The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
-Debug Version-
0. Document Information
Last revision: Sept. 26 2005
History:
Sept. 26 2005
- Removed the ROM/information supplier's names at their request.
Sept. 20 2005
1. Introduction
The Ocarina Of Time Debug Version is a leaked N64 ROM of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time with several neat development features enabled. This document will attempt to describe these featues in as much detail as possible. This ROM is based on Master Quest, so some differences will be visible from regular OoT ROMs.
Note: In some screenshots you may see a small square in the top left corner of the screen. This is part of the map and appears to be an emulation error.
2. Getting It To Run
Because the debug ROM contains a lot of code which was never intended to be used in the final release and therefore never verified for correctness, many emulators have trouble running the ROM. (No information is currently available about running it on an actual N64 system. Details are welcome.) Setting up emulators to run the ROM properly can be tricky...
Project 64
PJ64, for the most part, will run the ROM with no significant problems (though it does have a tendency to go into an endless loop spewing message boxes, at which point you can only close the emulator). Because PJ64 uses the ROM checksum to identify a game, it won't recognize this ROM as OoT and will therefore use the default ROM settings. To get it working you should go into the ROM settings (Options -> Settings -> ROM Settings while the game is running, or right-click the ROM in the ROM list and click Edit Game Settings) and set up everything the same way as OoT. For reference, OoT has the following settings in PJ64 V1.6. Also, an alternate configuration is provided in case OoT's doesn't work as well.
| Property | OoT Setting | Alternate Setting |
| CPU Core Style | Recompiler | Recompiler |
| Self-Modifying Code Method | Check Memory Advance | Protect Memory |
| Memory Size | 8MB* | 8MB |
| Advanced Block Linking | Default | On |
| Default Save Type | Use First Used | Use First Used |
| Counter Factor | 2 | Default |
| Larger Compile Buffer | No | No |
| Use TLB | No | No |
| Register Caching | Yes | Yes |
| Delay SI Interrupt | No | No |
| SP Hack | No | No |
| RSP Audio Signal | No | No |
*Although OoT uses 4MB, the debug ROM needs 8MB to function properly.
Nemu
Though Nemu has some trouble running the ROM, it will run with a few simple tweaks. First, set the memory size to 8MB. Second, use any video plugin other than the default, as this plugin will not render the graphics at all. Some errors may be reported when the ROM is first loaded; these can be ignored.
All Emulators
Because the debugging features use all 4 controllers, you will need to configure all of them. If you have 4 joysticks or an Adaptoid, great. Otherwise, use as many controllers as possible and map the rest to the keyboard. You may simply map controllers 2, 3 and 4 to the same set of keys and only enable one at a time as there is no known instance where multiple controllers (aside from 1) need to be used at once. Additionally, you may want to enable a memory pak in one or more controllers as this will be used in the camera debugger. If you only have one joystick and use PJ64, here is an alternate layout which maps every button on controllers 2, 3 and 4 to its own key, so that they may all be used at once.
Finally, make sure that you are not using any of the following graphics plugins:
- Nemu's default plugin (won't render at all)
- Jabo's Video Plugin V1.60 (renders incorrectly; V1.52 works)
Plugin Settings
Some plugins will require a bit of tweaking to get the game running properly. These settings may not work perfectly for you but should get the game running.
Jabo's Video V1.52
This should work fine, just uncheck Self-Rendered Textures.
