Space station mission

During the development of Deus Ex, a space station mission was created but was cut from the game.

Development history
In the plot concept for Shooter: Majestic Revelations, the final mission was set on a space station called "Helios." The mission would have JC Denton confront a rogue Majestic 12 AI named "Adam," to the outcome of either merging with Adam or destroying Adam entirely along with the space station.

Later during development, the original space station concept was modified into a pair of space stations, one of which was modeled after the international space station, and the other being a resort hotel (see "Plot" section below for more details). Additionally, the Adam AI was replaced by Ada, an AI located on the moon instead of a space station. A moon base mission then became the final endgame location, while the space station mission served as the penultimate segment prior to the moon base.

The space station mission was later cut from the game. The endgame was then consolidated into just the moon base, until the moon base was also cut (and replaced by Area 51).

According to Deus Ex developer Scott Martin, the development team intended for the mission to unofficially tie into the System Shock universe. However, when Irrational Games acquired the rights to System Shock, the team decided to scrap the mission.

The released game contains no explicit mention of any space station. However, the concept of a luxury space station was later reused for the Heaven space station, which is mentioned in Deus Ex: Human Revolution as being a "resort paradise."

Plot
According to a 2007 Harvey Smith interview, the mission would have involved two separate space stations. The protagonist would first travel to an "international space-station" via a rocket, and then to a second space station, known as the "luxury space-station," via a shuttle: In an earlier interview in 2000, Warren Spector gave a description of what appears to have been the "international space-station" mentioned by Harvey Smith. Spector described a space station modeled after the real-world International Space Station (ISS). However, since Deus Ex is set in the future, the space station would appear outdated and decommissioned. The space station would feel much like the original System Shock: The other space station (the "luxury space-station") apparently retained the name "Helios" that was used in the Majestic Revelations concept. Deus Ex design document v. 13.12 included the following description: "Helios, is due to open soon, a safe haven for the wealthy and a getaway for adventurous travelers with good connections and LOTS of money." This document also discusses the existence of "two relatively large orbiting space stations," consistent with Harvey Smith's description that the mission was planned to feature multiple space stations.

The Deus Ex Bible similarly refers to the existence of two space stations, one of which having a "mega-expensive resort hotel [that] opened recently." However, the name "Helios" is no longer mentioned, since the name had been given to the final AI character in the released game.

TITAN.utx texture package
The original release of Deus Ex includes an entirely-unused texture package with the filename "TITAN.utx". The textures in this package are believed to relate to the rocket that would have been used to reach the first space station, since the textures names mention "Rckt" (i.e., rocket) (see also "Trivia" section below). This texture package was removed from the game files in the Game of the Year Edition of Deus Ex.

Trivia

 * The real-world was a rocket designed to deliver payloads into space. It was launched from the (real-world) Vandenberg Air Force Base, from a silo similar to the in-game MJ12 Missile Silo.