Beta Vice City

[Sergiu]

Good listing and research, most of it checks out too in theory.

 

Just one observation, Espantoso songs do not fit the chronological timeline at all in Vice City and they even included tracks from the 90s or made by Rockstar in 2002.

[Guest]

On 1/6/2015 at 10:53 PM, Mr. Love said:

Beta Ocean View Hotel. Originally was called the "Clevelander" (after a real life Miami hotel).

 

Now vadim m mentioned this in his video, but he didn't show the screeshot above.

 

Obviously this is a well known beta screeshot/magazine scan. But the exact same building also appears on this screenshot if you look closely on the right. I think that lamppost isn't present in the final version, or it was moved a bit.

 

There is also red wall that is in the middle of the two buildings/hotels, there is a small pot next to the wall. I think most of the objects around the building was moved a slightly.

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by ArkianHue
The image didn't appear. it appeared as a link which I didn't want.

[Americana]

Yeah, what were they thinking?

[Kalvin]

You can see a couple more beta buildings in some of GameSpot's pre-release clips.

 

https://www.gamespot.com/videos/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-movie-6/2300-2881051/

https://www.gamespot.com/videos/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-movie-7/2300-2881911/

 

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Kalvin said:

You can see a couple more beta buildings in some of GameSpot's pre-release clips.

 

https://www.gamespot.com/videos/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-movie-6/2300-2881051/

https://www.gamespot.com/videos/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-movie-7/2300-2881911/

 

I never knew these existed!

I think it's that building right next to the hotel with the yellow and orange neons before the clip ends, right?

where is the beta building in the second movie?

Edited February 26, 2021 by ArkianHue

[Sergiu]

@afxtwinSome of these might need more research than just hear-say.

 

Perhaps you're down to track down those magazines that mentioned them with the rest of us!

 

Also a question, where did you take the Rick Springfield song reference from? Being from VCS doesn't really warrant that it was a cut VC song.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Sergiu

[jaydeedilla]

On 2/26/2021 at 4:46 PM, Sergiu said:

@afxtwinSome of these might need more research than just hear-say.

 

Perhaps you're down to track down those magazines that mentioned them with the rest of us!

 

Also a question, where did you take the Rick Springfield song reference from? Being from VCS doesn't really warrant that it was a cut VC song.

It was mentioned by the same person who talked about that magazine article IIRC. Could be wrong. Funny but I now don't even exactly remember where I heard it. So I guess take that one with the biggest grain of salt. 

 

I tried tracking down that particular article, (It's how I found that Giorgio Moroder mention) but had no luck myself.

[Tom_Vercetti]

On 10/3/2020 at 10:13 PM, Diwhrvifbs said:

I read somewhere that the Trash Dash mission from Liberty City Stories was originally meant to appear in Vice City first

You might very well be right my friend.

 

An used line in the american.gtx file on the original PS2 disc reads -Garbage Pickups Made

 

Another unused line in the file reads -Crane cannot lift this vehicle., was the car crusher from GTA III meant to return originally?

[universetwisters]

On 2/19/2021 at 8:57 PM, afxtwin said:

Considering they also had trouble licensing Duran Duran for GTA V's Los Santos Rock Radio (Serious)

 

 

[citation needed]

[Tom_Vercetti]

I often wonder why the scrapped car dealership in Downtown Vice City opposite Vice City News was never implemented, along with the scrapped Well Stacked Pizza in Washington Beach?

[universetwisters]

9 hours ago, Tom_Vercetti said:

I often wonder why the scrapped car dealership in Downtown Vice City opposite Vice City News was never implemented, along with the scrapped Well Stacked Pizza in Washington Beach?

 

 

Wtf there was a well stacked pizza in Washington beach?

[Tom_Vercetti]

10 minutes ago, universetwisters said:

 

 

Wtf there was a well stacked pizza in Washington beach?

 

Very possibly, yes. Badger Goodger mentioned it in his video in September 2020, reference starts at 6:16. It uses the file name wash_pizzaplace.dff, and was unfortunately transformed into an normal, inaccessible building!

 

 

[jaydeedilla]

On 3/10/2021 at 2:31 AM, universetwisters said:

 

[citation needed]

TrackID.gxt2 in GTAV.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yPXicsORb_BcjqLRfkK4m3Db_LDJpoxOd1TaAbp_zbY/edit#gid=0&range=C101

Edited March 14, 2021 by afxtwin

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Tom_Vercetti said:

 

Badger Goodger mentioned it in his video in September 2020, reference starts at 6:16. It uses the file name wash_pizzaplace.dff, and was unfortunately transformed into an normal, inaccessible building!

 

 

It was Vadim M's video. Not badger's. Badger is just a narrator.

