Action Adventure

The first 64-bit version of Zelda, was originally conceived as a way designed to use the features of 64DD. Internal Clock, rewritable discs with a size double what had ever been used on the cartridge, internet connection and tools for editing images, Zelda 64 was presented by Nintendo itself as a title so huge that it would be impossible to implement on a normal N64.

All this because of the possibility of 64 Disc Drive. But there was only one small problem: the 64DD was not greeted with much interest from professionals, remembering the bad purpose made by all previous add-on for console, the DD was growing slowly postponed, Nintendo itself lost confidence in the project and it was not clear if it ever really left. At this point, Nintendo had no other choice, because of low sales of the N64, they announced that Zelda 64 would have been ported to normal cartridges, so hoping to renew interest in the console market. But this change meant they had to remove all those interesting features that would have been only possible thanks to 64DD and part of the game and history had to undergo an extream cut.

From an interview with N-ZONE magazine (translated with google and reported by GoNintendo) we can read that Aonuma admits that Ocarina of Time originally had more temples and magic abilities that were cut.

Eiji Aonuma: Yes, you may be absolutely right, although I can not remember exactly all the details. There really is a difference between the temples, which we wanted to integrate and those that exist in the final game. And that had something to do with magic. We thought of integrating some actions, some plot threads, and some puzzles that have something to do with magic abilities.

We have come to the conclusion that other, already existing, just regular items to be a worthy replacement. So we had originally three temples, which would capture the young Link, three temples for the adult Link and three in which he was to learn each spell – but instead we have eliminated a temple of it. In the final game is now so 3 plus 3 plus 2, or 8 temples to find.

Also, some more interesting info from the early beta / prototype version of Zelda 64 were shared in the Iwata Asks dedicated to the Ocarina of Time 3D remake:

Iwata: Oh, he wanted to make an FPS (first-person shooter).
Koizumi: Right. In the beginning, he had the image that you are at first walking around in first-person, and when an enemy appeared, the screen would switch, Link would appear, and the battle would unfold from a side perspective.

[…]

Iwawaki: But…I do think we tried out a first-person perspective a little.
Osawa: I think we made something to try it out, but decided it wasn’t interesting visually and abandoned it right away.

[…]

Iwata: You were originally developing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64DD.13
Koizuma: Yes. Miyamoto-san said he had some ideas, like leaving behind all of Link’s footprints.
Iwata: Yeah. (laughs)

[…]

Koizuma: That’s why he started saying that if Link was going to ride a horse, he wanted to include mounted archery and one-on-one battle. (laughs) We were able to include the mounted archery, but not the one-on-one battle.
Iwata: But later you included it in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

For more info read this article: Project Zelda 3D – The Development of Zelda 64

Thanks to Superfun64, 8PM and thedragoonknight for the contribution!

You can find more info about Zelda: Ocarina Of Time in the Zelda Wiki!

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With Gameshark Codes and the ability of some “hacker”, the Roms of Zelda for N64 were explored in depth, looking for particular beta remained in digital memory. During the development of the game, Nintendo has removed a lot features and remodeled several items, but was not able to completely erase them. Indeed, within the cartridge you can find some items that do not appear in the final product. Working on combinations and inserting binary complex numerical codes, these objects may appear Beta in the game. And interesting to note the variety polygonal models, which often reveal more information about the history of the development of 3D Zelda project (descriptions below the gallery).

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The photo with the “fish” is taken from Majora’s Mask: the polygon model of the Hylian Loach may have been connected with the rumors of the fishing minigame, it was removed from the final version of the game.

The other photos are all taken from Ocarina Of Time: green leaves used in the Beta as a whistle to call Epona, a poe like in the final version of Twilight Princess, the image in the menu that says “Disk” indicates the connection of the cartridge on Ocarina with Zelda URA on 64 Disk Drive was also found. “Hi! I’m a talking door”is one of the many texts that can be found in the code of the game, but were not used in the full version. The column of stone was probably used as a structure for a dungeon, while the gray tombstone may be a primitive version of the Gossip Stone. The vase is a simple beta model of what we know, but those strange animals with blue beak are really interesting. They resemble extravagant hairy birds,and were perhaps a kind of enemy, but it is difficult to understand exactly what they should be.

The Arwing of Starfox is perhaps the most curious object in beta. It is complete with all its animation: flying, shooting Link and once hit, it crashes in flames exploding on the ground. Why programmers had inserted a spaceship in Zelda? The answer probably is: only Miyamoto knows, but we can assume it was an “easter egg”, a quote for the players, on a quest in Zelda URA. A group of hackers has noticed that the binary number that activates the Arwing is somehow connected with the trap in a game. In some situations, when Link opens a chest of treasure,he is frozen instead of getting objects. Perhaps the Arwing was a second type of trap, activated a second unknown mode: Link would open a treasure chest, which would release the enemy spaceship.

