Grand Theft Auto III

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Grand Theft Auto III.

Early Development1999–2000. The beginnings of a new open world revolution. Design DocumentDecember 2000. The developers were very ambitious... Early PrereleaseAutumn 2000–Spring 2001. E3 2001 Later PrereleaseJune 2001–September 2001. Post-September 11th BuildsLots of minor changes were made following September 11, 2001.

2000#

June#

Edge Magazine Leak#

To do: Find the actual issue of the magazine.

Some 3D renders of what the Grand Theft Auto game would look like were leaked in Edge Magazine.³ These appear to show Chinatown, bearing the same banner signs as the final.

July#

Wireframe Test#

An anonymous source sent a video of a wireframe animation test to the fansite Gouranga, dating to July 21, 2000. It shows the protagonist getting in and out of a car.

October#

Second Wireframe Test#

Another wireframe test was leaked, this time having a date of October 9, 2000. It shows the protagonist stealing a car and getting away from a gang member.

November#

Financial Review#

An interview dated November 7, 2000 confirms that GTA 3 is in full development.⁴

• https://web.archive.org/web/20001205070500/http://ps2.ign.com/news/27203.html

December#

PlayStation 2 Official Magazine UK January 2001#

The world’s first ever look at Grand Theft Auto III, a (presumably) December 2000 build shown in the January 2001 issue of PlayStation 2 Official Magazine UK; these builds show a very different looking game, alongside mentions of cut features.

Removed/Changed Content#

There are a few things to note from the text in the magazine:

• Pedestrians originally once walked their dogs. Animals would not appear all the way until Grand Theft Auto V.
• Time originally ran on a thirty minute cycle, while the final game runs on a twenty four minute cycle, where one minute represented one hour in the final.
• There is mention of a ferry that allowed the player to travel between islands, which was seen in a conceptual map. It was later revived for Liberty City Stories.
• Apparently, there was once a button that allowed the player to insult pedestrians. It was likely reworked into one of Claude’s flipping the bird animation when he gets close to a car in the final.
• Characters from the first game, second game, and London 1969 were meant to return, further tying into the 2D universe games, but none of them made an appearance. This could be either an earlier intention considering that the finalized story was fully planned in the December design document.

Screenshots#

A handful of screenshots released in the article was shown off for the first time. Though, they would be released digitally later on.

December 2000	Final

An image of the HUD; according to the magazine, from A to F, it would’ve displayed your wanted level, cash, time, weapons, health and radar. The image would be publicly released online in the February 2001 prerelease.

December 2000	Final

In the final version, the tall “New Building Industrial” (newbuildind in files) was placed here, so the exact same position as in the early screenshot would be inside the building in final.

2001#

January#

Liberty Tree Preview#

On January 31, 2001, previews of the ficitious Liberty Tree Newspaper were sent to various gaming sites, with two preview images. Both of them were released the following day.

Late January 2001	Final

• The secondary newspaper graphics among the “Dead Elvis” ones are actually from a British newspaper called The Daily Star, where the cover dates back to October 16, 2000 and can be viewed in full here.

Late January 2001	Final

February#

Trailer#

Grand Theft Auto III was unveiled for the first time on the internet on February 19, 2001, rather than via magazine previews.⁵

Trailer

Watch on YouTube

• At 0:17, the voice clip “Get out of the car!” can be heard, which is actually taken from Grand Theft Auto 2. It was once theorized that Claude talked in early builds, but in the Tenth Anniversary Q&A, Rockstar responded with that they had no plans to implement a talking protagonist until Vice City. It’s also likely that the voice clip was added in for effect.

Screenshots

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

• There was a second newspaper texture rather than the “Zombie Elvis” one, it's actually taken from the British newspaper called The Daily Star, where the headline dates back to 16 October 2000.

February 2001	Final

Again, in the final version, the New Building Industrial was placed here, so the same exact location would be inside of it.

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

The ship in the final game does not have the proper collisions to walk around on it anymore.

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

February 2001	Final

Renders

An earlier view of Portland Island was posted.

March#

Early Map Layout#

Capital Autos#

Rockstar Games opened up a mock website of Capital Autos in order to promote the game. It contains some interesting and early car renders!

May#

E3 2001#

Grand Theft Auto III was shown off at E3 2001.

Teaser Trailer Watch on YouTube

E3 2001 Demo

• The HUD is starting to take its final form.

Screenshots

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Ge_S5qblo

Unknown#

Early Script#

During Rockstar Games’ Q&A in December 2011 from fans during the game’s tenth anniversary, a excerpt of the early Grand Theft Auto III script was posted in comparison to the Grand Theft Auto IV script.

The following lines appear to have been from the opening cutscene and Give Me Liberty. This is likely from later in development, after the December 2000 design document, due to the rewording of the lines closer to the final, and Claude not having any dialogue.

Intro A: Betrayal (A)
PLAYER gang burst out into alleyway from a bank job. Two of the gang run off, the PLAYER stays to let off both barrels to dissuade any hero’s. PLAYER runs off after his gang members, he rounds the corner to find CATALINA standing over the body of the other.

CATALINA
Sorry babe. I’m an ambitious girl and you, you’re just small time... (resounding ?????)

CATALINA then shoots the PLAYER twice. She grabs the case and then stands over the dying PLAYER. Just then MIGUEL pulls up in a sports car.

MIGUEL
Catalina! Move your ass!

CATALINA runs over and hops into the car as it pulls away.

Intro B: Jail Break (A)
8 BALL and PLAYER bust out on the bridge. 8 BALL nails the guard with a huge punch.

8 BALL
God Damn that hurt! Alright, we’ve got no time to waste, let’s get the hell out here!

Give Me Liberty (D) @ Luigi's Club
Having just escaped 8 BALL and PLAYER are looking for refuge. 8 BALL is quite anxious to get some shelter.

8 BALL
I know a place on the edge of the Red Light District where we can lay low but my hands are badly burned so you’ll have to drive.

8 BALL
This is the place! Let’s get off the street and find a change of clothes!

They approach the hide out.

8 BALL
I know a guy, he’s connected. Name’s Luigi. Me an’ him go back so I can probably get you some work. C’mon, let’s drop by and I’ll introduce you.

Game On Exhibition#

At the Game On Event in 2009, held in Taiwan, the mission drafts of Grand Theft Auto III were shown, persumably from a near final build.⁶

• Some of the mission names are different;

• The phone missions for El Burro were originally able to be repeatable rather than classified as completed.
• Paparazzi Purge came before Under Surveillance.
• Marty Chonks’ missions weren’t present.

August#

Bradygames Strategy Guide#

PS World Footage#

Watch on YouTubeOn the PS World Volume 12, Grand Theft Auto III was fully covered. Despite the disc being released in December, the differences date the build to around August 2001.

• The logo was orange.
• The color of the weapons HUD is a bright yellow instead of a dull gray, which would end up being used in the Windows version of the game.
• The sniper crosshair was different.
• Pedestrians’ limbs could be shot off unlike in the final build.

September#

Pre 9/11 Builds#

PlayZone Footage

Watch on YouTubeCovered in PlayZone November 2001. The game almost plays exactly like the final, except with some aesthetical differences;

• The HUD matches that of the final game.
• This build marks the final appearance of the blue and white police cars.
• This is the final appearance of the Bobcat with the cushioned trunk.

Gamesmaster (November 2001)

• https://twitter.com/retrogamegeeks/status/965265111735787523

2003#

A port for the GameCube (along with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) was originally planned to be released but was cancelled for unknown reasons.⁷

Resources#

• Pre Release Media:
  • Gouranga.com (Archived)
• 3

References#