Shining Lore is to the very majority of people a cancelled MMORPG originally to be released early 2003, before it fell into development limbo. However, what most people are unaware of is that Shining Lore Online, as it was to be called, was originally a dating RPG called, simply, Shining Lore (Supposed to be released in 1999 or 2000). This was, obviously, a -very- different game from Shining Lore Online, which shared some elements, but in many ways it was very different (A dark plot instead of a lighthearted one, for example). Many of the characters you were to meet in Shining Lore Online were based on designs of the girls you could date in Shining Lore, although obviously, some of them had seen slight redesigns, or in some cases even sex changes.
Incidentally, a beta version of this game existed, but sadly I never got hold of it. The only “proof” I have of its’ existence is a small capture of the setup program:
There are a series of alternative designs for the main characters, displaying a more mature look than that used in the “final” version of Shining Lore online, even though those designs are largely the same as the finished ones. (Although by a different artist.) I have no idea, however, if these designs are from the early development of Shining Lore Online and thus being closer in style to Shining Lore Offline, or if they are merely designs by a completely different artist. Never the less, it’s an interesting addition.
It was originally supposed to be a very social kind of MMORPG. Apart from the usual dungeon-crawling and quests found in normal online games, each player had his or her own room, which could be decorated as the player saw fit. (Similar to Sims or Animal Crossing) Guilds had access to a much higher degree of customisation for their houses. What really set it apart, however, was an arcade-style… I think it was called “Shining Road”. I can’t remember. It was included in early trailers for the game. It was highly similar to games such as Mario Party, right down to the dice. Minigames were played in much the same fashion. In the near-finished Shining Lore online, these elements were heavily downplayed. The beta included none of the party games. However, I did manage to spot an “out of order” arcade, hinting that they would have been included in the final version.
And, yes, (to some degree translated) beta client and server files -do- exist. However, few people want to run the server due to the massive bandwidth requirements. Even with few people logged on, there is plenty of lag. That coupled with the fact that the game in beta form is highly unbalanced (battles become incredibly drawn-out due to low damage from both the player and the enemies) and several functions are left out makes it somewhat painful to play.
It’s most unfortunate that so few people know about the near-finished game that was cancelled and later became Shining Lore Online. I would personally have downloaded it if it weren’t for the fact that I at the time was on a 56k modem, and the demo was available for download, if I remember correctly, maybe a week or less. A friend of mine managed to download it and play it, and sent me several screenshots. Ironically, however, he has since moved on to buy a Mac, and the fact that my hdd crashed certainly didn’t help much.
I have contacted the developers, and they go as far as admitting that Shining Lore -had- gone through a change like that, but apart from that, they refuse to give out any information. This situation may have changed now, seeing as how Shining Lore is most definitely cancelled, and I will try to get in contact with them again soon.
An interesting note: a music video for the song Darling by the K-Pop band ShinVi, consists mainly of clips from the intro of Shining Lore, along with the group dancing and looking sickeningly cute while holding dolls of some of the enemies found in the game.
This is like the official theme song of unreleased games. Incidentally, I have the complete (as far as I know) soundtrack to the game. It’s composed by Noriyuki Iwadare of Lunar and Grandia fame, so it’s really quite good. You can download it from here!
This article is intended to be the definitive comparison between the Trial edition extracted backgrounds which are dated from 1996 to 1997 and comprise of Resident Evil 1.5 and Early betas for Resident Evil 2. Most of these images are likely old to some of you, but are presented here in a coherent format to be compared. The reasoning behind this is to entertain and inform you and also to aid in weeding out faked beta images. So if you’ve seen someone saying they have Beta 1 and they show an image where the door frames are from the Final release or there’s a box that didn’t appear until way later, then you’ll know it’s a fake. This is the first incarnation of this article. The work consists of images provided by Sardeljka and Albert and text analysis by me (Leatherface74).
This article is far from complete and may have errors, as I am only human (for now…). If you find any errors or additions please post them. Also, I did not post any images that I saw as redundant, like different camera angles or untextured rooms. The reason I didn’t do this is because those are clearly beta images and for the most part do not contain any apparent structural changes to the game. This article will only detail rooms that have changed from the Trial until the Final release.
Special Thanks to Sardeljka, for finding the 1.5 images and to Albert, for supplying me with pristine RE2 backrounds to compare with the beta ones (which he also supplied). Images on the left are extracted from the trial edition, Images on the right are from the final game unless otherwise noted. Let’s Begin…
[Article written by Leatherface74 – Thanks for the contribute!]
Chapter 1: Door Door A-GO-GO
As the RE2 team began work yet again on the RPD it seems that the structure was not completely planned in advance, as there are doors in the Trial Edition backgrounds that do not appear in the Final and vice versa.
In the first floor Police office in the West wing, a door that appears in the Final is absent in the Trial Edition. The door, which led to the second floor Crow Hallway, has been replaced with what looks like a medicine cabinet.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
The next missing door is quite possibly one of the most interesting Trial backround images. There is a door behind the statues in the Statue Pressure Plate Puzzle Hall that simply does not exist or has been referenced (at least to my knowledge) in any other screenshot. The Door is of course missing in the final game. In the same hall, a door that was in the Final (yet locked) is absent in the Trial Edition.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
It is possible that the door in image 1 was intended to lead into the door Sherry crawls under in the Final, but Capcom realized that placing the door there made the layout of the hallway a structural impossibility since it would technically be going through the STARS office; Therefore, the door was moved to it’s correct location as is present in the final. Also note that the door does not have a hole at the bottom for Sherry to crawl through like it does in the Final, possibly meaning that it hadn’t yet been scripted at the time the backround from the Trail Edition was created.
