Ura Zelda Restoration Interview
So first things first, can you give me a bit of history about the project?
Like how it started?
Yes, your history with Team Beta Triforce, how you started this project and why?
Ah ok, Well I originally owned a site called N64 Projects which focused on mods/projects for the N64, during that time hackers would work together to find out more information about how Zelda worked, I use to have a texture pack project posted on there along with a few hacks I did, that is when I was approached by ZeldaMaster90 about his idea for a Zelda 64 Restoration. At the time I thought it would of been a great idea and worked with him on it for 2 years with a few people, though my participation wasn't always focused on the project, I was more to help out with it when ZM90 needed something done, the rest of the time, I was focusing on loading up beta models. That is how the beta blond kokiri, fado, was restored. As time went on, I began to notice ZM90's lack of leadership skills and participation in the project along with the promise of things for the project that was out of our range of abilities as hackers. I resigned from the project cause it was literally going nowhere and begining to get out of hand, in 2 years, barely any progress was being put in and any trying to reason with him and the rest of the team was kind going nowhere, there was such a lack of organization that I left.
The restored blond kokiri girl.
For resigning the project, there was quite the backlash from the Zelda64 fandom, and I was given the blame for things that had nothing to do with me. Just cause I left the project, apparently I doomed it. I decided to take a break from the community and began to focus on other things. I played Phantasy Star Universe with my best friend Naxylldritt and our friend Sakura for a while, it was during one of our skype calls while playing that I brought up the idea about doing a major Zelda Project, led by me and we could bring what Zelda fans wanted more then anything, URA Zelda. Sakura was a little opposed to the idea at first cause of how the community had treated me in the past, but Naxylldritt was in support of my decision no matter what I chose to do, so February 2009, We formed a small team of the most trusted, and talented people we knew in the community and this project had been growing by leaps and bounds not only just by fans, but most importantly in progress. In 4-5 months we had 10x more progress done then TBT had in 2 years.
What were some of the elements promised that would have been impossible to deliver?
One of them was having the only model ever recovered from the period of Zelda64 nicknamed Aria was to be restored fully and that she would travel around with Link and give him hints to areas. Or giving brand new animations to Link that at the time were not even possible. Animations were never even looked into at the time so no one knew how they would work. Another one was reprogramming/redesigning the whole menu system completely and adding so that elements could change in maps that would stay that way, like footsteps in sand staying or trees being cut down stay removed for the game. I admit we are decent hackers, but we're not miracle workers, the Zelda OOT Engine cannot handle it, only way something like this is even possible would to make a brand new game engine altogether. It was becoming more and more a bad Zelda fanfiction then a restoration, no one was even slightly looking up real information about Zelda64 except what some fan wrote on a site about their thoughts on it and ZM90 adding his own.
My understanding is that Aria was discovered, but was functionless with no animation is that correct?
Aria was discovered and thought to be broken with no animations, it wasn't til later both spinout and I noticed that she has a full working bone structure and animations. It's just her model is soo old, the format is literally incompatible with OOT
'Aria' restored. By spinout as a separate hack.
Regarding her character, the only time we ever saw her was in Nintendo Power 103, with an ambiguous description for her and 2 other characters correct? Is it safe to say we won't be seeing her in Ura Zelda?
Yes, we won't be seeing her in the URA Zelda remake, her character model would stick out like a sore thumb
'Aria' (not an official name) was first shown in Nintendo Power 103. Her role in the beta is largely unknown.
Just curious, how does she animate in comparison to NPC's in the final product of OoT? More fluid, less fluid? Or is it just a matter of different movements? Does this give us a hint as to what NPC's on the DD versions would have been like?
Well in comparison with the in-game NPC's, her animations are less fluid, almost kind of sluggish and not as fluid as the NPC's in the final game. It does give us an insight to what the Zelda 64 NPC's would of been like.
Not to spoil any BIG surprises, but what sort of pre-release beta elements can we expect so see, and what sort of Ura elements can we expect to see? My understanding is that it's mostly Ura, but some pre-release beta elements have snuck their way into the project (ie the beta blond kokiri). And of the beta elements you've discovered how to you discern which to use?
Well as I've stated before, we're not doing a pre-release/beta restoration, we're doing a URA Expansion, we've been looking over those elements and see which could fit in nicely without looking out of place or not fitting in with the final game's elements. So not all beta elements will make it in, but things like Fado the blond kokiri girl, the unicorn fountain, the Temple of Wood and few other surprises have made it in while others like Aria, or some of the extremely low poly beta NPCs are not going to make it in.
