Ocarina of Time 2D

These are a couple of old projects so now that the dust has settled on them, It’s about time to dedicate a post to them. Ocarina of Time 2D is the name of two fan made games for PC, which were in development back in 2006 and 2014 to mid 2016. The games seek to emulate the gameplay and story of Ocarina of Time, but in the style of A Link to the Past.

The 2006 version of OOT 2D by Richard Denton (Dampé)

The story starts in the mid 2000’s. There was a version of Ocarina of Time 2D that was developed by a chap called Richard Denton. There were articles written about it all over the place, most of which were lost to the disappearance of now-defunct websites. There is, however, some bits and pieces that we can deduce from what is left.

Download it

There is a download for the game here, and the source code file can be found here. You can also find the N64 Squid mirror for these two files on the OOT2D files page and download it using this password: “oot2d2006”.

The game itself is fairly functional, but has a lot of glitches. I got soft locked after getting and equipping the kokiri sword so it’s not really possible to get very far.

The game’s development progress

The game was incomplete and very little of it is playable. Even what you can access is very glitchy; I managed to get soft-locked about 5 times before I learned to save progress.

You can access all of Kokiri forest including the rolling ball area, shop, Great Deku Tree area and inside most houses. The Lost Forest is accessible, but there is no trigger on the exist so you’re stuck there. There is also an are inside the Great Deku Tree, and you can reach up until the slingshot room. You can shoot some targets on the Skulltula zone which lowers a wall, but climbing to the next floor leads to nowhere.

A few glitches I encountered are when opening chests (Kokiri Sword and slingshot) exiting rooms (rolling avoids the exit trigger) and the Lost Woods causes you to get stuck. You can also get hearts even when you have full health.

The version I got was from November 2006, but there are more areas that were developed but are not available in it. This gallery showcases some of them:

Project’s end

The project was quite popular, so much in fact that fans of the 2006 OOT 2D were following the progress very closely.

Unfortunately, it was announced on 24th March 2007 that he died in a car crash the day before, 23rd March:

Yesterday, around 4:00pm, I received a phone call telling me that Richard (Dampe) has been in a fatal car accident.

knoxinabox

The website was deleted by Richard’s fanily and replaced with a message just saying RIP Dampé

As per usual for the internet, the news was met with mixed feelings. Many were sad that he died, and many others we skeptical of it. One commenter went into full detective mode and described the inconsistencies in the story:

1. No rain in his area for several days, ruling out death by a car that swerved off the road to hit him. [NB there was 1mm of rain on Wednesday 21 March]
2. No local news in his area mentions the death of a teenager named Richard Denton.
3. No info at local police stations about an accident.
4. There were several Ocarina of Time 2D projects. His was being done in Gamemaker and it was the least impressive.
5. Months and months of work and we get a few screenshots of the Deku Tree.
6. Only 15 years old. I’m the same age and I frequently move from different stuff, getting bored quickly with the same things. He could’ve gotten tired of it.
7. Pressure. People would expect great things from anything with the words “Ocarina of Time” in the title. He might have cracked.
8. “Mention OoT2D on the forum and you’re banned. Forget about it. His family doesn’t want you to talk about it.” ^Short version of what was posted on the site. Why would mentioning it be bad? Why would his family care so much about a project they probably didn’t know or care about? Why would they be so desperate to eliminate all traces of it if they were grieving so much? If I died I think my family would have other matters besides shutting down my accounts on the Sony and Nintendo forums.
9. His account was accessed a few hours after his “death”.
10. A bit too perfect. The brilliant young developer is tragically killed and his last words were “I love you” to his girlfriend.

It still hasn’t been completely confirmed that it was fake, but it’s likely to be that the pressure got to him and he just wanted out without having to explain too much.

2014 version of OOT 2D by CheerfulSage & GodsTurf

Later on in 2014, another team of developers went on to start a new project of reconstructing Ocarina of Time in two dimensions, in the style of A Link to the Past. This is the game that progressed the furthest out of all the ones that were made, making it quite a feat of effort.

This version of Ocarina of Time 2D had a Facebook page with weekly updates, that stopped in July 2016. Most of it was detailing the different work that they were doing, mostly new maps and new artwork. Most of the comments on it are just asking for updates on the project, but they’re falling on a deaf void.

This version of the game remained faithful to the original, but still inserted its own sense of humour into the mix. I think this gave the game a bit more of a personal flair, since it would otherwise be kind of pointless talking to NPC and exploring the area if you already know what to expect.

Versions of the game (and downloads)

There are three known versions of the game mentioned online. The latest one is v0.20 which was planned for release in June 2016, but never got to see the light of day. This version was going to include 20% of the completed game, where you could play up to Dodongo’s Cavern.