Chapter 2: Altered States
The title of this chapter refers to differences between Trial Edition backgrounds and Final backgrounds. These differences do not include missing doors or missing items (unless otherwise stated), they only include architectural changes. This chapter will have sub-sections as there are many architectural changes between the backgrounds.
Streets
Upon exiting Kendo’s Gun store, one can see a building looming in the background. In the Trial Edition, the building continues unbroken and has no windows. In the final, the building ends mid-way and has a window. The color of the pipe has also changed from a rusty red to a green.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
In the 2nd image, a building that looms in the background of the final is absent in the Trial Edition. A pipe has also been removed from the left wall in the final, but it is present in the Trial Edition.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Upon reaching the basketball court several differences are instantly apparent. In the Trial Edition, the graffiti in the court reads “Murder on the dance floor” but in the final it is replaced with “Above the Rim.” The dance floor graffiti was recycled and placed on the wall across from the the “Above the Rim” wall. Another difference is that the building above the court is missing a section in the Final that is present in the Trial Edition.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Ok, the following change is subtle, yet major. Under the fire escape past the basketball court, there is a red brick facade on the first floor wall in the Trial Edition. In a strange move, the wall was made completely into a flat gray wall in the final. On analysis, this seems like an error from a 3d modeler who shifted the Grey brick wall from the Trial Edition (where it sits just slightly behind the red brick wall) forward and just never put it back. This is supported by the fact that all the architectural details (window sills and such) are still present but the window outlines are not.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
The most famous altered setting in the game is the alley leading to the RPD, since it is playable in the Playstation version of the game with a gameshark code. There’s not much to say about this drastic change other than the obvious fact that it reduces the time it takes to get to the RPD considerably. Likely, Capcom decided late in development to extend the path to the RPD as it was just too easy to get the RPD.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
RPD 1st Floor
The room that was most drastically changed in the RPD is easily the Media Conference Room. The Layout and size remain almost identical, but the decor is completely different for both rooms. Also, note the absence of any puzzle elements in the Trial Edition backgrounds.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
The window shutter hallways also went through considerable changes. In the Trial Edition, the shutter hall with the Licker has normal windows with no shutter equipment attached. In the other shutter hall, the windows have been boarded up.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
RPD 2nd Floor
The hall with the door Sherry crawls into in the Final has been altered from the Trial Edition. In the Trial Edition, the wall on the left contains an electrical panel of some sort and the door does not have the hole for Sherry to crawl through like in the Final. In the Final, the electrical panel has been placed on the opposite wall and the left wall contains lockers.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
RPD Lobby
Ah yes, we all remember the first time we first set foot in the RPD Lobby and were amazed by it’s sheer scale and grandeur. Minor changes are strewn about in this area, mainly in regards to doorways. In the Trial Edition, the doorways are simple and their frames are small, but in the Final some of the doors have been made bigger and their frames more elaborate. This was likely because the old doors and frames were were too boring and simplistic. One other notable change is that the fire escape is missing from the Trial Edition, likely because it had not been thought of at this point.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Helicopter Hallway
The Helicopter Hallway leading to Cheif Irons’ office had alot more damage in the Trial Edition than in the Final. The Trial Edition damage seems more realistic (the hallway was not only hit by a helicopter, it was blown up as well), but it was likely lessened after realizing that it made the hallway too tight and cluttered. Also note that the color of the hallway in the Trial is very cartoony and resembles the style of RE1. The Door to Irons’ office is also different.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
RPD Basement
As a far as I can tell, there are only three architectural differences from the Trial Edition and Final Basement:
In the hall leading to the Jail Cell and Kennel, the door through which you enter is different and there is what looks to be an air conditioning shaft on the right wall added to the Final. There is also an electrical panel across one of the jail cells in the Trial Edition. It is missing in the Final.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
In the electrical room, the switch puzzle has been altered.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Door to the Evidence Room
At first the door to the Evidence room was electronically locked, as shown in the two images on the left (the first is missing the keycard reader). In the Final, it is a regular door.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Police Office
Ok, this one is really subtle, but it is a definate change. The blood spatter next the doorway is different in the Trial version than in the Final. It also seems like another layer of grime was added to the walls.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Weapons Storage
The Lockers in the Trial version look new while the ones in the Final are wrecked.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Chapter 3: There is a Thief amongst us! (missing items)
As RE2 evolved into it’s final form, many items were either moved, replaced by other items, or were simply removed from the game. This list catalogs those items.
The Morgue
One of the coolest missing details in the game are the body bags. They appear in the morgue in the Trial Edition, then in a later beta they appear again only empty, but in the Final game they are just gone. It’s a shame as they looked pretty cool. There is also a stretcher and a yellow piece of equipment (top right corner of morgue) missing in the Final that did appear in the Trial Edition. There are some details that were added to the Final that did not appear in the Trial Edition, including some gas canisters, a table, and some missing pipes on the wall.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Basement Hallway
Originally, the basement hallway was littered with stretchers. As with other changes, they were likely done to reduce the onscreen clutter.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Also, the yellow sign for the Weapons storage has been moved.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Jail Cell Hallway
A shelf has replaced the pipes from the Trial in the Final game.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Lobby
There are a pile of Boxes in the Trial on the top east corner of the second floor balcony. They are Replaced by a puzzle in the Final.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
West wing Reception office
A book is present on the couch in the Trial and not in the Final.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Police Parking Lot
A box is in the security office in the Trial but not in the final.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Basement Exterior leading to Sewers
There is detailing missing in the Trail that is present in the Final.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
1st Floor West wing hall leading to the Media Conference Room
A bench from the Trial is absent in the Final. Also note that the door to the Media Conference room has changed due to the room being redesigned.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Cheif Iron’s Office
The office remain almost identical, the only difference being that many items are missing or unfinished and the couches have been moved and replaced in the Final game.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
West Wing Shutter Hall
A flourescent light fixture is missing in the Trial.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
2nd Floor Crow Hall
A locker is present in the Trial Edition but not in the Final.
