I’m glad someone mentioned it. I’ve been looking for a real Beta/Alpha release for 15 years. The most likely thing is all builds are long gone and weren’t kept.
@@TombRaiderSydDifferents situations, Rockstar never showed a old beta version of GTA 3 with cartoonish graphics for the public, only the E3 beta versions showed months before the oficial released was avaliable.
@@johnstamos5948: Actually, there was an Internet article from a few weeks ago that basically said that the project that would evolve into _Grand Theft Auto 3_ originally began as a pitch for an open-world game on the Dreamcast.
The art style feels like a blend of GTA 1, 2, and Advance, it's interesting it transformed from a comic book-inspired look to a more realistic urban environment. This retro aesthetic raises intriguing questions about how the game would have been received by the media if it had retained this style, especially given the intense scrutiny Rockstar faced over the game's controversial content. Also the 'Darko' mission, which involved blowing up an ice cream truck, was in fact reworked and incorporated into the final as a side mission for 'El Burro, I Scream, You Scream'. However, instead of targeting innocent pedestrians, the revised mission involves taking out mobsters.
Art style aside, the title "alpha" is given to software that is nowhere near finished. Things like low draw distance and missing mini map are really because this is no more than a debug build.
Thank you! It was bothering me that the original uploader was complaining about certain details of the alpha without recognizing the fact that we ate looking at an unfinished game. It's misleading to frame such details as "what the game would have been".
@@Jolyne19same, you’re never meant to see alpha builds anyway (feel free to correct me) so judging it seems pointless. It’s more out of interest to see stages of game development.
The only major difference being you took the ice cream van and parked it near a warehouse of 4 Leones in Atlantic Quays, the mission from El Burro "I Scream, You Scream". Kinda makes the mission less hostile towards terrorism-based actions to be honest.
@@kingvector1198 Its so weird seeing people consider Darkels missions as terrorism whilst having no problem with everything else in the game despite it being the same thing. I mean, theres an entire story arc where you do missions for Donald Love, who in his attempted run for Mayor of Liberty City, you do jobs for him that involve violently intimidating and killing his political opposition. Politically motivated violence is the textbook definition of terrorism, yet nobody ever talks about that. I just find it strange.
@@SvendleBerries Yeah but that was featured in a future game when Rockstar had released previous GTA games. If they had made LCS in 2001 the likelihood is people would consider Rockstar to be the main source of supporting political-based terrorism. Plus, its not a game that's too well known anyways compared to San Andreas, Vice City, or in this part of the game, GTA3. I suppose it had to do with Rockstar's popularity amongst their playerbase and how they created games between 2001 and 2006 that makes a difference.
5:52 I recognize that ice cream truck tune from Body Harvest (N64 - 1998). That was a title released by the same company, when they were called DMA Design Limited.
I remember the screenshots on old PS2 magazines showing the alpha build like this. I remember how exciting it was to see the GTA series in full 3d as a kid. I used to love getting gaming magazines, good old days!
This is what the alpha build might have looked like? Seems a strange thing to critique as it’s an interpretation of what an early build may have been. Looks good for alpha imo.
I mean honestly, the concept of GTA III starting off as a modded version of the prior 2D games really makes sense. In the OG versions they even had a top-down camera angle for both controlling Claude and driving cars. I think it’s safe to assume GTA III was originally going to be played top-down and continue the story of 2 with Claude Speed as protagonist, but the premise of an all-new 3D game (and the events of 9/11 happening during then-late development) ultimately took it in an entirely new direction.
Except there was no story to continue. In GTA2 they were so dismissive of the story stuff, they called the city "Anywhere, USA". The whole atmosphere was much more of a "cops and robbers" pretend play, the writing was mostly jokes and references to support all the odd missions that made use of cars and guns. There was no protagonist, just a mute player that doesn't even have body language in cutscenes because there was no cutscenes.
@@varvarvarvarvarvar Well, the only exception to that was the intro where you could actually see some of Claude's personality. That being said, the "story" of GTA 2 was pretty much optional. The only requirements for beating the game was to make a certain amount of money.
