Content Changes in GTA Vice City

All software goes through development stages, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is no exception. This article lists all contents cut from the final release of the game, planned contents that did not make it into the final game, and contents that are in the final game but are made inaccessible. These contents range from deleted vehicles and player skins to the removal of entire characters and mission strands. Information about these contents can only be inferred from game files, pre-release screenshots and videos, previews, and interviews with Rockstar's producers.

Characters

SWAT members wearing a different styled outfit.

• A character called Mr. Moffat was removed from the game. Mr. Moffat and Tommy Vercetti apparently knew each other from the past and Moffat has found himself on the run again in Vice City. Moffat was scheduled to appear in a mission, where Tommy would help him escape.
• Tommy Vercetti wore a dark blue Hawaiian shirt .
• Ricardo Diaz's concept name was supposedly Fernando Diaz.
• Pastor Richards was scheduled to give protagonist Tommy Vercetti a mission.
• On Kent Paul's website, BJ Smith's concept name was possibly BJ Jones.
• SWAT members wore a different styled outfit, much brighter and bluer.
• A pedestrian with blond hair, pigtails, and a red skirt used to be in the game. Based on her appearance in "The Party" with Jezz Torrent, it is implied that the pedestrian was replaced by the brunette Love Fist fan.

Missions

• Unused audio files suggest that Dwaine and Jethro were to make an appearance in "The Fastest Boat" for Ricardo Diaz.
• The introduction sequence used to be much longer. When Ken Rosenberg picks up Tommy Vercetti at the airport, Ken explained that the Vance brothers operate out of Mexico and own a farm in Panama.
• The coke on Sonny Forelli's table during An Old Friend was blocky instead of round.

City

A map for Sunshine Autos' Vice Street Racer depicting the city in its pre-release design.

• Leaf Links did not seem to appear at one point during development. This may be due to poor draw distance.
• Fort Baxter Air Base originally included an air traffic control tower and a runway. The runway is totally absent, but the tower can still be seen in the distance from Vice City Beach.
• The map at Sunshine Autos depicts several changes to the city before its final design. These include:
  • Some roads were absent, notably the long road from the Downtown police station to the Ammunation.
  • Hyman Memorial Stadium was absent.
  • The northeast part of the Vice Point's beach did not exist.
  • Vice Port had a waterway and ships were absent.
  • There are no shacks in the sea.
  • The rocks and lighthouse in Ocean Beach were absent.
• There were bus shelters around the city. Its model still exists within the game. Known locations include:
  • North of the Washington Mall
  • East of the Washington Mall
  • South of the water fountain in Washington Beach
• The Exploder billboard on the Deli across from the Little Havana police station used to be a different, smaller one.
• Apartment 3c used to be visible from the outside.
• The Ocean View Medical Foundation buildings had a bluer exterior.

Weapons

• A Grenade Launcher was cut.
• The beta MP5 looked shorter and very different, it can be seen in the intro of GTA Vice City
• The PSG-1 (.308 Sniper) did not have a silencer.
• There is a model and textures for an AK-47 in the game files. However, it has never appeared in any of the screen shots or trailers for the game. What some fans claim to be an AK-47 in one of the trailers, is actually the Ruger with its brown texture from the PS2 version of the game.
• There was a Tazer, a Nailgun and Landmines in the beta version, textures exist in the game files.
• The shotgun from GTA III was originally in the game.
• Shown on a poster featured in the flash version of the official website, there was a silenced Ingram.
• The M4 had a longer barrel and a different aim in the beta.
• There was originally a Steyr Aug in the beta version, files of it exist in the PS2 Version.
• Tear Gas was removed from Xbox, PC and later PS2 versions of the game.
• The Grenade kept its model from GTA III.

Vehicles

The original front and back designs of the Infernus.

• The Infernus had a different front design and a different back design. Also, the spoiler was changed.
• Tires were able to be slashed and recorded into the stats.
• A Coastguard Maverick was supposed to have appeared in GTA Vice City, however, it was cut during development. Remnants of the Coastguard Maverick include an entry in the handling file (COASTMAV) and an entry in the text file (COASTMA). Nothing else is left of this vehicle and based on those two pieces of evidence, the vehicle is most likely a helicopter used by the Coastguard.
• The Virgo had a different look and was probably named the Cougar. There is an unused car model is left in the game named "Cougar" that is based on early pre-release screenshots of the Virgo, implying that the Virgo used to be called the Cougar.
• Likewise, the Mesa Grande might have been named the "Desperado"
• The Blista Compact originally looked almost identical to the Honda CRX and featured the letters "GPX" on the back.
• The Infernus had thin rectangles for its headlights and taillights and had larger spoilers.
• The Moonbeam was originally, implied, to have sliding rear doors.
• The VCPD Cruiser were originally white with red and blue stripes, similar to early Miami police cars.
• The Sentinel originally had different rear styling.
• The Washington originally had different frontal styling.
• The Freeway had a different paintjob.
• Many vehicles have a different grille, including the Hermes, the Sentinel XS, the Sabre, and the Sabre Turbo
• The Faggio's headlight was round in early screenshots.
• The Regina's taillights were originally metal rimmed and had a reverse lamp.
• Vehicles that uses the "offroad" and "alloy" type wheel models had used GTA III's "alloy" type wheel model, like the Rancher, the Walton, the Admiral, the Blista Compact, and the Sentinel XS.
• Vehicles that uses the "sport" wheel model were using GTA III's "sport" wheel model at first, then transitioned into a different style model, before settling on the final design.
• Many vehicles kept its model from GTA III, including the Patriot and Cabbie.
• Diaz's Admiral was blue.
• The Oceanic had a one-tone paintjob.
• The rotor blades of helicopters carried the design from GTA III.

Miscellaneous

The pre-release screenshot of the Haitians gang. Note the shirts of the baseball cap wearing members.

• There were many phone conversations between Tommy and Mercedes Cortez.
• There were many lines cut from characters such as Kent Paul, Umberto Robina, Mercedes Cortez, Mr. Moffat and BJ Smith in Sunshine Autos.
• There is a reference to an additional outfit called "MC Tommy", but no model or texture of that outfit exists.
• The baseball cap wearing Haitian gangster who wears the blue shirt used to have featured an ironed-on depiction of the infamous "I Want YOU for the U.S. Army" poster on his shirt during development of GTA Vice City before the game's developer settled on using a plain white "RELAX" text instead.
• There are unused radar icons for all the radio stations and including Vice City News. Their purpose is unknown.
• A Gamecube version was going to be made, but was scrapped.