Trial Edition (left) – Final Game (right)
Chapter 4: Random Musings
This chapter covers anything which did not fit in any other category or just anything in particular.
Notice the use of RE 1.5’s Lobby couches in this Image.
This image was amongst the extracted images. It is likely from a really early beta created before they had the actual statue model ready, since this one is clearly the statue from the Art Storage Room.
The Weapons room has the same dimensions (as does most of the RPD basement) of its RE 1.5 counterpart. Note the recycled shelf models on both sides.
Ah yes, we all remember the infamous Coca Cola look-a-like signs that appeared in both the beta and early release versions of the game. For those who don’t know, Coke threatened to sue Capcom, so all the references were removed in later releases of the game.
Copyright Infringement! Woohoo!
That’s pretty much all I have for now, more will be added or fixed as it is needed. I hope you enjoyed my massive waste of space and time!
[Article written by Leatherface74 – Thanks for the contribute!]
If you have some questions, comments, more infos or theories about this article, you are welcome to join us in the Unseen 64 Forum!
We know, Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a great game and one of the most popular titles in the Zelda series. But was it really as good as it could have been? Unfortunately when Nintendo started to work on their first 3D Zelda game, they planned many interesting concepts that were never implemented in the final game. Why? What happened to Zelda 64 and why Ocarina of Time is just a tiny part of their original project? Take some time and be prepared for one of the most epic legends ever: birth, development, death and rebirth of the Zelda 3D project for Nintendo 64, a game that was so ambitious that it was never really completed.
[Original article written in Italian in 2002 by monokoma, english translation by Yota in 2008, updated, fixed and expanded by monokoma in 2014.]
The Legend Of Zelda: 64DD
The first version of Zelda 64 was originally conceived as a title developed specifically to make full use of the innovative features of the 64DD, like the internal clock, rewritable disks with more space than a normal N64 cartridge, internet connection and 3D editing. Zelda 64DD was planned to be a revolutionary game, that would have not be possible to be made on a normal Nintendo 64. Miyamoto and his team wanted to make Hyrule a persistent world: any changes that Link would perform on it would be saved on the disk: any cut tree, any broken container and any other changes made to the environment would have been saved in the game for the entire adventure (a feature that was later used in Dōbutsu no Mori / Animal Crossing for the N64).
This would have been possible thanks to the 64 Disk Drive features, but when the add-on was released in Japan it sold very poorly, as other failed console add-ons. The market was not interested. The 64DD was postponed for so long that even Nintendo lost faith on their ambitious project. As the sales of the N64 were not great, Nintendo had to make a choice and they announced that Zelda 64 would be released on a traditional N64 cartridge. Without the 64DD hardware, Nintendo had to remove many of the interesting features that were planned for Zelda 64DD and the port from 64DD to N64 had a huge impact on many sections of the game, that had to be changed or removed.
Koizumi: All kinds of things, like battles using a sword and battling lots of enemies. The Super Mario 64 project had passed by incredibly quickly, so a lot that I wanted had gone undone and I wanted to pour all those leftover ideas into The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Iwata: In the end, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time eventually became a massive project that mobilized nearly everyone who belonged to EAD at that time, but how many people did you start with?
Koizumi: Three.
Osawa: Before Koizumi-san joined, (Jin) Ikeda-san6 and I started it just the two of us!
Iwata: When people talk about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, they mention various things like an epic story, solving puzzles, trotting across a broad field on a horse and how cool Link is, but it began with the single theme of making a Zelda game that included chanbara-style swashbuckling!
Some more info can be found in various articles and interviews:
Ocarina of Time was originally designed with the N64 Disk Drive in mind, and in the future, we’d like to make use of some of those unrealized ideas intended for the N64 DD. – Nintendo Power Shigeru Miyamoto Interview
The game Zelda designer Shigeru Miyamoto and his team wanted to create would be set in a persistent world. Every change Link would make to his surroundings would stick. If you smashed a box, it would stay broken. If you dug a hole, it would remain there until you covered it. If you left footsteps in the sand, they would stay. All this was supposed to be made possible by the enhanced storage space of the 64DD. IGN: Hyrule Times Volume 4
Some magazines scans that covered Zelda 64 with 64DD features:
A great video documentary about the initial development of Zelda 64DD was created by Adam Hendrickson and you can see it below:
The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Ocarina of Time, the first 3D Zelda game, managed to preserve the feeling of the series and it was an huge success. Released in winter 1998 on the Nintendo 64, Ocarina of time was however a mere shadow of his former self, the revolutionary Zelda 64DD. Hidden in the game’s code it’s still possible to find many unused leftovers from the original concept and some of the unused features that would have been used while connecting Zelda: Ocarina of Time to the 64DD. With a Gameshark it’s even possible to play some weird beta events. Ocarina of Time is a great game, but because of all the cuts and changes made to the project, we may never know how the game was really meant to be.