The bird is a polygonal model removed from the final game, it could have been used for some videos of the plot or as a natural animal to animate the scene, a like the butterflies. The cube stone was perhaps something to move to solve puzzles and platforms to reach too high. The beta fish is similar to those in the final, but his enormous size is bizarre: Were there were fish of various sizes on the bottom of Lake Hylia? The tuft of grass and container of the heart are beta versions of the polygonal models used later in Ocarina. Finally, a large rectangular building, probably used in some dungeon.

As Chris Jeremic has made us to notice, thanks to the Zelda 64 Actor Viewer, Cooliscool found some unfinished / beta models in the game’s code:

An incomplete Zora model

Beta Shopkeeper

Some Beta Guy

And a Beta Kokiri

[spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]Grazie ai trucchi del GameShark ed alla capacità di alcuni “hacker”, le rom degli episodi di Zelda per N64 sono state esplorate a fondo, alla ricerca di particolari beta rimasti nella memoria digitale. Durante lo sviluppo del gioco, Nintendo ha rimosso molte caratteristiche e rimodellato diversi oggetti, ma non è riuscita a cancellarne completamente le tracce. Infatti, all’interno della cartuccia, è possibile scovare alcuni items che non compaiono nel prodotto finale, ma che ne facevano parte nella sua versione beta. Lavorando sulle combinazioni binarie ed inserendo complessi codici numerici, questi oggetti Beta possono apparire di nuovo nel gioco. E’ interessante osservare i modelli poligonali ritrovati, che spesso ci rivelano ulteriori informazioni sulla storia dello sviluppo del progetto Zelda 3D.

La foto con il “pesce” è tratta da Majora’s Mask: l’oggetto ritrovato è il modello poligonale dell’Hylian Dojo, pesce che potrebbe essere stato collegato con il vociferato minigame della pesca, rimosso dalla versione finale del gioco.

Le altre foto sono tutte prese da Ocarina Of Time; le foglie verdi erano utilizzate nella Beta come fischietto per richiamare Epona, un po’ come succede nella versione finale di Twilight Princess. L’immagine del menù con la scritta “Disk”, è la schermata che segnalava il collegamento di Ocarina su cartuccia con Zelda URA sul 64 Disk Drive. “Hi! I’m a talking door” è una delle tante scritte che si possono trovare nel codice del gioco, ma che non sono state utilizzate nella versione completa. La colonna di pietra era probabilmente utilizzata come struttura per qualche dungeon, mentre la lapide grigia potrebbe essere una versione primitiva delle Gossip Stone. Il vaso è un semplice modello beta di quelli che ben conosciamo, ma quegli strani animaletti azzurri con i becco sono davvero interessanti. Somigliano a degli stravaganti uccelli pelosi, erano forse un tipo di nemici, ma è difficile capire esattamente cosa dovrebbero rappresentare.

L’airwing di StarFox è forse l’oggetto beta più curioso. Scoperta un po’ per caso, questa navicella spaziale è davvero presente in Ocarina Of Time ed è anche completa di tutte le sue animazioni: vola, spara a Link ed una volta colpita, precipita in fiamme, esplodendo a terra. Per quale motivo i programmatori avevano inserito un’astronave in Zelda? La risposta probabilmente la conosce solo Miyamoto, ma possiamo ipotizzare che fosse una qualche “easter egg”, una citazione per i giocatori, sbloccabile attraverso una sub quest in Zelda URA. Un gruppo di hacker ha notato che la serie binaria che attiva l’airwing è collegata in qualche modo con i forzieri trappola presenti nel gioco. In alcune situazioni, quando Link apre una cassa del tesoro, questa è in realtà una trappola e congela il personaggio, invece di contenere oggetti. Forse l’Airwing era una seconda tipologia di trappola, attivabile secondo sconosciute modalità: Link avrebbe aperto un forziere, da cui sarebbe uscita l’astronave nemica.

L’uccello è un modello poligonale rimosso completamente dal gioco completo, avrebbe potuto essere utilizzato per alcuni filmati della trama oppure come animale naturale, per animare lo scenario, un po’ come le farfalle. Il cubo di pietra era forse un oggetto da spostare per risolvere enigmi e per raggiungere piattaforme troppo alte. Il pesce beta è simile a quelli finali, ma le sue enormi dimensioni sono bizzarre: potevano esistere pesci di varia grandezza sul fondale del lago Hylia? Il ciuffo d’erba ed il contenitore del cuore sono le versioni beta dei modelli poligonali poi utilizzati in Ocarina. Per finire, una grande costruzione rettangolare, probabilmente utilizzata in qualche dungeon.

