Community members have discovered interesting details about the game's evolution, including placeholder assets and design changes.

In what appears to be the latest in a series of Grand Theft Auto leaks, pre-release versions of the PSP classic GTA: Liberty City Stories have surfaced online, giving us a glimpse into the game's state just months before its launch.

The builds are versions of the game from July and September 2005, which is roughly two to three months before the game's official October 24 release.

The leak consists of two versions:

  • A July 26, 2005 build (v0.01) containing game data but facing booting issues
  • A September 1, 2005 build (v0.02) featuring a fully playable debug version

Community members testing out these early builds have discovered several interesting differences from the final release. The most notable is that the builds contain an in-development Rockstar Games logo introduction sequence, complete with placeholder music borrowed from the radio stations Lips and Head Radio.

As for the visual differences, early loading screen artwork has surfaced, showcasing alternative character designs that never made it to the final release. Vehicle designs also differ, with the Phobos VT sporting a different appearance in these pre-release versions.

Technical details about the game's development process were also picked out by fans. The weather system appears to be borrowed directly from earlier titles, GTA 3 and Vice City, suggesting the team was still finalizing Liberty City Stories' environmental effects.

In addition to this, various other Vice City assets can be found throughout the build, giving insight into how Rockstar repurposed and refined content during development.

Even subtle interface elements saw revision, like the HUD features thicker black outlines around text compared to the final release, and alternative credit sequence music has been discovered.

Though these leaks have generated a lot of interest within the GTA community, Rockstar has not yet commented on their authenticity - not that they are likely to. This comes in the wake of an incident late last year where a purported GTA San Andreas source code leak was revealed to be fake and contained malicious software.