There were actually also some ideas I wanted to incorporate, but because of the time shortage, I couldn’t — and if I may add this, I am not completely satisfied with the 3D system in Zelda, so if we could have had more time maybe it could have been somewhat different. But because at some point we have to finish our games, the new ideas we have may be incorporated in some sort of other game in the future. – Shigeru Miyamoto with IGN, January 1999
The Legend Of Zelda: URA
Zelda URA (“Another Zelda” in japanese) is one of the most popular and interesting tales in the Zelda history. After Ocarina was downgraded to be played on a plain N64 cartridge, Nintendo planned to create a 64 disk expansion with some of the features that had to be cut from the original game. As the released (only in Japan) F-zero 64DD expansion, Ura was meant to add more content to Ocarina Of time, with new mini-games, new sub-quest, redesigned and new dungeons. In an interview, Miyamoto tells us that when the player would have completed Ocarina of Time, with Zelda Ura he could revisit the same world, but with new features, new characters and more places to explore. Many questions and mysteries from Ocarina of Time would be aswered in Ura, like the invincible runner from Hirule Field, the Unicorn Fountain, the Ocarina Pedestal and many others.
This game was designed so it can be applied to the disk drive system, and by hooking up the N64 DD, you can play another version of Zelda. By that method, all the dungeons will be replaced by new ones. I think that will be the next Zelda we will make. – Nintendo Power Shigeru Miyamoto Interview
Zelda URA features planned for the 64DD:
Ura Zelda supposedly unlocked new mini-games, new sidequests, characters and shuffled around items to give Zelda players some new stuff to do in the familiar world of Hyrule.
Shigeru Miyamoto told us shortly before the launch of Ocarina of Time, that “you first play the initial disk version of Zelda — after finishing everything, you can enter into the world, into the basic design of the same.
It’s very much a parody game based on Ocarina of time, but with new dungeons to explore. It even features the same storyline. (from IGN64)
The title might support the GB Camera to create masks for Link. Miyamoto hinted of this possibility in a 64 Dream interview. If this does turn out to be true, gamers will be able to create their own masks in Talent Studio and implement them into Ura-Zelda. IGN: The Legend of Zelda DD / 22 Sep 1999 (this was working and was shown for Mother 3)
Ocarina Of Time was design with the introduction of the DD in mind, and if you load the game with the drive connected to your system, you will see a screen option, which says “Ura Zelda” another version of Zelda.
There were several ideas I could not incorporate into Zelda because of the lack of time and various other factors. For example, I wanted to creat some extra dungeons for those who had completed the quest. – Next-Generation magazine Feb 1999 (?)
The 64DD adventure is said to enable gamers to revisit areas and dungeons of Ocarina of Time and experience new adventures in familiar surroundings.
Miyamoto: “Whether or not we release it or not, we are still working on the game.”
Ura-Zelda isn’t so much a new game as it is an expansion to an existing one: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (it is not compatible with Majora’s Mask).
One of the few features that Nintendo told us about was the addition of new mask quests. Apart from the existing masks, Ura Zelda was to include many more — some of which were no doubt included in Majora’s Mask.
August 25/2000: Speaking to the press in an open forum held yesterday in Tokyo, Japan, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto casually commented that “Ura-Zelda” (aka: Legend of Zelda DD) has been completed for some time now.
Ura Zelda could not be played without owning Ocarina of Time.
Some magazines scans that covered the Zelda 64DD expansion:
The Legend Of Zelda: Beta Quests
The Ocarina of Time Beta Quests are weird events and scenarios not seen in the normal game, but that can be reached thanks to some Action replay/Game Shark codes. There is an incredible number of variants in the beta quests, and most likely no one has really seen them all: some of these are connected with the new features planned for Zelda URA, while in others it’s still possible to see some of the items unused when Zelda 64 was ported from 64DD to cartridge, or just strange places and glitched areas. Certainly a precious source of information to dream about the beta of Zelda 64.
The Legend Of Zelda: Master Quest
Released as a preorder bonus for Wind Waker, Master Quest was essentially an edited version of Ocarina of time with redesigned dungeons. The order of the rooms was changed, as many of the puzzles. The Outside world is still the same as Ocarina of Time, and it was a great bonus for gamers that already completed the main game, just like the original NES Zelda’s Second Quest. Master Quest is probably only a small part of the original Zelda Ura for 64DD.
Some magazines scans that covered Zelda Master Quest:
Zelda: Master Quest features on GameCube:
In the Deku Tree there’s this one chest I can’t open… it looks like a big blue box with a fancy design on it… and there’s a track next to it, as if it could be pushed or pulled… except it can’t.
The dungeon maps are all (supposedly) the same. It’s just the insides that are different.
Music seems to be exactly the same as the N64 version. The game select screen at the very beginning has a nice rendition of the classic Zelda theme.
The general map layout of the first dungeon is the same, but the puzzles, enemies, enemy locations and item locations are different. For example, many of the torches, chests, crates, floating platforms and the like have been mixed up and moved around, and some rooms have different requirements for you to fulfill in order to be able to proceed.
Also, remember those little mini-gohmas that Gohma dropped from the ceiling during the boss fight? Well, they’re all over the dungeon now… in eggs. When you get close to one, it pops out of its egg and starts attacking.
One room in the Deku Tree is full of tombstones with little Triforce designs on them. If you hit them with your sword, items pop out (rupees, hearts, etc.). I don’t remember anything like this in the original Ocarina.
Enemies are tougher. Some that required one hit in Ocarina require two in Ura. I’m not sure if they do more damage or not, though.
Also noted, some of the enemies, like the Deku Babas (Venus Flytrap head things) will some times be larger, which take more hits to kill. Enemy placement is different. Places where there would be a Deku Scrub, there may be a Deku Babas, or something.
