Proto:The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

This page details one or more prototype versions of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

This page or section details content from the July 2020 Nintendo Leak. Check the July 2020 Nintendo Leak category for more pages also sourced from this material.

To do: Find a way to dump the texts of the prototypes and the final versions to make a comparison. Add additional data related to the old ALTTP prototype in Super Donkey (file 1) to the Mid-1991 Overdump page. Check ALTTP overdump in the later Super Donkey proto. What's there is known to predate the final Japanese build. Per this page, data of a 1990 build is present in the 10/25/90 localization prototype of Super Mario World, including dungeon overlay and data pointers. Look into this.

Various builds of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past were discovered in the files of the July 2020 Nintendo leak. Some of these seem to be localization builds, which correct and adjust minor things such as wording and text placement. These builds are found split in two files named zel0.bin and zel1.bin. A hex editor can be used to append zel1.bin onto the end of zel0.bin. The localization builds are within subfolders located at the path SFC\ソースデータ\ゼルダの伝説神々のトライフォース\.

In addition to these localization builds, there are overdumps of A Link to the Past data found in the two available builds of Super Donkey (super_donkey_1.bin and super_donkey_2.bin) located at path SFC\ソースデータ\ヨッシーアイランド\ツール\donkey_test\. The first of these overdumps in super_donkey_1.bin contains data from a build estimated to be from around mid-1991, based on its correspondence to data within developer workspaces.

Sub-Pages

Mid-1991 Overdump Partially-recovered overdump data discovered within the earlier prototype of Super Donkey.

European Builds

英語_PAL\pal_asm\zel*.bin

• PAL build, but uses the US "-Nintendo- PRESENTS" font upon booting the game.
• Must wait for logo to fully appear before able to skip using buttons, like in the US final.

German Builds

ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm1\zel*.bin

• Some of the text on signposts is slightly moved. For example, arrows are placed above the text.

Ger_asm1	Final

French Builds

フランス_PAL\Fra_asm1\zel*.bin

• Has the palette used in US and other regions (The France builds appear to use a slightly lighter palette normally).

Fra_asm1	Final

• The sword drops into the title screen logo slightly sooner.
• The game's title has been localized for the title screen logo graphic "RETOUR VERS LE PASSE" ("BACK TO THE PAST" in English), which can be seen in this advertisement. (Source: Dark Linkaël)

French Advertisement	Fra_asm1	Final

• The A and D of the "ZELDA" logo in this build (and the Fra_asm build) are slightly altered, with more of a point to the top of the A.

• The Dialogue Test NPC is present in the Sanctuary.

• During the credits sequence, the letter "V" is replaced by "U" for the text "VAUTOURS" in the final version.

Fra_asm1	Final

• During the credits sequence, the text "VENUS. REINE DES FEES" has no dot in retail.

Fra_asm1	Final

• During the credits sequence, the texts "P. DEL'EST" is replaced by "PALAIS DE L'EST" and "TOUR MONTAGE" is replaced by "TOUR MONTAGNE" in the final version, the letter "N" is forgotten.

Fra_asm1	Final

フランス_PAL\Fra_asm\zel*.bin

• Debug features are available by default.
• This build also uses the localized title screen.

Fra_asm	Final

• The Dialogue Test NPC is present in the Sanctuary.

Canadian Builds

フランス_NES\N_F_asm\zel*.bin

• Runs at the speed of a PAL ROM, despite being in the North American French asm folder.
• 0x80000-0xc4000 is just padding, and the game seems to boot fine, although with missing graphics. Copying data from a retail ROM (or from the zl3.CHR file) fixes the graphical issues.
• The N_F_asm build seems to have some small graphical issues when using the retail assets, indicating some changes were most likely made somewhere.
• Has the palette used in US and other regions (the France builds appear to use a slightly lighter palette normally).

Gameplay differences, when compared to a European French ROM:

• Intro Logo sequence is slightly faster.
• Screen wipe effect when entering/exiting interiors is slightly slower.
• During the ending sequence with the Triforce, the pieces lift into the air much quicker, but the text speed is much slower to display on-screen. After the text is done, the pieces lower and come together much quicker.
• No text is present during the ending sequence showing the areas of the game, and during the credits. Additionally, the camera pans much slower during these scenes.

N_F_asm	Final

Other Builds

More builds are present in the form of .hex files, which are within the folders located at SFC\ソースデータ\ゼルダの伝説神々のトライフォース\.

How to Make the ROMs Playable

These builds can be made playable by converting these Intel-Hex format files into binary format. Regular hex2bin tools will usually not work correctly, as these particular hex files slightly differ from normal: the extended segment address has a 3-byte field (normally it is only 2 bytes). A python script to do this task can be found here.

