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Some stuff from the few OoT source files we have.
Internally, Spirit Temple is referred to as the "Giant Evil God" dungeon.
Shadow Temple and BotW are conceptually meant to be one dungeon with a child part and an adult part, just like spirit temple is.
Shadow Temple and BotW are conceptually meant to be one dungeon with a child part and an adult part, just like spirit temple is.
Happy Mask Shop is known as the face shop. Bad English on the developer's part, or meant to be meaningful?
Every scene contains a flag that seems to determine whether it should be loaded from the cartridge, or a n64dd disk.
The largest C file we have available is not any of the core engine stuff, it's actually the fishing minigame. They really went all-out when they made that one.
It's a little thing, but rupees are internally just "COIN".
Why do I get the feeling this was a recurring issue?
This is already known, but hilarious. Here's how they check Link's age:
First, there's a flag in the save context. (0=adult,1=child).
Then, there's a macro that converts this into age in years (adult=17,child=5)
Then, there's two more macros that convert this BACK into flags.
First, there's a flag in the save context. (0=adult,1=child).
Then, there's a macro that converts this into age in years (adult=17,child=5)
Then, there's two more macros that convert this BACK into flags.
The Goron's Bracelet is internally the "Copper Bracelet", which goes far better with the progression to Silver and Gold Gauntlets.
Originally, there were a lot more than 3 elemental arrows (this was also known already, but I'm not sure whether we knew all their names).
There it is again
Possibly the most baffling design decision for OoT was the large space of global variables with no name - They just go by SREG(0), SREG(1), etc. in the source code. Then they have a separate text document that states what those variables are currently being used for, if anything.
A lot of them seem to be debug toggles, but there's game logic in the final game driven by them, too. And debug tools that work on them and nothing else: https://tcrf.net/Proto:The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Ocarina_of_Time_Master_Quest/Memory_Editor
I don't know what to make of them, honestly.
I don't know what to make of them, honestly.
Turns out Nintendo was using the SZS file extension for Yaz0 compressed files all the way back in the 90s. I don't think this was documented until the Wii era.
Here's an example of Zelda64 code being reused in Animal Crossing.
You can see the same "load scene from N64DD disk" flag that I mentioned earlier, and an enum inherited from Zelda that says whether a scene is a dungeon or not. But in AC, the enum only has one possible value!
You can see the same "load scene from N64DD disk" flag that I mentioned earlier, and an enum inherited from Zelda that says whether a scene is a dungeon or not. But in AC, the enum only has one possible value!
Searched the Animal Crossing source for any other mentions of Zelda. Apparently, they kept the unused spinning triforce animation from Ocarina of Time:
Big find pointed out to me. In Link's code, it lists the 3 normal boots, as well as Link's indoor and underwater walking speed (which are considered to be separate boots).
And then, commented out, an item that was totally removed from the game: DASH BOOTS! (Pegasus Boots?)
And then, commented out, an item that was totally removed from the game: DASH BOOTS! (Pegasus Boots?)
Took a quick glance around to see if there was any other commented out code that jumped out as interesting. There was one thing, the fishing minigame apparently contains dummied-out sound test functionality:
More traces of the elemental arrows and Medallion spells. Based on checking a few other places, it looks like Wind==Forest==Twistar, Dark==Shadow, Soul==Spirit. Except Nayru's Love is considered Soul Magic instead of Water/Ice magic.
According to testing done in the final game, Shadow/Wind/Spirit arrows behave like fire arrows, and Ice/Light/Shadow spells behave like Din's Fire and crash.
The src actually contains files for the unused Arrows and spells, but they're 0 bytes and there's no compiled .o files :(
The src actually contains files for the unused Arrows and spells, but they're 0 bytes and there's no compiled .o files :(
In short, we got hard proof there was meant to be an elemental arrow and a magic spell for each adult dungeon, but neither the final game nor the leaks give us information on what the remaining 3 were supposed to do.
Oh, actually, the damage charts contain entries for four out of six magic spells - only Forest/Wind (Farore's Wind) and Spirit/Soul (Nayru's Love) are missing.
Seems that the other four were all meant to be offensive spells, but they cut things down and kept only Din's Fire.
Seems that the other four were all meant to be offensive spells, but they cut things down and kept only Din's Fire.