Dodongo’s Cavern and Jabu-Jabu were both remixed nicely. In the case of Jabu-Jabu, there are cows lodged in the walls all throughout the dungeon now. :) You have to hit them with the slingshot or boomerang to make them drop chests or open doors and whatnot. It’s pretty cool.
I’m probably about 50% to 60% of the way through Ura Zelda, and to this point, the -only- changes are inside the dungeons. The overworld stuff is all exactly the same as in Ocarina of Time.
They added in more of those blue boxes that you can make appear/disappear with the ocarina, and they shuffled around some platforms and whatnot, but otherwise the layouts have been mostly the same.
The Ice Cave has areas that were featured in earlier shots, remember the two ice horses looking down? Well this is actually a new puzzle which is hella cool.
There is also a new mini boss which is a mutated version of a white Wolfos.
There are three new rooms in Ice Cavern with different puzzles.
The game is IDENTICAL to OoT, except for the dungeons.
There are NO extra items.
The fire temple plays almost completely backwards.
Lizard guy. Half-way bosses in the fire dungeon. They appear all over the place now, but also ones with white trimmings that seem to fight better.
A bigger blue floating jellyfish, that appear in Lord Jabu Jabu.
I also encountered a “mother” sand dweller. You know those plants that surface in the desert and come at you. This one was bigger and black.
The Thieves Cave (where you win the Ice Arrows) is a pain and a half. A lot of rooms with time limits. Especially one where you have to defeat an axe armour guy in sand, which makes your movement difficult, with a strict time limit.
There seem to be more “kill every enemy to open a door” rooms with more, strong enemies.
The Legend Of Zelda: Debug ROM
This debug version of Ocarina of Time was leaked online many years after the original release of the game. It’s a version of the game that developers used for testing specific section of Ocarina of Time, and it is possible to go anywere inside the ROM code with a debug menu. The most interesting part of the Zelda Ocarina of Time debug rom is, of course, that you can still find many leftovers from the beta, like some removed locations and models seen in the early screenshots and videos. Another interesting fact about the debug rom is that it should be based on Master Quest, as it was probably used to test and develope this GameCube bonus.
The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3DS
Released in June 2011, this game is a full remake of Ocarina of Time and many gamers hoped that Nintendo could have added some of the removed Zelda 64 features as a bonus content. Sadly Zelda 3DS doesn’t have many differences apart from the graphic upgrade and the unbeatable runner in the Hirule Field is still unbeatable. The 3DS remake contains modified Master Quest dungeons and mirrored overworld in addition to the original game. Maybe the mirrored overworld was planned for URA Zelda too? It was not included in the GameCube Master Quest so it’s something that was not fully developed yet.
In this video you can see all the differences between Zelda 3DS and Zelda N64:
The Legend Of Zelda: Gaiden
When Nintendo decided that the first Zelda for the Nintendo 64DD was being ported to cartridge, they began to develop a new Zelda game for the 64DD. The title, formerly known under the codename Zelda Gaiden, would have fully used all the 64DD features, especially the internal clock. In Gaiden gamers would have played as Link trapped for a week (yes, 7 days!) into a strange world on the verge of destruction. At the end of the seventh day, a natural disaster would have occured and to sruvive Link would have to travel back in time, trying to find a way to save the Termina. It was also possible to buy “more time” with rupies.
Later identified as Legend of Zelda: Gaiden (when it once again moved to cartridge), this title again starred young Link who was supposed to spend a week in a doomed world. After seven days, a disaster would destroy everything and Link would have to travel back in time to avoid it. IGN: Hyrule Time Volume 4
Environmental and time changes were going to be saved in the rewritable section of the special 64DD disks, thus influencing the events of the seven days. Another interesting feature would have been a new version of the great fishing mini-game already seen on Ocarina of Time, this time called Jabu Jabu fishing. Miyamoto even said that to stop the moon (or to stop time?) you would have needed to fish Jabu Jabu, the fish-god, but it could have been a joke.
With the 64DD failure, Gaiden was cut and quickly redeveloped for a release on the standard Nintendo 64, which was then already being forgotten because of the “next-gen” consoles (Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox and GameCube).
There will be no version of Gaiden for the 64DD. “We have made various changes to the engine, so it is only going to work on cartridge,” said Miyamoto – IGN: The Legend of Zelda DD / 22 Sep 1999
Since the game was originally designed to run on 64DD, a unit that required the 4MB RAM expansion, it’s no surprise that Gaiden (now on cart) will support the RAM Pak.
As we can read on IGN64, Zelda Gaiden was meant to be a different game than Zelda URA:
In an interview with Japanese game magazine Famitsu Weekly, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed once and for all that the cartridge-based Zelda Gaiden and the long talked-about 64DD Ura Zelda are two separate projects.
Koizumi: That’s what he told us! I remember thinking to myself “That’s not helpful at all!” [Laughs] I’d originally been designing a board game, based around the theme of cops and robbers. I wanted to make it so that you technically had to catch the criminal within a week, but, in reality, you could finish the game in an hour. I figured I’d just throw what I already had into Majora’s Mask.
From Iwata Asks interview for the release of Majora’s Mask 3DS we can read more info on the these differences:
Aonuma: Right. But at first, it was one week.
Iwata: Three days was originally one week?
Aonuma: That’s right. But when you returned to the first day it was like “Do I have to go through an entire week again…”, so we thought three days would be just right.