I can recognise the police siren and "job complete" sounds from GTA 2 ! Speaking of the police siren, the one in the final game is actually very close to the sirens used by the NYPD in the 80's and 90's
Wow I never seen the alpha lol. Thanks for showing us mate! GTA 3 was so ahead of its time. Rockstar truly made a beautiful masterpiece with the actual release.
crazy how inaccurate this mod is compared to the gta3d mod by 13ag, the_hero, fire_head,, and some other big name gta modders but at the time this one was made not as much info was uncovered so a lot of content in this mod is just speculation and myths like darkel's missions and the vehicle sound design change based on canned sound effects added into trailers to make them more cinematic
Looks a bit cheap for 2001 standards, the art style ia charming but the lighting is a bit uneasy on the eyes. Which is why I'm thankful we got the more dark and gritty GTA 3
2:28 Tbh, I think for me it would've been cool enough as top-down one. It's still a graphic upgrade from GTA2, looks nice. THe only downside maybe would've been if it wouldn't have been successful enough and the series would've never gotten as big as it is today.. but who knows. :D
Darkel's missions were not cut because of 9/11. The time window for that is way too short to not risk breaking anything. They were removed way before, as Rockstar themselves stated in that AMA you mentioned, for just not being that good.
The game is in 4:3 aspect ratio, if your screen has 4:3 option, try it, it make this looks a bit better, but it's still pretty bad compared to what was released.
6:21 - Now I'm confused, isn't this art style for covers was designed after 9/11? There is the question mark in the description (July 2001?) and exploding plane is definetly pre 9/11 🤔
First of all an Alpha Version was never meant to be released, so that is not what it was supposed to look like. Second even if it came out like this this would still have been an absolute game changer compared to the 2D Birds view from GTA 2...
It’s weird to criticize an alpha build’s graphics. _No_ game in its alpha stage looks like the final game. Hell, I’ve never seen an alpha look _closer_ to its final game than this. Generally, alphas are made with stand-in graphics. Several alphas I’ve seen had boxes of stick figures in place of actual characters.
Guess textures from gta1-2 were used as a blueprint for making the map. Even here you can see some photo textures on the buildings and showcases they focused on realism.
Some new school gamers asks me how is possible Rockstar became so obsessed with attention to details. I always tell them this very story; it all began with them converting a top-down action game straight to third person full 3D game. Tweaking and switching to adjust details probably was an eye opener to the science of making games.
"This was almost how it looked" No it wasn't, it was an alpha NEVER meant to see the light of day. Your choice of words makes it seem as if they were on the verge of releasing it in this state, and changed their minds at the last minute or something
There were games like this at the time or very similar, like Midtown Madness. What brought GTA3 for a whole new level was the realism of the weather. Without that, it definitely would be surpassed by other games and not be as remembered as it is today.
If this was an "alpha" version, of COURSE it looks unfinished and different, that's why it's an ALPHA version and not the final version. But based on the comments here, the version talked about wasn't even the alpha, but a modded speculation based on the pre-release screenshots.
I love that GTA has a really dark feeling to it but honestly i wouldn't mind if it would have looked like the alpha version, it still looks good in my opinion
I kind of like the Alpha graphic style more. Looks more like the first two games and doesn't have that annoying motion blur. I'm sure it would look better in the correct aspect ratio instead of stretched to fill 16:9
Exactly! I think firstly they wanted to make a top down game again but in a rendware engine so It would be more 3d but still the same gameplay. Good thing they decided to change that
This makes a lot of sense. So I could say that GTA 3 was actually in the crossroad between becoming the best topdown, open-world game, or something entirely different. It seems like the devs had made a historical decision. So, if they sticked to topdown, thanks to the upgraded 3d graphics, it would actually look amazing compared to the previous. But it would STILL be topdown. On the other hand, they changed it to a 3d 3rd person game, but due to tech limitation at that time, it looked rather ugly. HOWEVER, it opened an entire new chapter, a new territory, a possibility that would change the series and the entire genre forever. Just look at San Andrea. Then IV, V, and now VI. Without that fateful decision, we may be 1 GTA generation behind. This is so amazing!
This is a modded reconstruction based on early screenshots, it is mostly built upon speculation
I’m glad someone mentioned it. I’ve been looking for a real Beta/Alpha release for 15 years. The most likely thing is all builds are long gone and weren’t kept.