Rice's Video V6.10
Full TMEM Emulation: On
Load hi-res textures if available: Off
Accurate Texture Mapping: On
N64 Frame Buffer Emulation: Basic Framebuffer & With Emulator
Rendering to Texture Emulation: Basic Render-to-Texture
Try to save VRAM: On
3. Map Select
The Map Select screen allows you to jump to any area in the game. To access it, either select file #1 or press L+R+Z on controller 1 at any time. (Note: The controller combo does not always work for some reason.) The controls are as follows, using controller 1:
| Button | Action |
| D-Pad Up/Down/Left/Right | Select area |
| A/Start | Enter area |
| B | Choose Link's age |
| L | Next page |
| R | Decrease 'stage' |
| Z | Increase 'stage' |
| C-Up | Decrease 'opt' |
Stage determines what part of the area you'll appear in or what cutscene will play (if any). Opt's effect is unknown. Age is 5 for Young Link and 17 for Adult Link. The names in the list are unfortunately not very explanatory and mostly in Japanese. Here is a translated list:
1: Hyrule Field
2: Kakariko Village
3: Graveyard
4: Zora's River
5: Kokiri Forest
6: Sacred Forest Meadow
7: Lake Hylia (stage 01 shows the credits)
8: Zora's Domain
9: Zora's Fountain
10: Gerudo Valley
11: Lost Woods
12: Desert Colossus
13: Gerudo's Fortress
14: Haunted Wasteland
15: Hyrule Castle
16: Death Mountain Trail
17: Death Mountain Crater
18: Goron City
19: Lon Lon Ranch
20: Temple Of Time
21: Chamber of Sages [Cutscene]
22: Shooting Gallery
23: Castle Courtyard Game
24: Underground Grave 1
25: Underground Grave 2
26: Royal Family's Tomb
27: Great Fairy's Fountain (Din)
28: Great Fairy's Fountain (Farore)
29: Great Fairy's Fountain (Nayru)
30: Ganondorf's Tower - Collapsing [Cutscene]
31: Zelda's Courtyard
32: Fishing Pond
33: Bombchu Bowling Alley
34: Lon Lon Ranch House
35: Lon Lon Ranch Silo
36: Hyrule Castle Town - Guard House
37: Potion Shop
38: Treasure Box Shop
39: House Of Skulltula
40: Hyrule Castle Town - Main Alley
41: Market
42: Back Alley
43: Tempe Of Time - Outside
44: Link's Home
45: House (Kakariko)
46: House (Back Alley)
47: House of the Know-it-All Brothers
48: House of the Twins
49: Mido's House
50: Saria's House
51: Stable
52: Gravekeeper's Hut
53: House (Back Alley)
54: House (Kakariko)
55: Lakeside Laboratory
56: Running Man's Tent
57: Bazaar
58: Kokiri Shop
59: Gordon Shop
60: Zora Shop
61: Closed Shop
62: Potion Shop
63: Back Alley Night Store
64: Happy Mask Shop
65: Gerudo Training Ground
66: Inside the Deku Tree
67: Deku Tree Boss [Boss]
68: Dodongo Cavern
69: Dodongo Cavern Boss [Boss]
70: Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly
71: Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly Boss [Boss]
72: Forest Temple
73: Forst Temple Boss [Boss]
74: Bottom of the Well
75: Shadow Temple (Literal Translation: Dungeon Beneath the Grave)
76: Shadow Temple Boss [Boss]
77: Fire Temple
78: Fire Temple Boss [Boss]
79: Water Temple
80: Water Temple [Boss]
81: Spirit Temple
82: Spirit Temple [Iron Knuckle]
83: Spirit Temple Boss [Boss]
84: Stairs to Ganondorf
85: Ganondorf [Boss]
86: Ice Cavern
87: Dampé's Grave (Literal Translation: Beneath the Grave rirei)
88: Inside Ganon's Castle
89: Escaped Ganon's Castle [Final Boss Fight]
90: Escaping Ganon's Castle 1
91: Escaping Ganon's Castle 2
92: Escaping Ganon's Castle 3
93: Escaping Ganon's Castle 4
94: Escaping Ganon's Castle 5
95: Thieves' Hideout 1
96: Thieves' Hideout 2
97: Thieves' Hideout 3
98: Thieves' Hideout 4
99: Thieves' Hideout 5
100: Thieves' Hideout 6
101: Underground Grotto 1
102: Underground Grotto 2
103: Underground Grotto 3
104: Underground Grotto 4
105: Underground Grotto 5
106: Underground Grotto 6
107: Underground Grotto 7
108: Underground Grotto 8
109: Underground Grotto 9 (looks beta)
110: Underground Grotto 10
111: Underground Grotto 11
112: Underground Grotto 12
113: Underground Grotto 13
114: Underground Grotto 14
115: Various Cutscenes
116: Special Room (Strongbox Warp)
117: Bamboo Grass Test (Assumption: Ground Test)
118: Test Map (lots of water and ledges, ladders, etc)
119: Test Room (craploads of treasure boxes)
120: Medium/Mediocre Stalfos Room
121: Boss Stalfos Room (Beta; not much there, the warp takes you to the courtyard)
122: Beta Dark Link arena, including Dark Link
123: Shooting Gallery
124: Depth Test (9 squares way off in distance, Link falls to his doom)
125: Hyrule Garden Game 2 (PJ64 goes into endless error message loop)
title: Title Screen
Note that if you warp to an underground grotto or similar area, trying to leave will take you to an undefined area which appears to be an unused part of the Deku Tree. Also, if when you select a map, the input display just stays on the screen forever, it means the game has crashed, most likely because you specified an invalid stage.