Iwata: Wait, it got decided just like that? (laughs)
Aonuma: (laughs) In this game the townspeople do different things each day and many different things happen, but when the timespan becomes a week, that’s just too much to remember. You can’t simply remember who’s where doing what on which day.
Iwata: moreover, you probably wouldn’t have been able to make it in a year if you were aiming to make a game filled with so much content for seven days.
Aonuma: right, we never would have been able to do it. We felt it would be best to make it a three-step process, and we compressed all sorts of things we had planned for over a week into three days.
Aonuma: The development of Ocarina of Time was so long, we were able to put in a whole lot of different elements into that game. Out of those, there were ideas that weren’t fully utilized, and ones that weren’t used to their full potential. One of those was the mask salesman8.
The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Released for Nintendo 64, the “sequel” of Ocarinaof Time lacked many of the features of the original 64dd version. Four days out of the original seven were removed, some dungeons were never completed, and many subquests never seen the light (or who knows.. maybe they were reused in Wind Waker). Yet, even so heavily redesigned, Majora’s Mask is certainly one of the best and most interesting games of the Zelda series.
Thanks to Glitterberri’s translations we can read more about the development of Majora’s Mask. The team planned to finish the game in 1 year and in that short time they surely had to cut some things from the project:
However, it really only takes a year to make the game itself. For Majora’s Mask, we had 30 to 50 staff members working on the game right from the get-go. With amount of resources required for a Zelda game, we had everyone working overtime. Striving for a unique experience with every game makes for hard work. And we did manage to do that with Majora’s Mask. So, all in all, I can say that it made for one strenuous year.
A Link To The Past
But what of the original Zelda 64 project has been left hidden inside the final games? Thanks to countless hours of exploration spent in the two games, hackers kills and Gameshark codes, it’s possible to find some interesting unused content in all the N64 Zeldas.
Zelda 64DD / URA > Ocarina Of Time
In the Japanese version of Ocarina of Time, when a 64DD is connected, a screen is displayed that warns the player to insert the Zelda URA disk.
The Hyrule Field Runner, found in Gerudo Valley, is famous for his unbeatability. In fact, even stopping the time with a Gameshark and finishing the course with a 0:00 timer, the runner will always say that he has already beated you by 1 second. Nintendo admitted that is not possible to beat him in Ocarina of Time, and it was probably going to be a new quest for Zelda Ura, using a new item to beat him.
When checking the text inside the Ocarina Of Time rom code, it’s possible to find some sentences that don’t appears in the final game, like “Hi! I’m a talking door!”- “The Entrance to the Past” – “The Entrance to the Present” – “The Entrance to the Future” – WHAAAT!? Look at all those flags! Can you figure out which ones are real? – This door is currently being refurbished [Thanks to Triforce of the Gods for the contribution!]
Thanks to some Gameshark codes, it’s possible to find this unused ice structure in one of the Beta Quests, a model that was later used in Master Quest.
In a Beta Quest you can see a strange pedestal with an Ocarina icon, never used in the final game but maybe connected in some way or another with Zelda Ura or with the beta game. The pedestal is located at Zora Domain, at the entry of the Jabu Jabu’s mouth.
These two icons left inside the rom of Ocarina can be translated as Wind Medallion and Ice Medallion, and they are most likely the leftovers of two temples removed from the final game and probably scheduled for Zelda Ura.
It’s also possible to find two unused tunics which perhaps were going to be used in the removed dungeons: The golden one (Light Temple?) and the white one (Ice Temple ?).
In the secret cave across the entrance of Gerudo Valley, it’s possible to find one of the gossip stones. The message that the stone says is: “They say that there is a switch you can only activate by using the spin attack“, but in the game there isn’t a button which it is activated only with the spin attack, and then it is likely that it refers to a puzzle of URA. UPDATE: Thanks to Ultraman82 we found out that in Ocarina of Time there is really a switch that should be activated only with a Spin Attack. Is this one in the Water Temple:
In reality, the 3D engine collisions in the game is not perfect, so you can activate it with the Biggoron Sword too (because is longer than the normal sword), but otherwise only a spin attack can activate it!
One of the first NPCs that were shown was a girl named “Aria” that could have had a central role in Zelda 64DD. This character and her 3D model were never used in the final game, but hidden in the game’s code the data for Aria’s 3D model were found and restored in all their glory, as you can see in the image below. As far as we know, there are no official info about who Aria was and what her role could have been.
Aria in Zelda 64DD
Aria restored model in Ocarina of Time
Another strange message of one of the gossip stones at Zora’s River is: “They say that there is a man who can always be found running around Hyrule Field”, but this statement is pointless because in order to read the advice you need the Mask of Truth, available only when you have already met the Hyrule Field runner.
A code for the Game Shark can instead make appear in the Kokiri village an Air Wing , a spaceship (for those who don’t know) used in another Nintendo game, Star Fox. The polygonal model is perfectly animated, with a laser gun that attacks Link, and when hit it even falls down and explodes..therefore it seems much more than a simple model left inside the game. Maybe it was originally used for an easter-egg quest, available only with URA.
Inside the Debug Rom of Ocarina of Time: Master Quest it is possible to find a room not available in the final game, but showed many years from the release of Zelda 64 in many beta screenshots. This beta room was left inside the rom all these years..Nintendo forgot it because it didn’t notice it or for another reason ? We are still researching the secrets of this new Debug Rom.. and maybe some day it will be possible to find even the fabled Unicorn Fountain.
Here is another beta room from the Debug version of Ocarina of time, which was first showed in many old screenshots of the game, and that is was also left inside Ocarina of Time all these years..
