Driver is a 1999 action / driving game developed by Reflections Interactive (now known as Ubisoft Reflections). In the screens and video below, you can notice an early version of the game, with various differences: in the beta the Miami city main car was yellow with a black stripe (a kind of vehicle that is only used in Driver 2), an early pause / debug menu and the car resists to more damages than in the final version.
The HUD wasn´t complete and the map color is green instead of red. Some cars seen in the beta Newcastle city were not used in the Playstation version, but they can still be “unlocked” with gameshark / AR codes. The PC version of Driver could be considered as a director´s cut since the city and the unused cars can be normally unlocked in the game.
Super Slav has made us to notice that in the beta demo you coud drive your car into the water as there are no barriers to stop you in some parts of Miami area. Also some of the boats do not have textures. Hacking the demo to have unlimited time and damage, it’s possible to roam the beta map and to found some interesting stuff! (Check the third video below) Only half of the Miami map is avalable, peds can walk on water, and the boats are not solid. The water has no effect on the civilian cars (they can drive on it like the they drive on roads), the water only affects your car. Also, the map was a bit different in the beta demo.
Also, the original beta featured screenshots and videos of a yellow Buick GSX, but this car did not feature in the final game. It was, however, included as a bonus car in Driver 2.
Thanks to Vicente, Martin, Gamersin and Super Slav for the contributions!
Images:
Video:
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Here is a very rare video I uploaded of some replays that featured the original GSX model!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvID3VcotJw
THanks for the video and info Martin! :D
The original beta featured screenshots and videos of a yellow Buick GSX, but this car did not feature in the final game. It was, however, included as a bonus car in Driver 2.
A retrospective article I wrote on Driver that also features beta artwork:
http://gamerlimit.com/2010/08/retrospective-driver-you-are-the-wheelman/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHG5gKGfgKA
Some unused cars in the beta demo. Two of them are very similar to the PC version :)
Video added! Thanks a lot :)
Driver actually started out in it’s very original form (as a top-down game) on the Commodore Amiga! (at least from a design point of view)…with Martin Edmondson having the idea of the player being a Cop patrolling the city chasing after ‘bad guys’, but thought the concept was far better suited to a 3D enviroment, so shelved the game until such point the hardware could turn his concept into a reality.
A red 1st generation Ford Mustang was found in PlayStation Euro Demo 43. Here it is in all it’s glory.
According to the uploader, it was supposed to be Tanner’s car in Los Angeles or San Francisco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoHGo7bPSPI
Trailer with a different HUD: https://youtu.be/gHAYgROHqxA