After converting from .hex, the ROM will need asset data for graphics and sound inserted. To determine what to insert, refer to the .sdm files located in each source folder. These files have info about the filenames of assets, the asset file's start offset, the data size, and the ROM's destination bank + address. Typically, the following files are needed (offsets are mostly the same between all builds):

• Graphics data - zl3.chr: 0x80000 (Note: sometimes named zl3.CHR1. German builds seem to need an additional file, and the name can vary, so check the .sdm files)
• Mode 7 data - smap.CH7: 0xc4000
• Audio data - zldsound0.lst: 0xc8000, zldsound1.lst: 0xd8000, zldsound2.lst: 0xd5380

After doing these steps, four builds matched retail when compared (after fixing headers):

• 日本_Ver3\asm\zel_main.hex (JP Rev 2) - 01/29/1992 09:55:27
• フランス_PAL\Fra_asm\zel_main.hex (FR) - 07/15/1992 11:50:53
• 英語_PAL\pal_asm\zel_main.hex (EU) - 06/02/1992 10:15:00
• ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm1\zel_main.hex (DE) - 07/31/1992 09:09:12

However, a number of unique builds are present, and some have differences which are yet to be determined (but seem minor overall). The following builds have no matches found (to retail or leaked ROMs).

Here xdelta patches to use after converting the HEX file to BIN file :

Download A Link to the Past localization prototypes xdelta patch File: A_Link_to_the_Past_(Prototypes_US-EU-GE-FR-CA_patchs).zip (info)

NES_Ver2\us_asm\tes_main.hex

02/10/1992 13:24:24

• The fog/shadow overlays in the Lost Woods, Master Sword Grove, and Skull Woods are disabled.

us_asm\tes_main.hex	Final

NES_Ver2\us_asm\zel_main.hex

02/27/1992 14:07:39

• This build is practically a final version, but only has very slight modifications on certain tiles.

us_asm\zel_main.hex	Final (only US)

us_asm\zel_main.hex	Final

英語_PAL\pal_asm\zel_main1.hex

06/02/1992 09:49:54

• This build is dated several minutes before the final version. It appears to be used for debugging only.
• Debugging features as well as the Dialogue Test NPC are present.

ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm\ger_main.hex

05/06/1992 12:00:37

• Debugging features as well asthe Dialogue Test NPC are present.
• "-Nintendo Presents-" as well as title screen are English versions (with ® instead of ™).
• Uses a font similar to English versions, and has "--ENERGIE--" with double hyphens.
• Features a very different translation, with differences in script text for NPCs, scenes, when receiving items, and more.
• ROM size is greater than 1MB.

Final (US)	Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm\zel_main1.hex

04/20/1992 17:00:59

• Seems to have graphical issues, unlike the other builds. None of the available .CHR graphic data files work with this build. Use the xdelta patch to fix.
• Debugging features as well asthe Dialogue Test NPC are present.
• "-Nintendo Presents-" as well as title screen are English versions (with ® instead of ™).
• Features the previously mentioned translation in ger_main.hex.

Final (EU)	Ger_asm\zel_main1.hex	Final

フランス_PAL\Fra_asm1\zel_main.hex

06/11/1992 09:34:31

• This build is newer than "Fra_asm" and "Fra_asm1", but it contains the text errors of "Fra_asm1". The reason could be because of the use of ASM files from "Fra_asm1" which are older.

Others

When compared in a hex editor, the following builds have minor differences which are yet to be determined:

• フランス_NES\N_F_asm\zel_main.hex - 07/14/1992 16:03:17

Misery Mire room revision for European version

One of the largest rooms of Misery Mire has had an update for an unknown reason in the European versions. According to the change date in the source code, the change was made on June 2, 1992.

Japanese, US, Canadian	UK, German, French

The majority of prototypes have the old version of the room. The French version (Fra_asm) would date between May 28, 1992 and June 2, 1992, but it is very likely that the date is May 29, 1992 precisely because of a French development cartridge with this date and which seems very close to the prototype (Fra_asm).

Prototype	Version	Room revision	Date
NES_Ver2\us_asm\tes_main.hex	US	✘	02/10/1992 13:24:24
NES_Ver2\us_asm\zel_main.hex	US	✘	02/27/1992 14:07:39
英語_PAL\pal_asm\zel0-1.bin	EU	✘
英語_PAL\pal_asm\zel_main1.hex	EU	✔	06/02/1992 09:49:54
ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	DE	✘	05/06/1992 12:00:37
ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm\zel_main1.hex	DE	✘	04/20/1992 17:00:59
ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm1\zel0-1.bin	DE	✔
フランス_PAL\Fra_asm\zel0-1.bin	FR	✘
フランス_PAL\Fra_asm1\zel0-1.bin	FR	✘
フランス_PAL\Fra_asm1\zel_main.hex	FR	✔	06/11/1992 09:34:31
フランス_NES\N_F_asm\zel0-1.bin	CA	✘
フランス_NES\N_F_asm\zel_main.hex	CA	✘	07/14/1992 16:03:17

(Source: Dark Linkaël)