Another beta room not available in the final version of Ocarina of Time, but explorable in the Debug Rom.
As Ocarina of Time was released to be ready with the 64DD Expansion, in the final game is still possible to find the icons for the Zelda URA saves:
Nintendo 64DD extension of Ocarina of Time is the existence of N64DD Save Files. They can be created on a real N64 by slowly pulling out the left side of the cartridge while copying a file. Files created this way have a “Disk” tag attached to it and cannot be opened, as they’re grayed out. Trying to copy or delete such files crashes the game. Version 1.2 clears this flag before displaying the menu, so the tag can’t be seen.
Do you know some more beta connections? Leave a comment below!
Ocarina Of Time / URA > Gaiden / Majora’s Mask
Even if not normally found in the game, the Blue Fire of Ocarina of Time was left inside the final version of Majora Mask. Unfortunately, it is possible to see it only with a code for Gameshark.
Another two items from Ocarina of Time not used in the final version of Majora Mask: The Fairy Ocarina and The Fairy Slingshot.
The photo on the left show the beta design of the treasure boxes in one of the old versions of Ocarina of Time. In the final game they were replaced with another kind, but, as you can seen from the screen on the right, they were later reused in Majora.
It seems like that some of the Skulltula House of Majora Mask were originally beta dungeons of Ocarina of Time which were never completed but later rearranged for the sequel.
The Bunny Hood is one of the mask of Majora, used to go faster. In Ocarina of Time. the runner says that with this mask you could run faster and became unbeatable. So it is likely that it was one of the new skills of the masks in Zelda Ura, and with one this mask it was finally possible to beat the runner. When Zeldan Gaiden was began, some of the ideas for the new masks were taken from the same characteristics of the masks featured in URA.
Do you know some more beta connections? Leave a comment below!
Zelda URA / Ocarina Of Time > Zelda 3DS
As we can read from TCRF, some unused items and file names are hidden in Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS and those have some interesting relations with Zelda URA and the development of the original game:
The texture file used for choosing the Master Quest option from the menu screen is called ura.ctxb.
The mirrored maps used in the Master Quest have “DD” in the filename, a reference to the Disk Drive.
As the Forest Temple was once a Wind Temple in Ocarina of Time, some file are still named with their “wind” name: NA_BGM_OCA_WIND, kazenomenuetto.csab (Minuet of Wind), zelda_gi_melody_wind.cmb, mjin_flash_model_wind,
Also, the Water Temple was once referred as an Ice Temple: zelda_gi_melody_ice.cmb, mjin_flash_model_ice
Zelda Gaiden > Majora’s Mask
Thanks to the Gameshark it is possible to make appear this unused item in Majora Mask’s inventory. It’s probably just a fish or a bait in a bottle. The japanese text tells us that the item is called “Hyrulian Dojo”, and it is most likely a leftover from the already quoted fish mini-game that was going to be available in Zelda Gaiden.
Another text not used in the final version of Majora, The “Grandma’s Drink“, probably a potion like the one from Wind Waker.
As we can read on TCRF, in Majora’s Mask there’s an hidden Link Mask, that is unused in the final game. It seems that Skull Kid could have used this mask in Zelda Gaiden for some reasons, maybe a removed cutscene or a different ending? In early Zelda Gaiden screenshots we can see that there was an Adult Link Mask, but we don’t know if these 2 are related somehow.
Do you know some more beta connections? Leave a comment below!
Once Upon a Time
The original story of Zelda 64 was different
Link is preparing for his coming-of-age ceremony, in which he will receive his guardian spirit. In the tradition of his people, children receive a fairy from the Fairy Tree when they reach adulthood. This fairy becomes a person’s lifelong familiar. The fairy accompanies the youthful adventurer seeking his or her fortune in the maze-like forest or in the lands beyond. Link’s ceremony, however, is not destined to be a happy one. The Fairy Tree, source of guardian spirits, is captured by a strange creature from the depths of the forest. Link is able to locate his guardian spirit, Navie, and with her help, slay the creature. However, in the process, the Fairy Tree is grievously damaged. As its life force ebbs, the Fairy Tree speaks the words that will shape Link’s destiny.
“Do not allow the thief, Gannondorf, to claim the Triforce … ” the Tree mystically communicates. “Oh brave one, you must take this sacred stone to a wise man….”
Gannondorf was infamous throughout the land for his evil practices as the king of thieves. He lusted for the power of the Triforce and searched throughout Hyrule for its resting place, most recently plunging into the forest of Link’s people. Link knew he was in grave danger should Gannondorf find him. He took the sacred stone from the Fairy Tree and set out for Hyrule Castle, the capital of the Hyrulian people. Upon entering the castle, Link is welcomed by the young Princess Zelda, a woman of the Hyrulian royal family about the same age as he. She is well aware of the crisis facing the land of Hyrule. Zelda relates further details about the Triforce’s hiding place, telling Link that he needs to find the three sacred stones that fit into a magical Ocarina, which serves as the key to hidden realm. Link’s race with the evil Gannondorf to find the sacred stones and the hiding place of the Triforce is on!
The End.
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Delphine, the notable French software house which created at the beginning of the nineties two of the greatest action adventures of all times, Another World and Flashback, was officially closed down in 2004. Some of their projects were therefore not completed, among which, of course, the most famous was Flashback Legends. Later a beta of the game was released on the internet and, despite being incomplete and bug-filled, revealed a title in an advanced state of development, probably not too far away from being finished.
[Article by Yota]
In the first screen of Flashback we can choose the language , but unfortunately the beta is French only.
