In the beta, toons were able to wear colored gloves.
Prior to the addition of ToonTasks early on in the beta, earning new gag tracks worked simply by visiting each playground. Laff boosts were earned with each new level up in gag experience, with the maximum laff being 120.
Drop was originally one of the starter tracks, in addition to Throw and Squirt. With toons being able to obtain four new gag tracks on top of the starter tracks, this meant that they could eventually obtain all seven tracks.
Beta Match Minnie required players to click on buttons with their mouse instead of using the arrow keys, and used different sound effects for each of the four buttons. The sound effect for getting a perfect score was a more generic "applause" sound that was later changed to be "toonier", so to speak.
The Race Game could originally be played with any number of players, with the other slots being replaced with cogs if there weren't enough. In December 2001, it was changed to require three or more players.
Toon HQs were not added until the second beta in September 2002. Until then, ToonTasks had to be obtained from shopkeepers.
One ToonTask asked for toons to deliver a Bugle to Professor Pete. The problem was that the game didn't check if the player actually had Sound, and so players that chose the task became stuck. The task was changed to instead ask for a Squirt Gun. This was fixed during Beta 2.
The fishing minigame used to be significantly different, requiring the player to manually reel fish in by moving their mouse in a circle at the correct speed. The fish species were more generic, and didn't have models. Furthermore, only the Toontown Central playground had a fishing pond. The fishing known today wasn't added until late 2003, and with only 50 of the 70 species that exist today. The other 20 were added in June 2004.
Jumping used to be a simple animation rather than an actual movement. When Sellbot HQ was added in late 2003, a proper jumping mechanic was added, since it was actually relevant in the Factory and VP.
Sellbot HQ was much more difficult early on. Merit requirements for promotions were higher, the cogs in the Factory were slightly higher level (the Foreman, for example, was level 11 instead of 9), and it was even possible to lose cog disguise parts by going sad in the VP. The goons took more laff points from toons, and had orange and red hats instead of yellow. The Sellbot suit initially did not offer laff boosts, as it only went up to Mr. Hollywood Level 12 instead of 50. The nerfs to merit requirements and the introduction of Sellbot laff boosts came in March 2004, while the other nerfs came with the addition of Cashbot HQ in February 2005.
Prior to the introduction of Sellbot and Cashbot HQs, some of the storyline tasks in Goofy's Gardens and Donald's Dreamland were different. They were later changed to involve the new cog headquarters.
When Cashbot HQ was introduced on the test server, the standard cogs in the Mints were levels 8 and 9 instead of 10 and 11.
Level 7 gags were not introduced until October 2006. Before this, each gag track maxed out at 9,999 points. Once the new gags were added, toons had to earn one more point in each track to unlock them.
Locations
The beta Toontown Central playground was completely different, being circular instead of Mickey Mouse-shaped. The in-game map continued to reflect this for a while even after the playground itself was changed.
Beta Donald's Dock was significantly smaller, with most of the grass areas being blocked off. The only way to get from one side to another was by riding the boat.
Daisy Gardens was known as Goofy's Gardens until late 2005, when racing was added and Goofy was moved to a different playground in the form of Goofy Speedway. In the beta, it featured a flower-themed gazebo, as well as a textured pond that couldn't be interacted with.
There used to be a merry-go-round in Minnie's Melodyland, which toons could step on to increase its speed. It was removed with the introduction of fishing ponds in all the playgrounds (instead of just Toontown Central).
The Brrrgh used to have an igloo where the Toon HQ now stands.
Before each of the cog HQs were added, the playground tunnels leading to them were blocked off. When Oak Street, Pajama Place, and Polar Place were added, many of the ToonTasks in their respective playgrounds were moved to the new streets.
The street colors in a few neighborhoods were slightly darker than they are today. The sidewalks used a more organized brick texture.
Cog buildings used to have a boiler on the first floor.
Nametags/UI
SpeedChat was referred to as "ToonTalker" during beta.
During the beta, cog nametags didn't show their department, instead just showing their name and level. The cogs themselves didn't have lights on them indicating their health.
The friend request window used to take up almost the entire screen. In April 2003, it was moved to a smaller window in the top-right corner.
Until around 2004 or 2005, chat bubbles that were off screen showed without a border around them.
The Districts page of the Shticker Book used to show the exact population of each district. In April 2006, this was changed to a red light for full districts, green for "ideal" districts (highly populated but not full), and blue for relatively empty district.
Nametags used to be green for NPCs and orange for other (non-true-friend) toons. In 2007, these colors were switched.
Even earlier on, as seen in Toontown Archive's 2001 server, cogs' nametags were blue instead of gray, while toons' nametags were red.
Toon names used to be able to have custom capitalization, including all lowercase letters. The requirements for names were also much more lax at this time, allowing for, among other things, numbers.
The toon selection screen used to be orange, with all the slots being neatly organized squares. Later, the layout was changed to have a blue background, and the squares were rotated in different directions to look zanier.
The Laff Meter was originally a generic health bar, but was later changed to the current "toonier" design.
Music
The music for the introduction to the VP battle was originally "The Big Boss" before it was changed to the more generic "Cog-tastrophe" theme in January 2004, less than a month after Sellbot HQ was released on the live server.
The boss completion theme was originally "Cog Boss Victory" and was changed to "The Hall of Fame" with the introduction of the CEO.
Other
The tutorial originally took place entirely within the Toontown Central playground itself, rather than a dedicated ToonTorial area.
The treasures in each playground for gaining laff points were generic treasure chests during beta, and were later changed to be themed after the neighborhood.
Tunnels to other locations had a brief downward slope in them, before they were changed to be level.
The icons for some gags, namely the Glass of Water, Elephant Trunk, and Fog Horn, were originally rotated differently compared to now. The Grand Piano had a completely different icon, and was called an Upright Piano, although the model when actually used in battle was still the same.
Some unnamed buildings were given addresses as names, e.g. "714 Lullaby Lane".
Cogs were previously referred to as "COGs", in all caps. Skelecogs, when they were first added, were instead labeled as "Skeletons".
Toons aboard the trolley used to stand in front, rather than sitting on the seat. This was changed in August 2003.
Screenshots used to contain debug info in the lower-left corner, including the player's district, zone ID, coordinates, and game version. Since this wasn't very useful to the average player, it was removed in 2004.
Before the introduction of SpeedChat+ in 2008, chat between secret friends was shown to other players as animal noises (e.g. "meow mew meow") but without the italics.
" before it was changed to the more generic "Cog-tastrophe" theme in January 2004, less than a month after Sellbot HQ was released on the live server.