4. Inventory Editor
This screen allows you to edit your current items, equipment, and other related variables. To access it, press L on any pause menu. Press L again to exit. The controls are as follows, using controller 1:
| Button | Action |
| D-Pad | Select value |
| C | Change Value |
Note that the pause menu is still active, thus pressing other buttons will perform the actions they normally would on that menu. The C buttons work differently depending which value is selected. From left to right, top to bottom, the values are:
- Rupee - Allows you to change your rupee count, from 0 to 9999. C-Up subtracts 100, C-Down adds 100, C-Left subtracts 1, and C-Right adds one.
- Hearts - Allows you to change your current and max health, from 0 to 20 hearts. The first value is max, second is current. C-Left or C-Up decrease, C-Right or C-Down increase. When changing current health, C-Left and C-Right increase/decrease by 1/4 while C-Up and C-Down increase by an entire heart.
- Item - Allows you to change the quantity of each of your items. Use Left and Right to select an item slot. C-Left increases, C-Right decreases, C-Up sets to zero. For items that do not have quantities, the number represents an item number. Only numbers valid for that slot can be used. Note that to get rid of an item without a quantity, you must press C-Up.
- Key - Allows you to change the amount of keys you have in each dungeon, from 0 to 9. While the cursor may appear to be covering two digits, it's actually only supposed to cover one. C-Up and C-Left decrease, C-Right and C-Down increase. Note that there are 18 values, which is more than are actually used in the game.
- Upgrades - Allows you to select equipment upgrades. From left to right, the values control Quiver, Bomb Bag, Gauntlet, Scale, Wallet, Bullet Bag, and two values that don't seem to be used. C-Left or C-Up decreases, C-Right or C-Down increases.
- Equipment - Allows you to specify which equipment you have. From left to right, the values control Sword, Shield, Tunic, and Boots. The C buttons work a little differently here in that they toggle the bits of each value. C-Up toggles bit 3 (not used), C-Right toggles bit 2 (slot 3), C-Down toggles bit 1 (slot 2), and C-Left toggles bit 0 (slot 1). The value 7 gives you all items. Values above 9 aren't displayed correctly.
- Map - Not tested, but assumed to control dungeon items (Big Key, Compass and Map). The C-buttons work the same as they do for equipment, except that C-Up does not do anything (nor should it in equipment; apparently a small oversight on the programmers' behalf).
- Medallions - Allows you to control whether you have each medallion. The values, from left to right, control Forest, Fire, Water, Spirit, Shadow, and Light. C-Up or C-Left toggles the value. (Note that there's no bit that lights up that Triforce. Though there isn't one that gives you magic or double defense either...)
- Stones - Same as Medallions, but for the Spiritual Stones instead. From left to right, the values control Kokiri's Emerald, Goron's Ruby and Zora's Sapphire. (Note: To reach this option, you need to move the cursor past Ocarina.)
- Ocarina - Same as Medallions, this time for Ocarina songs. From left to right, the values control Minuet of Forest, Bolero of Fire, Serenade of Water, Requiem of Spirit, Nocturne of Shadow, Prelude of Light, Zelda's Lullaby, Epona's Song, Saria's Song, Sun's Song, Song of Time and Song of Storms. The Scarecrow's Song is not included in this list.
- Collect - These values again work the same as the Medallions. The first controls whether you have the Stone of Agony, the second the Gerudo's Card.
- Gold Skulltula - Allows you to change the number of Gold Skulltulas you have. C-Up and C-Left increase, C-Right and C-Down decrease.
- Heart Piece - Allows you to choose how many heart pieces you have. C-Up and C-Left increase, C-Right and C-Down decrease. The game allows values up to 5, even though only up to 3 is valid.
5. Memory Editor
This feature displays variables from various areas in memory and allows you to edit them. To display them, press any of the following button combinations on controller 2. Each combo displays a different variable group (sorted alphabetically).
| Buttons | Group | Buttons | Group |
| L+C-Up | R | L+Right | RU |
| R+Left | RA | R+C-Left | RV |
| L+Z | RC | R+C-Right | RW |
| L+Left | RD | R+B | RX |
| L+Start | RG | L+R | RY |
| R+Start | RH | L+B | RZ |
| L+Up | RI | C-Right+Start | Rb |
| R+A | RK | R+Z | Rc |
| L+C-Right | RM | A+Start | Rd |
| L+Down | RN | R+C-Up | Ri |
| L+C-Down | RO | B+Start | Rk |
| L+A | RP | R+Right | Rm |
| R+C-Down | RQ | R+Up | Rn |
| L+C-Left | RS |
(All directions refer to the D-Pad.)
Note: To activate a menu whose combo uses the Start button, you must press Start first. Pressing it second won't have any effect. Also, sometimes it takes a few tries for the menu to appear.
