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, remnants of this can be seen for his in-game models' filenames.
 * BJ Smith's original name was BJ Jones.
 * Pastor Richards and 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, with dark glasses as seen from the artwork.

Vehicles

 * The police car was originally intended to be white with red and blue stripes, resembling squad cars from the Miami Beach Police Department. This was replaced by police cars with green and white livery, which in turn was based on the Miami-Dade Police Department.
 * The Coastguard Maverick was a helicopter that would have probably been used by the coastguards but was cut during development. The model and the in-game name remains in the game files, and it was probably replaced by the VCN Maverick, as it is called "COASTMAV" in the game files.
 * The Dodo was meant to appear in the game but was cut during development. This is evidenced in the handling file, possibly replaced either by the Skimmer or a leftover from GTA III.
 * The Kuruma from Grand Theft Auto III was going to be included but cut during development. This is evidenced in the handling files, probably a leftover from that game.
 * The TOYZ van was also to be included but ended up being replaced by the Top Fun van.
 * A civilian version of the Patriot was meant to appear, but it was reworked into the standard army Patriot.
 * The Virgo (along with originally being named the Cougar) was based on a Mercury Cougar. The only difference between the prerelease "Cougar" vehicle and the final in-game Virgo is that the former retains the full set of taillights from the Lincoln Continental Mark V.

Beta names

 * The PCJ 600 was originally simply called the Bike.
 * The Blista Compact was originally called the Civic.
 * The Virgo was originally called the Cougar.
 * The Cuban Jetmax was originally simply called the Cupboat.
 * The Mesa Grande was originally called the Desperado.
 * The Sanchez was originally simply called the Dirtbike.
 * The FBI Washington was originally simply called the FBI Car.
 * The Caddy was originally called the Golfcart.
 * The Faggio was originally simply called the Moped.
 * The Skimmer was originally called the Seaplane.

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.
 * An additional mission for Avery Carrington, given by him over the phone, was cut.
 * According to a pre-release screenshot, an M4 was used in Supply & Demand rather than the Ruger.

City and Locations

 * Escobar International Airport originally was larger; replacing Fort Baxter Air Base with an 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.
 * Hyman Memorial Stadium did not exist in the beta.
 * The northeast part of the beach was a lot smaller and the beach on the Mainland didn't exist.
 * A location known as the Gator Keys that was likely based on the Everglades and the Florida Keys were cut.
 * 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.
 * 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" at the end of the mission Death Row.
 * In addition, according to unused audio in GTA Vice City's files, Starfish Island was also originally intended to only be accessible by guests and residents.
 * 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.
 * 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 Ammu-Nation 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.
 * Front Page Café didn't exist.
 * V-Rock Recording Studio didn't have the V-Rock logo on the roof.
 * Ocean View Medical Foundation had identical textures as the one in front of the Washington beach Police station parking.
 * The warehouse at Viceport where Pastor Richards's statue is supposed to be is actually used in the mission Sir, Yes Sir!.
 * Ken Rosenberg's office was originally located in the small mall near Collar and Cuffs in Ocean Beach.
 * There are various unused props in the game files, that would have been present in the beach area of Vice City. Some of these props include sand castles, a volleyball net, a small hut that could have originally been a second variation of the lifeguard towers found across the beach.

Weapons

 * The MAC-10 was supposed to have a silencer.
 * The Land Mine was cut.
 * The Grenade Launcher was cut.
 * The Tazer was cut.
 * The Nailgun was cut.
 * The Desert Eagle was able to be used in free roaming but it was cut.
 * The Steyr Aug was cut.
 * The Ruger had a wooden skin (kept only on the original PS2 version).
 * 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.
 * The Micro Uzi from Grand Theft Auto III was meant to reappear only to be replaced by the MAC-10 as seen in its HUD icon.
 * The Shotgun from Grand Theft Auto III was meant to reappear.
 * The Grenade was originally reused its textures from Grand Theft Auto III.
 * The M16 from Grand Theft Auto III was meant to reappear.
 * An unused HUD icon of a Razor exists.

Pedestrians

 * 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 wearing an orange shirt and another woman 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.
 * The second member of the Sharks looked different. He was Caucasian and had the same face as the first member.

Radio Stations and Soundtrack

 * According to TXD files, a radio station named VCN was cut late in the development.
 * According to unused dialogue, a Kenny Loggins song was supposed to be featured in the game.
 * Radio icons for the nine in-game radio stations and VCN were planned but were never used.
 * According to early previews, Hall and Oates' Do It for Love was supposed to be featured in the game. It was possibly scrapped due to being too anachronistic for the game's setting, as the song was released in 2002, the same year when the game was released.

Others

 * There were many phone conversations between Tommy and Mercedes Cortez. These line can clearly be heard in 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 three TXD files, a first person view was proposed. First person view would be finally implemented later in the next-gen version of Grand Theft Auto V.
 * 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 health and armor had a different color.
 * A rumoured GameCube version was going to be made, but was scrapped. Reproduction carts do exist, however.
 * According to textures found on the PS2 disc, there was going to be an interior for the Inside Track in Vice Point indicating that betting was initially for Vice City but got delayed until its implementation in GTA San Andreas.
 * According to unused audio, loan sharks were meant to call Tommy, as you were originally able to borrow money.
 * According to a former developer, at one point early in development, Roxy Music's More Than This was supposed to be the original theme song.
 * There is an unused texture for Lance Vance called 'IGBudy3.txd'. This texture is his standard white suit with blood splatters, which would have been most likely used in the mission Death Row or Keep Your Friends Close.... His standard texture is used instead.
 * There was originally a cheat code in the game that would grant cars helicopter physics.
 * The original TOPFUN logo was more similar to the Top Gun (1986) logo.

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