Grand Theft Auto IV Beta Hunt

[thehambone 2,302]

I read in an old article that GTA IV was supposed to include climbable telephone poles and Niko was eventually supposed to get a phone with an MP3 player.

[daliakiller 602]

Are you limiting this to just IV or can we post TLaD and TBoGT beta as well?

I think there is no limitations. Would be nice to see beta Lost and Damned and Ballad of Gay Tony

[ClaudX 5,692]

-In a preview with Official Playstation Magazine UK, Dan Houser said the development team didn't include Staten Island because, "it wouldn't be a fun location to play in".

-In TLaD, the baseball bat was supposed to be wooden.

-In the "Meet Luis Lopez" trailer, he is wearing his brown Perseus suit top with jeans. Was this a clothing option originally?

-Playboy X had a plain, brown hoody.

-In TLaD, for one of Stubb's missions, you were supposed to change in to a security uniform.

Edited September 17, 2014 by ssbawesome

[PhillBellic 24,364]

Sort of related, but they re-used the scrapped "Coach" from GTA IV as the Dashound, if you didn't already know.

 

 

 

 

Now:

 

 

 

 

Note that they share the same rear styling and side indicators. Personally, I'm glad Rockstar didn't abandon it.

 

Even though this quoted post is from the GTA V Beta Hunt, it's good that Rockstar rescued it from the Beta scrap heap. Do any of you think that as a result of the 'New Liberty State' idea being cut, the Coach wouldn't have suited the city environment?

 

Cheers.

 

[Mr. Jago 2,394]

Even though this quoted post is from the GTA V Beta Hunt, it's good that Rockstar rescued it from the Beta scrap heap. Do any of you think that as a result of the 'New Liberty State' idea being cut, the Coach wouldn't have suited the city environment?

 

Cheers.

I don't think so, the liberty state idea was when the game was still in its conceptual stages and was probably never really worked on as a tangible in-game environment. the coach was probably cut for other reasons, but I like your idea that it didn't make sense to have one in an isolated city

[Veroder 581]

 

Sort of related, but they re-used the scrapped "Coach" from GTA IV as the Dashound, if you didn't already know.

 

 

 

 

Now:

 

 

 

 

Note that they share the same rear styling and side indicators. Personally, I'm glad Rockstar didn't abandon it.

 

Even though this quoted post is from the GTA V Beta Hunt, it's good that Rockstar rescued it from the Beta scrap heap. Do any of you think that as a result of the 'New Liberty State' idea being cut, the Coach wouldn't have suited the city environment?

 

Cheers.

 

A long time ago I read somewhere that busses were supposed to drive around the city and that they would stop at bus stops where you could board them, that feature was cut (as far as I can remember) at some point during development though, so that may explain why this particular bus isn't in the final game. This made me wonder though, if this is true, then why did they leave the Bus in the final game and not the Coach? It's just a theory and it may seem a bit far-fetched, but maybe Rockstar replaced the Coach with the Bus that we got in the final game. Why? I'm not sure, but maybe it's because the Coach didn't really fit the city environment like Yolo Swaggins already said. Oh well, I guess we'll never know for sure.

Edited September 17, 2014 by TalkingPear

[t3h PeNgU1N oF d00m 3,887]

A long time ago I read somewhere that busses were supposed to drive around the city and that they would stop at bus stops where you could board them, that feature was cut (as far as I can remember) at some point during development though, so that may explain why this particular bus isn't in the final game. This made me wonder though, if this is true, then why did they leave the Bus in the final game and not the Coach? It's just a theory and it may seem a bit far-fetched, but maybe Rockstar replaced the Coach with the Bus that we got in the final game for some (to us) unknown reason. Oh well, I guess we'll never know for sure.

 

Visual aesthetics. It wouldn't be New York City Liberty City without seeing transit buses on every street. I'd imagine that the bus service system was cancelled because there is already a taxi system in place.

 

Previews also mentioned large trucks with logs on the back. I wonder if these were the same as what we got in GTA V?

 

Back on the topic of buses: I'm going out on a limb here, but do you think bus shelters were meant to be destructible? If you shoot the one across the street from the swing glitch a few times, it disappears. I wonder if Rockstar originally had a damaged shelter model to take its place?

[PhillBellic 24,364]

 

A long time ago I read somewhere that busses were supposed to drive around the city and that they would stop at bus stops where you could board them, that feature was cut (as far as I can remember) at some point during development though, so that may explain why this particular bus isn't in the final game. This made me wonder though, if this is true, then why did they leave the Bus in the final game and not the Coach? It's just a theory and it may seem a bit far-fetched, but maybe Rockstar replaced the Coach with the Bus that we got in the final game for some (to us) unknown reason. Oh well, I guess we'll never know for sure.

