There has always been a community of people fascinated by early versions of video games; It's a rare privilege to see the nitty-gritty creative process that goes into making beloved games.
This is especially true for Grand Theft Auto, one of the most successful series of all time. On Saturday, the ever-enthusiastic members of the GTA Forums were greeted with a welcome discovery: 118GBs of what people think is a development test kit for Grand Theft Auto 4 .
Grand Theft Auto 4 cut content discovered in test kit
Dedicated modders are now poring over the findings, uncovering cut content and primitive versions of some of the systems, characters and features present in Grand Theft Auto 4.
One of the most interesting finds is the 'Liberty Ferry' boat model that appears in the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 4, but didn't make it into the final game.
There are also models and animations for zombie-themed mini-games that were never finished, including weapon pick-ups and NPCs arranged in odd positions.
The radio stations in the beta version are very different from their final versions and also contain different songs. Fusion FM also includes recorded introductions to these songs from DJs, suggesting they were late in development.
Apparently, there are also beta versions of some vehicles, but nothing as exciting as people expect. There is a non-rough version of the Tug, and a version of the Turismo with a spoiler. There is also mention of Prairie, a card that appeared in Grand Theft Auto 5 but was not available in GTA 4. It is possible that Rockstar was planning to add this vehicle to GTA 4, but ultimately did not and then reused the idea in GTA 5.
Users on the GTA forums continue to post their findings in a thread, which is worth a read if you're interested in this sort of thing.
Rockstar – like any developer – is unlikely to be happy with these developments, but despite the possible legal implications, it is fascinating for an observer to see how a game has become.
It's been almost 20 years since Grand Theft Auto 4 was released, and 13 years since Grand Theft Auto 5. If all goes according to plan, we'll be exploring a new game in the series by the end of the year.
Grand Theft Auto 4
- issued
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April 29, 2008
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood, intense violence, partial nudity, strong language, strong sexual content, use of drugs and alcohol
