Out of all the Grand Theft Auto games, San Andreas may have had the most changes before release. For the first and only time in the series, there were animals in the game, the player was able to have uncensored sex, drink, and do drugs. There were many interiors that were left unused, though many remain in the game files. There were a considerable amount of missions cut, as well as numerous weapons, vehicles and character models.
Characters
* Characters including Officer Carver, Larry and Poncho were removed.
* Both Sweet and Big Smoke had their appearances changed. Sweet was originally dressed in black and wore a black beanie, Big Smoke wore a white jersey and did not wear a hat, exposing his shaved head.
* Kendl Johnson's facial model and clothing were altered.
* Gang members looked different and wore different clothing.
* Each city had its own motorcycle cop model, whereas in the final release the same model is used for all cities (The beta cop models can still be found on the game´s files)
Missions
* There are many deleted missions which include The Truth is Out There and Impounded, or missions with different objectives which include Doberman, Photo Opportunity and Beat Down on B Dup.
* During the mission Saint Mark's Bistro, CJ had communication with Francis International air traffic control.[12]
* Fish in a Barrel was supposedly an actual mission instead of a mere cutscene.
* In Sweet's Girl, originally Sweet did not have a gun, so CJ escorted him out.
* In Photo Opportunity, unused text implies that CJ hijacked and used a helicopter.
* There was going to be a mission involving a search for Big Smoke.
* There was going to be different a race in Los Santos Stadium.[13]
* According to cut text, San Andreas was going to have a mission pack.
* The Pizza Boy side-mission was removed.
* The Top Fun mini game from Vice City was supposedly to return but its was removed for unknown reasons.
City
* Originally, if Carl Johnson killed a pedestrian, a news van would arrive and the crew would report on the event.
* If Carl crashed into a lamp post a mechanic would arrive to fix it. If the player killed the mechanic the lamp post would remain broken for a time, even if the player left the immediate area.
* The Mulholland Safehouse seemed to have a full interior that can be seen from the outside. The change on final version causes a glitch which allows the player to go through the wall.[14]
* Donut shops such as Rusty Brown's Ring Donuts were places Carl Johnson could eat.
* San Fierro in the beta had very few docks and more parks. The beta map of San Fierro was very detailed and can be seen in Driving School.
* The construction yard near the hospital in Downtown Los Santos had a crane.
* The Easter Naval Base had a different outline, it had a dock and the ship is missing.
* San Andreas was much bigger and had several different land masses, such as a larger San Fierro (which resembled San Francisco more closely), A full beta map of San Andreas can be found on a wall in the Lil' Probe'Inn.
* Las Venturas had a different name by the initials "LG". In early screen shots of Las Venturas, Police Cars had the initials "LG" printed on their doors. One can only assume what "LG" stood for.
* Santa Flora Medical Center had 2 helipads on its roof. These pads were most likely meant for the Maverick and Raindance that spawn there in the alpha. Oddly enough, these helipads were absent in the alpha, so the choppers simply spawned on the roof.
* The Clown's Pocket Casino was originally called The Ringmaster, its original name can still be seen on the paper map included inside the game box.
* Hardware Stores was originally included in-games, and you can buy tools (like in Vice City).
* Pharmacies from Vice City was originally included in-games were you can buy health and adrenaline.
Weapons
* The Skateboard was cut from the final game (its icon is still on the disk, and it can still be used but only as a weapon).
* Strategy guides and other prints speak of a Gun Cane available alongside the Cane. The Gun Cane does not appear anywhere in the game.
* The Parachute was originally smaller and blue (it can be seen in the demonstration video in Flight School showing how to control parachute).
* Accorded to some early preview of the games, 150 weapons where originally included in-game.
* A another rocket-launcher called "M47 dragon" was cut, the files of exist can be found in the PS2 version only.
* A sniper rifle named "M82" was cut.
* The grenade launcher was cut again.
* Two machine guns named "M249 SAW" and "M60" was cut, the files of exist can be found in the PS2 version only.
* The Micro-SMG was removed, the weapons can be seen in early screenshot of the games.
Others
* Animals that would roam the rural areas were cut. (Their models are still available in the game's files, albeit without AI present).
* Originally, there were over 300 gang territories to be taken over all over the map.
* The ability to create and run your own casino was taken out after the alpha version.
* Usable car-washes, similar to those in GTA IV , were cut.
* The ability to ride the Trolleys in San Fierro was cut.
* Early magazine previews showed that cops would hold on a vehicle's bumper if the player tried to speed away.
* The mobster who Carl kills in Saint Mark's was originally going to be called Marco Forelli but due to deleted audio, his name was never mentioned in the final version.
* The Grove Street Families were originally going to be called The Orange Grove Families.
* Gangster would walk into accessible places like safehouses, stores, etc.
* Pool tables were originally going to be colored green instead of blue.
* The motor bikers had a different design.
* Carl Johnson would be able to use drugs, which would make the camera wobble around making it more difficult to control CJ.
* The ability to drink beer was cut from the alpha version
* Through the hidden interiors universe unused Brothels can be found, these were most likely to be placed on top of Strip Clubs.
* Pre-release magazine articles showed that stealing cars was to be much more difficult. In early screen shots, car jacking was shown to involve smashing the car's window and then hot wiring it. This was all removed, possibly due to the limitations posed by the PS2. A similar system is present in GTAIV.
