GTA 4 may have at one point had functioning ferries
Years later, GTA 4 players discover a scrapped ferry transportation system.
GTA 4, like most games in the series, allowed players access to all sorts of land, air and water vehicles. But one type of transportation in particular was seemingly cut ahead of launch.
That being ferries. YouTuber Badger Goodger went digging for references to this scrapped transportation system in the game's existing ports and docks, and found enough evidence to suggest that Rockstar had at one point considered having a functional ferry system.
This all starts with a GTA 4 trailer that showed a ferry docked at a terminal in Alderney, something that doesn't show up in the final game. That terminal exists in the game, but it's abandoned. Despite that, you can still find NPCs spawn there as if it was any other populated location in the game.
That said, upon first inspection, Badger Goodger wasn't able to find any other similar terminals across the various Liberty City islands. Realistically, we should at least have one terminal in Algonquin across the water, which would serve as the main port that connects Liberty City with Alderney.
So the YouTuber went looking for evidence of any other public ferry terminals in the city.
After examining the edges of the Algonquin island, he came across a place that appears to have been used as a terminal at some point. It has gaps wide enough for cars and pedestrians to board the ferries, and even cops standing guard - two sights common across the game's various transportation hubs.
The building itself is inaccessible by normal means, but glitching through it reveals an early attempt at designing an interior. The player character notably doesn't clip through the floor, which means - unlike most buildings you can glitch through - this one had a purpose.
Rounding it all out is the discovery of a ferry icon you can still find in the game's files, which doesn't actually show up on the map. This was likely made to point players to the different ferry terminals, for an in-development system that made use of those vehicles.
You can watch the full video above for Goodger's full journey.