@JAMESYQ24 the alpha 1997 version of pokemon gold and silver leaked 20 years after it was shown at the spaceworld convention, never say never
@@TombRaiderSydDifferents situations, Rockstar never showed a old beta version of GTA 3 with cartoonish graphics for the public, only the E3 beta versions showed months before the oficial released was avaliable.
@@Silva_GP This is a good point actually, I believe those betas of Pokemon were from archives and only existed because of said convention
@@TombRaiderSydthey also weren't really any different from the first Gen games
This is gta 3 for the dreamcast
Pretty much yeah. It has the dreamcast intro
More like the Nintendo 64 and game cube
@@RacerCat97the GameCube would never look like this 😂
honestly a not the best description, the dreamcast looked better than everything at the time
@@johnstamos5948: Actually, there was an Internet article from a few weeks ago that basically said that the project that would evolve into _Grand Theft Auto 3_ originally began as a pitch for an open-world game on the Dreamcast.
The art style feels like a blend of GTA 1, 2, and Advance, it's interesting it transformed from a comic book-inspired look to a more realistic urban environment. This retro aesthetic raises intriguing questions about how the game would have been received by the media if it had retained this style, especially given the intense scrutiny Rockstar faced over the game's controversial content. Also the 'Darko' mission, which involved blowing up an ice cream truck, was in fact reworked and incorporated into the final as a side mission for 'El Burro, I Scream, You Scream'. However, instead of targeting innocent pedestrians, the revised mission involves taking out mobsters.
GTA if was released on n64
Funny to think that Rockstar actually planned to make an N64 version of the original GTA called GTA 64, which it was later canned.
@@malinalungu407 "canned" 💀
@@malinalungu407 yeah , there's n64 cartridge pictures of it with Spanish obviously, i wish they done it
We sort of had that as Body Harvest. It was made by DMA Design, which became Rockstar.
Needs more framerate issues
Art style aside, the title "alpha" is given to software that is nowhere near finished. Things like low draw distance and missing mini map are really because this is no more than a debug build.
It's a Dreamcast version of GTA3.
@@channe3049 which was scrapped after only a few months of work, so what I said is valid.
Thank you!
It was bothering me that the original uploader was complaining about certain details of the alpha without recognizing the fact that we ate looking at an unfinished game.
It's misleading to frame such details as "what the game would have been".
@@Jolyne19same, you’re never meant to see alpha builds anyway (feel free to correct me) so judging it seems pointless. It’s more out of interest to see stages of game development.
@@channe3049This video showed a mod made by fans, not the original beta build from Rockstar.
It was almost planned to be released in ps1 dreamcast at that time
Yes and fun fact the intro to the mod features a dreamcast intro
it was never planned to be released for the PS1 just the Dreamcast
Yep Atari too 😂
Claude looks like a teenage football player 😂😂😂 but the infernis car sound 😮
if im not mistaken the ice cream truck mission was the only one of darkels missions that made it into the final game
The only major difference being you took the ice cream van and parked it near a warehouse of 4 Leones in Atlantic Quays, the mission from El Burro "I Scream, You Scream". Kinda makes the mission less hostile towards terrorism-based actions to be honest.
I felt sure it was a GTA2 mission and not by a character called Darkel.
@@dcarbs2979 It's been a while since I played gta2, but I think there was a russian mafia mission where you had to arm a hare krishna bus
@@kingvector1198
Its so weird seeing people consider Darkels missions as terrorism whilst having no problem with everything else in the game despite it being the same thing. I mean, theres an entire story arc where you do missions for Donald Love, who in his attempted run for Mayor of Liberty City, you do jobs for him that involve violently intimidating and killing his political opposition. Politically motivated violence is the textbook definition of terrorism, yet nobody ever talks about that. I just find it strange.
@@SvendleBerries Yeah but that was featured in a future game when Rockstar had released previous GTA games. If they had made LCS in 2001 the likelihood is people would consider Rockstar to be the main source of supporting political-based terrorism. Plus, its not a game that's too well known anyways compared to San Andreas, Vice City, or in this part of the game, GTA3.
I suppose it had to do with Rockstar's popularity amongst their playerbase and how they created games between 2001 and 2006 that makes a difference.
5:52 I recognize that ice cream truck tune from Body Harvest (N64 - 1998). That was a title released by the same company, when they were called DMA Design Limited.
