[Warning: this article is just a translation from the original one in italian, there are some “lost in translation” parts, so the original version was more complete, but at least now we have an english version too. If you find some errors or some weird use of the english language, please send us a mail so we can fix them, thanks!]
[original article in italian by monokoma, english translation by Yota]
[Thanks to Evan & Sba sb3002 for the english corrections!]
Overworld – Towns & Dungeons – Characters & Items
Beta Towns & Dungeons
This dungeon, first showed in 2004, was either removed or became the Arbiter’s Grounds. Or maybe it was an area created just for testing.
In this screen taken from the 2004 video, we see Link fight a Moblin in the beta dungeon. But the most interesting thing is the fallen fire tourch on the floor. Maybe in the first builds of the game it was possible to interact more with the environment ?
This is the beta Link’s house. As we know, in the released game it is on a tree, as in Ocarina of Time.
It seems likely that it in the beta it was possible to exit from the window of Link’s house, to find a chicken on the roof (maybe to fly to a secret place?)
In an old demo, it was not possible to enter the Link’s house basement without the oil lantern. In the final version you can enter even without any light, but you can not see much in there.
In the demo it was even possible to explore the Ordon river with the canoe.
Another beta screenshot of the Ordon Village, where we can see a scarecrow in the background, that it was later removed, and the lack of the watermill in the Jaggle & Pergie’s house.
In the 2005 demo, the cat that Link needs to catch was spotted on the roof of the shop and not near the river as in the final version.
In another demo, we can see a removed cutscene where Hanch Falls in the river trying to escape from the bees. Update: thanks to Drew we found out that this scene with Fado isnt removed: if you dont hit the hive and wait for the last day, Hanch hits it with a rock and you are able to see this scene!
Originally in the beta hive there were some rupies, while in the final version there are some worms in it.
In the beta Ordon Village there was another hive on the tree near the village chief’s house
In the old demo of the Ordon Ranch minigame, the text for when the goats enter in the barn was different: it said “Yee-Haw” while in the final version it says “Goat In!”.
The final Castle Town has clear differences from the beta. The structure of the houses were very different, and the characters who populated the area were not the same as the final game. Castle Town has undoubtedly had many makeovers before the final version. Nintendo probably improved the look and feel and better organized the space. We did not have reason to believe, however, that any important details were erased; it seems to simply be at an early stage without important features.
Beta Castle Town. We can see that the characters and the houses were different, even if the organization of the streets was almost the same as the final one.
In the Zelda video from the E3 2006, we can see a later beta version of the south part of the city: it is more similar to the final version, but the Goron is in a different position and even the street on the left was moved down.
In the E3 2005 trailer, there were many more ghosts than the final version. We can even see rat’s souls in the Hyrule Castle underground, which in the completed game are showed only much later in the game.
In the E3 2005 trailer, Link seems to escape from the prison through a grate in the wall. In the final game instead, Midna tells Link to dig the prison floor.
Next Chapter >> Beta Characters & Items
Overworld – Towns & Dungeons – Characters & Items
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the removed scene with fado isnt removed.dont hit the hive and wait for the last day and the dude hits it with rocks.
ooh, interesting! Thanks a lot Drew, finally we have a proper confirmation about this mistery! :)
Fado is actually the guy who asks you to herd the goats in Ordon Ranch… The guy who wants the beehive is named Hanch.
ops! thank for the correction Hyliaman :) i’m going to fix it
If you look closely in the picture: http://www.unseen64.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/zeldatpbetacastletown1.jpg
In the upper part of the picture you can see glimplse of an gate that looks like it hase the same structure as one of the gates from the Bridge of Eldin. This might be the entrance to the Castle Town and through town you might reach the castle in the beta?