Press Up and Down on the D-Pad to select a value, and Left and Right to change it. To close the menu, press any other valid button combo. To view the next page press the same combo again. The menu will disappear when you scroll past the last page. (These actions are done using controller 2 as well.)
Though many of the variables are unknown and probably unused, some have interesting effects, which are listed here. Variables that aren't listed don't appear to do anything noticable. (Since the game simply displays all data in memory from a certain area, it's likely that those whose value is always 0 don't do anything at all.)
Group R (Press L+C-Up)
- R00: Red intensity 1. (Tip: 256 = 0, -1 = 255.)
- R01: Green intensity 1.
- R02: Green intensity 2.
- R03: Red intensity 2.
- R04: Green intensity 2.
- R05: Blue intensity 2.
- R06: Red intensity 3.
- R07: Green intensity 3.
- R08: Blue intensity 3.
- R09: Colour edit switch. 0 means you can edit the colour intensities and they won't change. Anything else means the game will update them and you can't edit them.
- R10: Red intensity 4.
- R11: Green intensity 4.
- R12: Blue intensity 4.
- R14: Visibility. 1000 is fully visible.
The Visibility setting drastically changes the area's appearance. Here is Hyrule Field, during the day, at 920:
At the default setting of 990:
And at the maximum of 1000:
One wonders why Nintendo didn't use 1000 for Hyrule Field; it looks a lot more impressive.
Group RA (Press R+Left)
Unknown; contains a setting that colour-codes the ground you're standing on (what colour means what is unknown). To activate it, RA15, RA23 and RA25 must all be set to a nonzero value.
Group RC (press L+Z)
- RC02: Enable time display
- RC11: Override default entrance/exit animation (needed for RC12)
- RC12: Select animation:
- 0: Circles
- 1: Beta triforce fade
- 2: Fade to black
- 3: Fade to white
- 4: Fade to black fast
- 5: Fade to gray fast
- 6: Fade to black slow
- 7: Fade to white slow
- 8: Same as 0
- 9: Same as 3
- 10: Same as 3
- 11: No transition
- 12: Same as 3
- 13: Area doesn't actually load
- 14: Normal, sand effect
- 15: Normal, temporary sand effect
- 16: Cutscene mode(?) - doesn't render anything, can't pause, time stopped
- 17: Screen turns gray
- 18: Fade to green
- 19: Fade to blue
- 20+: Crash
- RC16: Unknown, can't edit
- RC17: Unknown, can't edit
- RC18: Unknown, can't edit
- RC19: Unknown, can't edit
RD Group (Press L+Left)
- RD00: Toggles slow motion.
RO Group (Press L+C-Down)
- RO00: Displays camera debug info if set to 1. Warning: If set to a negative value, you won't be able to set it to a positive value again.
RS Group (Press L+C-Left)
- RS00: Toggle CPU status display. Specify a value from 1 to 3; higher values show more detail. (Interesting note: Cannot be set negative.)
- RS01: Unknown, but can't be set negative.
RW Group (Press R+C-Right)
- Unknown. RW07 changes when the A button icon moves.
RX Group (Press R+B)
- RX16: A button Y position.
- RX17: A button X position.
- RX19: A button text Y position.
- RX20: A button text X position.
- RX21: A button text width.
- RX22: A button red intensity.
- RX23: A button green intensity.
- RX24: A button blue intensity.
- RX28: A button text height.
6. Audio Debug
The Audio Debugger is one of the most extensive debugging systems ever seen in a video game and allows for just about every (if not every) aspect of the game's sound system to be tested in any number of ways. It contains 15 pages of debugging menus and information. No way has yet been found to access it within the game normally, but some clever hackers came up with the Gameshark code 81210B2F 1111 to break into it.
The controls are as follows, using controller 4:
| Button | Action |
| L | Previous page |
| R | Next page |
| Z | Change text colour |
Note: The debug print colour is a separate setting.
Note that this menu lags the game considerably (though this may just be a PJ64 issue, or the computer it was tested on may not have been fast enough). A good place to experiment with it is map #118, since there is absolutely nothing there save for some water and ground and Link. Of course, this means there won't be a lot of sounds being made there, so you may want to experiment on other maps with certain features.
Page 1: Non
This page allows you to toggle the music and sound effects, and displays information about current sounds.
BGM CANCEL: Disables the music. Press A to toggle.
SE MUTE: Disables the sound effects. Press B to toggle.
SE HANDLE: Doesn't seem to be changable.
Additional info is displayed here when Link makes a sound.