Would of been weird to see healthbar at the bottom left and ammo at top right?
*Laughs in GTA V HUD*
And GTA IV. Most-likely the same in GTA VI.
Claude got probably kicked from art school 😅😂
Lmao
I am really glad that they made all the changes they did. But the brighter colors did look pretty nice
Definitely interesting
Crazy how even with this bad graphics, it would still be mindblowing compared to the Ps1 and previous GTAs.
Please don’t call this an Alpha build, it’s misleading.
Clickbaited :(
Not to mention. Even if it was alpha build, an alpha build isnt a "what couldve been". Shit video
Yeah, the starting lines and whole premise to your video being wrong is.. well, it's something
I guess every GTA youtuber is a scammer.
Proverbs 18:13
“He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame vnto him.”
Early 1960s looking Liberty City!
I remember the screenshots on old PS2 magazines showing the alpha build like this. I remember how exciting it was to see the GTA series in full 3d as a kid. I used to love getting gaming magazines, good old days!
Kinda has that Body Harvest look.
It looks like Vice City. Thanks god GTAIII have this dark ambient, less colours and also fog which it makes this game much more realistic and gloomy.
It's funny because Vice City would enter development at the time GTA 3 was released
@@malinalungu407 and was planned to be an expansion
No, Vice City are far from this.
Либерти сити на много разнообразнее, метро, пешеходы слушающие музыку в наушниках, город словно ощущается живым, в Вайс сити этого нет
I always hated GTA3 because of how ugly and dark and hard to see anything on a CRT it was
I love this color palette reminds me of gta London 1960s anyone but I'm glad we got the gritty look in the final release and i love bright colors
🇧🇷
A twin tower replica was removed from the final game. The game originally had more gore and dismemberment. That got removed as well.
Ah yes, waits 7 minutes into an 8 minute video to finally announce that it’s just a recreation of the alpha and not the real thing. Cool!
This is what the alpha build might have looked like? Seems a strange thing to critique as it’s an interpretation of what an early build may have been.
Looks good for alpha imo.
I shit it's a mod
GTA: hit and run!
4:22 even Misty is more detailed than Claude
Still better than Defective - I mean Definitive edition.
on god
@DPJDW2024 why you trippin yu fool? which generatin you talking about. you dont kno shit about anything in life. xD
Dude, gta 3 definitive edition wasn't even that bad, only gta sa definitive edition is bad
Yea and now theyre all better@@Redemption-XM4
this is why its called alpha. it was never meant to look that bad
I think this mod made it look too cartoonish, the actual sceenshots were a little bit less cartoonish
honestly I kinda love the style of this, obviously it's not realistic like the series would end up but it's super unique
I mean honestly, the concept of GTA III starting off as a modded version of the prior 2D games really makes sense. In the OG versions they even had a top-down camera angle for both controlling Claude and driving cars. I think it’s safe to assume GTA III was originally going to be played top-down and continue the story of 2 with Claude Speed as protagonist, but the premise of an all-new 3D game (and the events of 9/11 happening during then-late development) ultimately took it in an entirely new direction.
Except there was no story to continue. In GTA2 they were so dismissive of the story stuff, they called the city "Anywhere, USA". The whole atmosphere was much more of a "cops and robbers" pretend play, the writing was mostly jokes and references to support all the odd missions that made use of cars and guns. There was no protagonist, just a mute player that doesn't even have body language in cutscenes because there was no cutscenes.
@@varvarvarvarvarvar Well, the only exception to that was the intro where you could actually see some of Claude's personality.
That being said, the "story" of GTA 2 was pretty much optional. The only requirements for beating the game was to make a certain amount of money.
I can recognise the police siren and "job complete" sounds from GTA 2 ! Speaking of the police siren, the one in the final game is actually very close to the sirens used by the NYPD in the 80's and 90's
This also recognizes these sounds from GTA 2. It seems that they used these sounds as a placeholder.
Wow I never seen the alpha lol. Thanks for showing us mate! GTA 3 was so ahead of its time. Rockstar truly made a beautiful masterpiece with the actual release.
This is a fan made mod, no such alpha exists
"Would they have taken the same route down the road later down the line?" Poetic really.