Per maggiori informazioni: Progetto Zelda 3D – Lo sviluppo di Zelda 64

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Screens from: http://web.archive.org/web/20080106174248/zso.krahs-emag.com/beta/items.html

Thanks to SuperFun64 for the english translation!

For more info read this article: Project Zelda 3D – The Development of Zelda 64

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This “debug” version of Ocarina Of Time has come to light some years after the release of the original game. Somehow it was discovered and shared online to please thousands of unseen zelda fans. This is the version that developers used to test specific parts of Ocarina, without having to going around the whole Hyrule. With the Debug version, it’s possible to gain direct access to various areas of the ROM, through simple menu and different numbers. The interesting thing is that in these areas you can find situations and parts of levels remained in the memory, but not used in the final game! You can also visit one of the most famous areas of beta Zelda 64, the “stalfoss room” that was showed years before the final release of the game! An interesting note is that the Debug should be based on the GameCube Master Quest, which  makes me wonder why Nintendo still had a playable Stafoss Room in there.

[spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]Questa versione “debug” di Ocarina Of Time è venuta alla luce dopo anni dall’uscita originale del gioco. In qualche modo è stata scoperta e condivisa Online, con piacere di migliaia di appassionati. Si tratta della versione che gli sviluppatori usavano per testare parti specifiche di Ocarina senza dover girare per tutto il mondo. Si accede alle zone della ROM attraverso dei semplici menù e numeri vari. La cosa interessante è che fra queste zone è possibile trovare situazioni e parti di livelli rimasti nella memoria, ma non utilizzate nella versione finale! al momento fra quelle scoperte è possibile visitare anche aree famose di vecchie immagini beta di Zelda 64, mostrate anni prima che finisse lo sviluppo! la ROM è stata scoperta da poco, possiamo quindi sperare di ricevere presto nuove scoperte sullo sviluppo della beta di Zelda 64. Un particolare interessante è che la Debug dovrebbe basarsi sulla versione GameCube di Master Quest e mi domando perchè Nintendo abbia mantenuto la Stalfoss Room in versione giocabile dopo tutti questi anni.[/spoiler]

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The Beta Quests are events and scenarios not seen in the game, but that can be reached with Action replay/Game Shark codes. There is an incredible number of variants in the beta quests, and probably no one has really seen them all, so we can only wonder if there is still more stuff left in the cartridge. Some of these Beta Quest scenes are situations connected with the new features that would have been in Zelda URA, while in others it’s still possible to see some of the items cut in the transposition from disk to cartridge, or particulary situations that were changed a bit in the final version. Certainly a precious source of information of beta Zelda.

As Linkx111 has pointed out, this particular mode simply removes the pointers that would connect an area on the game map to another one. Zelda’s game areas are indeed listed inside a buffer, which contains all the areas inside of blocks. Removing the pointers permits the player to travel randomly from a map to another, eventually landing inside particular blocks which has no pointers and contains traces of old beta items, or permitting to explore the cutscene like we would be normally playing in the game. Many of the items could look like betas but are indeed just a messed up version of the normal game, due to the missing pointers  but other items and scenes, not included in the final game, can be accessed via this method.

Also thanks to ZethN64 for pointing this out recently. To correct the previous statment, the beta quest code loads up specific scenes within a map without the cutscene trigger event activated. These cutscenes load up different object sets(NPC and object placement within a map) depending on the last value you use on the beta quest code.(BETACODE 000X) These scenes also contain old exit data within the map that do not always point correctly to the right exit due to the game being compiled and exit table being shifted so many times. Developers saw no reason to fix these exits since they were meant for cutscenes only and the player wouldn’t walk through these exits. These scene’s objects sets however do contain during the time of their creation object placement, aka beta actor/object placement. It gives us a glimpse of what the prerelease/ura Zelda would of been like with these object set placements and how much it differs from the final game.

[spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]Più che un gioco a sè, le Beta Quest sono delle situazioni e scenari inediti che è possibile sbloccare in Ocarina Of Time grazie a dei codici per Action Replay / Game Shark. Esistono moltissime varianti delle Beta Quest in base al codice inserito e probabilmente ancora nessuno è riuscito ad esplorarle realmente tutte, non possiamo quindi ancora ben sapere quali meraviglie sono nascoste all’interno della rom. Alcune di queste sono riconducibili a collegamenti che si sarebbero sbloccati una volta unito Ocarina a URA tramite 64DD, mentre in altre è possibile vedere oggetti che sono stati tagliati quando fu spostato su cartuccia oppure situazioni non definitive di scene poi cambiate nel gioco completo. Senza dubbio una delle cose più interessanti per cui vale la pena usare un GameShark e preziosa fonte di informazione sui tagli di Ocarina.[/spoiler]

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