* The ability to rob stores (like in GTA: Vice City) such as 24/7 was removed.
Never knew about this until this day. Too bad some of these things have been removed, I'm sure they would have made the game even more fun
Characters
* Characters including Officer Carver, Larry and Poncho were removed.
* Both Sweet and Big Smoke had their appearances changed. Sweet was originally dressed in black and wore a black beanie, Big Smoke wore a white jersey and did not wear a hat, exposing his shaved head.
* Kendl Johnson's facial model and clothing were altered.
* Gang members looked different and wore different clothing.
* Each city had its own motorcycle cop model, whereas in the final release the same model is used for all cities (The beta cop models can still be found on the game´s files)
Missions
* There are many deleted missions which include The Truth is Out There and Impounded, or missions with different objectives which include Doberman, Photo Opportunity and Beat Down on B Dup.
* During the mission Saint Mark's Bistro, CJ had communication with Francis International air traffic control.[12]
* Fish in a Barrel was supposedly an actual mission instead of a mere cutscene.
* In Sweet's Girl, originally Sweet did not have a gun, so CJ escorted him out.
* In Photo Opportunity, unused text implies that CJ hijacked and used a helicopter.
* There was going to be a mission involving a search for Big Smoke.
* There was going to be different a race in Los Santos Stadium.[13]
* According to cut text, San Andreas was going to have a mission pack.
* The Pizza Boy side-mission was removed.
* The Top Fun mini game from Vice City was supposedly to return but its was removed for unknown reasons.
City
* Originally, if Carl Johnson killed a pedestrian, a news van would arrive and the crew would report on the event.
* If Carl crashed into a lamp post a mechanic would arrive to fix it. If the player killed the mechanic the lamp post would remain broken for a time, even if the player left the immediate area.
* The Mulholland Safehouse seemed to have a full interior that can be seen from the outside. The change on final version causes a glitch which allows the player to go through the wall.[14]
* Donut shops such as Rusty Brown's Ring Donuts were places Carl Johnson could eat.
* San Fierro in the beta had very few docks and more parks. The beta map of San Fierro was very detailed and can be seen in Driving School.
* The construction yard near the hospital in Downtown Los Santos had a crane.
* The Easter Naval Base had a different outline, it had a dock and the ship is missing.
* San Andreas was much bigger and had several different land masses, such as a larger San Fierro (which resembled San Francisco more closely), A full beta map of San Andreas can be found on a wall in the Lil' Probe'Inn.
* Las Venturas had a different name by the initials "LG". In early screen shots of Las Venturas, Police Cars had the initials "LG" printed on their doors. One can only assume what "LG" stood for.
* Santa Flora Medical Center had 2 helipads on its roof. These pads were most likely meant for the Maverick and Raindance that spawn there in the alpha. Oddly enough, these helipads were absent in the alpha, so the choppers simply spawned on the roof.
* The Clown's Pocket Casino was originally called The Ringmaster, its original name can still be seen on the paper map included inside the game box.
* Hardware Stores was originally included in-games, and you can buy tools (like in Vice City).
* Pharmacies from Vice City was originally included in-games were you can buy health and adrenaline.
Weapons
* The Skateboard was cut from the final game (its icon is still on the disk, and it can still be used but only as a weapon).
* Strategy guides and other prints speak of a Gun Cane available alongside the Cane. The Gun Cane does not appear anywhere in the game.
* The Parachute was originally smaller and blue (it can be seen in the demonstration video in Flight School showing how to control parachute).
* Accorded to some early preview of the games, 150 weapons where originally included in-game.
* A another rocket-launcher called "M47 dragon" was cut, the files of exist can be found in the PS2 version only.
* A sniper rifle named "M82" was cut.
* The grenade launcher was cut again.
* Two machine guns named "M249 SAW" and "M60" was cut, the files of exist can be found in the PS2 version only.
* The Micro-SMG was removed, the weapons can be seen in early screenshot of the games.
Others
* Animals that would roam the rural areas were cut. (Their models are still available in the game's files, albeit without AI present).
* Originally, there were over 300 gang territories to be taken over all over the map.
* The ability to create and run your own casino was taken out after the alpha version.
* Usable car-washes, similar to those in GTA IV , were cut.
* The ability to ride the Trolleys in San Fierro was cut.
* Early magazine previews showed that cops would hold on a vehicle's bumper if the player tried to speed away.
* The mobster who Carl kills in Saint Mark's was originally going to be called Marco Forelli but due to deleted audio, his name was never mentioned in the final version.
* The Grove Street Families were originally going to be called The Orange Grove Families.
* Gangster would walk into accessible places like safehouses, stores, etc.
* Pool tables were originally going to be colored green instead of blue.
* The motor bikers had a different design.
* Carl Johnson would be able to use drugs, which would make the camera wobble around making it more difficult to control CJ.
* The ability to drink beer was cut from the alpha version
* Through the hidden interiors universe unused Brothels can be found, these were most likely to be placed on top of Strip Clubs.
* Pre-release magazine articles showed that stealing cars was to be much more difficult. In early screen shots, car jacking was shown to involve smashing the car's window and then hot wiring it. This was all removed, possibly due to the limitations posed by the PS2. A similar system is present in GTAIV.
* The ability to rob stores (like in GTA: Vice City) such as 24/7 was removed.
Never knew about this until this day. Too bad some of these things have been removed, I'm sure they would have made the game even more fun