One thing I found incredibly painful about this version.. the Cartel carry around M16's :/ (Which would change to AK's as of completing The Exchange)
So true they are super OP
@@DrModGTA Yep hehe until you get Ray's hum vee or drive a bullet proof Barracks that always spawns in the Arms Shortage mission :3
Greetings to you from Central Africa🤜🏾
Hello there!
crazy how inaccurate this mod is compared to the gta3d mod by 13ag, the_hero, fire_head,, and some other big name gta modders but at the time this one was made not as much info was uncovered so a lot of content in this mod is just speculation and myths like darkel's missions and the vehicle sound design change based on canned sound effects added into trailers to make them more cinematic
Still looks better than the Trilogy released a couple of year ago
Damn I thought you were playing the definitive edition based on the graphics.😂
I think it's better than the definitive edition
@@r3zmodz yep definitely better
An alpha isnt a "what could've been"... Thats the whole point of calling something an "alpha" instead of "final".
thats gta2 sirens
Literally what the game would've released like if Early Access was the same then as it is today. Only for it to look good in 5 years
“This would have sucked!”
What?!? 🤯🤯🤯 the “Alpha” version would have sucked‼️‼️
Just the overall tone
Looks a bit cheap for 2001 standards, the art style ia charming but the lighting is a bit uneasy on the eyes.
Which is why I'm thankful we got the more dark and gritty GTA 3
Ice cream mission was actually in the final game
2:28 Tbh, I think for me it would've been cool enough as top-down one. It's still a graphic upgrade from GTA2, looks nice. THe only downside maybe would've been if it wouldn't have been successful enough and the series would've never gotten as big as it is today.. but who knows. :D
I like this beta Infurnus more than the one we ended up with, it looks alot like the Infurnus classic in gta online.
Something about GTA3 using GTA2 textures as placeholders is fascinating
Imagine if GTA game where you get to create your own missions
The lack of a map on the radar was probably just because it isn't finished!
2:04 this is bs. Stop talking bs! GTA 3 was planned in fully 3D since day 1 in development! BS
Hes probably reffering that it was planned to be 3d,but top down view.
Well he did say the devs called a vote on it. I wonder where he got that from.
Not to mention the police cars and taxi cabs look more like 4th generation Chevrolet Caprices the 93-96 models.
Very true
I like how much more clear the game looked in it's ALPHA version and the fact that it was more vibrant and had more colour.
Darkel's missions were not cut because of 9/11. The time window for that is way too short to not risk breaking anything. They were removed way before, as Rockstar themselves stated in that AMA you mentioned, for just not being that good.
7:23 look what happens if u closely lmao
The game is in 4:3 aspect ratio, if your screen has 4:3 option, try it, it make this looks a bit better, but it's still pretty bad compared to what was released.
Looks very similar to body harvest on the n64, which was also made by Rockstar before they changed their name to Rockstar
6:21 - Now I'm confused, isn't this art style for covers was designed after 9/11? There is the question mark in the description (July 2001?) and exploding plane is definetly pre 9/11 🤔
First of all an Alpha Version was never meant to be released, so that is not what it was supposed to look like. Second even if it came out like this this would still have been an absolute game changer compared to the 2D Birds view from GTA 2...
1:53, GTA’s IV, and V both had their health indicated in the similar style. Never heard of anyone having a problem
It’s weird to criticize an alpha build’s graphics.
_No_ game in its alpha stage looks like the final game. Hell, I’ve never seen an alpha look _closer_ to its final game than this.
Generally, alphas are made with stand-in graphics. Several alphas I’ve seen had boxes of stick figures in place of actual characters.
4:20 Claude’s last name isn’t Speed.
Claude Speed is the protagonist of GTA 2, GTA 3’s Claude isn’t the same guy.
yep because the GTA2 Claude Speed is set in 2015 and not 2000 like GTA3
Can't quite explain it but this gives me the Megaman Legends vibe lol
I think it's the streets! Thought the same thing haha
2:06 that explains whyin the Alpha Version the Draw Distance was Dogwater
Gta for simpsons or something
Guess textures from gta1-2 were used as a blueprint for making the map. Even here you can see some photo textures on the buildings and showcases they focused on realism.
Dreamcast is now running GTA3. All "Beta/Alpha"'s have their graphics polished up.