V0.10

The first version released was v0.10. for a long time, this was the only version of the game which I could find. It includes the game up to Ghoma, where she just refuses to die. You can explore Kokiri Forest and the Great Deku tree, all quite complete. Even the intro has a lot of depth, showing the scene with Ganondorf in the castle gate and Navi flying through Kokiri Forest.

You can try the game for yourself by downloading it here using the password “oot2d2014”.

V0.15

Then there is v0.15 which is the latest known public release from November 2014. With this version of the game, you could play the main storyline up to the end of the Hyrule Castle courtyard, just before you meet Zelda for the first time. You can also visit the various detour areas such as Kakariko Village, Lost Woods and Lon Lon Ranch.

After about a year since publishing this post, I got a few emails from some readers of N64 Squid which had version 0.15 saved on their computer and they shared it with me. The game does seem a lot more polished and less glitchy, and includes some more cutscenes.

Again, you can download it here by using the password “oot2015v0.15”.

The end of OOT 2D 2014

May 2015 marked the beginning of the end. Nintendo has always been very protective of their IPs unlike others which allow and encourage modding like Id Software or Valve. This mean that they could not allow the game to be available to the public, especially since it is (technically) infringing on their trademarks and using some borrowed assets. The download link for version 0.15 was taken down, never to be seen again.

The download page on their website would continue to exist, but just point out that the next version would come in the summer, which it never did.

Over the next 9 months or so they would post regular updates to their Facebook page, showing screenshots and new areas that they started developing. Most of the last updates were about development of Dodongo’s cavern, and after that there were a couple of post about not posting as often. And then there’s just nothing.

One comment on the Facebook page in particular was written by someone who worked on the project as to why there aren’t any more progress updates:

I worked on this a bit with the guys, to be honest they arent online anywhere anymore so as sad as it is all I have left of this project is the sprites I made for it, depressing considering how much work went into it from everyone

Josh Sutton

It makes sense to think that the C&D really knocked the wind out of the project. I can imagine that the developers lost interest and hope bit by bit throughout the post-May 2015 era. It’s a real shame, since this game is a lot better than a fan-made game should.

2020 Version by Ichor Studios

Five years after the 2014 version was cancelled, the project was revived from scratch. Josh Reaver from the previous team and his brother had a nagging feeling that it was a project that had to be complete, so they went back to the drawing board and started anew.

The biggest issue with the 2014 version was that they were using assets from and imitating A Link to the Past. The team always wanted to make a game with original assets so it only makes sense to start things off from scratch.

The development team currently consists of just Josh doing the artwork and his brother Harry doing the programming. They are looking for new talent, so if you’re interested in making Zelda pixel art in this style, you can get in touch by using the links below.

The game is being developed in Unity, which means that it will be playable primarily in web browsers. However if the project takes off, it still has the opportunity to be ported to other systems.

The game is going to be released in stages. Initially, there will be a demo that only plays up to a certain point (eg. Ghoma). After that, they’ll continue making newer versions with backwards-compatible saves that add on top of the base. The game will also be expanded upon that with some standalone minigames sprinkled around that will be integrated later into the game, the first of which is available to play now.

They also plan on adding more features to the OoT than just try to replicate the original game in 2D. There’s going to be jokes, memes and just generally adding in their own twist on the game. There’s also post-game content with its original plot and dungeons, plus a boss rush mode and two difficulty modes.

The team’s website can be found over at Ichor Studios, and their status updates can be found on their Facebook page. The page is updated quite often, so that’s the best place to know how things are going.

I think the best part is after spending hours on something it finally coming together and looking amazing and then going on to share that with everyone and getting so much positive feedback is really what does it for me.

Josh Reaver

Conclusion

Ocarina of Time 2D is a game that has been attempted to be developed several times by different fan developers. It is unfortunate that they never got completed, since it is really interesting how they translate the 3D world into 2D, somewhat like making a painting of a sculpture.

The problems with independent fan games like these are numerous:

• It’s a lot of work to be built as a fan-made project. Interest is easy to lose and pressure is easy to succumb to if there isn’t any financial compensation.
• They can’t get financial compensation as that would break Fair Use even further than simple trademark infringement.
• These projects are driven by fan interest, and that can only do so much for motivation. People get very demanding so it can be a negative as time goes on.
• Working as a team often means that people enter and leave the project, leading to inconsistent schedules, coordination issues and overall lack of reliability.

Rather than just rereleasing the same ROM over and over, it would be great if Nintendo could do their own version of Ocarina of Time 2D, since that would overturn all of these issues. Being able to see the world from a different perspective could really bring a different twist on these beloved classics.

Now, there is another fan-made OOT 2D (that I know of), which I might add at a later date.