Page 2: Free Area
This page displays various statuses.
SOUND GAME FRAME NOW: Unknown. The more simultaneous sounds play, the higher the value.
SOUND GAME FRAME MAX: The highest recorded frame value.
SWITCH BGM MODE: Unknown.
ENEMT DIST: Unknown, probably related to enemy sounds.
GANON DIST: Unknown.
DEMO FLAG: Value is 1 on the title screen, 0 during the game. Unsure of its purpose.
Note: This screen also displays any errors that occurr, as in this example:
There is no currently known way to reproduce this error.
Page 3: Scroll Print
This page controls the debug print at the right side of the screen. Press Up and Down to select a value, and Left and Right to edit it.
Switch: Toggles the debug print.
Lines: Selects how many lines are displayed at a time.
Color: Changes the text colour.
PLAYER: Toggles whether player sounds (sounds made by Link) are logged.
ITEM: Toggles whether item sounds (eg a bomb's fuse burning) are logged.
ENVROM: Toggles whether environment sounds (eg running water) are logged.
ENEMY: Toggles whether enemy sounds (sounds made by an enemy) are logged.
SYSTEM: Toggles whether miscellaneous sounds (eg toggling the map) are logged.
OCARINA: Toggles whether Ocarina notes are logged.
VOICE: Toggles whether voice clips are logged.
SEQ ENT: Toggles whether sequences beginning and ending are logged.
Note: On this page, the C buttons may be used to move the debug print, A to return it to its default position, and B to clear it. Moving the text right to the top of the screen displays several Japanese characters, though this appears to be garbage text.
Page 4: SE Parameter Change
This page allows you to test the sound effects. Press up and down to select a value, left and right to modify it, A to play the sound, and B to stop a looping sound.
SE HD: Selects a sound effect type.
SE No: Selects a sound effect.
SE SW: Unknown. Left and right select a bit, C-Down toggles it. The hex value is shown at the right.
SE PR: Unknown.
Note: The OCARINA bank contains a lot of miscellaneous sounds, since only one sound is actually needed for ocarina notes.
Page 5: Ocarina Test
This page displays various ocarina-related info. Obviously, it doesn't mean much unless you're actually playing the ocarina.
SEQ INFO: Unknown. The first byte changes when a song is played.
PLAY INFO: The first byte tells which note is being played (63 means none). The second byte is unknown but has the value FF if you aren't playing the ocarina and FE if you are. The third byte counts how many notes you've played.
8note REC POINTER: Unknown, presumably the RAM address that stores the notes you've played.
Page 6: Natural Sound Control
This page seems to be completely blank. It may require further hacking to unlock. (Or, it may just be blank for some reason.)
Page 7: Block Change BGM
This page allows you to select the background music to play. Press up and down to select a value, left and right to modify it, A to play the selected song, and B to stop the song.
BGM No: Selects a track.
SCENE SET: Selects a part of the track, for tracks with multiple parts (eg Hyrule Field).
NEXT SCENE: Displays the next scene that will be played.
NOW SCENE: Unknown.
NOW BLOCK: Unknown.
PORT: Unknown.
Page 8: SE Flag Swap
This page's purpose is unknown. Press up and down to choose a row, and A to select it. Once you've selected a row, press left and right to choose a value, and up and down to change its value. Press A again to deselect the row. Press B to reset all values in the current row to 0.
Page 9: Interface Info
This page displays information about each type of sound effect currently being played. Press up and down to select a value and left and right to change it. The value determines what information will be displayed.
Page 10: Channel Info
This page also appears to be blank.
Page 11: Sub Track Info
This page displays detailed information about the current BGM track. Press up and down to change the Group Track value, and left and right to change the Sub Track value. All of the information is either self-explanatory or unknown.
Page 12: Grp Track Info
Another blank page.
Page 13: Heap Info
This page displays various information about the game's sound program. Nothing is known about the actual information displayed.
Page 14: Spec Info
Another blank page.
Page 15: Sound Control
This page allows more in-depth testing of the music and sound effects. Press up and down to select a value, and left and right to change it.
Seq 0: Selects a song. Press A to play the song, B to stop.
Seq 1: Same as Seq 0. 2 songs may be played at once.
SE HD: Selects a sound effect group. Press A to play the sound, B to stop.
SE No: Selects a sound effect. Press A to play the sound, B to stop.
S-Out: Selects the sound output mode.
BGM Ent: Unknown.
Spec: Unknown. Pressing A stops the music.
Na Snd: Plays nature sounds. Press A to play the sound, B to stop.
Cam Wt: Unknown.
Link Wt: Unknown.
SE Ent: Unknown.
