Beta

There always comes a time in video game development when content has to be heavily modified or removed entirely. This is well known with the Driver series, from the infamous Yellow & Black Buick to the Bentley Mulsanne in Driver: San Francisco.

Driver: You Are The Wheelman

• Tanner's car in Miami was once a very slick looking Buick GSX, known to fans as the Yellow & Black Buick. It has also seen various design changes since then.
• A speedometer and rev-counter were considered, but were deemed "distracting".
• Apparently a Ford Mustang was supposed to be Tanner's second car as files of it were found in Euro Demo 43 disc.
• The beta features an early version of "Miami Night Cop". The version played in the beta is pitched up and includes an E-Bass instead of a synthesizer bass.

Driver 2

No information available at this time.

DRIV3R

DRIV3R has gone through some noticeable changes throughout development, with the biggest differences being the vehicles and the overall look of the game.

General

• The game was titled Driver 3 during development. The reason for the change, as Martin Edmondson explains,

  "During the development time, the game was simply known as “Driver 3” but a last minute change saw it renamed to the godawful “Driv3r” at a time when being “l33t” was the in-thing to do[...]somebody clever in marketing[...]decided that it was a ‘cool’ thing to do[...]As a development team we were not for it and thought it was a bit tacky[...]It was a needless and pointless thing to do that made life difficult for everyone.”

• The game uses a modified version of the Stuntman engine.
• Ocean Drive looked completely different and narrower.
• The rays of the sun were much more intensive.
• Night time looked much more realistic.
• The overall graphics of the game were much better.
• In early screenshots and gameplay, Tanner can be seen wearing his suit from Driver 2.
• The sawn-off shotgun was cut from the game. The texture remains unused in the game files.
• Calita wore red clothes and had a different haircut, as seen in some early trailers.
• Particle effects were diffrent and looked much more realistic

Missions

• Two missions were cut during the development.
• Objectives were different in some missions.
• Unused text for missions still exist in the game files.
• Cut dialogue in the game suggests that Jones would save The Gator. The mission was scrapped for unknown reasons.
• More cut dialogue reveals Lomaz knew who Jericho was selling the cars to, and would tell Tanner if he got them out of the situtation they were in, alive. It is unknown when this mission may have taken place.
• An unamed character who appears alongside Vauban in Cutscene "Tanner Escapes" was supposed to appear in mission Chase The Train. his model and textures still exist in the game files.

Vehicles

Nearly 99% of the vehicles in DRIV3R have gone through significant changes throughout development. Some of them resemble vehicles found in Stuntman.

General

• Police cars from each city could be chosen for Take-A-Ride (as evidenced in unused vehicle selection videos), but were removed for unknown reasons.
• A Mitsubishi Starion is seen in an official strategy guide, but is never seen in-game.
• Police boats featured in each city and could be chosen in Take-A-Ride, but were later removed for unknown reasons. Their files remain in the game, unused.

Miami

• The '69 Bruiser was a licensed 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429 with a blue stripe down the middle. The final version also had a blue and white stripe at one point, but was later removed and the stripe was changed to white.
• The Police Prowler looked much dirtier and resembled the beta Driver: You Are the Wheelman police car.
• The TT Cuatro SuperPower had an unused red color.
• The V-8 looked completely different and had a yellow color.
• The Adams Liberty had an unused silver color, with visible dents on the side.
• The Flamingo Taxi had both brake lights intact.
• The El Toro GT500 was called the El Burro and had a violet color that was never seen in-game.
• The V-8 had an unused red color.
• The Dart Retaliator closely resembled the Dodge Challenger from Driver 2.
• The '80 Redline V-8 had different rims and a dark golden color.
• The Hunter 313 T had a Maranello Red color with bright white rims, just like a real Ferrari.
• The Scout Chaser had an unused red color.
• The G750 Pickup had a dark black color and looked slightly cleaner.
• The Velocity Turbo was silver with golden rims and shiny chrome trim.
• The Go-Kart was a brighter red with different livery that said "Supa Kart"

Nice

• Early screenshots of the game show a Citroen DS-esque police car.
• Citroen 2CV was cut from the game.
• The Le Compact XS had a bright red color with bright white rims.
• The Vitesse Moyenne 72X closely resembled a Citroen CX and had a dark gold color. The overall condition of the car looked very rough and grimy.
• The Le Compact Rapporter closely resembled a Fiat Panda
• The LTS V-8 had a dark black color that can only be found in a mission.
• The Benissimo 74 Turbo looked different and had the wheels from the Lamborghini in Stuntman. The white color can be found on the PS2 version only.
• The Dagger Type-T closely resembled a Jaguar Type-E at one point.
• A special racing-like variant of the Dagger Type-T was seen very early on in development, but was later removed.
• The Prontezza Freddo had an unused baby blue color.
• The Prontezza Brezza looked very different and was similar to a late 80's/early 90's Mercedes Benz.
• The Conquest Motors Dominance had an unused dark black color and a spoiler in the rear.
• The Le Chariot Klein and Le Chariot Transport 6 had unused dark black colors and different front-ends. The Le Chariot Transport 6 also had a broom in the back.
• The Lastwagon Kasten had an unused dark black color and different livery on the side.
• The Dolva 8M8 looked like it came straight out of Stuntman.
• The Moped and Sun Runner had unused bright red colors.
• The Cigarette 42 Tiger was an orange/red combo (like a tiger) instead of blue.

Istanbul

• Santun TTZ had diffrent headlights 

Driver: Parallel Lines

Driver PL Original Intro

The original intro used generic images as placeholders for the final version.

• The intro cutscene used pictures from Google as placeholders for the final version later on. It also featured different music and more narrative from TK. The time of day was changed from daytime to nighttime.

• The 2006 era of the game also featured a different HUD for the speedometer.

Driver: San Francisco

• The Bentley Mulsanne was cut sometime during development.
• The original HUD in Shift mode was different.
• Cars, when hovered over in Shift, displayed vehicle specs.
• There were more trees in the city.

Wii version

• The concept art section found in the extras features various different box art designs.
• Tanner's design also underwent changes. These can also be found in the concept art.

Driver: Renegade 3D

• The Rage bar used to have a different look in beta. Some graphics appeared different.