When I saw that GTA 6 was heading back to Vice City and the fictional state of Leonida, my first thought was whether a certain Back to the Future mod would find new life here.
Back in 2009, while I was using my PlayStation 3 to play games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Infamous, and the train level in Uncharted 2 on repeat, I'd also be going to my PC to find out what else I could do in Back to the Future: Hill Valley. Released in 2008 for the PC port of GTA: Vice City, the first version of this mod let you drive the DeLorean time machine from the Back to the Future trilogy, and almost twenty years later, it's still being worked on.
In 2026, you can switch on the time circuits, key in a random date, hit 88 miles an hour, and travel in time, leaving your five-star wanted level in the dust. Other features include instant time travel from one time period to another with no loading times, flyable DeLoreans, a playable Time Train from the third movie, and more. With work ongoing to port the mod to GTA: San Andreas, I spoke to the team about how the mod began and what could be next for it.
"If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything"
We've kicked off the Countdown to GTA 6
BTTF: Hill Valley 0.2g is the most recent update, released in November 2024, which now lets players customize their own DeLorean time machine vehicle, control it with a remote, and even travel to a strange dimension if your car gets damaged. The release also marks it as open source, meaning anyone can take the code and make the mod their own. It's easy to install the mod if you own the original PC version of Vice City from 2003, not the Definitive Edition – just be aware of the potential for random bugs.
The team consists of a mix of community members who have joined, left, and rejoined the BTTF: Hill Valley project since its 2008 beginnings. Two members, developers who go by Carlos85G and Delorean88us, recall the mod's early days. "It started as a small six-hour time-jump mod in GTA: Vice City, promoted in a thread at the now-defunct BTTF.com forums," Carlos85G says. "The original creator said he was in the process of making some new maps and trying to integrate the storyline from the movies." Neither can say for certain who started it, but the goals of the mod have remained to this day.
"I remember the mod initially letting players travel 6 hours forward in time, which would clear wanted levels; and it grew from there," Delorean88us says. "People started offering help, and a team was formed. Soon after, we began creating new models, effects, and after that, everything is history."
"Most of the interior sound effects were recorded inside a real DeLorean"
Archer, BTTF: Hill Valley developer
Working with an engine from 2002, which was much improved over GTA 3, has led to challenges. "Coding space for free-roam features was a big deal back then. Any new feature required trade-offs: Flying meant a helicopter or the seaplane had to go," Carlos85G explains. "New animations meant borrowing one of the map props and repurposing it! I think the biggest one was the effects and animations, because everything had to be calculated programmatically."
The project took a step forward when Vice City could be taken apart, allowing the team to change previously inaccessible parts of the game. "As time moved on and Vice City was reverse-engineered, we were able to change core systems, like adding a new flight model for the flying DeLorean, having seamless animations on the vehicles, adding our own sound engine to the game," Delorean88us says. "At this point, it turned from what we can do with the commands that came with the game, to what we could do with the game engine to expand the mod further."
Archer, who's been in charge of the mod's sounds, has been able to come up with innovative ways of keeping everything faithful from the movies. "Over the years, I was able to get better at getting the movie sounds. Going from the DVDs to the 4K releases, I'd clean up old sounds - and I'm still refining all the sound effects. I want them to be the best they can be - sound is important. The Time Machine wouldn't feel like itself if you didn't hear its engine, or the explosions when it travels through time," Archer says. "My favorite part was working on the interior sounds. For first-person mode, we had to record and design all the sounds for each of the buttons and windows. Plus, most of the interior sound effects were recorded inside a real DeLorean."
"Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one!"
With the original PC version of GTA: San Andreas still having a huge modding community to this day, players have always wondered when feature parity between the Vice City version of BTTF: Hill Valley and this game will be made. Work is ongoing to port it to GTA: SA, for one simple reason. "For me, it's because San Andreas has a bigger map and was more fun to have a flying time machine in than Vice City's flat map," Delorean88us says.
Carlos85G agrees, saying that the mod in San Andreas could be seen as an expansion. "Our main focus has always been, and will still be, Vice City because of the warm look and '80s setting; however, we recognize that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has a richer map and a bigger modding community, so we'd like to expand some of the features found in the VC mod into this newer game." He also notes that it's something players have been wanting for a long time. "Some people have asked for it for a while, and we have even seen some of our concepts translated into this engine; so we'd like to make something, as little as it is, that fits well in this platform."
With plenty of team members having left and rejoined throughout the years, Carlos85G also explains how it's been to manage this turnover. "It's been both a delight and difficult. We have had some amazing modelers, coders, mappers, and artists in our ranks, but progress is slow, and everybody has a say in how their assets are handled. It's hard to find people passionate enough about the franchise and accuracy and, also, willing to contribute their free time and labor for the goal."
If you're new to the BTTF: Hill Valley mod or a longtime player, you'll see how much love and passion has been put into this, despite the ever-changing team. You discover new and exciting ways of exploring Vice City, whilst also offering a lot of fun, especially if, like me, you play the soundtrack in the background as you play.
With GTA 6 coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles later this year, it seems inevitable that the game will come to PC, which could mean a new generation of mods. But could BTTF: Hill Valley fit into this in a full-circle moment?
Two developers, Mini-Me and DragonKing, weigh in. "Probably. It depends on how quickly modding tools become available and what (new) possibilities they offer. Also on how much developer Rockstar Games keeps locking down the game to prevent modification," Mini-Me says. "Especially with the GTA Online part for GTA 5, Rockstar Games has increased efforts to prevent modification of the game, i.e. through encryption of game data, so time will have to show whether Rockstar Games will again make it harder with the next installment."
DragonKing gives another reason why Hill Valley may not come to GTA 6. "One of the reasons we stuck with Vice City as long as we have is the 1980s aesthetic. While it would look better in GTA 6 with the realistic graphics, it just lacks that charm, plus none of us are spending $100 on a game for a garage."
So whilst the chances of seeing the mod on a potential GTA 6 PC port are currently up for discussion, the future of BTTF: Hill Valley is safe for the foreseeable future. If you've got the original PC version of Vice City, install the mod and discover why Tommy Vercetti doesn't need roads.
