Not sure if this was shared or not. I'm mixed on the original title. It sounds more magical, but at the same time it kind of spoils the big reveal.
It's basically just the Japanese title, the JPN title has no fear of spoiling it lol
So after doing a lot of this stuff for Nintendo Metro, I realized there isn't a cohesive collection of just what files work with what.
So - I've started a "Nintendo Gigaleak Asset Collaboration" Google Doc. This should tell us what files work with what correctly, rather than everyone separately randomly finding what works.
So it's here, but I need help! There's a LOT of stuff.
docs.google.com
If you're keen to help, DM me here and go request access to the file (Under the "View Only" bit)
This I think will help everyone whose searching through these files and save everyone a lot of time.
So - I've started a "Nintendo Gigaleak Asset Collaboration" Google Doc. This should tell us what files work with what correctly, rather than everyone separately randomly finding what works.
So it's here, but I need help! There's a LOT of stuff.
Nintendo Gigaleak Asset Collaboration
Index Hello, and welcome to the Gigaleak Asset Collaboration Sheet! The goal of this sheet is to work together to figure out just what works with what within the Nintendo Gigaleak assets across everything. To organize everything we've categorized everything into sheets based on games. If not gam...
If you're keen to help, DM me here and go request access to the file (Under the "View Only" bit)
This I think will help everyone whose searching through these files and save everyone a lot of time.
There's so much other interesting stuff in that Zelda spritesheet that noone seems to bother with.
Take this:
Could it be a shell-like throne? I always thought it was strange how weird throwaway the role of Zoras was in LttP compared to the later series. This design makes me wonder if maybe they had planned more for them.
Another example of Nintendo's iterativeness.
In Oracle of Ages, King Zora has a shell throne.
Someone posted this on discord, what I always thought was an early version of lost woods might be hyrule field?
for reference
Someone should overlay the final hyrule field by castle town with this.
I'll quote an SNES Mini interview with one of the directors of YI on the subject:
Given Super Donkey's obvious artistic connections to Yoshi's Island, it seems highly likely to be one of these little conceptual prototypes rather than something that ever went into large scale production.
Just realized that this was what Termina in Majora's Mask kinda became. Each gate leds you to the direction of Swamp, Sea, Canyon and Mountain.
On Link's House? The one on the bottom corner of Link (presumably) fighting a monster made it into the final game, though the random smiley face one did not.
Enhancement chips were available very early in (see pilot wings), the larger rom definitely could have done some help, but I don't get the feeling like they were hurting for capabilities and were holding out to make the game more expensive for whatever it would have gained them.
I get that people's imaginations can run a bit wild, but these comments always confuse me. Like were people honestly expecting a ton more once these things were found?
I guess people don't understand how game development works. People imagined that there was an actual full beta game of OOT that was completely reworked so heavily that many of those areas were removed entirely, when in reality they were just tiny test areas built specifically for the purpose of placing assets in for nice screenshots and videos. I mean it's no wonder that the game took so long to come out despite these screenshots making it look like they had a proper game up and running. They really didn't.
yeah I think that is why they're disappointed.
Would be great if there were playable slices of some of this stuff though!
Intruigingly the Oracle games were technically developed by Capcom, wonder if they had access to early assets from Nintendo to work from?
Its design is essentially the same besides the larger sprite and lesser detail
Same, it feels like some people were expecting entire, fully playable unused dungeons/areas to be sitting around in the files.
Nintendo doesn't just hand off licenses for people to work on. There is always someone from Nintendo overseeing or in the office who come in. I imagine sharing assets and ideas is part of that job, not just making sure the IP isn't being besmirched in some way.Intruigingly the Oracle games were technically developed by Capcom, wonder if they had access to early assets from Nintendo to work from?
Its design is essentially the same besides the larger sprite and lesser detail
And for me, it's the opposite. In cases like this, answers to "questions" in this way only produce even more questions. What were they experimenting with in these test environments? Was Z-Targeting even a thing, yet?
This is why I wish Ninty and others would actually make legit post-mortem documentaries and/or books on their games. Even what we're getting now is still only a fraction of the story.