7. Camera Debug
The camera debugger is by far one of the coolest debug features ever. With it, you can change the camera angle to wacky new views, move around in cutscenes, fly through the air, water, or whatever, and even record your own demos like the ones shown when you first enter an area.
The camera debugger is broken down into 3 different modes. To activate or deactivate it, press Start. (All input is done through controller 3.) Press Z to switch modes.
DEBUG CAMERA Mode
This mode changes how the camera acts. There are 3 settings to choose from (shown at the top of the screen in Japanese); press C-Left to switch settings.
The first setting is fixed-position (see above screenshot). With this, the real camera stays where it is, and a red ghost camera follows Link instead, along with an arrow on his head to indicate which way he's facing. This allows you to see how the camera behaves in various situations.
The second setting is zero-position:
This is essentially the same as the first, but the camera moves to coordinates (0,0,0).
The third setting is follow:
In this mode, the camera follows Link, but does not automatically rotate itself like normal.
In the first 2 modes, the D-Pad can be used to move the real camera up, down, left, and right. In all 3 modes, the joystick can be used to rotate it, and A and B can be used to move it forward or backward. (Note that in follow mode, when the buttons are released it will move back to its original distance from Link.) Additionally, R will move the real camera to the ghost camera's position. If you hold R, it will move like normal.
DEMO CAMERA TOOL Mode
This mode lets you control the camera completely independent of Link. Again, there are 3 settings which you can choose by pressing C-Left. This mode is mainly used to record demos, but also can be used simply to view any area from any angle.
The first setting is free movement:
In this mode, you can use the D-Pad to move the camera up, down, left and right.
The second setting is advanced movement:
In this mode, the D-Pad is used to navigate an on-screen menu. Up and down select a value, left and right modify it. The first option moves the camera forward or backward. The second changes the number of frames that will be generated between this point and the next. The third rotates the camera. The effects of the other options are not yet known.
The third setting displays the points you've set as green ghost cameras and arrows.
The controls are as follows:
- A: Move camera forward.
- B: Move camera backward.
- R: Create point at current position.
- C-Up: View next point.
- C-Down: View previous point.
- C-Left: Change mode.
- C-Right: Hold to view demo frame-by-frame.
- L:
- In mode 1, while holding L, A and B move the axes toward or away from the camera. The farther they are, the faster the camera moves. Pressing Up and Down will move the camera forward or backward.
- In mode 2, speeds up menu work. Holding L while adjusting an option changes its value by 5-10 (depending on the option) instead of 1.
- In mode 3, it has the same effect as in mode 1, but instead of moving the axes away from the camera, it moves the camera away from the axes. The closer it gets to them, the slower it moves, eventually stopping at the center. This looks cool if you zoom way out so you can't see the area, then zoom back in.
Pressing R creates a point at the current position. These points are used to create demos. The game uses a process called 'tweening' to create a full-motion video out of these points. The game places the camera at the first point, then uses a complex algorithm to move the camera smoothly to the next point by generating several 'sub-points' between them and simply jumping from one to the next. (The number of sub-points can be changed to adjust the motion speed; this is the number of frames (second option) in the mode 2 menu.) If you place a point incorrectly, you can use C-Up and C-Down to navigate to it, move the camera, and press R to overwrite it. Be sure to navigate back to the current camera position afterward (keep pressing the buttons until the point counter doesn't show 'xx/xx') or you'll end up overwriting other points.
Holding C-Right allows you to view the demo you've created so far; you can stop at any time by letting go of the button. This is good for testing your animation to ensure that the camera does not go through an object and that it will actually play the sequence properly. (The editor seems to have a lot of bugs which often prevent the sequence from playing or cut it off early.)
DEMO CONTROL Mode
This mode allows you to save your created sequences to a memory card (not sure which card yet), load sequences from the card, and arrange the sequences to form the demo.
The controls are as follows:
- D-Pad Left/Right: Select slot
- D-Pad Up/Down: Navigate menu
- A: Insert sequence
- B: Remove sequence
- L: Rearrange sequences
- C-Right: Play demo
Once you've created a sequence, select a question mark and press A to insert your sequence in this slot. The sequence is assigned a letter, starting with A and increasing. Pressing B removes the sequence. Selecting one of the dashes next to a question mark and holding L will display that sequence's letter in green. You can then use the D-Pad to select a different dash and release L, and the sequence will be moved to this slot (all sequences after it are moved ahead). Press C-Right to view the entire demo. A green arrow will mark the current sequence that is playing. The counters displayed on the screen display information about the demo. The first number is the number of frames played in the current sequence. The second is the number of frames played in the entire demo. The third is the current point number. Press C-Left at any time to stop the demo. The beginning of the sequence is marked with a rupee sound, and the end by a recovery heart sound.
