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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