What you should know about GTA Vice City’s beta version

Fans of GTA Vice City might be interested in learning more about the game's history, including its beta version. Thankfully, several websites have made a concentrated effort to document the game's cut content (such as The Cutting Room Floor). This article will specifically cover some of the more interesting cut content that players could not see in the final version of the game.

It will include content like:

• Cut phone calls
• GTA Trilogy text
• The old map
• And various miscellaneous details

GTA Vice City is a classic title full of memorable moments, so it's interesting to see how much of it has changed.

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Taking a look back at GTA Vice City's beta version

Some official screenshots highlight these beta features (Image via TCRF)

GTA Vice City has plenty of unused models and data in its beta version. For example, the above image was an official screenshot, which showed a bus shelter prop that is nowhere to be seen in the final product. There are also various models that go unused, but they're typically earlier versions of characters that aren't textured as well.

It is worth noting that there is a mod that uses several of these beta models and features known as GTA Vice City: Beta Edition. The mod doesn't implement brand new things; instead, it relies on old sources, such as:

• Brady Game's Official Strategy Guide
• Pre-release screenshots
• Old leftover data files

Of course, this mod can only include content known to the public, anything that Rockstar Games cleaned up nicely and never saw the light of the day can't possibly be in it. It is worth mentioning that the mod was made before the GTA Trilogy, which featured some more leftover data.

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Cut phone calls

The above video contains the dialogue between Tommy Vercetti and Mercedes Cortez, which would have happened in several phone calls:

• 0:00 ~ 0:12 is about her being bored and wanting Tommy to do something with her
• 0:12 ~ 0:32 is about her knowing that Tommy killed Diaz
• 0:33 ~ 0:39 is about her being lonely
• 0:39 ~ 0:50 is about her hating how Tommy ignores her and how she wants him to see her right away
• 0:51 ~ 1:15 is about her hating Jezz Torrent because he started crying about his dog, how his mother never loved him, and that he also wears a wig and a bra in private

These calls indicated that she would have a slightly more prominent role in the beta version of GTA Vice City instead of being a minor character only seen in a few missions.

Mercedes' phone calls are only a small part of cut content. The above video covers all of the unused phone calls (voiced and unvoiced), such as:

• Some debt collector calls Tommy about him inheriting BJ Smith's debuts (presumably about him buying Sunshine Autos)
• Ken Rosenberg explains how Tommy could stop by his assets to collect money
• Steve wants Tommy to get a car from the airport in a cut mission
• Kent Paul tells Tommy about SWAT's deposit box
• Umberto calls Tommy for the first time with different dialogue
• Phil Cassidy lets Tommy know that his wound is healing better

Some of the unvoiced ones include:

• Mercedes confesses that she wanted to be an actress
• Mr. Moffat wants Tommy to bail him out of some predicament

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Interesting GTA Vice City - Definitive Edition text

The original script for the final mission (Image via TCRF)

There are several minor differences (such as somebody driving a van instead of a Pizza Boy). Hence, it's worth looking at the more interesting differences between the beta version and the final product.

For instance, the above image shows the original script for Keep Your Friends Close, which had no mention of Lance Vance betraying Tommy.

That means Lance's betrayal was later put into the game in development.

All Hands on Deck had a different target originally (Image via Rockstar Games)

There are other differences related to the story, such as how Cortez originally was defending his boat against the Shining Path Rebels instead of French secret servicemen.

Shining Path was a communist guerilla terrorist group in Peru back in the 1980s, a completely different target than the French agents that Cortez has an issue with in the final version of GTA Vice City.

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The old beta map

The beta map is on the left side, with the final version being on the right (Image via TCRF)

GTA Vice City players can see the old beta map at Sunshine Autos, which features several differences compared to the final version:

• No Hyman Memorial Stadium
• Far less beach space on the eastern island
• No beach on the western island
• A curved bridge above Starfish Island
• No lighthouse

The old map was less detailed in general. It's also worth noting that there are old radio station icons that would've supposedly been used on the GTA Vice City map but remain unused in the final version.

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