Where is that gta 3 theme backround music from it sounds so chill and calming! Also great showcase of the alpha footage :)
I think the ice cream truck was used for one of the El Burro mission in the final release because you have to rig one to explode to kill the target.
7:32 A detriment is something of negative influence.
From the Latin _deterere:_ "wear away."
It’s amazing what a colour palette can do!
Some new school gamers asks me how is possible Rockstar became so obsessed with attention to details. I always tell them this very story; it all began with them converting a top-down action game straight to third person full 3D game. Tweaking and switching to adjust details probably was an eye opener to the science of making games.
"This was almost how it looked"
No it wasn't, it was an alpha NEVER meant to see the light of day. Your choice of words makes it seem as if they were on the verge of releasing it in this state, and changed their minds at the last minute or something
GTA 3 if released on PlayStation (1994)
7:19 poor NPC
Just one question, was the Furore GT an actual GTA III car that got cut or is it just an unofficial vehicle they just added
for the time? that still would have been a really fun game with a lot of action! reminds me of virtuacop 2
about the health bar, GTA 3 and Vice City had numbers while GTA SA went with the meter version. So this idea maybe was too early to use yet.
There were games like this at the time or very similar, like Midtown Madness.
What brought GTA3 for a whole new level was the realism of the weather.
Without that, it definitely would be surpassed by other games and not be as remembered as it is today.
link to the mod???
Imagine if we got this instead of the current dark atmospheric version lol
“The alpha version is almost how the game originally looked”
And apparently it was normal to see Borgnine taxis everywhere :D
If this was released (instead of GTA III) it'd still be a success imo
I love how it looks, it just lacks lighting from first glance.
No wonder Manhunt 0.69 looked like this too. Very cartoony and lacking the grit we know in both GTA 3 and Manhunt 1
He really thought he was playing the alpha
Fr he's playing a recreation based on unconfirmed rumors
If this was an "alpha" version, of COURSE it looks unfinished and different, that's why it's an ALPHA version and not the final version.
But based on the comments here, the version talked about wasn't even the alpha, but a modded speculation based on the pre-release screenshots.
I love that GTA has a really dark feeling to it but honestly i wouldn't mind if it would have looked like the alpha version, it still looks good in my opinion
it was revolutionary in a time like 2001
I kind of like the Alpha graphic style more. Looks more like the first two games and doesn't have that annoying motion blur. I'm sure it would look better in the correct aspect ratio instead of stretched to fill 16:9
What shoreside vale, looks like in the beta version of GTA 3?
The only change was the airport I think. It was originally planned for Staunton Island and then it was moved to Shoreside Vale.
back then, the beta was supposed to be cartoonish but rockstar changed his mind after all.
Looking better than Defective merhaba and at least we are in the comic book.
Man thats gta on nintendo 64
Gta on the n64 would have been so cool
there is a texture mod called n64...looks kinda weird but nice
Love the arcade look of this version, especially at night. Looks like a racer game I'd play for $1 each go at the cinema arcades
This is how classic GtA 3 looks to Definitive Edition. 😂
great video (:
You can definitely see the influence from body harvest
It properly made like this becomes gta 3 was originally planned to be released on old consoles at that time like ps1.
it was never made for the PS1, it was going to be released for the Dreamcast until the announcement of the PS2
@@cool3865 Dreamcast ? Sorry My bad.
Kinda looks like they were gonna make it like the first 2 and thankfully changed their minds
Exactly! I think firstly they wanted to make a top down game again but in a rendware engine so It would be more 3d but still the same gameplay. Good thing they decided to change that
This makes a lot of sense. So I could say that GTA 3 was actually in the crossroad between becoming the best topdown, open-world game, or something entirely different. It seems like the devs had made a historical decision.
So, if they sticked to topdown, thanks to the upgraded 3d graphics, it would actually look amazing compared to the previous. But it would STILL be topdown. On the other hand, they changed it to a 3d 3rd person game, but due to tech limitation at that time, it looked rather ugly. HOWEVER, it opened an entire new chapter, a new territory, a possibility that would change the series and the entire genre forever. Just look at San Andrea. Then IV, V, and now VI. Without that fateful decision, we may be 1 GTA generation behind. This is so amazing!
Tbh I actually prefer the more cartoony and colorful art style, despite gta 3 being my favorite gta game expesificaly because of its art style
I thought this was Saints Row 2022