[Tom_Vercetti]

On 3/11/2021 at 2:12 PM, ArkianHue said:

It was Vadim M's video. Not badger's. Badger is just a narrator.

Oh, sorry then. He is one hell of an narrator, his voice is very soothing!

 

My speculation is that reason the additional mission for InterGlobal Studios was removed was because the airport was significantly downsized to include Fort Baxter Army Base, rather than the airbase. Therefore the mission could not happen in one small airport, rather in the bigger, cut airport! 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Tom_Vercetti
added new speculation.

[LegionVC]

I'm sure most people are familiar with the ghost tower (a leftover from the beta airport that can still be seen when the mainland is not loaded). Well, I've been looking through old pre-release media that might show what it looked like while it was still in the game (Not the LOD model that can be seen from the other island). While there is no media that shows the beta airport, I did find something that no one else seems to have found before.

 

There is this pre-release video from IGN: https://www.ign.com/videos/2002/08/27/gta-vice-city-ps2-2002-08-27-5

 

The video ends just after the Voodoo turns right towards the Print Works, an area that would have provided a view of the ghost tower. I downloaded this video and extracted it frame by frame. While it seems to end just a bit too early, on the very last frame before the video fades to the Vice City logo you can catch a glimpse of the ghost tower. I have uploaded the frames, the last one shows the tower (turn your brightness up if you can't see it): https://imgur.com/a/hubz3t5

 

This looks to be the only footage we have of the non-LOD model of the tower. I know the footage is poor but sadly the video is already low quality to begin with. Also if it was just a second longer we would have gotten a better view of it, instead of on the fade out. This video is from August 27, 2002. Looks like the airport was only redesigned in the last month or so of development (removing the tower, adding the curved runway, adding Fort Baxter, etc.) That might explain why the tower can still be seen in the LOD version of the map, the change was made very late in development.

 

[Tom_Vercetti]

On 3/30/2021 at 4:59 PM, LegionVC said:

I'm sure most people are familiar with the ghost tower (a leftover from the beta airport that can still be seen when the mainland is not loaded). Well, I've been looking through old pre-release media that might show what it looked like while it was still in the game (Not the LOD model that can be seen from the other island). While there is no media that shows the beta airport, I did find something that no one else seems to have found before.

 

There is this pre-release video from IGN: https://www.ign.com/videos/2002/08/27/gta-vice-city-ps2-2002-08-27-5

 

The video ends just after the Voodoo turns right towards the Print Works, an area that would have provided a view of the ghost tower. I downloaded this video and extracted it frame by frame. While it seems to end just a bit too early, on the very last frame before the video fades to the Vice City logo you can catch a glimpse of the ghost tower. I have uploaded the frames, the last one shows the tower (turn your brightness up if you can't see it): https://imgur.com/a/hubz3t5

 

This looks to be the only footage we have of the non-LOD model of the tower. I know the footage is poor but sadly the video is already low quality to begin with. Also if it was just a second longer we would have gotten a better view of it, instead of on the fade out. This video is from August 27, 2002. Looks like the airport was only redesigned in the last month or so of development (removing the tower, adding the curved runway, adding Fort Baxter, etc.) That might explain why the tower can still be seen in the LOD version of the map, the change was made very late in development.

 

 

Thanks for your find, it is very interesting to find out that it was changed late in development, as apparently the game was finished in September 2002, can anyone with the original PlayStation2 release confirm this in checking when the files were burnt on the disc?

 

Another thing that really puzzles me, what was exactly intended to have been in the place of the North Point Mall, some random, unknown buildings?

[Guest]

On 3/30/2021 at 6:59 PM, LegionVC said:

I'm sure most people are familiar with the ghost tower (a leftover from the beta airport that can still be seen when the mainland is not loaded). Well, I've been looking through old pre-release media that might show what it looked like while it was still in the game (Not the LOD model that can be seen from the other island). While there is no media that shows the beta airport, I did find something that no one else seems to have found before.

 

There is this pre-release video from IGN: https://www.ign.com/videos/2002/08/27/gta-vice-city-ps2-2002-08-27-5

 

The video ends just after the Voodoo turns right towards the Print Works, an area that would have provided a view of the ghost tower. I downloaded this video and extracted it frame by frame. While it seems to end just a bit too early, on the very last frame before the video fades to the Vice City logo you can catch a glimpse of the ghost tower. I have uploaded the frames, the last one shows the tower (turn your brightness up if you can't see it): https://imgur.com/a/hubz3t5

 

This looks to be the only footage we have of the non-LOD model of the tower. I know the footage is poor but sadly the video is already low quality to begin with. Also if it was just a second longer we would have gotten a better view of it, instead of on the fade out. This video is from August 27, 2002. Looks like the airport was only redesigned in the last month or so of development (removing the tower, adding the curved runway, adding Fort Baxter, etc.) That might explain why the tower can still be seen in the LOD version of the map, the change was made very late in development.