Note: Inserting and arranging sequences can be difficult. If you create a sequence and insert it as A, then create a different sequence and don't insert it, only the old sequence will play. To replace it with your new sequence, you must remove it and insert the new one. If you don't want to remove the old one, you can insert your new one in another slot, then move it in front of the first with L.
Pressing up or down navigates through the menu. The menu is only displayed if Save, Load or Clear is selected, but pressing up or down will still display it in Edit mode. The first option is save, the second is load, and the third is clear. (Tip: Look at the letter in front of the save slots. S means save, L means load, C means clear.)
These options allow you to save and load your created sequences to and from the memory card. The process works the same way as editing the demo; use left and right to select a slot, then press A to save to/load from/clear (erase) that slot. Note that the letters assigned to a sequence here are not the same as those assigned in the demo itself. You can save over an existing sequence in which case you'll be prompted to overwrite it; press left or right to select Yes (option on the left) or No (on the right). When you are prompted to press B, the operation succeeded.
Unfortunately, the demo editor seems to have a number of limitations which seem to be bugs. These bugs can make it difficult or even impossible to use at times. Any information on what causes them and/or how to work around them would be highly appreciated.
- Sometimes the game will refuse to play a sequence, displaying the same error it would if no points were created no matter how many actually were. (The error message has not been successfully translated, partially because of the difficult-to-read font, but it mentions a 'key frame' which is another term for a point.) Unfortunately this seems to be quite common.
- In just about every case, the number of points that can be used is severely limited. Though there doesn't appear to be a limit to the number of points that can be actually created, the game will cut the sequence short (you will notice when viewing the sequence that the total number of points is too low). Sometimes the number of points allowed is more than adequate (current record is 11), but in many cases it's a very low number like 4 or even 0 (only one point is displayed). This is much more common after one sequence has already been created.
- The first point created in a sequence seems to be omitted entirely. This can be worked around by simply placing it in some random location.
- In certain areas, points often become corrupted (usually when saving) or the demo simply won't play (it just ends immediately). Though little testing has been done due to the other annoying bugs, the following notes have been made:
- In an area which already contains a demo (Lake Hylia), points get corrupted.
- In an area which does not contain any sequences (the test map), nothing will play.
- In an area which contains a sequence, but not one that plays on entry (any Great Fairy's Fountain), the sequences will usually play. For best results, the existing sequence should be triggered and interrupted (pressing right on controller 1), but this may not be necessary.
Finally, an added bonus of this feature is that combined with other debugging featues (see below), you can move the camera around in a cutscene, watch any scene from any angle, etc.
8. Other Debugging Features
This section lists other debug features that aren't intricate enough to have their own section. The game contains tons of these little features, most of which are activated by some crazy button sequence.
Status Display
This feature adds some bars to the screen that display various information about CPU usage, graphics, sounds, etc. The time display and bars can be toggled seperately via the memory editor, or you can use the code 80210AE4 0001 (both are enabled with this code). One unique attribute of this feature is that it still exists in the released version of OoT, though of course a code is required to access it. The released version also doesn't appear to have the time display. A similar feature is actually present in many other N64 games such as Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. The bars, while interesting to look at, don't provide much useful information and for that matter don't give any indication as to what they mean. The text displays various time-related information. Hiru appears to mean day, while Yoru means night. The exact meaning of the T and E values is unknown but they appear to display a day counter. ZELDATIME and VRBOXTIME always seem to display the same values, which is the current in-game time. (Very useful.)
Input Display
Nothing really special. See those dots that keep appearing in the bottom right corner? They're displaying the status of each button on controller 1. Notice that they're coloured the same as the actual buttons on an N64 controller.
Free Movement Mode
This is one of the more useful debug functions. Pressing either L+Right or L+R+A+B on controller 1 will enable Free Movement Mode. In this mode, Link does not fall or interact with anything; he just stays frozen in place. Use the D-Pad to move left, right, forward and backward, B to go up, and A to go down. If you hold R, Link will move faster. To return to normal mode, just press the buttons again. (Interestingly enough, Super Mario World has the exact same feature.)
Cutscene Control
During any cutscene, you can press Right on controller 1 to interrupt the scene and regain control of Link. In many cases, such as the title screen demos, you'll be able to walk around in the area with things close to how they were when you interrupted the scene. In scenes where Link isn't present, the game will just kinda hang there, but you can still use the camera debugger to look around. Pressing Left, Up or Down will return to the scene or in some cases restart it. One very cool trick you can do with this is to move around with the camera debugger, leave it in DEMO CAMERA TOOL mode, and restart the scene. From there on, the camera won't move, so you can watch the action from wherever you want!