I agree, I'd love to know what some of the developers thoughts were at this stage. I imagine, for example, the poles in the room were there for testing enemy field of view or using environments to aid/hinder combat. It would be interesting to know if they were trying to make a more indepth environmental combat system for example.
Yeah, just very interesting it went as deep as a specific design decision for the throne.
Looking at the credits again there were six supervisors, including Tezuka, so I guess it does add up.
Would love to see behind-the-scenes stuff from that time period specifically.
Agreed. To me, this isn't a case of images "losing their magic" so much as the viewer's expectations being out of whack.
The dopamine and oxytocin being generated by the thought of solving the mystery was not as large as actually solving the mystery, and thus these feelings are created.
It was only ever going to be a screenshot of an in-progress environment. I still think it's rad as hell.
I think it's more about looking behind the curtain and seeing it was all just code, polygons and assets instead of some magical revolutionary device (which is what it felt like when the N64 first launched!). I don't agree with the sentiment, but I think that's where it's coming from.
Personally I don't get the disappointment either, if anything stuff like the Lost Woods/Hyrule Field and Super Donkey discoveries make me even more interested in the leaks. So much cool stuff.
Well, there is that one tower that seemed fairly complete. I guess some people were expecting more stuff like that rather than it turning out that some screenshots were taken in closed rooms that never really could be part of any finished project.
I imagine their quoted text applies to the entirety of the dump, not just the single room they posted in that particular tweet (this same person has been posting most of the stuff from OoT and is a long time person in the OoT scene).
Interesting thought, but we don't really have anything else that ties the two. Still, it could have been the concept behind it originally who knows?
I can't stop looking at the Link to the Past overworld made using the Link's Awakening assets. Why did this exist!
Where did this come from/source? That's awesome, really.I can't stop looking at the Link to the Past overworld made using the Link's Awakening assets. Why did this exist!
Could be a few reasons. Maybe they originally wanted the game to mirror LTTP more closely to hammer in the dream like differences. Or maybe it was simply a young designer practicing working with the map builder.I can't stop looking at the Link to the Past overworld made using the Link's Awakening assets. Why did this exist!
LA started as a GB remake of ALTTPI can't stop looking at the Link to the Past overworld made using the Link's Awakening assets. Why did this exist!
I can't stop looking at the Link to the Past overworld made using the Link's Awakening assets. Why did this exist!
This is fascinating.
Those Mario statues along the bottom middle...have we ever seen those before anywhere else?
Here we go.
Fun that they kept that map around so long.
Wonder how far they got along into programming/implementing the remake idea before scrapping it.
I didn't know that! So interesting.
Some other games actually went this route... Donkey Kong Land 2 was a full-on remake of DKC2 (and the original DKL had a level or two shared with DKC before diverging wildly into a very different game with shared art assets, I believe).
I see two tiles on there I don't recognize - the Mario statues and those... owl statues? near where the smithy would be in the normal game. In fact I don't recognize that dungeon at all, any guesses on what it was meant to map to?
That's fascinating. Thanks for sharing the link!
There's more under that Tweet if anyone's curious, and explanations for some missing tile sets.
You're right - they've now redone the whole LTTP map at least (or almost) three times now. Interesting to think that Aonuma was tasked to make a 3D Link to the Past, but ended up with ALBW. I wonder how far they got into the remake, or if it was only the original concept?
Nifty! The placement of lots of pieces of the final Koholint Island ended up being pretty close to the ALTTP map, now that I look at it that way!
I mean, kind of but not really? All the level maps are different even if they share names and themes.
I heard that the third game was supposed to be a remake of Zelda 1 at one point.
Ah that actually sounds pretty cool. That would be neat in the GB Zelda style.
I actually think some of that stuff made it into the actual games. Ever wonder about Oracle of Seasons featuring dungeon bosses from Zelda 1 - Aquamentus, Gohma, Manhandla, Dodongo, Gleeok, and Digdogger. Many of those never appeared in any other Zelda but Seasons and 1.
Luigiblood speculates that it may be a game titled 'blackout' that was mentioned and then never materialized.