Development:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Unused Cutscenes

This is a sub-page of Development:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

To do: Check if there are more cutscenes still missing here.

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z_ocarina/data/shape2/zelda_tool_scene contains several early and unused cutscene files that aren't present in the final game. Many of these cutscenes contain outdated music or message IDs from an earlier point of development.

Ice Cavern

Serenade of Water

Link learns the Serenade of Water and holds a music note above his head, which isn't loaded since the object ID is missing from the object list. This scene is from zelda_tool_scene/Ice_doukutu/ice_doukuto_demo00.o.

Temple of Time

Meeting Sheik

The famous 40-second pre-release footage showing Link and Sheik in the Temple of Time can now be seen, with context! This cutscene is in zelda_tool_scene/Tokinoma/tokinoma_dm_siku.o and shows Sheik's first encounter, where Link is bestowed knowledge of his upcoming quest.

Early Footage	Loaded in Final

Early Minuet of Forest

Link walks all the way back to the Temple of Time in order to learn the Minuet of Forest, presumably after trying to find his friend Saria. From zelda_tool_scene/Tokinoma/tokinoma_dm_zd.o.

Prelude of Light

As seen in zelda_tool_scene/Tokinoma/tokinoma_dm_tama.o.

The late-1997 Overdump indicates that the Prelude of Light was once the song that opened the Door of Time, not the Song of Time, and this cutscene appears to be very old - although the "Item Get!" text is still correct, saying that the player obtained the Prelude of Light, the Ocarina teaching and playback sections of the cutscene point to the wrong songs. The teaching section is incorrect because another entry in the Ocarina Song Action list was inserted into ID 1 (for free play during gameplay), which moved all the teaching actions up by 1. So while the cutscene is trying to display the teaching action for Prelude of Light, its ID of 0x06 now belongs to the teaching action for Nocturne of Shadow.

However, the playback section shows just how old this cutscene is. It appears that at some point, the warp songs were the only Ocarina songs the player could use; this is hinted at by several details within the Overdump. If the non-warp songs are removed from the list (both the teaching actions and the playback actions), we can see why this cutscene uses Song of Time's playback action:

When this cutscene was created, neither the "free play" action nor the non-warp songs were included in the list. It can be safely assumed that this cutscene is very similar to the one the player would have seen in the Overdump build, if not the same.

Link Receives the Light Medallion

Princess Zelda reveals herself to Link, then gives him the Light Medallion.

Besides the changed message ID for the Light Medallion and Zelda's theme playing throughout, there seem to be no other visible differences.

From zelda_tool_scene/tokinoma/tokinoma_dm_zd3.o.

Sacred Forest Meadow

Minuet of Forest

An early take on Link learning the Minuet of Forest. Portions of this cutscene can be seen in pre-release footage. Found in zelda_tool_scene/Spot05/spot05_demo00.o.

Death Mountain Crater

Bolero of Fire

This cutscene is in a very rough state. Due to some incompatible coding (possibly around Sheik's early object being replaced), Sheik does not appear. A portion of it can be seen in pre-release footage, although Link is on the warp pedestal there rather than on the bridge. Found in zelda_tool_scene/Spot17/spot17_demo_00.o.

Zora's Fountain

Zora's Sapphire

Princess Ruto excitedly shouts Link's name after completing Jabu-Jabu's Belly. She swims at a lower depth, and the text is missing where Link ponders how he doesn't know what she's talking about with "her most precious possession". Found in zelda_tool_scene/Spot08/spot08_demo00.o.

Lake Hylia

Lake Hylia is Restored

Apparently someone believed in Link before Prince Sidon did. During a touching moment when Lake Hylia is restored, Sheik instills confidence that Link will succeed with his quest. This can be seen in zelda_tool_scene/Spot06/spot06_demo00.o.

Desert Colossus

Requiem of Spirit

This cutscene looks mostly complete aside from Sheik's absence, possibly owing to an incompatible object code.

Kokiri Forest

Introduction

The introductory cutscene is mostly consistent with the final, but look at Navi's alternate flight path toward the end. She is keenly observing Link's home, and might even be hesitant to meet him. From zelda_tool_scene/Spot04/spot04_demo03.o.

Kakariko Village

Kakariko Village on Fire

From zelda_tool_scene/Spot01/spot01_demo00.o.

Shadows from the Well

Interestingly, the camera in this cutscene focuses on the original spot where the well was located, which can be seen in an early minimap. From zelda_tool_scene/Spot01/spot01_demo01.o.

Shadows from the Well 2

From zelda_tool_scene/Spot01/spot01_demo02.o.

Chamber of Sages

First Visit

Link encounters a denial-of-service attack, as the Sacred Realm is not yet ready to serve him. This is yet another cutscene containing outdated message IDs. From zelda_tool_scene/Kenjyanoma/Kenjyanoma_demo01.o. All of Rauru's original text for this scene was repurposed for the final game. The textboxes that the cutscene contain expect context-sensitive actions which can't occur, therefore loop. If some of the textboxes are set to dummy variables, we can see that it appears to be another variant of the awakening cutscene, though the camera is oddly low when Link is looking himself over.

Castle Courtyard

Zelda's Lullaby

New angles for learning the song, and Link once again holds a music note above his head (not loaded due to missing object ID). From zelda_tool_scene/Nakaniwa/nakaniwa_demo01.o.

Gerudo Fortress

Ending Credits

Blink and you'll miss it. The ending credit scene in z_ocarina/data/shape2/zelda_scene/Spot12_OLD(ver2)/spot12_demo01.o doesn't pan quite as far as the final version, making the duration slightly shorter. It doesn't show the wall on the far left.

End-of-pan Early	End-of-pan Final

Spirit Temple

Iron Knuckle Introduction

The Iron Knuckle miniboss in the Spirit Temple has a cutscene with various different camera angles. From zelda_tool_scene/Jyasinzou_boss/jyasinboss_demo00.o.

(Source: MudkipLegend)

Death Mountain Trail

Goron's Ruby

An earlier version of the sequence where Link obtains the Goron's Ruby after conquering Dodongo's Cavern. There is no dialogue, Darunia smacks Link and then instantly gives him the Ruby. The ending also has differences, Link ends up running down the mountain. From zelda_tool_scene/Spot16/spot16_demo01.o.

(Source: MudkipLegend)

Spot_09

Creation of Hyrule

This is the first sequence of the creation of Hyrule, which is basically the same as the final version except that it lacks dialogue and doesn't have the lightning in the background. It is much more atmospheric when the lightning is added. From zelda_tool_scene/Spot09/spot09_demo01.o.

(Source: MudkipLegend)

Outside Ganon's Castle

Creation of the Bridge

An earlier version of the sequence for when the Sages create the bridge. No dialogue and less of a reaction from Link. From zelda_tool_scene/Ganon_tou/ganon_tou_demo00.o.

(Source: MudkipLegend)

Inside Jabu-Jabu

Zora's Sapphire

In the latter half of this cutscene when Princess Ruto finds Zora's Sapphire, the camera spawns just outside of the map behind Link. Also, the Sapphire position is slightly different since Ruto walks right through it. From zelda_tool_scene/Bdan/bdan_demo00.o.

(Source: MudkipLegend)

Zora's Domain

Unknown

A long incomplete cutscene in zelda_tool_scene/spot07/spot07_demo00.o slowly zooms out, just out of bounds near the entrance. There isn't much to show. Interestingly, Link's coordinates for this cutscene are (1259,168,905), which places him out of bounds on the lower-right portion of the map. These coordinates likely correspond with Zora's Domain in Summer 1998, when the map extended further into this area (as can be seen in an early minimap).