After that fake choice, there is a comic-like introduction. This adequately prepares us for the real graphic engine, which is rather distant from the sobriety of the first Flashback, sprite of the main character aside.
Once learned the controls, we realize that Flashback Legends is very similar to the original, even if with much simplified puzzles, this time limited to find cards in order to open the various doors and to search for batteries in order to restore electricity.
An useful tutorial, together with the usual PDA (which will notify us of the new items obtained by Conrad), will help us to learn the basics of the game, which is a rather classic action adventure. Other than solve puzzles, we will jump over precipices, electrified fields, and kill with the gun the various enemies on the path.
Also, despite the presence in this beta of many different levels, the stages don’t offer any significant variations. The game is quite difficult, mainly because checkpoints are still absent.
Flashback Legends, as far as we know, is incomplete, ending abruptly at level ten, even if it is possible to play some unfinished version of stages 12-16. Moreover, this beta is bug-filled, and often in order to pass some sections is necessary to use some emulator features.
Thanks to Robert Seddon, who extracted the text from the rom, we now know more details about some features of Flashback Legends that were going to be implemented in the final version, like three different difficulty levels, a password system, save points. Also, it seems that the stages of the game were going to be mission based.
Sonic 2, like the other installments of the series for the Genesis ,doesn’t need any presentation. Released in November 1992, after the great success of the first episode, the new Sega title become promptly the best selling game for the 16 bit console. More interesting for our site, the beta of Sonic 2 is currently the most important beta document of the series, and one of the most intriguing ever.
The prototype was initially rediscovered in December 1998, when Simon Wai released on a newsgroup a beta version of Sonic 2 previously found on a Chinese website. We say rediscovered because the existence of the proto was already known, and Simon Wai himself played it in 1992. Yuji Naka said in a interview that it is probably the same prototype stolen in New York in 1992. The beta was then illegally released in the Asian videogame market.
Anyway, the prototype was finally in the hands of the Sonic community and it immediately revealed all its wonders, notably two levels not included in the final version and many beta leftovers.
[Article by Yota]
Green Hill zone
As you can seen from the screenshots, this is the first level of the final game, Emerald Hill. It is the most finished zone of the beta, and the only one with a boss, even if with some differences (there is no sound from the paddles when Robotnik enters, and no explosion when it is defeated) . The badnick in the screenshot was removed from the final game. The music is the same as the released version.
Wood zone
This is the first zone removed from the final game. Already well known from magazines pics, the Wood zone was a level set in a forest. Not much work was done on this stage, and it is fully playable only with the debug mode. The music is the same as the metropolis zone.
Metropolis zone
Metropolis Zone it is the only level in Sonic 2 with three acts, and the same can be said about this beta, even through they are all still incomplete and without enemies and rings. Early in the development, the third act was supposed to be a completely different stage. The most interesting beta feature of this zone is a strange lift (pictured in the screenshot) that is was totally removed from the released game. The music is slightly different from the final version.
Hidden Palace Zone
Those who played Sonic & Knuckles will certainly remember a level called Hidden Palace Zone. The zone from Sonic 2 is however a completely different stage, set in an underground cave. The Hidden palace was never completed, although his presence in an even early version of Sonic 2 suggest that it was one of the first level developed. Anyway, it is one of the most interesting zones of the beta due to the presence of the big green emerald , similar (but not connected) to the master emeralds, of the Tails 1-up (which it was really just a ten-ring monitor) and of the badnicks removed from the final game. The Hidden Palace is still accessible in the released version of Sonic 2 with the action replay, but the graphic is completely messed-up.
Hill Top Zone
It is one of the most completed zone, and the main differences, aside from the layout, are the lack of the sound effect of the earthquakes and the absence of the rolling animations in the tunnels. The music is the same as the released version.
Oil Ocean Zone
Not much to say about this zone. The most interesting beta feature is a strange ball that is activated by a button. The music is still the same as the casino zone.
Dust hill Zone
This stage is just the mystic cave zone with a different name. The zone is still in the testing phases, and it is fully playable only with the debug.
Casino night Zone
The Casino Night zone was still early in development, and because of the lack of the slot machines and the springs the level is fully playable only with the debug. The background of the act 2 is different from the original. The music is slightly different from the released version.
Chemical Plant Zone
Aside from the first level, this is the most complete zone of the beta. Even the general layout of the stage is very similar to the final version. There are however still some interesting changes, like the different conformation of the circular structures (pictured in the screenshot) and the strange sound effects of the blue fluids from the tubes. The music is the same as the final version.
Genocide city
This zone it is empy, and maybe its development was never really began, because all that exist from this zone it is an early black & white concept art (that later inspired a stage from Sonic Spinball) . The music is the same as the Chemical Zone.
Neo Green hill Zone
This zone is just the Acquatic Ruin Zone with a different name. The layout is similar to the original, but the level is still incomplete and without enemies. The music is already the same as the final version.
Death Egg Zone
This is the final level of Sonic 2, but it is still empy. More interesting, in this beta the zone has two acts. It is the only level in this beta without music.
Sonic The Betahog
Aside from the layouts of the levels, some animations were also different from the released version, like the spin-dash.After eight years of the original release of Simon Wai, in December 2006 a new prototype was found with even earlier version of Emerald Hill, Hill Top, Hidden Palace and Chemical Plant. This beta featured the Green Zone and other leftovers from Sonic 1. But the story doesn’t end there. In fact, in February 2008 many betas from various Sonic games, including Sonic 2, were leaked and released to the community.
You can find more informations about the beta of Sonic 2 on Sonic Retro.
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