Additionally, most objects in cutscenes don't have any collision data, so you can walk right through them. This can produce some interesting results...
Language Select
A minor feature, but neat nonetheless. Controller 3 can be used to change languages mid-game. D-Pad Left switches to English, Right to French, and Up to German. (One would think Japanese would be an option too...) Of course this does mean that the language will switch around when you use the camera debugger.
Free Camera Movement
One feature that doesn't seem to be working is free camera movement. Pressing the C buttons on controller 3 moves the camera, but it will move back to its original position immediately. (Perhaps one of the values in the memory editor can make this work properly.)
9. Beta Stuff
This section shows interesting beta findings. Some of this may exist in the released version as well.
Grotto With Wolves (Room 109)
This may not be actual beta but it seems unfamilliar. It's an underground grotto with rainbow walls and wolves popping up out of a cement floor.
Prototype Castle Courtyard (Room 125)
This is a beta version of the courtyard area with the guards. It won't load properly using Jabo's video plugin, and is only partially finished.
Alternate Dark Link Arena (Room 122)
This is an alternate Dark Link arena.
Depth Test (Room 124)
This is an interesting test map. 9 squares appear in the background, and Link falls past them. Using the Free Movement feature you can move him around, but there's not much to do except fall.
Ganon's Castle
This isn't actually a beta room; it's just Ganon's Castle falling apart, viewed from behind. However, for some reason the textures are animated.
Stalfos Boss Room (Room 121)
This is a very old beta room that once contained a giant Stalfos boss. It was featured with some very early versions of the interface. If something this old made it into the final debug ROM, who knows what else there could be? All there is, however, is a warp to the castle courtyard.
Test Map 1 (Room 118)
This is a simple testing area containing checkered platforms of various colours, water, non-functioning ladders, and a really high tower.
Test Map 2 (Room 117)
This is another testing area which is entirely flat and textured in an odd pink-and-purple pattern. (If you zoom out you can see the letters 'SRD' made out of the triangles in blue. The debug error screen contains 'creator:zelda@srd44', so this 'SRD' is probably the initials of one of the game designers.) There are several different types of ground (though they all look the same), a scarecrow, 5 silver Rupees and a chicken in a box. If you wander around a bit, Navi turns green in some places; in one of those places, pressing A shows the message "Hi, I'm a talking door!". Messages from the royal tombstone also show up randomly in the green areas.
Test Map 3 (Room 119)
This map contains a crapload of treasure boxes and items. Presumably the developers used this to test item pickup and possibly to get whatever item they needed (before the inventory editor was implemented). The area is divided into several rooms. The first room with the treasure boxes has a hole in the right wall, which leads to an empty, textureless room. If you poke around a bit at the wall furthest from the hole in that room, you'll find another hole which leads to another such room.
Weird Box (Room 116)
This map is basically a large box. While it appears to be empty, it uses some very cool textures which don't seem to be used elsewhere.
Note: The third image was taken by moving outside the map using the Free Movement feature. There is no normal way to leave the map.
Beta Text
The following text can be found in the game's memory: (Note: | is used to separate strings.)
- SWAP|ADD|A|S|X|OFF|ON|STBY [Near the audio debug options; SWAP is used, but ADD, which is right next to it, doesn't seem to be. A, S and X are separated by only one byte, just like SWAP and ADD.]
- CONGRATURATIONS! All Pages are displayed. THANK YOU! You are great debugger! [In debug error text. Note the Engrish.]
- Some 64DD references are scattered about.
- AUDIO : Ocarina Control Assign Normal|AUDIO : Ocarina Control Assign Normal|Press NA_KEY_D4 %08x|Press NA_KEY_F4 %08x|Press NA_KEY_A4 %08x|Press NA_KEY_B4 %08x|Press NA_KEY_D5 %08x [Near the audio debug. Seems to be an Ocarina key editor.]
- ARENA INFO (0x%08x)
- DEBUG MODE.TOOL MODE=%d.DEMO MODE=%d
10. Other Interesting Notes
This section lists some oddities in the ROM.
- No N64 logo at startup.
- File 1 has no name defined, and doesn't have any magic. There doesn't seem to be any debug option to change the player's magic either.
- Room 115, which is used in the various Goddess scenes, is accessible in normal OoT via beta quest. Unfortunately, all it is is rain and clouds.
- Loading room 7, stage 01, shows the credits.