Remember the blade beam? Hell yes, it's back!
So essentially only elements that will enhance the Ura experience without putting in beta elements for the sake of having beta elements.
Yup that is correct
I may be missing some, but my recollection of Miyamoto's Ura Zelda promises consist of new moves, new dungeons, new items, quests et cetera. Will we be seeing a lot of these lost promises re-appear in your version of Ura? Additionally, will we finally see a way to beat the unbeatable running man?
I did a lot of research on interviews with Miyamoto about URA Zelda, and those long lost promises will come to fruition. We have begun adding new dungeons which has been seen in the URA trailers. New items are being worked on, along with new quest, new mini-games, new shops, new NPC's and even an alternative storyline. As for the running man, the team and I have no comment on that subject at this moment.
One new NPC is a replacement for Navi who chimes to communicate (like in Majora's Mask) instead of screeching 'Hey Listen!' Also note the upgraded trees.
The running man is impossible to beat in the original Zelda Ocarina of Time. Even with a Gameshark, he always beats Link by 1 second. It is rumored that an item found in Ura Zelda would allow the player to best him.
Sounds good. My understanding is that you've opted to use the original Zelda OoT dungeon layouts instead of the Master Quest layouts. Is that correct? And if so, what influenced your choice?
We wanted the game to be more fun, where Master Quest's dungeon layouts were more stressful annoyances to even the more advanced Zelda player, those new to the series or even kind of an advent player didn't touch mastequest due to the difficulty of the dungeons. However what the Team is looking at is possibly new layouts for the dungeons to make it challenging but also fun while avoiding the problems Masterquest seemed to cause players.
The new Ice Temple will completely replace the current Ice Cavern Mini-dungeon.
Gotcha, so we may potentially see something different to challenge those who have memorized the layouts, but nothing so insane as to kill enjoyability?
Yup that is correct :)
Speaking of the team, what would you say are some of the highlights so far of working with your team?
I would have to say that one of the highlights of working with our team is that they are my friends not just teammates. Our team keeps communication open between us and we make sure we give our input about things/features for the project. The biggest problem with a lot of teams is not having organization and good leadership, which I think I have done a good job at. All tasks are assigned to each member, everything is kept organized and tracked about what we do, and I don't just sit back and let my team do all the work, I'm right down there with them working as hard as they are, if not harder.
How would you say the best way for a fan to support or help the project is? Or if someone has the skills to join the team, how would they go about contacting you?
The best way a fan can help support us is by giving their input about our work, we look forward to hearing from our fans to see what they think about what they are seeing. We want URA to as good for them as it is for us. We have set up a donation page as requested by quite a few of our fans so that people could donate toward the cause. That money alone goes directly to helping us finace any hardware we need for the project such as N64 Flashcarts.
The best way to contact me would be via my youtube channel, if you have any questions, send me a pm there or even contact me on my site, The-GCN.com
I have the same username on there as I do on youtube. (ZethN64)
How do you plan on releasing this game? Any chance of flashing it onto a N64 cart to play it on original hardware?
We plan to release the finished product of URA as a patch, (That may change in the future) for the Zelda MQ Debug Rom. We plan to make the game able to run not just on emulators, but on official hardware as well, so someone could put it on a flashcart if they wanted to.
If it's on original hardware, will the N64 be able to handle it/will it require the N64 expansion pack?
Yes, expansion pack would be required.
My guess is that the extra 4MB of RAM will be used to handle the new Great Blue Fairy's DD Cups.
What percentage is currently complete and when do you expect to release the first demo?
The game is going to be a bit before its fully released as we still have a lot of work to do, not to mention work it in our busy daily schedules. But the team and I are looking to release a demo hopefully by summer/fall of this year. Currently the percentage for the project is at 60%.
Well, I'd like to thank you for your time. Is there anything you'd personally like to say to the readers/fans?
I just want to say to all our fans, thank you for the support and for your suggestions, every little bit counts and helps us shape URA into something really grand. We won't disappoint you. From one Zelda fan to another, May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce.
Thanks for reading everyone! If anyone has any additional questions please feel free to ask! I will go ahead and ask Zeth any new questions then add them to the interview. Or, since Zeth is a member of our forums, he may very well see the question and answer it himself.
Check out ZethN64's youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ZethN64
-Tony
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