Proto:Test Drive (2002)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Test Drive (2002).

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

A preview build of the PlayStation 2 version dated March 1, 2002, just under three months before the game's US release.

Differences

• The intro is mostly the same as the final version, with the exception of the lack of SoundMAX logo, no SFX and Test Drive logo at the end. It also consist of one single video file and not a few separate ones for each logo and intro itself. Lastly, the music is Linkin Park's "Points of Authority" instead of Saliva's "Lackluster":

• The loading screen is completely different:

Proto	Final

• The title screen is almost identical to the final, except that "Press START button" is simply "Press START" and the copyright notice is a bit differnt (most notably referring to the game as "TD Underground"):

Proto	Final

• All Underground events and races from other game modes are fully unlocked here.
• The countdown animations and graphics during the races are completely different. Checkpoint flares are used only in SF, while in the other cities vans are used instead, which are not used in the final version at all.
• HUD elements such as map and cop radar have different designs.
• The AI racers in some of the races use their second color, while in the final version they use their first color.
• Car color customisation is limited to main colors only.
• You can be chased by all spawned cop cars in the current race, instead of being limited to just two at once, and it's more difficult to lose them. There's also a meter showing how much you have left until you're busted and then prompted with "BUSTED!!" on the screen followed by a 3-second countdown. In the final version, there's only a 4-stage meter attached to the hudmap and the car is just stopped without any prompts when busted.
• There are billboard advertisements such as Google and eBay, which are replaced in the final version with different ones. There are also hanging banners in Monaco which are removed from the final game.
• Monaco is renamed to Monte Carlo in the final game:

Proto	Final

• An orbit camera can be toggled while changing camera modes. This was also cut from the final game.
• Game Options has a few extra options, but most interesting is an option to directly change the weight of the traffic cars:

• Two-Player mode has a Cop Chase mode (which was cut from the final version), and only one chase in London is available:

• Cop Chase mode was originally planned to allow the selection of 4 cars instead of 3.
• Some cars have incomplete model names and no stats.
• The FMV at the beginning of Underground mode (which is actually rendered in real-time in the final game instead) is showing Clark's Cuda, revealing an unused Cuda model with different hood design, which is unlocked by default and playable in this build. However, it cannot be used in Underground mode and it is left completely unused in the final game.

• Hamada's Supra is not present in this build.

(Source: RacingFreak)