket, another woman is wearing a orange shirt and another woman is carrying two shopping bags.
 * There was once a blond-haired prostitute with pigtails and a red skirt. She was supposed to appear around the streets of the Downtown area, and dance in the Malibu Club as shown in several trailers.Medium_2623-vc9.jpg
 * The second member of the Sharks looked different; he was Caucasian and had the same face as the first member.

Others

 * The police car was white and blue in the beta.
 * There were many phone conversations between Tommy and Mercedes Cortez these line can clearly be heard on audio files.
 * There were many lines cut from characters such as Kent Paul, Umberto Robina, Ken Rosenberg, Mercedes Cortez, Mr. Moffat and BJ Smith in Sunshine Autos. []
 * Tires were able to be slashed and recorded into the stats.
 * There was going to be an additional outfit called "MC Tommy" but was removed. It was originally a brown biker jacket that could be found inside Howlin' Petes Biker Emporium. However, neither model nor texture of that outfit exists.
 * According to TXD files, a radio station named VCN (Vice City News) was cut late in the development.
 * According to three TXD files, a first person view was proposed.
 * The sky in the beta version was a darker blue.
 * The beta HUD was very different.
 * The radar originally had a more decent, gradient look.
 * The water was more light and reflective in the beta.
 * The safehouse icon from Grand Theft Auto III was meant to appear. It can still be found in the game files.
 * The health and armor had a different color.
 * Online multiplayer was cut.
 * A "rumoured" GameCube version was "going" to be made, but was "scrapped", due to the game's violence. Reproduction carts do exist however.
 * According to files found on the PS2 disc, there is an interior for the Inside Track in Vice Point indicating that betting was initially for Vice City but got delayed until GTA San Andreas.
 * According to unused audio, loan sharks were meant to call Tommy, as you were originally able to borrow money.
 * According to unused dialogue, a Kenny Loggins song was supposed to be featured in the game.