 

Visual aesthetics. It wouldn't be New York City Liberty City without seeing transit buses on every street. I'd imagine that the bus service system was cancelled because there is already a taxi system in place.

Top get the effect of buses driving around all Rockstar needed to do was add 'bus' to several entries to the cargrp.dat file. I was dissapointed that the bus route system was dropped. I feel that it would have been very useful particulary in New Alderney, where there is no active railway system. Thoughts?

 

Cheers.

[henry_™ 185]

I read in an old article that GTA IV was supposed to include climbable telephone poles and Niko was eventually supposed to get a phone with an MP3 player.

 

Link?

[BMWSauberF1.08 2,301]

probably he took that from the wiki

[AztecaEh 190]

The liberty state would've been awesome . just reading the cut stuff makes you go apesh*t . also as someone stated above . the Dashound dosent make sense why it was cut from IV . it would fit more than the current bus in IV . also i didnt read anywhere about the telephone pole . not even in gta wiki

[Apex Predator 816]

According to this preview http://www.gta4.net/news/3864/game-informers-gta-iv-qa--the-answers-are-in/

Niko could in fact climb telephone poles in the beta.

[Hmmm nice bike 4,485]

Top get the effect of buses driving around all Rockstar needed to do was add 'bus' to several entries to the cargrp.dat file. I was dissapointed that the bus route system was dropped. I feel that it would have been very useful particulary in New Alderney, where there is no active railway system. Thoughts?

 

 

Cheers.

A bus system definitely would have been cool to have across the city. It would have been another easy way of getting around, especially in Alderney where there's no rapid transit. It would have also been nice if there was a service based on PATH, subway trains that could have originated in Algonquin with a bunch of stops in Alderney. I wonder if that was ever considered during development.

 

But is it possible buses were cut because maybe they had a hard time being able to navigate through certain streets? Especially in Algonquin, where there are a lot of narrow streets and sharp turns the buses would have to take, the AI would have to not drive onto the sidewalk and crash into things.

[Darth_Starkiller 444]

Well, they should just make the buses not go through those narrow streets when possible. V also has narrow streets, and buses still spawn.

[nkjellman 1,652]

I must admit. I feel that the graphics in this game are better in the release version. In the beta, the game looks very washed out. However, I think the shadows look nicer in the beta. But they look like the PC ones on high, or very high. Some images look like the 1.0.4.0 shadows on Very High, and others look like the 1.0.7.0 shadows on Very High.

[PhillBellic 24,364]

In the beta the subway system had overheat catenary this can be confirmed by watching the Weasel News ad. Additionally Hove Beach's tracks were switched, so they went the other way.

 

Cheers.

[NikoBellicPoland 24]

Hey, it's been awhile since I've posted on Forums, but I think I've made cool find (also sorry if that was mentioned before). Some time ago I found some sound files suggested that Niko could buy a drugs in beta, however, I've also found his speech with Brucie when they are on the phone and talk about meeting for playing video games (seems like it would work in way when you can meet for bowling, drinking etc.) I can't upload audio files right now, but if you want to find it by yourself, open Spark IV and in audio you have to open "sfx", "scripted_speech" and then you have "FCB.ivaud" file which contains some of these files marked with "GAMES" part in the name. If someone can upload this it would be great, since I'm not able to do this at the time.

[Apex Predator 816]

Hey, it's been awhile since I've posted on Forums, but I think I've made cool find (also sorry if that was mentioned before). Some time ago I found some sound files suggested that Niko could buy a drugs in beta, however, I've also found his speech with Brucie when they are on the phone and talk about meeting for playing video games (seems like it would work in way when you can meet for bowling, drinking etc.) I can't upload audio files right now, but if you want to find it by yourself, open Spark IV and in audio you have to open "sfx", "scripted_speech" and then you have "FCB.ivaud" file which contains some of these files marked with "GAMES" part in the name. If someone can upload this it would be great, since I'm not able to do this at the time.

I decided not to include some cause they were generic and didn't mention gaming specifically, but here's a playlist:

https://soundcloud.com/t3rminate/sets/gta-iv-beta-videogames

[NikoBellicPoland 24]

I have two questions about beta files. Many people claimed that in beta player was able to hang out with Bernie aka Florian, Badman and Phil Bell and also had a choice in mission "Pest Control" and choose who to kill. Is there any existing files confirming this? Because I've been digging in files for a long time and didn't seen even slightest lead suggesting that these options ever existed in beta relase.There is only their dialog commenting radio stations, but these are also present in missions, so it doesn't count. If someone has some more informations about this it would be great.