 

Well at least we see the area in the first frame so thats good... Unfortunetly, I don't think there is any chance or a possibility to increase/boost the video's quality or the frames for that matter...

 

First image (brighter and more grainy/noisy):

The second image (the last frame):

 

as you said the tower's silhouette appears.

 

For some reason, I remembered some buildings in doherty/sanfierro in san andreas. That black building with the green moss? I don't know it looks really similar from that angle. This might be far fetched, but it just reminded me of it.

 

There's also some cut trees from the area.

Edited April 6, 2021 by ArkianHue

[Tom_Vercetti]

Does anyone have the supposedly very first scanned screenshot of Vice City from the beginning of 2002, in which you could see the Shoreside Vale Lift Bridge in the background, or is that another myth by fans?

[ROCKSTAR MANIC]

2 hours ago, Tom_Vercetti said:

Does anyone have the supposedly very first scanned screenshot of Vice City from the beginning of 2002, in which you could see the Shoreside Vale Lift Bridge in the background, or is that another myth by fans?

Thats a myth. Most early shots had 3 assets but never in the actual GTA3 map. 

[Tom_Vercetti]

2 hours ago, ROCKSTAR MANIC said:

Thats a myth. Most early shots had 3 assets but never in the actual GTA3 map. 

 

Thank you for confirming that. What do you mean by the three assets, is it something in the alpha or beta stages?

[ROCKSTAR MANIC]

1 hour ago, Tom_Vercetti said:

 

Thank you for confirming that. What do you mean by the three assets, is it something in the alpha or beta stages?

Oh sorry for my misinterpretation. What I meant was that assets that were in GTA 3 were used and modified to VC standards. 

[Tom_Vercetti]

1 hour ago, ROCKSTAR MANIC said:

Oh sorry for my misinterpretation. What I meant was that assets that were in GTA 3 were used and modified to VC standards. 

 

Were there any such assets in GTA III except for the three safehouses in Portland, Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale?

 

I have no recollection of ever buying any properties on any of the three islands except for the three safehouses which were always inpurchasable?

[Carbonox]

27 minutes ago, Tom_Vercetti said:

 

Were there any such assets in GTA III except for the three safehouses in Portland, Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale?

 

I have no recollection of ever buying any properties on any of the three islands except for the three safehouses which were always inpurchasable?

I think he means assets in a broader sense, as in leftover map objects and such.

[Tom_Vercetti]

11 minutes ago, Carbonox said:

I think he means assets in a broader sense, as in leftover map objects and such.

 

That makes sense then, thanks!

You know the alpha map of Vice City in the underground for the street races at Sunshine Autos was not leftover by any means, it was left as an Easter Egg to showcase how Vice City supposedly looked in the 1960s and 70s!

[Vishnuka]

Thanks...!have cutted phone calls of Mercedes cortez's?

[Tom_Vercetti]

19 hours ago, Vishnuka said:

Thanks...!have cutted phone calls of Mercedes cortez's?

 

She was originally supposed to be what Elvira was to Tony Montana, and leave Tommy in the end of Vice City, but for some reason R* deleted it all. It would’ve been awesome!

I guess R* just weren’t ready with the date system like in San Andreas in 2004!

[Vishnuka]

On 4/9/2021 at 4:44 PM, Tom_Vercetti said:

 

She was originally supposed to be what Elvira was to Tony Montana, and leave Tommy in the end of Vice City, but for some reason R* deleted it all. It would’ve been awesome!

I guess R* just weren’t ready with the date system like in San Andreas in 2004!

Thats right.....! It is also surprising that Rockstar originally have planned a romantic and crazy relationship between Tommy vercetti and Mercedes cortez.

  This is very clear from the phone calls.

[Tom_Vercetti]

2 hours ago, Vishnuka said:

Thats right.....! It is also surprising that Rockstar originally have planned a romantic and crazy relationship between Tommy vercetti and Mercedes cortez.

  This is very clear from the phone calls.

 

I know. It was very sad that her character was downgraded from major to minor, and she had a significant amount of lines removed in the final game, it really would have been fantastic to see them in a whirlwind relationship!

[Vishnuka]

14 hours ago, Tom_Vercetti said:

 

I know. It was very sad that her character was downgraded from major to minor, and she had a significant amount of lines removed in the final game, it really would have been fantastic to see them in a whirlwind relationship!

Yeah It's really a half love.....