[HOW'S ANNIE? 1,862]

^ I've always assumed the additional friends were bullsh*t. The choice between Ray and Phil in Pest Control though is quite different, I can't say I know it's legit since I've never seen anyone post code at all, but Jimmy P's dialogue in the opening cutscene heavily implies there would have been a choice (but I won't accept it as fact unless somebody here can confirm it).

 

Also I remember from the very first Game Informer preview they said Niko had the contact options "Cab", "Docks" and "City". It's obvious what Cab would have been, but has anyone got a clue what Dock or City could mean?

[Staten 1,042]

Also I remember from the very first Game Informer preview they said Niko had the contact options "Cab", "Docks" and "City". It's obvious what Cab would have been, but has anyone got a clue what Dock or City could mean?

According to the summary on gta4.net, it was actually "Docks Friend", which makes it very likely it was Brucie. "City Contact" isn't as easy to pin down.

[PhillBellic 24,364]

 

Also I remember from the very first Game Informer preview they said Niko had the contact options "Cab", "Docks" and "City". It's obvious what Cab would have been, but has anyone got a clue what Dock or City could mean?

According to the summary on gta4.net, it was actually "Docks Friend", which makes it very likely it was Brucie. "City Contact" isn't as easy to pin down.

 

I've been thinking about something regarding these contacts. 'Cab' was most likely merged into Roman's contact list. 'Docks' may have been an early version of Brucie's contact. Furthermore, as Brucie gives you 'import/export' side jobs, the 'Dock' contact may have come into play. The 'City' contact is anybodys guess.

 

Cheers.

[PhillBellic 24,364]

Sorry for the double post, but I feel that these should be given their own post;

 

 

 

 

Remember how the previews said you could climb telegraph poles, well please direct your attention to the one presented in this image. You can clearly see the pegs attached to the sides of this one. Additionally, you can see the Police Cruiser in its beta form with a car number on the boot/trunk lid rather than the final versions' LCPD text. Both the PC and Taxi lack antennae.

 

 

I can't say that these officers remained in the final version.

 

 

Again, these officers are not present in the final version of the game.

 

 

 

Cheers.

[t3h PeNgU1N oF d00m 3,887]

Post OP was originally known as Fedco. The mail worker's model retains the original file name.

 

There are five different head textures for the firefighter, but only two are used. The ones that aren't used:

 

 

 

 

Also, the Fire Chief has two unused ties. One with cartoon flames on it, and another one with a cartoon ocean wave on it.

[confederatestatesgta 1,415]

in the tv there is a commercial i cant rememer which one maybe weasal news but there is a shot were police are behind there cop cars in a more professional manner the have there guns drawn very professional like. and the same animation cover can be seen in three leaf clover after niko takes the money and the cops arrive there in that same anomation. i assume this was a beta cover animation because you never see it in gameplay.

[Kalerney 452]

Hum ... What body parts does the small textures above hands refer to ? Doesn't look very man related if you know what I mean !

 

I don't know if it was already mentioned, but K9 units were supposed to be in the game ... Thankfully these have been removed !

[Tycek 4,250]

Hum ... What body parts does the small textures above hands refer to ? Doesn't look very man related if you know what I mean !

 

I don't know if it was already mentioned, but K9 units were supposed to be in the game ... Thankfully these have been removed !

I guess it's tongue on the left and throat on the right.

[PhillBellic 24,364]

 

Hum ... What body parts does the small textures above hands refer to ? Doesn't look very man related if you know what I mean !

 

I don't know if it was already mentioned, but K9 units were supposed to be in the game ... Thankfully these have been removed !

I guess it's tongue on the left and throat on the right.

 

Yes it is. I accidentally recoloured one texture file once in that place and can confirm it is the tongue/throat.

 

Cheers.

[Apex Predator 816]

Post OP was originally known as Fedco. The mail worker's model retains the original file name.

 

There are five different head textures for the firefighter, but only two are used. The ones that aren't used:

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-

 

Any reason why the last guy is the only one whose eyes are a part of the face texture as well?

[PhillBellic 24,364]

I don't know if it was already mentioned, but K9 units were supposed to be in the game ... Thankfully these have been removed !

Could you please post the link. I'd like to have a look for curiosity's sake.

 

Cheers.